Employee benefit plans with 100 or more participants must generally provide an audit report when filing IRS Form 5500 each year. Plan administrators have fiduciary responsibilities to hire independent qualified public accountants to perform quality audits. Select a qualified auditor ERISA guidelines require employee benefit plan auditors to be licensed or certified public accountants. They also require auditors to be independent. In other words, they can’t have a financial interest in the plan or the plan sponsor that would bias their opinion about a plan’s financial condition. But specialization...

  There’s a lot to think about when you change jobs, and it’s easy for a 401(k) or other employer-sponsored retirement plan to get lost in the shuffle. But to keep building tax-deferred savings, it’s important to make an informed decision about your old plan. First and foremost, don’t take a lump-sum distribution from your old employer’s retirement plan. It generally will be taxable and, if you’re under age 59½, subject to a 10% early-withdrawal penalty. Here are three tax-smart alternatives: 1. Stay put. You may be able to leave...

Come tax time, owner-employees face a variety of distinctive tax planning challenges, depending on whether their business is structured as a partnership, limited liability company (LLC) or corporation. Whether you’re thinking about your 2016 filing or planning for 2017, it’s important to be aware of the challenges that apply to your particular situation. Partnerships and LLCs If you’re a partner in a partnership or a member of an LLC that has elected to be disregarded or treated as a partnership, the entity’s income flows through to you (as does its...

TWRU CPA’s and Financial Advisors is ready to assist you now that Intuit has made its official date for discontinuing services and support for all versions of QuickBooks 2014.  Intuit announced earlier in the year that the discontinuation would occur on May 31, 2017.  This discontinuation includes technical support as well as add-on services.  According to Intuit’s website payroll tax calculations will be incorrect, customers will be unable to send payroll for processing including direct deposits, and payroll subscriptions will be deactivated. Due to TWRU’s relationship with Intuit we are...

TWRU CPAs and Financial Advisors and their employees recently collected over 350 pounds of food for The Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank.  In addition to the collection of food the firm also donated $750.  These collections have provided over 4,000 meals to members of the Greater Baton Rouge community.  The challenge to collect food and cash donations was put forth by the partners of the firm with the pledge to match all employee donations. This year TWRU surpassed it's previous high collections and donations of 200 pounds of food collected...

Did you know that paying your children to work for you can boost your wealth? Believe it or not it lowers the amount of taxes you would have to pay.  This advantage of employing your children applies to owners of businesses who file a Schedule C as well as Partnerships in which each partner is a parent of the employed child(ren). Exemptions Did you know the wages you would pay your children are exempt from various taxes depending on their age, which helps you pay less in payroll taxes? The...

Have you ever stopped to consider how important social security will be in your financial future?   Having studied social security, I have learned it is more important than I ever imagined it would be. Statistics show that for every 2 out of 3 retirees, social security provides more than 50% of their retirement income; for others, social security provides 90% or more. Since social security is such a large part of your retirement future, it only makes sense to plan ahead and learn ways to maximize your benefits. To begin,...

YOU MADE IT! You’ve worked hard, punched the clock, put in valuable time to ensure that you will have a secure and comfortable retirement… But how does that happen? Statistics show that 55% of Americans are concerned that the current economic conditions are threatening their retirement.  As that day draws near, it is likely that you will have many questions about your financial future. We share your concerns. TWRU CPAs & Financial Advisors now has a Retirement Income Professionals group that is ready to help you navigate the murky waters of financial planning, retirement, social security, and so...

TWRU CPAs & Financial Advisors has been offering financial and reporting services to businesses and individuals since 1948. We are pleased to announce that we now can provide a new service in the valuation and litigation support area. We have recently hired a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) to provide valuation and litigation support services. Derek Mathews, CPA, CVA, has over 15 years experience in small business consulting in all areas of business operations. He is also a member of the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts and the Forensic and...

To Our Valued Friends and Clients: As the year draws to a close, it’s important that we review your business’s income for 2013 to project the estimated tax liability for the year and see if there are steps we can take to minimize that liability. There are a number of tax breaks that are set to expire this year unless Congress works together to extend these tax breaks, which seems unlikely at this time. However, the focus should not be entirely on tax savings, but rather on whether or not...