When forming an entity, do you know the pros and cons of a C corporation versus an S corporation? What about the advantages and disadvantages of a partnership, LLC or sole proprietorship?

These classifications may not seem important now, but they can have significant tax and liability consequences depending on your future plans for your business, especially if you are looking to sell.

For an overview of how entity type can affect your business, we invite you to view the August issue of Smart Business Cleveland ordownload our latest Insights article here.  

Financial institutions need to be aware of new regulations under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act’s (FACTA) Red Flag Regulations.

Under these new regulations, all financial institutions and creditors must have programs in place by November 1, 2008 to prevent and minimize the risk of identity theft. There are three new regulations:

• Financial institutions or creditors must develop and implement an Identity Theft Prevention Program in connection with both new and existing accounts. It must include reasonable policies and procedures for detecting, preventing, and mitigating identity theft.

• Users of consumer reports must respond to Notices of Address Discrepancies that they receive.

• Issuers of debit or credit cards must assess the validity of a change of address if they receive notification of a change of address for a consumer’s debit or credit card account and, within a short period of time afterward they receive a request for an additional or replacement card for the same account.

For more information on these new regulations, please visit http://www.wolterskluwerfs.com/info/redflagrc/

We wanted to take a moment to make you aware of a great charitable venture going on in Northeast Ohio.

We’ve all heard of class action lawsuits being settled for tens and sometimes hundreds of millions of dollars to be split amongst very large groups of people. Have you ever wondered how they managed to actually track down all of those people due to be compensated.

The answer is that often times, they can’t. And, unfortunately, if the awardees cannot be tracked down, that money often goes straight back to the defendant.

Using an ancient legal doctrine known as cy pres, those monies can still be put to good use instead of being returned to the organization which was being punished in the first place.  

Ohio Lawyers Giving Back, created by the law firm of Dworken & Bernstein Co. L.P.A., has used this idea to donate over $16 million to charitable causes so far. You can read about the latest donations here.

Members of the Ohio legal community that are interested in “giving back” can find out how to get involved at the Ohio Lawyers Giving Back Web site.

For an Ohio small business looking for additional funding to grow its employment force, the Small Business Linked Deposit Program may be an enticing option.

The program, which is run through the Ohio Treasurer, provides reduced rate loans to businesses that use the funds to create new, full-time jobs. One full-time equivalent job must be created or saved for every $50,000 requested. A maximum of $400,000 may be requested.

The loan is a two-year loan with a possible two-year renewal if all requirements are met and the program is still active. Both new and refinanced loans are eligible for the program.

The way the program works is that the Ohio Treasurer purchases a certificate of deposit at a reduced rate for a set period of time with the lending institution that is willing to pass that savings along to a small business customer who is trying to create or retain jobs. The state is still earning interest on its money, but it is also leveraging its resources in local economies to help create jobs.

For more information, please visit the Ohio Treasurer's Web site or click here to download a FAQ sheet.  

Please feel free to contact us at 440-449-6800 if you have any questions regarding this program.

You can add the IRS to the growing list of parties concerned with rising fuel costs. In a news release posted to its site yesterday, the IRS announced that it will be increasing mileage rates for the second half of 2008.

The new mileage rate for business travel will be 58.5 cents per mile, an 8 cent increase. The IRS normally only updates the mileage rate once per year, but made this special adjustment due to recent gas price increases.  

In addition to the increase in the business mileage rate, the new six-month rate for computing deductible medical or moving expenses will also increase by eight (8) cents to 27 cents a mile, up from 19 cents for the first six months of 2008. The rate for providing services for charitable organizations is set by statute, not the IRS, and remains at 14 cents a mile.

With rising fuel prices forcing all of us to tighten our budgets, please keep these new mileage rates in mind when you or your employees are traveling for business in the second half of 2008.

Looking for ways to reduce your fuel costs?  Visit the Save Gas Blog for more ideas and tips.

Why is it that a few companies can get thousands of employees to execute superior customer service and many can’t get a department of 15 to deliver it?

This is a question often posed by John DiJulius, known as the authority on world class customer service experience. How do companies like Disney and Ritz Carlton train their employees to consistently provide customers with top-notch customer service? The answer to the question often lies in the customer service systems put in place by these organizations.

Fortunately for the those of us who may struggle to achieve this level of service at our own organizations, DiJulius has studied these systems extensively and documented the results in two outstanding books – Secret Service and his newest release What’s the Secret to Providing a World Class Customer Service Experience.

Secret Service has become a “must read” for our staff members and we’ve also had the privilege of having John on site to host various client service training sessions.

If you’re looking to improve your organization’s customer service, we highly recommend reading either of John’s books. They are available at his Web site, www.thedijuliusgroup.com.

Becoming a successful entrepreneur involves much more than simply coming up with a great idea. Once you’ve had your “Eureka!” moment, the real work begins. Often times, the most difficult task in opening a business is determining a way to fund the building, equipment, employees and all of the other assets you’ll need to get your product or service to market.

With many different funding options available, such as commercial banks, angel investors and venture capitalists, this critical choice can be difficult for many first time business owners.

Our own John Bonfiglio, CPA, CVA, has worked with a wide variety of start-up businesses dealing with these very same issues. Click here to view his Insights article, “Start Me Up,” from the June issue of Smart Business Cleveland.