Outsourcing can cover a myriad of business activities, but those most frequently considered are the back-office functions of accounting, IT and Human Resources/Recruiting, especially at micro to mid-sized companies. A quick study of Deloitte’s “Global Outsourcing Survey” for 2016 and 2018 demonstrates the maturation of outsourcing strategy. While these surveys include mostly very large participant companies, it is clear that outsourcing is now seen as a vehicle for significant strategic advantage by “buying” available capabilities to realize advantages faster than developing strategic “assets”. (more…)
CPAs Talk Tech Biz
A blog for the owners, founders, and executives of privately held technology companies.
NextAI in Accounting – Embracing a Brave New World!
Well…it’s all but HERE! For those of you who were hoping it wouldn’t come, it is best to switch gears and consider how to best harness the change to your advantage. The alternative is to risk being left behind in a world where accountants become less known for routine detailed tasks and are more often thought of as insightful, intuitive and forward-thinking strategic assets.
Sound like hyperbole? Read on… (more…)
More About Leases (Some Good News!)
Challenges in keeping up with GAAP have never been greater, with pervasive changes in revenue recognition requirements set to hit most private companies this year, to be closely followed next year by getting most leases on the balance sheet for the first time. These confusing standards, along with the usual host of less widespread financial reporting changes, are daunting (to say the least). (more…)
Secondary Transactions and 409A Valuations - Part 1: The Potential Impact
By Jeff Faust, CVA, Director of Valuation Services
As VC-backed companies mature, they may not be ready for an IPO or a sale, but private secondary transactions on common stock are a way to get some liquidity for the founders prior to an exit.
Any secondary transaction with the Company’s common stock should be carefully evaluated to determine the relevance and the potential impact on the common stock price for 409A Valuation purposes. The AICPA guide: Valuation of Privately-Held-Company Equity Securities Issued as Compensation establishes a clear set of rules regarding this issue. (more…)
California Competes Tax Credit – 2019 Update
The state’s popular California Competes Tax Credit program continues to be available during the 2019-2020 fiscal year. The state has allocated approximately $237 million to be awarded to both small and large business taxpayers. In June, the final award period of last fiscal year, approximately $55 million of tax credits were granted to twenty taxpayers. (more…)
How Not to Fall Prey to These Common Fraud Schemes
Not too long ago, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) released their Report to the Nations, a publication on worldwide occupational fraud based on real life fraud cases and it was certainly a telling study in fraud. As an auditor for private companies, it hit very close to home to learn that the median loss experienced by companies with fewer than 100 employees was $200,000! And nearly half of these fraud cases were the result of a lack of internal controls. (more…)
Non-Employees Stock Compensation Accounting Aligned with Employee Rules
The recent changes in stock compensation for non-employees will reduce complexity and should also smooth volatility in recognizing associated compensation costs in the income statement. These changes were issued in June 2018 and are first effective for private companies with calendar year 2020, although early adoption is permitted. (more…)
Tax Reform…. Not in California
UPDATED JULY 18, 2019: At Last…Partial Conformity…
In December 2017, Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) which was the most significant tax reform legislation enacted since the 1980s. In July 2019, 18 months later, the California legislature acted and the governor signed Assembly Bill 91 that contained a select number of conformity provisions. These provisions will simplify tax compliance for California taxpayers as differing federal and California tax reporting for certain transactions will no longer be required. Unfortunately, California has yet to conform to most of the changes enacted by the TCJA.
The conformity changes included in AB 91 are highlighted below.
However, in an act of “reverse conformity,” the legislature passed Senate Bill 78. Originally, the federal Affordable Care Act imposed a “penalty tax” on taxpayers who did not have qualifying health insurance coverage. Congress repealed this “tax” effective January 1, 2019. But due to an act of reverse conformity, a “penalty tax” will once again be imposed on California taxpayers that do not have qualifying health insurance, effective January 1, 2020. (more…)
ASC 842 - Leases, the OTHER New ASC
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…)