The straight line

Category Archives: Cooperatives

Cooperatives: What We Expect to See in 2015

This is an article we have been drafting for several years now. As much as we want to provide you some profound insight into what we see coming down in the next year, this will sound like a re-run. Much of what we expected to see over the last year continues to be what we...

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Cooperatives: What We’ve Seen in 2014

Sales were lower, steady and higher depending on year end – grain volumes rebounded for the most part but grain and agronomy commodity prices were lower. Lower grain margins; inverses and less opportunity to capture carries in the market. Drying revenues up based on 2013 harvest, more agronomy acres covered. Expenses continue to grow –...

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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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