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As the year draws to a close, you may be wondering if you've done enough to reduce your overall tax obligations for this year and whether there are any additional steps you can take to improve your position to avoid a tax bill later.

There are always things you can do to improve your tax position at year-end and in the beginning of the new year, and in this article, we provide a list of recommendations from various CPA tax experts and accounting firms.

With 2025 just a few months away, it's important that small employers understand their group health insurance reporting obligations under the Affordable Care Act as they changed at the start of 2024.

Before 2024, only employers that sent out 250 or more Forms 1094-B/1095-B and 1094-C/1095-C were required to file them online with the IRS. But since early 2024 (and affecting the 2023 tax year), employers filing 10 or more ACA reporting forms have been required to file electronically. It's important that you understand your filing obligations to avoid fines that can quickly add up.

The IRS has significantly increased the group health plan affordability threshold — which is used to determine if an employer's lowest-premium health plan complies with the Affordable Care Act rules — for plan years starting in 2025.

The higher threshold will give employers a little more wiggle room when setting their workers' premium cost-sharing level for their lowest-cost plans in 2025, to avoid running afoul of the ACA and being hit with penalties. What's the new affordability level? Find out here.

A common problem in the transportation industry is a fleet manager failing to report an accident one of their drivers is involved in, or the driver themselves failing to report it — or filing the claim late. Both can result in at least one of the following: the claim being denied; settlement costs exploding; your premium increasing substantially; or your insurer non-renewing your coverage.

With slim pickings in the job market, many firms are having to settle for workers they may not normally hire, but that can lead to issues. Some employers even have a hard time finding candidates that don't have substance abuse issues, while some people are serial workers' comp filers, malingerers or have prior industrial injuries that can end up affecting your bottom line and X-Mod.

This item offers some suggestions for helping you avoid someone who is likely to either suffer a workplace injury or file a fake workers' comp claim.

One of the keys to managing risks when you first start a business is getting the right insurance to cover your operations, property and potential liabilities.

Unfortunately, many business owners fail to update their policies and just renew them year after year even if the company has grown, expanded operations and facilities, and added new equipment and property. Owners should review their policies every year to catch any omissions and make sure they are not underinsured. Here's what you should be looking at.

In this era of connectedness, increased telecommuting, smartphones that keep staff connected to the office and cyber criminals constantly waging attacks on businesses, you need to do all you can to protect your firm's, employees' and customers' data.

It's a heavy lift to try to set up protocols for the various areas where hackers and bots can infiltrate your company's database, and for a small company the task could be overwhelming. But if you approach your cyber security by focusing on the main pinch points — your greatest vulnerabilities — you can put together a coherent and effect cyber defense.

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners estimates that U.S. businesses lose some $50 billion a year to employee theft, and that 75% of employees have stolen at least once from their employer — and 37% have stolen at least twice.

It also estimates that about 33% of business bankruptcies are in part due to employee theft. So, what can your organization do to avoid falling victim?

Are you due for a workers' compensation premium audit? Audits are how insurance rates are determined, and it's possible that an audit will uncover information that can actually save you money — or not if you've hired additional staff and haven't notified your insurer.

In any case, it pays to be prepared by taking on board the tips in this item.

Proper maintenance is a key practice in keeping a vehicle safe. However, staying current with news about safety recalls is equally important, particularly if you have a large fleet to manage.

When a recall is issued, the suggested repair or service should be completed immediately. In 2023, automakers issued recalls for 35 million vehicles in the U.S., according to the National Transportation Safety Administration. But how can you stay on top of these recalls to ensure your vehicles don't pose a safety hazard?

Every year, during Brake Safety Week, thousands of commercial vehicles are inspected on U.S. highways to ensure that their brake systems are working properly.

In a typical year about 12% of the trucks inspected during the period, which typically occurs during the last part of August, fail and are removed from service until they are brought into compliance. The statistics show just how many trucks are on the roads with potentially faulty brake systems, which may reduce braking capacity and put drivers and others at risk. If an accident occurs and you've missed an issue, your firm could be held liable if sued.

In today's economy, this is becoming the most important question a small business can ask. And they may need to determine the answer to this question sooner rather than later.

"Take away all my factories and my equipment. Take away my wealth. But leave me with my key people and in a short time I'll have it all back again."