The straight line

Category Archives: Agribusiness

Employer Shared Responsibility for Employee Health Insurance Coverage Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA)

The Employer Shared Responsibility for Employee Health Insurance Coverage affects large employers starting in 2015 due to the health care reform law commonly referred to as Obama Care. This provision was included as a disincentive for large employers considering dropping their current insurance plans once the insurance exchanges began operating as an alternative source of...

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2014 Federal Tax Returns: Something Borrowed, Something New

Tax season is finally here. The deadline for calendar-year corporations to file a return (or an extension) is Monday, March 16. The deadline for individuals to file their income tax returns (or an extension) is Wednesday, April 15. As businesses and individuals start gathering financial records to give to their tax professionals, they should know how...

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Disaster Recovery: Ask ‘What If?’

Disasters never happen at a good time. But the timing is irrelevant. What counts is that your business can recover quickly with minimal long-term effects. And that means having a disaster recovery program in place so that your company is well-positioned to respond to — and rebound from — a wide range of calamities. The issues your...

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Violence Strikes the Workplace

Workplace violence isn’t just limited to high-risk jobs such as police officers, taxi drivers and late night convenience store clerks. It happens everywhere, as illustrated by recent high-profile cases. Workplace shootings have occurred at all types of businesses including factories, hospitals, engineering firms, advertising agencies and colleges. Testing Issues Some employers have tried testing to gauge the propensity for violence...

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The Latest News on the Personal Use of Company Cars

The free use of a company car is one of the best perks an employee may be entitled to as part of a compensation package. But the benefit to the employee isn’t completely “free” under current tax law. Essentially, personal use of a company car is treated as a taxable fringe benefit, subject to income tax...

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Businesses: How to Help Prepare for Audit Season

The busiest time of year for external financial statement auditors generally runs from January to April each year. But CPAs usually start gearing up for audit season in November of the preceding year. Accountants meet with clients, assign staff and schedule fieldwork. Then, the team conducts preliminary financial analytics, observes physical inventory counts, assesses risk factors...

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