Giving Thanks to You

It's the perfect time of year to tell you how grateful and humbled we are to serve as one of your trusted advisors.

We value and appreciate being able to serve you and the community for the past three decades—and we hope for years to come.

We hope your Thanksgiving is filled with peace, love and joy.
All In the Family

If you’re a family business owner, how do you maintain harmony within the family, while at the same time grooming family members to succeed you?

You can start by getting clear on expectations for everyone involved in the family business. Let's take a closer look.

Help Your Small Business Thrive

The leader of a family business should be proactive about communication. More specifically, they can clearly define and communicate the responsibilities of family members. As hard as it might be at first to do so, you’ll need to hold family accountable for their work performance.
Put job descriptions, expectations and feedback in writing, just as you would for any other non-family employee.

To prevent business disagreements from spilling over into family life, consider setting times when you’ll discuss each. Talk about work at work and as much as possible, keep the personal issues outside of work.

Looking at the Future

If you hope to have the next generation take over the business, it's never too soon to start to plan. Put together a formal succession plan that include timelines, expected progression in the business, and duties involving every aspect of your company.

Some small businesses find success in rotate assignments, perhaps not only with family member employees, but also with other non-family member employees in the business, too.

Some Fortune 500 companies do this because it gives rotating employees a good overview of what’s involved with the business, not to mention flexibility when they can do more than one job.

You’ll want to enlist the help of tax, legal and banking professionals to put everything you need for business succession in writing while addressing both tax and legal issues that you should know about.

Are you considering any kind of business transition or succession? It’s never too soon to start planning for the future. Give us a call today: (513) 576-1989.

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Gift Ideas that Help to Teach Kids the Value of Money
As the holiday season approaches, consider celebrating the season while teaching loved ones a lesson on finances and money. These educational gift ideas can even help to establish good money habits for the future.

Consider the following age-appropriate ideas:

  • Buy a small Certificate of Deposit (CD) and watch with your child as interest grows over time;
  • Buy a real piggy bank and match a portion of what your young child contributes from an allowance;
  • Introduce your child to stocks and then buy a few shares of a company that they know of, such as a favorite game or restaurant they enjoy;
  • Open an IRA for your children with part-time jobs and match their contributions. Then you can illustrate how a dollar (or more) can grow over many years. (Source.)
November Q&A

Question: The IRS informed me it’s auditing my company. How should I respond?

Answer: You'll want to reach out to us so we can provide you with advice that fits your situation.

If you keep good records and receipts of expenses and income, the audit should go smoothly in most cases.

It may involve nothing more than receiving a notice by mail and answering concerns by mail within 30 days. Be aware that the first notice of an audit happens only by mail, not by phone. In-person meetings, if required, may be held in your business, an IRS office or even our office.

Question: Do the new tax laws give me more time to repay my 401(k) plan loan?

Answer: Yes. A new provision that flew under the radar during the recent federal tax overhaul is one that changes the deadline for repaying a 401(k) loan.

When a 401(k) loan term expires, the IRS typically treats the unpaid loan amount as a distribution for tax purposes. Additionally, the deadline for paying these loans in full is only 60 days if you left the company.

But for loans treated as distributions due to employment termination in 2018 and later, the repayment period is now the due date of your federal income tax return, including any extensions. ( Source.)

Have questions? Give us a call to schedule an appointment: (513) 576-1989.
Orcutt & Company, CPA's, Ltd.
936 State Route 28, Milford, OH 45150

This office does not conduct any securities business.
9624 Cincinnati-Columbus Road STE 201, Cincinnati, Ohio 45241

Securities offered through Registered Representatives of Cambridge Investment Research, Inc., a broker-dealer member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services through Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc., a Registered Investment Adviser. Cambridge and Orcutt & Company, CPAs, Ltd. are not affiliated.
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Orcutt & Company is a Dave Ramsey ELP
(Endorsed Local Provider).