BETTER THAN EXPECTED! Time and time again, that was the response when asking coop managers and board members about the 2023 harvest. I think the same can be said when discussing the financial years of our cooperative clients.Many had a bleak outlook when their 2023 fiscal year started, struggling to budget a local income in...

Robert Bell, CPA, Tax Manager I’ve written about the provisions under IRC 163(j) before, but now is the time to take it seriously. Businesses are limited to the amount of interest expense they are allowed to deduct for tax purposes to 30% of Adjusted Taxable Income (ATI). The ATI calculation used to allow for the...

Matt Gardiner, CPA, CFE, Audit Manager When it comes to building and acquiring new assets for your business, there are several avenues to consider in order to finance the costs: you can either borrow funds to purchase the asset from your lender, or you can finance the asset through a leasing arrangement. Each method of...

Dennis Gardiner, Gardiner + Company, CPAs Managing Partner Partners Mark Gardiner, Greg Cargin and myself attended the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives Annual Meeting / Legal, Tax and Accounting Conference last week in Orlando.  We learned about key issues facing co-ops and their members.  USDA Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack was the keynote speaker to...

Dennis Gardiner, CPA, Managing Partner In reviewing the patronage allocations for a number of our clients, I noted plenty of non-member business in certain divisions of the cooperative. Grain and agronomy have higher member business percentages, while feed and energy are typically the lower member business percentages. Feed is usually a function of business done...

Since DPAD/Section 199, now Section 199A(g), began in 2007, cooperatives have been building up significant increases in retained earnings and permanent capital. Additionally, bonus depreciation has been an available tax deduction for use for many years recently. As these deductions were being used, members have received a lesser percentage of the patronage-sourced (allocable) earnings. Percentages...