The straight line

Do you regret converting your traditional IRA into a Roth IRA? Fortunately, a taxpayer-friendly aspect of the Roth conversion rules is that you have until October 15 (adjusted for weekends) of the year following the year of a conversion to reverse it. In other words, the deadline for reversing any 2016 Roth conversions is October 16,...

If numbers are a barometer of success and figures don’t lie, how do we explain the following contradictory evidence: More than 50 percent of all chief executives of Fortune 500 companies had C or C- averages in colleges.   Sixty-five percent of all U.S. senators were in the bottom half of their classes.   Seventy-five percent...

Credit sales are a fact of business life. And to keep those accounts from spinning out of control, your company must maintain a delicate balance between the total cost of bad debts and your profit gains. Your cash manager needs to constantly monitor your total receivables and bad debts. Part of the process involves weighing the...

School is back in session. So, it’s time for a refresher on tax breaks for work-related education expenditures. Here’s what individual taxpayers need to know. American Opportunity Credit The American Opportunity credit equals 100% of the first $2,000 of qualified postsecondary education expenses plus 25% of the next $2,000 of qualified education costs (subject to certain...

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has announced that the minimum wage rate for federal contractors will increase from $10.20 per hour to $10.35 per hour, effective January 1, 2018. Background Information On February 12, 2014, President Obama signed Executive Order 13658 which established a minimum wage rate for federal contractors. The...

Establishing a winning position in the marketplace is obviously critical to your company’s success. The position, however, must be based on a sustainable competitive advantage. What constitutes an unbeatable advantage? There are two choices: You have consistently lower costs than your rivals. As long as your product or service maintains an acceptable quality level, this advantage...