Beginning with the 2027 filing season, the IRS will require businesses to submit information returns through its new IRIS system instead of FIRE. The shift affects how Forms 1099 are filed, who needs a new transmitter authorization, and how corrections are handled. Find out what your business needs to verify before FIRE shuts down in November 2026.

The backdoor Roth IRA strategy can trigger an unexpected tax bill if you overlook the pro-rata rule, which requires the IRS to treat all of your traditional IRA balances together when calculating how much of a conversion is taxable. A separate account, a prior 401(k) rollover, or even a year-end IRA balance you didn’t have at the time of conversion can all affect the result. Before contributing or converting, review your full IRA picture to avoid a costly surprise at tax time.

How much cash should your business keep on hand? The answer depends on more than a simple rule of thumb. This article breaks down a practical framework for separating your cash into layers, covering operating needs, committed funds, and contingency reserves, so you can make smarter decisions about liquidity, capital allocation, and when cash truly becomes excess.

The IRS has launched a new mobile app that replaces IRS2Go, giving taxpayers quick access to refund status, payment history, tax records, IRS notices, and Identity Protection PINs. This article walks through what the app can do and how to use it safely. If something in your IRS account raises questions, a tax professional can help you make sense of it.

The IRS has released its 2026-2027 special per diem rates for business travel, and the changes took effect October 1st. If your company reimburses employees for travel expenses, now is the time to update your rates, review your reimbursement policy, and ensure your expense systems reflect the latest IRS guidance before outdated rates create compliance problems. Read our latest article to learn what changed, what it means for your business, and what your finance team should do right now.

Business owners should understand where work actually gets stuck and what capacity the business needs. This video explains how to pressure-test a hiring decision by looking at the underlying bottleneck, the role the new employee is meant to play, the expected economic benefit, and the management capacity required to support the hire.

For established business owners, exit planning does not always start with a firm sale date. It often starts when certain changes make the future more concrete. This video explains the key triggers that can signal it is time to begin tax-focused succession or exit planning, including changes in your timeline, a clearer succession path, outside buyer interest, and the start of a real transaction. The goal is to help business owners recognize when waiting may begin to limit their tax, ownership, and deal-structuring options.

Q4 tax planning is not a single deadline; it’s a series of decisions that each have their own timing. Some strategies require lead time to execute, others depend on an updated year-end forecast, and some work can legitimately carry into the new year. Knowing which category each decision falls into is what separates effective fourth quarter planning from a last-minute scramble in December.

Most business owners carry a rough estimate of what their company is worth, but that mental number is not a valuation, and the gap between the two can be costly. A formal, methodology-based business valuation is required in a wide range of situations, including selling or transferring a business, estate planning, lending, divorce, equity compensation, and shareholder disputes. Working with a credentialed valuator and involving your CPA early ensures the resulting number is defensible when it matters most.

A divorce settlement divides assets and establishes legal rights, but it does not resolve every tax question that follows. Filing status, child-related benefits, property basis, retirement transfers, and prior joint return liability all require a separate tax review. Understanding where the settlement ends and tax law begins can help you avoid costly surprises after the divorce is final.

Construction businesses can stay profitable on paper while margin quietly slips away on individual jobs. This article explains how job costing, change-order management, and work-in-progress reporting work together to surface problems early. Learn what to look for in each system and how to keep all three telling the same story before issues become year-end surprises.

The IRS raised the standard mileage rates for the second half of 2026, effective July 1, with the business rate increasing from 72.5 cents to 76 cents per mile. Taxpayers who use their vehicle for business, medical, or qualifying moving purposes will need to track mileage separately for each half of the year. Learn what the new rates mean for your deductions, reimbursement policies, and recordkeeping.

Your first profitable year in business is worth celebrating. But it can also bring expensive tax surprises, especially if you’re still managing the business like you did when revenue was lower. Here are the most common mistakes new business owners make and what to do instead.

Most business owners rely on backward-looking financials that tell them where they have been, not where they are going. A cash flow forecast fills that gap by projecting future inflows and outflows, helping leaders spot problems early and make smarter decisions about hiring, investing, and financing. Updated consistently and tied to real business decisions, it shifts leadership from reactive to proactive.

If your business sells online, has remote employees, or uses third-party fulfillment, you may owe taxes in states where you’ve never filed a return. Learn how physical presence and economic nexus rules work, what triggers an obligation, and what to do if your business has unexpected exposure.

As home values rise, the federal home sale exclusion may no longer be enough to eliminate capital gains tax when a property is sold or inherited. The difference between a large tax bill and a smaller one can come down to how well a homeowner documented capital improvements over the years. Keeping a permanent record of qualifying expenses is one of the simplest steps homeowners can take to protect themselves.

Selling a business, rental property, or other large asset triggers a range of tax consequences, including capital gains tax, depreciation recapture, and the net investment income tax, that can result in a significantly larger bill than most sellers anticipate. Tools like installment sale elections, deal structure adjustments, and strategic closing timing can reduce that exposure, but most of them require action before the transaction is finalized. A conversation with your CPA before you enter active negotiations is the most reliable way to protect your after-tax proceeds.

The IRS just made it easier for families to fund Trump accounts without triggering an unexpected gift tax filing requirement. In Revenue Procedure 2026-25, the IRS established a safe harbor that allows qualifying donors to contribute cash to a child’s Trump account and skip Form 709 entirely, as long as key conditions are met. Here’s what you need to know before making contributions.

Your dashboard should do more than confirm what already happened. It should warn you before problems arrive. Learn how to identify the leading indicators that give you time to act, not just a record of what went wrong.

Financial scams are more sophisticated than ever, and the people most at risk are often the ones least likely to see it coming. A few simple safeguards could be the difference between your family staying protected or losing tens of thousands of dollars. Here’s what you need to know.

Most business owners assume buyer scrutiny begins when due diligence starts. It doesn’t. The decisions you’re making right now, years before a sale, are already shaping the price a buyer will pay and the deal structure they’ll offer.

Your aging AR report isn’t just a list of late invoices. It’s an early warning system that reveals two very different cash flow problems: a system-wide slowdown in collections or a dangerous concentration of overdue balances. Learn how to read the pattern and respond the right way.

Retirement isn’t the end of financial planning. It’s where the real complexity begins. From building sustainable income and managing tax-efficient withdrawals, to preparing for healthcare costs, coordinating Social Security, and protecting your legacy, retirement calls for a more deliberate and connected approach to managing wealth. Read on to learn how to bring all of these pieces together into a strategy built to last.

The years leading up to retirement are one of the most critical windows in financial planning, offering opportunities to maximize savings, reduce future tax burdens, and position your portfolio for what comes next. From Roth conversions and catch-up contributions to Social Security timing and healthcare planning, the decisions you make now can have a lasting impact on retirement readiness. Read on to learn how a coordinated pre-retirement strategy can help you make the most of the time you still have.