Fraud perpetrated through cyberattacks and social engineering has increased significantly over the past few years. Forensic services teams are busy helping clients navigate the negative impacts of fraud, whether caused by an internal rogue employee or an outside attack by a third party. In the present-day fraud landscape, organizations of all types must take steps to help reduce the risks of fraudulent activity.

With the new year upon us, the time has come to close the books on 2023. For many companies, January is also the beginning of the new fiscal year, and with that comes making sure your book balances are accurate. The following steps will give you a leg up on ensuring your books are correct going into 2024.

If you’re an employer with a business where tipping is routine when providing food and beverages, you may qualify for a federal tax credit involving the Social Security and Medicare (FICA) taxes that you pay on your employees’ tip income.

If you’re interested in selling commercial or investment real estate that has appreciated significantly, one way to defer a tax bill on the gain is with a Section 1031 “like-kind” exchange. With this transaction, you exchange the property rather than sell it. Although the real estate market has been tough recently in some locations, there are still profitable opportunities (with high resulting tax bills) when the like-kind exchange strategy may be attractive.

Whether you’re in the process of making a retirement or estate plan or you intend to donate property to charity, you’ll need to know the value of your assets. For many hard-to-value items, such as closely held business interests, real estate, art and collectibles, an appraisal may be necessary.

If you’re facing a serious cash shortfall, one possible solution is to take an early withdrawal from your traditional IRA. That means one before you’ve reached age 59½. For this purpose, traditional IRAs include simplified employee pension (SEP-IRA) and SIMPLE-IRA accounts.

One of the most appreciated fringe benefits for owners and employees of small businesses is the use of a company car. This perk results in tax deductions for the employer as well as tax breaks for the owners and employees driving the cars. (And of course, they enjoy the nontax benefit of using a company car.) Even better, current federal tax rules make the benefit more valuable than it was in the past.

By regularly analyzing risk, business owners and executives can better understand and manage the likelihood and potential impact of fraud. Generally, there are two types of business risk: inherent and residual. Inherent risk is what exists before management takes steps to mitigate the organization’s exposure. Residual risk is what remains after management has implemented internal controls to reduce and manage threats.

Client Accounting Services (CAS), sometimes referred to as Client Accounting Advisory Services (CAAS), is a specialized field within the accounting profession that provides high-level, individualized, and strategic financial guidance to clients in addition to providing traditional outsourced accounting services. In CAS practices, a group of accountants work together in different roles to act as strategic advisors to their clients.