ThomsonReuters

MAY 24, 2021

Amidst the backdrop of the pandemic, there’s never been a more important time to highlight Mental Health Month. It’s been a devastating year and while signs point toward a return to normal, the impact of our mental health on our personal and professional lives remains top of mind. From a small CPA firm perspective, the intensity of the workload during this extended tax season is like nothing we’ve seen before, compounding already heightened stress levels.

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Musings on Markets

MAY 24, 2021

As we approach the mid point of 2021, financial markets, for the most part, have had a good year so far. Looking at US equities, the S&P 500 is up about 11% and the NASDAQ about 5%, from start of the year levels, and the underperformance of the latter has led to a wave of stories about whether this is start of the long awaited comeback of value stocks, after a decade of lagging growth stocks.

Treasury 55

Treasury Start-ups Risk Premium Price to Book 55

Appraisal Rights

MAY 24, 2021

. Global X , an ETF provider, provided this thorough but succinct survey highlighting the progress toward cannabis legalization in U.S. states. ; this is part 1 of a 3-part series, so more to come. As we’ve noted before, cannabis valuation issues are intertwined with regulatory and legalization issues, an interesting, but not necessarily unique aspect of the space.

Business Valuation 40

Business Valuation 40

Deal Law Wire

MAY 28, 2021

Investor advice platforms, at both the retail and institutional level, have evolved in recent years – from the use of classic literature to expanded services offered by brick-and-mortar firms. However, with the growth of app-induced innovation, various robo-advising platforms have taken the lead in providing investors with seamless, efficient, and cost-effective means of advice.

Technology 52

Technology Marketability Banking 52

Speaker: Susan Spencer, Principal of Spencer Communications

Intent signal data can go a long way toward shortening sales cycles and closing more deals. The challenge is deciding which is the best type of intent data to help your company meet its sales and marketing goals. In this webinar, Susan Spencer, fractional CMO and principal of Spencer Communications, will unpack the differences between contact-level and company-level intent signals.

Marketability

ThomsonReuters

MAY 27, 2021

IRS Webpage: Operational Compliance List (Apr. 27, 2021). Available at [link]. The IRS has updated its Operational Compliance (OC) list highlighting changes in tax-qualification requirements and related guidance affecting the operation of retirement plans. The IRS provides the OC list to help individually designed plans maintain operational compliance by identifying changes in requirements generally effective during a calendar year.

Compliance 52

Compliance 52

ThomsonReuters

MAY 27, 2021

Tyll v. Stanley Black and Decker Life Ins. Program, 2021 WL 1748474 (2d Cir. 2021). In a dispute about life insurance benefits under an employer-sponsored ERISA plan, the Second Circuit has upheld a trial court’s use of the deferential arbitrary and capricious standard of review, ruling that the plan adequately delegated discretionary authority to the plan’s insurer.

Compliance 52

Compliance 52

ThomsonReuters

MAY 24, 2021

Tax season 2020 is officially in the history books and there’s no doubt you and your staff have been thinking a bit more about what to do now that it’s over. Despite the end being upon us, there’s still plenty to keep your firm busy in the following months. Below are several steps to help you take a look behind the curtain and improve your firm from the inside out.

Start-ups 52

Start-ups Marketability 52

ThomsonReuters

MAY 27, 2021

Priv. Ltr. Rul. 202114001 (Jan. 12, 2021). Available at [link]. The IRS has issued a private letter ruling to a male same-sex married couple regarding the status of various medical costs and fees arising from in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures, gestational surrogacy, and related items as medical care under Code § 213. The couple planned to have a child, with sperm to be donated by one spouse, an egg to be donated by the other spouse’s sister, and an unrelated individual to serve as a gesta

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