KauffmanㅣKim, LLP

10/28/2022

We are extremely grateful to announce that we’ve been selected as the winner of Howard County Best of 2022!

03/02/2021

Are you dissatisfied with your tax refund?

Here are seven tax strategies you may be missing out on.

Without carefully developed tax strategy, individuals run the risk of missing out on key tax benefits and paying more taxes than necessary. Tax planning may be low on your list of favorite financial chores, but it’s one of the most important tasks to save your hard-earned money. The number one que...

06/26/2020

We're extremely grateful for all the great reviews! Thank you!

03/17/2020

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced today that as part of its coronavirus response, individuals and businesses can delay their tax payments for 90 days.

Also, Comptroller Peter Franchot announced he will extend business-related tax filing deadlines to June 1. The June 1st extension applies to certain business returns with due dates during the months of March, April and May 2020 for businesses filing sales and use tax, withholding tax, and admissions & amusement tax, as well as alcohol, to***co and motor fuel excise taxes, tire recycling fee and bay restoration fee returns. Comptroller Peter Franchot also stated that if the IRS extends its April 15th filing deadline for income tax returns, Maryland will conform to the decision of the IRS so an official announcement of extension is expected soon.

01/21/2020

Commonly Overlooked Tax Deductions/Credits on Business Tax Returns

1. Health Insurance Premium for S-corp Shareholders

While S Corporation employees can claim employee health insurance as a tax-free benefit, shareholders who own more than 2 percent of the company need to take specific steps to ensure health insurance deduction can be taken. The steps are
(1) Corporation must either pay for the premiums directly or reimburse the S-corp owners.
(2) The amount of premiums needs to be included as wages on W-2 and box 14
(3) The amount of premiums is deducted on Schedule 1 of 1040.

2. Home Office Deduction
If you use part of your home for business, you may be able to deduct expenses for the business use of home. The requirements to claim home office deduction are
(1) Regular and exclusive use
(2) Principal place of your business

3. Accelerated Depreciation
Section 179 deductions and bonus depreciation are great benefits businesses frequently miss out on. It’s not always beneficial to take the accelerated depreciation, but it’s definitely an option to consider.

4. Retirement Accounts
For S-corps with one shareholder, SEP IRA and solo 401k are great tax-favored retirement plans.

01/21/2020

Commonly Overlooked Tax Deductions/Credits on Individual Tax Returns

1. Stock Sale With Basis Not Reported to IRS

Stock sales price minus stock cost/basis is the taxable amount reported on your individual tax return. Before tax year 2011, brokers were not required to report adjusted basis of securities. Therefore, if your 1099-B (Proceeds from Broker and Barter Exchange Transactions) has short-term/long-term transactions for which basis was not reported to the IRS, you need to report the basis yourself on form 8949 or else the total proceeds become fully taxable.

2. Child and Dependent Care Credit

You may be able to claim the child and dependent care credit if you paid expenses for the care of a qualifying individual to enable you to work or actively look for work. The amount of credit depends on your adjusted income, total dependent care expense, and the number of qualifying individuals.

3. Medical and Dental Expenses

If you itemize your deductions, you may be able to deduct medical and dental expenses paid for yourself, your spouse, and your dependents that are more than 7.5% of your adjusted gross income in 2019.

4. Credits for Other Dependents

This credit allows up to $500 credit per qualifying dependent. A qualifying dependent could be taxpayer’s child, parent or cousin and it could even be someone who is not related to the taxpayer if the unrelated person lived with the taxpayer for the entire tax year. Qualifying dependent does not necessarily have to live with the taxpayer if the dependent is related to the taxpayer.

5. Education Credits

American opportunity tax credit (AOTC) and the lifetime learning credit (LLC) are two education credits available in 2019. To be eligible, the law requires a taxpayer or a dependent to have received form 1098-T from an eligible educational institution, whether domestic or foreign. AOTC has a maximum annual credit of $2,500 per eligible student and LLC has a maximum annual credit of $2,000 per tax return.

01/09/2020

Here are some important dates for 2020.

Business tax returns filing season start date: January 7
Individual tax returns filing season start date: January 27
Form 1099-MISC to recipient: January 31
Business tax returns due date: March 16
Individual tax returns due date: April 15
Individual tax returns for U.S. resident living abroad due date: June 15

12/23/2019

Accounting for Professional Services

Professional services have to be detail-oriented because without careful financial management, it can be difficult to track your numbers as rates may vary from one client to another. In order to successfully grow your business, you MUST consistently monitor profitability to seek opportunities and avoid risks. Kauffman|Kim, LLP will measure and analyze true profitability across clients, lines of business, employees, locations, and more. Numbers don’t lie, but they’re not always easy to understand. Let Kauffman|Kim, LLP explain their meaning.

Professional service businesses we serve, but not limited to:
- Physician practices
- Consulting firms
- Dental practices
- Architectural firms
- Marketing and advertising firms

12/23/2019

Accounting Service for Real Estate Professionals

Kauffman|Kim, LLP understands the complexities of both residential and commercial real estate industries especially when it comes down to tax strategies and consequences. We understand real estate is about bringing attention to details and that starts with organizing your books. Our affordable full-service bookkeeping/accounting service enables real estate professionals to maintain clean books which enables your business to run more efficiently.

Real estate professionals we serve, but not limited to:
- Real estate agents
- House flippers
- Real estate manager
- Investors
- Developer

12/23/2019

Accounting Service for Contractors

Extensive hours, tiresome labor, unreliable contractors, and demanding clients are what exhausts most contractors.Because of the everyday struggles, most contractors are extremely behind in sending out bills and fail to accomplish the most important part of the job- GETTING PAID. We draft every bill and with your approval, we send them directly to the clients. Additionally, we work with our affiliated law partner to fully utilize the legal tools to make sure you are getting paid from other contractors and clients.

On the project management side, we deliver value to contractors by proactively identifying opportunities and avoiding potential issues. By analyzing each project with accurate allocation and job cost accounting, we pinpoint profitable projects to help you grow your business.

Contact Kauffman|Kim, LLP today to learn more about our services for contractors.

12/23/2019

Accounting Service for Restaurants

For restaurants, Kauffman|Kim, LLP combines traditional accounting with the latest industry-specific technology, which allows you to:

- Track your sales and prime costs DAILY
- Track your inventory to drill down any cost or count discrepancies

The restaurant industry is extremely fast-paced that timely accounting is gold for restaurant owners. With a cloud-based system, you can gain access to real-time data whenever and wherever you want. Not only do we provide traditional comparative analysis for trends, but we also generate restaurant specific reports such as:

- Menu item analysis: Shows the profitability and popularity of each menu item
- Actual vs Theoretical: Shows the actual vs theoretical numbers in terms of both quantities and dollars of each inventory

With real-time data and in-depth analysis, you can make quick calculated business decisions to grow your business. Restaurant industry is devilishly competitive so contact Kauffman|Kim, LLP today to stay ahead of the curve.

12/23/2019

Accounting Service for Law Firms

Every law firm needs two offices working in conjunction- Front office with intelligent hard-working lawyer(s) generating billable hours, and a back office providing support services. As the back office, the three areas we provide exceptional value to our law clients are:

1. Compliance
Most attorneys are well aware of the importance of managing trust account properly, but most don’t have time and motivation to perform adequate accounting procedures. With Kauffman|Kim, LLP, you will have assurance that your trust accounts will be accounted properly and 3-way reconciliation reports will be constructed in a timely manner. Every state REQUIRES 3-way reconciliation reports in specific intervals and there are extremely serious consequences for violating them.

2. Time-Saving
US lawyers spend only approximately 30% of workdays on billable hours. From bookkeeping, bank reconciliation, payroll, accounts payable (paying bills), to generating/sending bills, we handle all back office duties so you can solely focus on growing your business. Leave your back office to us because every minute spent on accounting is time not spend on things that matter the most.

3. Profitability Assessment
Kauffman|Kim, LLP generates management reports to analyze profitability and efficiency with you. Addition to traditional profit & loss statement, we provide class-based reporting, which allows you to categorize income and expenses by classes such as attorneys, areas of law, departments, and locations.