Recent News & Blog / General Business Advice
Why some businesses choose to execute a pivot strategy
Under a pivot strategy, a company consciously changes its strategic focus in a series of carefully considered and executed moves. Some common situations often prompt a pivot include financial distress, weak demand, competition or change of heart. Contact the CPAs and business advisors for help with your business strategic planning.
A general look at generative AI for businesses
Many businesses are now using “generative” artificial intelligence (AI). Essentially, this is software that’s able to generate new content based on input from users and existing data either inputted during development or gathered from the internet. If you’re intrigued by the concept, discuss it with your leadership group. If you decide to move forward, be sure to explore potential liabilities. Contact the CPAs and business advisors at SEK for help.
Empower your sellers with sales enablement
The driving revenue force of just about every kind of business is sales. That’s why many companies today are investing in sales enablement. This is an enterprise-wide, collaborative and continuous approach to empowering the sales department to do its best work. A well-designed program can help new hires get up to speed faster, boost overall sales productivity, enhance sales reps’ knowledgeability and improve employee engagement. If you decide to implement one, contact the CPAs and business advisors at SEK for help.
Small businesses can help employees save for retirement, too
Many small business owners believe they can’t afford to sponsor a qualified retirement plan for employees. If this is the case for your company, be aware that there are some relatively inexpensive, simple options worth considering. Contact the CPAs and business tax advisors at SEK for more info.
How businesses can reinvigorate strategic planning
Many businesses may get so caught up in day-to-day operations that strategic planning goes by the wayside. This can be dangerous, as a sudden market shift or disruptive competitor could leave your company slow to react. Ideally, engage in strategic planning at least annually or every few years. Consider engaging a professional facilitator to encourage participation, set clear goals and stick to the agenda. Contact the CPA's and business advisors at SEK for help or for your business strategy consultation.
Seeing the big picture with an enterprise risk management program
No business can operate risk-free. Those that try will miss out on growth opportunities and probably get surpassed by more ambitious competitors. One way to manage your company’s “risk profile” is to implement an enterprise risk management (ERM) program. An effective ERM program helps you not only identify major threats, but also devise feasible strategic, operational, reporting and compliance objectives. Contact the CPA's and business tax advisors at SEK for more information and for more tax tips.
Perform an operational review to see how well your business is running
In M&A, business buyers perform operational due diligence to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a target company’s day-to-day activities. Business owners can perform an operational review to glean the same insights. Business buyers typically evaluate three primary areas: production/operations, selling, general & administrative items, and human resources, to determine the reasonability and sustainability of things such as compensation, benefits and staff relations. Contact the CPA's and business tax advisors at SEK for help performing an operational review and more tax tips.
2024 Rates & Dates
The IRS recently released the 2024 rates and dates, which includes the following:
2024 Payroll Tax Bulletin
The IRS recently released the 2024 payroll tax rates, which we have summarized in a bulletin that contains the following:
New FinCEN reporting requirement: beneficial ownership information reporting under the Corporate Transparency Act
The Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) was enacted January 1, 2021, as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, representing the most significant reformation of the Bank Secrecy Act and related anti–money laundering rules since the U.S. Patriot Act.