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 Patrick Ngai, CPA, Audit Manager
ASL Renewable Energy Group
Welcome to Part Two of our Introduction to Renewables. Last time (Introduction to Renewables – Part One), we discussed what exactly a renewable certificate is and how it is used to address greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This time around, we will talk about carbon offsets – the other, more direct method to address GHG emission. (more…)
By Patrick Ngai, CPA, Audit Manager
ASL Renewable Energy Group
The U.S. Renewable Energy Market has been around for some time. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), renewable energy accounted for about 12% of total primary energy consumption and about 15% of the domestically produced electricity in the United States during 2016. Regardless of the current political climate, there is no denying that public interest in renewables is growing exponentially. (more…)
By Patrick Ngai, CPA, Audit Manager
ASL Renewable Energy Group
Started in 1997, Center for Resource Solution’s (CRS) Green-e Energy Program has become one of the nation’s largest certification programs for the Green Power market today. The Program is governed by two documents: the Green-e Energy National Standard, which provides the requirements for the types of resources that are eligible to generate certified Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs); and the Green-e Code of Conduct, which dictates how program participants (Participant) can market their certified REC products.
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By Patrick Ngai, CPA, Audit Manager
ASL Nonprofit Group
The internet has been around since the 1980s. Personal computers and smartphone technology had experienced exponential advancements on an annual basis since the 1990s. There was a time when it would take a full 10 minutes of load time just to get to the homepage of Yahoo.com. Now, we basically have the collective knowledge of the entire human civilization in the palm of our hand. (more…)
