The Wrap

No two organizations are completely alike. Businesses have different offerings, different values and different goals, but they all have at least one thing in common.

They all need people to make it run successfully.

With the unemployment rate at a low, your business may be realizing that, not only are your best candidates for your open roles already in other jobs, but your competitors are increasingly recruiting people who are employed at your company.

So with fierce competition, few applicants and many unmet business needs, how can you build the right team for your company? Once you’ve found them, how can you keep them?

In this episode of The Wrap, Paul and Kim talk with Derek Johnson and Whitney McFee of Warren Averett Staffing & Recruiting to discuss how businesses can not only identify the right team members to recruit, but how they can keep them around for the long haul.

After listening to this podcast episode, you’ll be able to:

• Take strategic steps to keep your team members engaged with your company long after the novelty and excitement of orientation wears off
• Foster interactions geared toward retaining your top talent after you’ve recruited them
• Ask targeted questions in interviews to identify candidates who truly align with the role and your company
• Understand why seeking a “well-rounded” employee might not actually be good for your business

They say that if you want something done right, you should do it yourself. But, when it comes to your business’s accounting and bookkeeping functions, we think it’s a different story.

For many businesses, it’s more efficient to outsource financial functions to a fractional bookkeeper, accountant or CFO. But how can you know if it’s a good fit for your business? How should you evaluate and pick an accountant to outsource to? What does it mean to outsource your accounting in the first place?

Paul and Kim talk with Donna Conte, CPA and Roger Spain, CPA, CFA to answer these questions and more as they dive into a new episode of The Wrap to explore the intricacies and benefits of outsourcing your organization’s accounting. 

At the end of this podcast, you’ll be able to:

·        Understand what outsourcing your business’s accounting entails

·        Start identifying your business’s needs when it comes to your financial functions

·        Determine if your company might be able to benefit from outsourcing financial functions over doing them in-house

·        Ask the right questions to identify the accounting provider that would be the best fit for your business

Have you ever had the sneaking feeling that your business is paying too much in taxes? If so, you aren’t alone. Businesses all across the country over-pay their taxes on their returns each year.

The most effective way to identify saving or deferral opportunities for your company (and to keep from spending more on your taxes than you need to) is to create a strategic tax plan before you file your taxes. 

So once you’ve decided you want to make a tax strategy for your company—now what?

Paul and Kim meet up with Reed King, CPA and Kevin Patel, CPA on this episode of the Wrap to talk through what business owners should know in order to create a strategic tax plan before filing their taxes.

At the end of this podcast episode, you’ll be able to:

·        Recognize ways in which your state tax planning should be different than your federal tax planning

·        Identify which business expenses are deductible from the ones that aren’t

·        Know which documentation to use to inform your tax strategy planning

·        Identify the two basic steps of strategically minimizing your business’s taxes

·        Communicate the necessary information to your tax advisor in order to fully identify tax advantages and savings opportunities

There’s no place like zones—Opportunity Zones, that is.  

Since 2017, opportunity has been knocking specifically in the form of Opportunity Zones—a piece of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that provides new tax benefits for investors. The Opportunity Zone program was designed to foster economic development in lower-income areas by incentivizing investments within these zones.  

What are Opportunity Zones? Why do we have them? What should investors know? How can you know if you’re in compliance with the constantly-evolving regulations? And what are the tax benefits?

Join Paul and Kim, along with Opportunity Zone experts, Chris Branch, CPA and Grant Cardwell, CPA, for a crash course about Opportunity Zones for investors. 

Congress and taxes and gains! Oh my!

At the end of this podcast episode, you’ll be able to:

·        Have a basic understanding of what Opportunity Zones are and how they work

·        Locate Opportunity Zones in your specific areas of interest

·        Know how to evaluate a potential Opportunity Zone investment before you make it

·        Understand the tax benefits that this program offers to investors

Many business owners spend so much time investing in the growth of their business that they often don’t take time to consider how they might sell it—much less consider what their lives might look like post-transaction. After a business owner sells his or her own company, priorities, finances, investments and giving all appear in a new light. Being emotionally, financially and strategically ready are all key aspects for this transition. So, how can you prepare effectively and exit well?

Josh Reidinger, CPA and Justin Russell, CIMA of Warren Averett Asset Management sit down with Kim and Paul in this episode of The Wrap to discuss key considerations for business owners when it comes to preparing for and strategically navigating life in a new season after a business transaction. 

In today’s economy, more and more companies are being approached by potential buyers, and with the Baby Boomer generation nearing retirement, fuel is being added to the transaction fire. Buyers are increasingly approaching companies that aren’t even looking to sell in hopes of planting the seef for a transaction. So when that potential suitor comes knocking, how can you know which interactions are legitimate, and how to you begin to vet them to determine if it’s the right move for your company?

In this episode of The Wrap, Hanny Akl, CPA, CFE, CEPA, CVGA, rejoins Paul and Kim to discuss how to evaluate potential buyers, how to make a selection and how to get the most out of the transaction process for your specific company. 

To have an understanding of what something is worth, you need to have an understanding of how much someone would pay to buy it. Businesses aren’t any different. To know how much your business is worth, consider how much you could sell it for. But, that begs the question: Is your business worth what you think it is? Whether you’re planning to actually sell your business or not, knowing the answer to this question is crucial. If your business has never considered this question before, some deciding factors may surprise you. 

Hanny Akl, CPA, CFE, CEPA, CVGA, a Member and leader in the Firm’s Transaction Advisory division, meets with Kim and Paul to discuss how businesses can create value for themselves and how they can minimize the difference between what they think a business is worth and what someone would be willing to pay for it. 

In recent months, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has made waves in business discussions nationwide. Business leaders watched news reports, read headlines and heard rumors about how the new tax reform law would create a new landscape for how they understand their companies’ taxes. But, what does tax reform actuallymean for a business? Does filing an extension make you more likely to be audited? Should you consider changing your business’s entity status in light of the new tax law?

In this episode of The Wrap, William Dow, CPA and Katye Coats, CPA sit down with Kim and Paul to discuss the answers to these questions and more, including tips for business owners as they look to tax planning for 2020.

When it comes to natural disasters, the unfortunate truth is that many businesses don’t consider what they need to do in order to be prepared until they’re faced with an impending dangerous situation. Or even worse—many businesses don’t consider disaster preparedness until they are facing disaster recovery. The best way to position your business to ride out a natural disaster is to prepare ahead of time. But, natural disasters likely aren’t part of your daily business conversations and strategy. So, in the midst of all of the other pressures facing your company’s daily operations, how can you effectively consider how to position your company to weather a literal storm?

Mindy Rankin, CPA and Jason Alves, CPA join Paul and Kim to help business leaders get wind of how to effectively prepare their companies for a hurricane, tornado or other natural disaster.

Cyberattacks pose one of the greatest risks to the profitability and longevity of businesses in today’s economy, and, at the end of the day, businesses have a responsibility to protect themselves against the threats that cybercrime poses. Why does cybersecurity matter, what makes your company most vulnerable and what should businesses do to be prepared?

In this episode of The Wrap, Amy Williams and Justin Headley, CISSP, CISA connect with Kim and Paul to talk about the importance of having a defensive mentality, an educated team and the necessary tools when it comes to protecting your company against cyberattacks.