By Patrick Ngai, CPA, Audit Manager
Proactive and careful planning is an essential part of managing a successful Silicon Valley business. Executives often spend the closing months of the year engaged in a comprehensive analysis of business performance and identifying future goals and benchmarks. Typically, this process includes a close look at sales numbers, account management, production timelines, new service/product innovation and budgeting. In addition, time is spent reviewing department performance, conducting individual employee reviews and determining whether it is time to bring additional resources to the table. While all of these are necessary tasks to maintain the vitality of a business, it is important to also dedicate time to planning for the unexpected. Businesses in California need to operate against the backdrop of natural disasters such as earthquakes and wildfires. For this reason, it is imperative to have a disaster recovery plan in place should the unexpected occur. Below is a summary of key planning issues to consider. (more…)
By Patrick Ngai, CPA, Audit Manager
Here we are, well into the month of December 2019. It seems like almost yesterday when I wrote the article, Top Tech Trends in 2018. As they say, time waits for absolutely nobody. As we prepare to say goodbye to the 2010s as a decade, I would like to take a minute to summarize five technology trends from the past twelve months. (more…)
By Patrick Ngai, CPA, Audit Manager
ASL Technology Group
When ASC 842 – Leases (“ASC 842”) was first published in 2016, the effective date for non-public entities was scheduled for 2020. The date seemed so far away that most people took the, “we will cross that bridge when we come to it” approach. To be fair, most people were too concerned about the new revenue recognition standard (ASC 606) to worry about anything else. (more…)
By Patrick Ngai, CPA, Audit Manager
About two years ago, I took on a bigger role within the ASL tech group. On a weekly basis, I scour the internet and look for news and articles that highlight the various subsectors of the technology world. As we are approaching the end of 2018, I would like to share with you five (plus one bonus) articles that I found the most intriguing. (more…)
By Sylvia Chan, CPA, Tax Manager
The Tax Cut and Jobs Act (TCJA), P.L. 115-97 enacted in December 2017 has brought about exciting changes to the tax world. I would like to draw your attention to a provision that was written specifically to encourage U.S. companies to expand their operations globally without leaving the United States. Some technology companies have moved their intangible assets offshore to low-income tax jurisdictions and shifted the related income outside the United States. While tax-avoidance may not always be the primary motive, it was an inevitable truth that the U.S. Treasury was losing a portion of its revenue due to this income shifting tactic. (more…)
By Danny Stumpf, IT Manager
Today, most companies rely on partnerships and subcontractors to deliver their services: marketing consultants, bill collectors, diagnostic labs, and so on. It may surprise you to learn how many different parties are involved in something as simple as buying a cup of coffee. Not only is your transaction recorded by the coffee shop, merchant provider, and ultimately your credit card company, but it is likely at least one of these will archive the purchase in a system maintained by another organization (such as a third-party data warehouse). (more…)
By Guest Blogger: Ed Correia, Founder of Sagacent Technologies
The majority of us are online regularly and during these interactions, businesses collect vast amounts of data about their clients. Your business gathers multiple pieces of information, such as birthdays, addresses, and purchasing preferences, not to mention credit card and other billing records. Right there, you now have all the information a hacker would need for identity theft. Not only does it cost your clients, but it costs businesses globally around $221 billion a year. (more…)
By Sheila Foley, Accounting Consultant
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was enacted in late December, 2017 and it significantly altered the tax laws applicable to individual taxpayers. The significant changes included: reduction in tax rates and modification of brackets, increase in the standard deduction, repeal of personal exemptions, limitation on deductions for state and local taxes, mortgage interest, home equity loan interest and elimination of deduction for miscellaneous itemized deductions. (more…)
By Sarah Renard, Senior Marketing Coordinator
It’s that time again, to send your monthly or quarterly company e-newsletter to your list of hundreds, if not thousands of subscribers. So you go through your routine of adding new clients/prospects/contacts since your last e-mail blast to your existing list, build your newsletter and click ‘send’ then move on to your next ‘to do list’ item. Unfortunately, the recent GDPR regulations may cause a hiccup in your routine. (more…)
