business taxes nj

Cash or Accrual Accounting: Which is Best for Tax Purposes?

Ken Botwinick, CPA | 08/26/2024

Businesses often face the choice between using the cash or accrual method of accounting for tax purposes. While the cash method can offer substantial tax benefits for those who qualify, some businesses might find the accrual method more advantageous. It’s crucial to carefully assess the most suitable tax accounting method for your business to maximize benefits.

Understanding Your Options

According to the tax code, “small businesses” generally have the option to use either the cash or accrual accounting method for tax purposes. In some cases, businesses may also be eligible to use a hybrid approach. Prior to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), the gross receipts threshold for qualifying as a small business ranged from $1 million to $10 million. This variation depended on factors such as the business’s structure, industry, and whether inventory played a significant role in income generation.

The TCJA brought simplification by setting a single gross receipts threshold and increasing it to $25 million (adjusted for inflation). This change extended small business benefits to a larger group of companies. For 2024, a business is considered a small business if its average annual gross receipts for the three-year period ending before the 2024 tax year are $30 million or less (an increase from $29 million in 2023).

In addition to eligibility for the cash method, small businesses benefit from simplified inventory accounting, exemption from uniform capitalization rules, and the business interest deduction limit, among other tax advantages. Notably, certain businesses can use the cash method even if their gross receipts exceed the threshold, including S corporations, partnerships without C corporation partners, farming businesses, and specific personal service corporations. However, tax shelters, regardless of their size, are not eligible for the cash method.

Key Advantages

For many businesses, the cash method offers significant tax benefits. Under this method, businesses recognize income when it is received and deduct expenses when they are paid, providing greater control over the timing of income and deductions. For example, a business can defer income by delaying invoicing until the next tax year or accelerate deductions by paying expenses earlier.

Conversely, businesses using the accrual method recognize income when it is earned and deduct expenses when they are incurred, irrespective of when cash transactions occur. This method offers less flexibility in managing the timing of income and expense recognition for tax purposes.

The cash method can also aid in cash flow management, as income is taxed in the year it is received, ensuring businesses have the necessary funds to meet their tax obligations.

However, in some cases, the accrual method might be more advantageous. If a company’s accrued income is typically lower than its accrued expenses, using the accrual method could result in a reduced tax liability compared to the cash method. Other potential benefits of the accrual method include the ability to deduct year-end bonuses paid within the first 2.5 months of the next tax year and the option to defer taxes on certain advance payments.

Considerations When Changing Methods

Even if switching from the accrual to the cash method (or vice versa) offers tax advantages, it is essential to weigh the administrative costs of making the change. For example, businesses that prepare financial statements according to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) must use the accrual method for financial reporting.

Does this mean the cash method cannot be used for tax purposes? No, businesses can still use the cash method for tax purposes, but this would require maintaining two separate sets of books. Additionally, changing accounting methods for tax purposes may require approval from the IRS.

Choosing between cash and accrual accounting methods is a significant decision with considerable tax implications. Contact us to learn more about each method and determine the best option for your business.

Q&A:

What are the main differences between the cash and accrual methods of accounting for tax purposes?

The cash method recognizes income when it’s received and deducts expenses when they’re paid, offering businesses flexibility in timing income and deductions. The accrual method recognizes income when it’s earned and expenses when they’re incurred, regardless of when cash transactions occur, providing less flexibility in timing for tax purposes.

How did the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) impact small businesses regarding their choice of accounting method?

The TCJA simplified the definition of a small business by establishing a single gross receipts threshold and increasing it to $25 million (adjusted for inflation). For 2024, the threshold is $30 million. This change allowed more businesses to qualify as small businesses, making them eligible for the cash method of accounting and other tax benefits.

What are the potential advantages of using the cash method of accounting for tax purposes?

The cash method offers significant tax advantages by allowing businesses to control the timing of income and deductions. It also provides cash flow benefits, as income is taxed when received, ensuring funds are available to pay tax liabilities. Additionally, it allows for income deferral and deduction acceleration, offering greater flexibility.

What considerations should businesses keep in mind when switching between cash and accrual accounting methods?

Businesses should consider the administrative costs of maintaining two sets of books if using different methods for financial reporting and tax purposes. They should also be aware that switching methods may require IRS approval. It’s essential to evaluate the overall tax benefits against these potential costs before making a change.

A Cost Segregation Study May Cut Taxes And Boost Cash Flow

Ken Botwinick, CPA | 11/20/2023

Is your business depreciating over 30 years the entire cost of constructing the building that houses your enterprise? If so, you should consider a cost segregation study. It may allow you to accelerate depreciation deductions on certain items, thereby reducing taxes and boosting cash flow.

Depreciation basics

Business buildings generally have a 39-year depreciation period (27.5 years for residential rental properties). In most cases, a business depreciates a building’s structural components, including walls, windows, HVAC systems, elevators, plumbing and wiring, along with the building. Personal property — including equipment, machinery, furniture and fixtures — is eligible for accelerated depreciation, usually over five or seven years. And land improvements, such as fences, outdoor lighting and parking lots, are depreciable over 15 years.

Frequently, businesses allocate all or most of their buildings’ acquisition or construction costs to real property, overlooking opportunities to allocate costs to shorter-lived personal property or land improvements. In some cases, the distinction between real and personal property is obvious. For example, computers and furniture are personal property. But the line between real and personal property is not always clear. Items that appear to be “part of a building” may in fact be personal property. Examples are removable wall and floor coverings, removable partitions, awnings and canopies, window treatments, decorative lighting and signs.

In addition, certain items that otherwise would be treated as real property may qualify as personal property if they serve more of a business function than a structural purpose. These include reinforced flooring that supports heavy manufacturing equipment, electrical or plumbing installations required to operate specialized equipment and dedicated cooling systems for data processing rooms.

Identifying and substantiating costs

A cost segregation study combines accounting and engineering techniques to identify building costs that are properly allocable to tangible personal property rather than real property. Although the relative costs and benefits of a cost segregation study depend on your particular facts and circumstances, it can be a valuable investment.

Speedier depreciation tax breaks

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) enhanced certain depreciation-related tax breaks, which may also enhance the benefits of a cost segregation study. Among other changes, the law permanently increased limits on Section 179 expensing, which allows you to immediately deduct the entire cost of qualifying equipment or other fixed assets up to specified thresholds.

In addition, the TCJA expanded 15-year-property treatment to apply to qualified improvement property. Previously, this tax break was limited to qualified leasehold-improvement, retail-improvement and restaurant property. And the law temporarily increased first-year bonus depreciation from 50% to 100% in 2022, 80% in 2023 and 60% in 2024. After that, it will continue to decrease until it is 0% in 2027, unless Congress acts.

Making favorable depreciation changes

It isn’t too late to get the benefit of faster depreciation for items that were incorrectly assumed to be part of your building for depreciation purposes. You don’t have to amend your past returns (or meet a deadline for claiming tax refunds) to claim the depreciation that you could have already claimed. Instead, you can claim that depreciation by following procedures, in connection with the next tax return you file, that will result in automatic IRS consent to a change in your accounting for depreciation.

Cost segregation studies can yield substantial benefits, but they’re not the best move for every business. Contact us to determine whether this strategy would work for your business. We’ll judge whether a study will result in tax savings that are greater than the costs of the study itself.

Q&As below:

How does a cost segregation study help in maximizing tax savings for businesses?

A cost segregation study is a strategic tax planning tool that helps businesses maximize tax savings by accelerating the depreciation deductions for certain assets. The study involves identifying and reclassifying assets into shorter recovery periods, which allows businesses to take larger depreciation deductions in earlier years. By front-loading these deductions, businesses can reduce their taxable income and lower their overall tax liability. This can result in significant tax savings and improved cash flow for businesses.

What types of mistakes do businesses frequently make when allocating building costs between real and personal property?

How does The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) enhance the benefits of a cost segregation study?

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) permanently increased limits on Section 179 expensing, which allows you to immediately deduct the entire cost of qualifying equipment or other fixed assets up to specified thresholds. In addition, the TCJA expanded 15-year-property treatment to apply to qualified improvement property. Previously, this tax break was limited to qualified leasehold-improvement, retail-improvement and restaurant property. Finally, the law temporarily increased first-year bonus depreciation from 50% to 100% in 2022, 80% in 2023 and 60% in 2024. After that, it will continue to decrease until it is 0% in 2027, unless Congress acts.

The Advantages of Using an LLC For Your Small Business

Ken Botwinick, CPA | 08/02/2023

If you operate your small business as a sole proprietorship, you may have thought about forming a limited liability company (LLC) to protect your assets. Or maybe you’re launching a new business and want to know your options for setting it up. Here are the basics of operating as an LLC and why it might be a good choice for your business.

An LLC is a bit of a hybrid entity because it can be structured to resemble a corporation for owner liability purposes and a partnership for federal tax purposes. This duality may provide the owners with the best of both worlds.

Protecting your personal assets

Like the shareholders of a corporation, the owners of an LLC (called “members” rather than shareholders or partners) generally aren’t liable for the debts of the business except to the extent of their investment. Thus, the owners can operate the business with the security of knowing that their personal assets are protected from the entity’s creditors. This protection is much greater than that afforded by partnerships. In a partnership, the general partners are personally liable for the debts of the business. Even limited partners, if they actively participate in managing the business, can have personal liability.

Tax issues

The owners of an LLC can elect under the “check-the-box” rules to have the entity treated as a partnership for federal tax purposes. This can provide a number of benefits to the owners. For example, partnership earnings aren’t subject to an entity-level tax. Instead, they “flow through” to the owners, in proportion to the owners’ respective interests in profits, and are reported on the owners’ individual returns and taxed only once.

To the extent the income passed through to you is qualified business income, you’ll be eligible to take the Section 199A pass-through deduction, subject to various limitations. (However, keep in mind that the pass-through deduction is temporary. It’s available through 2025, unless Congress acts to extend it.)

In addition, since you’re actively managing the business, you can deduct on your individual tax return your ratable shares of any losses the business generates. This, in effect, allows you to shelter other income that you (and your spouse, if you’re married) may have.

An LLC that’s taxable as a partnership can provide special allocations of tax benefits to specific partners. This can be a notable reason for using an LLC over an S corporation (a form of business that provides tax treatment that’s similar to a partnership). Another reason for using an LLC over an S corp is that LLCs aren’t subject to the restrictions the federal tax code imposes on S corps regarding the number of owners and the types of ownership interests that may be issued.

Consider all angles

In conclusion, an LLC can give you corporate-like protection from creditors while providing the benefits of taxation as a partnership. For these reasons, you may want to consider operating your business as an LLC. Contact us to discuss in more detail how an LLC might be an appropriate choice for you and the other owners.