How financial reporting quality affects expert opinions

Commercial litigation often necessitates the use of a financial expert to value a business interest, calculate economic damages or investigate fraud allegations. In these situations, the quality of the numeric data that’s available to the financial expert can affect both the amount of investigation that the expert must put into the engagement and the reliability …
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Supreme Court: High salary doesn’t preclude OT pay

Employers and employees are often at odds over the issue of overtime pay. Naturally, employers are inclined to argue that an employee isn’t entitled to overtime pay when it would boost the overall compensation that must be paid to the employee. The employer’s position may be bolstered by applicable regulations from the U.S. Department of …
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International contracts call for certain legal lingo

Is your business entering into a contract with a foreign entity? If so, you should be aware of certain legal terms that may be included — or are necessary to have — in the contract. These terms are important so you will not have difficulty pursuing or defending against potential claims with foreign entities. Contracts are …
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Bank depositors concerned with safety amid financial turmoil

In early March, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank unexpectedly collapsed. They became the second and third largest bank failures in U.S. history, respectively. The largest collapse involved Washington Mutual in 2008, precipitating the Great Recession. (Following this article, read on for late-breaking news from the banking crisis.) The recent regional bank failures have …
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Estate executors: Taxes and forms you should know

When a loved one passes away, the executor of the deceased person’s estate is charged with handling the estate’s financial affairs. If a loved one dies without a valid will, the probate court will appoint an “administrator” to handle these chores. Here’s an overview of tax forms that may need to be filed for the estate, …
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Sorting out executive compensation in a divorce

Executive compensation can become an issue for private companies and their owners, especially if an owner is getting divorced. Owning a business complicates the divorce process. When either spouse owns a private business interest, the divorce settlement is only as reasonable as the value of the business and the compensation of its owners. That’s because one of the biggest …
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When can I deduct Construction Period Interest?

This article was originally published in 2014 A Brief History The Tax Reform Act of 1976 prohibited the immediate deduction of real property construction period interest and taxes, and required the interest and taxes to be capitalized to the original cost of the constructed property and amortized over 10 years. Fast forward 10 years, the …
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Start preparing for M&A on Day 1

It may seem odd, but as soon as you start up a business, you should begin preparing the documentation needed to sell or merge with another enterprise. It may be years down the road but the records often required in today’s M&A environment can be overwhelming. If your recordkeeping has been shoddy, it can be difficult or …
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Letters of credit can help protect commercial landlords

Some commercial landlords have been hit by economic conditions, overbuilding, start-up companies failing, a depressed retail sector, or other factors affecting the real estate industry. The forecast for 2023 is for continued turbulence in the real estate industry as economic pressures and higher interest rates follow the seismic changes that the COVID-19 pandemic brought to markets …
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Medical practice accounting: Improving cash flow

Collection problems are very serious to the financial health of your medical practice. You may find costs and overhead going up while cash flow goes down. To make matters worse, your office is probably spending more time than ever before contending with third party regulations and rejected claims. Just as you advise patients to take …
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