business Archives - Wiss & Company, LLP

New Jersey Employers Subject To New Paid Sick Leave law

Written on September 25, 2018. Posted in Human Resources.

By Lisa Calick, SPHR New Jersey employers will soon be faced with new requirements to provide paid sick leave to all employees. Signed into law by Governor Murphy earlier this year, the new requirements will take effect on October 29th. As stated in an earlier blog, this mandate applies to businesses of all sizes and requires employers to provide up to 40 hours of paid sick leave to employees, including part-time, temporary and seasonal employees. Businesses that do not currently...

Preparing Your Business for an ERP Implementation

Written on September 11, 2018. Posted in Technology.

There are few administrative initiatives that might prove more challenging to more of your employees in more departments than the launch or changeover of an ERP system. Don’t get me wrong — in time you’ll all feel that it’s totally worth it in terms of enhanced productivity and accuracy. It’s just that you’ll all work up a sweat getting there. In an earlier blog post I described your Enterprise Resource Planning system as being the brain center of your company. So an ERP implementation...

Know When an HR Assessment Is Needed

Written on March 6, 2018. Posted in Advisory Services.

By Lisa Calick, SPHR Are your business’s human resources starting to fall behind? Have you not reviewed HR policies and procedures in quite some time? Are you running a new startup? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may need an HR assessment to ensure compliance with state and federal regulations, as well as reduce the risk of potential liabilities. When Should an HR Assessment Be Performed? Fundamentally, an HR assessment is an investigation of a company’s current...

Upcoming Changes to New Jersey and New York Taxes

Written on December 19, 2017. Posted in State & Local Tax Services.

By Evan Gernant With tax reform legislation nearing enactment in Washington it’s easy to keep one’s focus on those headlines. There are, however, important changes in New Jersey and New York tax that have already been signed into law and will impact local taxpayers. Below is a summary of the more significant changes you will see affecting New Jersey and New York State taxpayers in 2018 and beyond. New Jersey The sales & use tax rate will continue decrease slightly. A two-phase...

EB-5 Legislation Could Spell Change for Foreign Investors

Written on November 15, 2017. Posted in International Tax Services.

By Mark Feldstein The Immigrant Investor Program, more commonly known as EB-5, found itself in the news recently due to the introduction of a Congressional bill in July 2017 that could change qualifying terms. But first, let’s review the EB-5 program and how it currently affects foreign investors and entrepreneurs. Program Overview The federal EB-5 Program has been in effect since 1992. Its purpose is to provide U.S. visas and a path to citizenship for immigrants who invest at least...

Breaking the Accountant Stereotype

Written on November 6, 2017. Posted in Tax Alerts.

By Wiss Associate Think of an accountant, and what do you picture? If you follow the common societal stereotype, you may envision someone with a pocket protector and a beige plastic raincoat who goes to bed cuddling his calculator, with no emotion and no social competence. A person who would rather recite the square root of pi than eat pie. Think of an entrepreneur, and you probably picture an entirely different image. Beyond the sheer sophistication of the word “entrepreneur” itself,...

Valuing Your Company: What to Know Before Seeking Business Valuation

Written on June 20, 2017. Posted in General Business.

By Brittney Neal Updated 7/30/2019. Businesses change hands all the time, for a variety of reasons. Whether they’re sold, gifted, merged, passed on to next of kin, or divided among former partners, family members or divorcing spouses, ownership of even the most stable of businesses at some point will change. And when a business changes hands in whole or in part, the parties involved need to have an accurate picture of the value of the sum total of the company’s assets....

Changing Overtime Rules? New Recommendation Could Change Who Qualifies

Written on May 30, 2017. Posted in Advisory Services, Outsourced Accounting & Tax.

By Laura Melville Under current regulations, employees are exempt from overtime pay if they meet three criteria: the employee must be salaried, perform executive, administrative or professional duties, and earn more than $455 per week, or $23,660 per year. The current salary threshold was enacted in 2004. But that salary threshold could be increasing, as the U.S. Department of Labor last year recommended raising the salary criteria to $913 per week, or $47,476 per year. (The rule...

The Power and Pitfalls of Pressure

Written on May 23, 2017. Posted in General Business.

By Connor Doyle There are few things done in the business world that are performed at a leisurely pace. Owners don’t wander through their fiscal year, money doesn’t change hands without intent, and bosses don’t demand 10% of one’s abilities within a project. More often than not, there’s an urgency to requests. There’s an unspoken agreement that a concerted effort will be made towards completion in a timely manner. With that request comes pressure, and with that pressure often comes...

Accounting and Finance: A Forbidden Love

Written on February 7, 2017. Posted in Tax Alerts.

By Connor Doyle Accounting, our Romeo, and Finance, our Juliet. Two houses, both alike in dignity, in fair New York City, where we lay our scene, from ancient bond break to new maturity, where credit balance makes cash on hand burst seams. Accounting and finance, though both safely under the business umbrella, are divergent in ideology. Finance wants to spend and raise money for the future of a business while accounting wants to keep track of all that has happened in the past. But,...

Take Your Inventory Management System Out of the Spreadsheet Age

Written on January 31, 2017. Posted in Advisory Services.

By Donna Woronka Many businesses start up so modestly that they can fit their full inventory in their garage, a slice of rented warehouse or in that dark, cobwebby storeroom in their building—and easily keep track of it via a spreadsheet. But as businesses grow and inventory expands, all that manual input catches up with them. In the first place, spreadsheet inventory management is a laborious operation that takes key people away from what they should be doing. And manual input is...

What the DOL Looks for During an Audit

Written on January 24, 2017. Posted in Employee Benefit Plan Audits.

By Craig Erickson You’ve just learned that the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefit Security Administration has selected your company’s retirement plan for an investigation. Are you and your plan prepared for an audit? The DOL typically doesn’t provide much notice before beginning an audit, which can last several days, weeks or longer. However, in advance of starting, you will receive an investigation notice that includes a list of documents its people will want to review when...

Tips for Providing Quality Client Service

Written on December 28, 2016. Posted in General Business.

By Carrie Grotz I am a lover of coffee and I frequent Dunkin Donuts (DD). I know their menu so well in fact, that I could probably work there. From the moment I enter a DD, I can usually tell which have knowledgeable staff, good donuts (the ones that look fresh, large and full of filling), those that offer the “fun” munchkins instead of just the plain, chocolate, and powdered ones, and just by glancing at the staff, I can usually tell from the moment I place my order if the coffee...

Preparing for a Financial Audit

Written on November 29, 2016. Posted in Tax Alerts.

By Randy Cohen “We’re being audited.” Those three little words can strike fear into the heart of any executive. Nobody likes the prospect of an outsider combing through the books and potentially exposing errors. Yet as unpleasant as a financial audit can be, with the right attitude and approach, it can prove a valuable tool for improving your business — and an auditor can be viewed as a trusted adviser instead of as an adversary. The key to an efficient and successful financial audit...

Governor Christie Keeps Reciprocal Agreement

Written on November 23, 2016. Posted in State & Local Tax Services.

By Wiss Employee In order to boost the state’s revenues, Governor Christie withdrew from a decades old tax agreement with Pennsylvania back in September. It left many business owners and employees anxious about 2017 income taxes and filings. Read in our past blog post about the repercussions of withdrawing from the agreement. On November 22, Gov. Christie announced that the reciprocal agreement with Pennsylvania will remain in place. New Jersey and Pennsylvania residents that...

3 Reasons Why It’s Important to Understand Your Cap Table

Written on November 1, 2016. Posted in Early Stage.

By Ryan S. Silva Very often some of the most promising early stage growth companies find themselves challenged when asked about their cap table. Simply put, the cap table should list all the securities of the company (i.e., stock options, warrants, convertible debt, SAFE, etc.) and who owns them. This isn’t difficult when it’s just a few people, but as the capital structure becomes more complex from financing transactions, the cap table usually does as well. This is generally because...

Why Business Owners Should Consider Estate and Gift Tax Saving Strategies Now

Written on September 7, 2016. Posted in Estate and Business Succession Planning.

By Leo Matarazzo Updated 7/30/2019. The Treasury Department recently issued proposed regulations targeting the use of discounts that reduce the value of a family-owned business and any other family controlled entity for estate and gift tax purposes, which lowers a taxpayer’s ultimate tax liability at death. Potentially millions of dollars of estate tax savings are at stake if these regulations are adopted so it is important to remain informed and proactive on the issue. The regulations...

International Entrepreneurs Welcomed Per USCIS Proposal

Written on September 6, 2016. Posted in International Tax Services.

By Mary Vasilescu The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) recently announced a groundbreaking new proposal to award temporary admission to international industrialists looking to cultivate their business within the United States. USCIS Director, Leon Rodriguez believes that “America’s economy has long benefitted from the contributions of immigrant entrepreneurs, from Main Street to Silicon Valley,” thus, the proposal when finalized, is expected to strengthen the...

Utilize Your Point of Difference to Stand Out Among the Crowd

Written on August 16, 2016. Posted in General Business.

By Paul Peterson How to Utilize Your Point of Difference Today’s marketplace has never been more competitive. The fierce combat for the preponderance of consumer attention has skyrocketed in the past decade. Consequently, it is imperative for establishments to acquire and apply the professional skills required to be distinct among contenders, add value to the profession, and assist in supporting clients with sculpting a more affluent future for their businesses. When casting your...

How to Assess and Resolve Business Process Issues

Written on July 19, 2016. Posted in Advisory Services.

By Paul Ursich Updated 7/30/2019. As companies grow, they often fail to focus on the technology or resources required to maintain their edge in the marketplace. This can lead to a breakdown in business process optimization, hinder productivity and impact morale. Take, for example, a construction company that approached Wiss after experiencing 300 percent growth over a five-year period. While sales had tripled, the size of the accounting department and the technology used to run...

Key Steps to Take When Adopting New Accounting Software

Written on July 7, 2016. Posted in Technology.

By Paul Ursich Accounting software has certainly changed the way industries function. These systems eliminate numerous manual components of financial organizations while offering businesses countless ways of analyzing and improving corporate performance. Hence, when a myriad of software solutions are at your fingertips, how can you capture the greatest dynamic structure for your business? Execute the following actions necessary to acquire the desired and worthwhile results: Strategize Grasping...

How to Take Advantage of the Grow NJ Tax Credit

Written on June 26, 2016. Posted in State & Local Tax Services.

By Bill Beiermeister The only bad thing about tax credits is the possibility of missing out on one. To make sure that doesn’t happen to your business, here is some background on the Grow New Jersey tax incentive and how it could affect your company. Per-employee credits add up The Grow New Jersey Assistance Program is offered through the state’s Economic Development Authority (EDA) to encourage businesses in technology, manufacturing, warehousing, research and development and other...

The Internship Experience: A Peek Inside the Lives of Four Wiss Tax Interns

Written on April 19, 2016. Posted in Human Resources.

By Danielle Patton, former Marketing intern For many young professionals, an internship cements the foundation for a prosperous business career. When immersed in this unparalleled experience, an internship can offer tremendous knowledge from beyond the lecture hall: evolving your academic ambitions, strengthening your network, and assisting you in acquiring valuable tools that can be used throughout your profession. But when undertaking this occupation, what can a young professional...

How to Assimilate Millennial Employees into your Workplace Culture

Written on June 30, 2015. Posted in Human Resources.

By Wiss Associate This year, the 34-and-under generation will surpass baby boomers as the largest slice of the U.S. population — and they are a steadily growing segment of the business startup class. As their influence expands in entrepreneurial America, it becomes important to understand how they differ from the boomers and Generation X workers who preceded them. Studies have shown that millennials want to think of their work lives as furthering a purpose, not just bringing home...

Six Ways to Tell if Your Company is Ready for Series A Funding

Written on March 10, 2015. Posted in Early Stage, Technology.

By Ryan Silva It’s an exciting — and nerve-wracking — time as your young company prepares to draw investor interest in Series A funding. It’s most likely your company’s first in-depth contact with the venture capital world, but how do you know your business is ready to take such a step? Here are some things to consider: You’ve put out feelers. VC firms don’t just show up on your doorstep when you need them most. Start your meet and greets long before your company is ready for that...

Maintaining Control

Written on January 20, 2015. Posted in Food & Beverage.

How to retain ownership and control while bringing on investors By Arnold Macalintal Your food or beverage business is going well, but you’re thinking it may need a cash infusion. Taking on investors can ease your financial burden, but at what cost? You’re the one with the dream, the plan and the sweat equity invested in the business, so why should you cede control to outsiders? Here are some tips for getting the cash you need without losing the ability to run your business your...

Tag: business