Best Practices

The Confidential Information Memorandum, or CIM, is widely used as a marketing tool when raising debt or equity capital, selling healthy or distressed businesses or refinancing existing debt. A CIM is like the big brother to a one-page investor summary, or the more commonly used term, teaser. Colloquially, a CIM is also often referred to as a book for the simple fact that it can be voluminous, detailed, dense and descriptive. Well-prepared CIMs used in successful transactions tend to share some key characteristics. By establishing the purpose of a CIM and identifying best practices for creating one, you can better [...]

The IRS reminded taxpayers of the home office deduction rules during Small Business Week and urged individuals to consider taking the home office deduction if they qualify.   Who qualifies for the deduction?  The home office deduction is available to qualifying self-employed taxpayers, independent contractors and those working in the gig economy.  However, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended the business use of home deduction from 2018 to 2025 for employees.  Hence, employees who receive a paycheck or a W-2 exclusively from an employer are not eligible for the deduction, even if they are currently working from home.   What is [...]

With travel restrictions, portfolio companies in crisis mode, and a very skittish global economy, now is certainly not the time for investors and acquirers to focus on M&A. …or is it? While the idea of doing deals right now might seem daunting, not to mention logistically challenging (how exactly do you conduct on-site diligence in a shutdown?), there’s an argument to be made for M&A to keep moving forward, despite the circumstances. Data from the global financial crisis (GFC) of 2007-2009 “shows that companies that made significant acquisitions during an economic downturn outperform those that did not,” argues a recent article [...]

A key point regarding a PPP Loan is that it is a loan. When the Borrower receives the loan, the proceeds should be recorded on the Balance Sheet as a Note Payable which is a liability. The loan proceeds should not be posted on the Income Statement as income.   If the loan ends up being forgiven, it should be handled for income reporting as follows:  Financial Statements (specifically the Income Statement) – The forgiven loan amount is an elimination of an obligation to pay a debt. An appropriate reporting of this elimination is for it to be presented as [...]