The straight line

From mobile apps to the Internet, technology has transformed our lives. It facilitates financial transactions and the transmission of information. But it also brings risks. There are weekly news stories about sensitive personal data being hacked online and sold on the black market. Thieves use personal data to access accounts, open new ones, complete fraudulent transactions, file...

In recent months, there have been several significant tax developments that affect partnerships. They also apply to multi-member limited liability companies (LLCs) that are treated as partnerships for federal tax purposes. (For simplicity, we’ll use the terms “partnership” and “partner” to refer to all entities and owners that are affected by the developments.) Here are quick...

Traditional interviews, background checks, and clever “scenario” questions might help you turn up a good leader. But sometimes, in spite of your best efforts, you end up hiring a problem, and then struggling to get rid of him or her. Here are some characteristics of good leaders and bad, that may help you find the pearls...

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...

IRS audits of partnerships were up 18.6% in 2015 over the previous tax year, according to the agency’s Fiscal Year 2015 Enforcement and Service Results. That’s the highest audit rate partnerships have experienced since 2006. By comparison, audits of large C corporations decreased by 8.8% in 2015. The situation is expected to only get worse under...

It’s probably impossible for your company to eliminate any chance of harassment, but there are precautions you can take to help win a lawsuit filed by an employee: Above all, have a sound company policy against harassment, which includes discrimination based on sex, race, color, religion, national origin, age or disability. Make sure your employees are aware of...