In today’s business environment, there’s no such thing as one-size-fits-all financial solutions. Industry realities, regulations, compliance and legal issues are too specialized. Howard’s professionals pride themselves on knowing the intricacies of specific industries and helping you tackle your unique challenges. Among our specialties are:
The pursuit of improved innovation never ends. And measuring the cost of improved innovation against potential benefit of implementation continues to be a challenge. In this business environment, there’s simply no room for bad or unqualified tax and financial advice.
This is why so many manufacturing businesses rely on Howard. We provide tax and assurance solutions to manufacturers in technology, textiles, plastics, metals, semiconductors and other fields. Our services also include entity-level and accounting method consulting.
Spending the time to listen to you and understand your business — and putting our experience with the IRS and other manufacturers to work for you — we can identify manufacturing-specific:
Case in Point
For a steel manufacturing company, Howard identified an improper inventory accounting method that could have resulted in tax assessments of several hundred thousand dollars.
Retail and wholesale businesses see it every day. Competition is increasing, and margins are shrinking. To boost business and stay competitive, some companies have expanded their advertising, or begun offering discounts, promotions and/or delivery service. Others are consolidating product offerings to simplify their marketing.
For businesses like yours, Howard is helping identify excess operational costs, and providing an accurate financial picture, so you can make plans to improve your business. We tailor our services to meet your company’s specific needs.
Among the ways we can help you overcome your challenges are:
Case in Point
For a wholesale plumbing fixtures company that needed to manage its accelerated growth, Howard assisted them in securing lower cost financing.
The real estate and construction markets may have rebounded. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of challenges to tackle. Financing is still difficult to come by. Market prices continue to fluctuate. And regulations have become more stringent.
With deep experience in both residential and commercial real estate and construction, Howard has worked through a wide variety of issues for clients over the years. We can develop and implement strategies that have worked well in the past (and, with hindsight as our guide, improve on those strategies as well). We’ll work with you to make sure your business is structured for ease of operations.
Well versed in how taxes affect your industry and how financial reporting affects financial institution decisions, we listen and understand your priorities, and use those insights to provide counsel and support, such as:
Case in Point
For the sale by one real estate client, the price had to be allocated among various transaction components. We advised the buyer and seller to determine the appropriate allocation, significantly minimizing the tax ramifications.
During the most recent economic downturn, professional services firms saw a significant decrease in revenues. Many companies put expansion plans on hold, refocusing on simply keeping their businesses in the black.
With the recovery, many firms have seen revenue increases. Their current clients are expanding project scopes. And new clients are being brought on board, some with significant, multiphase projects.
The evolving business environment brings fresh challenges for professional services firms. Howard can help with many of them. Listening and understanding your priorities, needs and concerns, we use the resulting insight to help you in multiple ways. Among them:
Case in Point
For a consulting services and program support firm, revenues had risen dramatically over the past year. We helped the firm adjust its internal skill sets for an increasing and changing workload, and helped the firm maintain a proper balance for profitability.
Even highly successful restaurateurs have small profit margins. Cost of goods sold is a significant component, and any expenditure that doesn’t bring value can quickly damage margins. You need to spot trends in your financials and make quick, informed budgeting and spending decisions.
Howard can help you stay on top of it all. We’re well versed in restaurants and other hospitality businesses, and we are constantly on top of the most current trends and legislation, offering cost-saving value to clients like you. Count on Howard to analyze your financials and provide quarterly or monthly reports that track income and expenses in a timely and accurate fashion.
We can also help you stay on top of the Texas margin tax — based on gross receipts/gross profit, not net income — which can affect even established companies with net operating losses. (Our thorough knowledge and application of what expenditures qualify for cost of goods sold can dramatically reduce your margin tax burden.)
Case in Point
For a start-up restaurant, the good news was it was doing well; the bad news was a resulting immediate income tax bill. We deferred its tax burden by accelerating depreciation and current-year deductions for items that represented tangible equipment costs.
It’s no secret that global energy demand has experienced unprecedented growth. New deposits are discovered each month, and new investors and landowners are entering the industry every day. Energy prices are fertile, and the oil & gas industry is expanding.
Howard has deep experience assisting clients throughout the oil & gas industry, from the original mineral interest owner who is approached to lease his land, to operating and oilfield service companies responsible for drilling, operating and delivering product.
Count on Howard to listen to your unique situation and needs, and deliver a full complement of services, including:
Case in Point
An oil & gas company was about to sell one of its major properties. We were able to structure the sale in a more tax-efficient manner and mitigate the sublease rules.
For most not-for-profit organizations, the biggest challenge is to continue to maintain and grow contribution levels over the long term. With so many not-for-profit agencies in the North Texas area competing for the same dollars, it can be difficult to keep donors giving year after year.
At Howard, we’re well versed in not-for-profits, and adept at resolving the toughest, most complex financial and compliance regulatory issues these organizations face.
We take a holistic approach to the challenges of not-for-profit organizations. By assuming a broader perspective beyond pure finances, we’re able to “think outside the spreadsheet” and identify and remediate even nonfinancial issues. This assists not-for-profits to achieve their mission more effectively.
Case in Point
A successful not-for-profit had the good fortune of being concerned about excess net assets. We worked within the organization to understand any surrounding complications, resulting in the entity expanding its outreach.
Perhaps no industry is in such a state of flux today as the medical profession. Costs are on the rise. A growing, aging population is taxing Medicare and Medicaid and making it more difficult for providers to get true value for their services. And the Affordable Care Act has created new tax regulations and compliance issues.
Amid all this change, medical providers must monitor their expenses, revenues and overall risk. At Howard, we help our clients manage costs and enhance their bottom lines. We work with your organization, address your concerns and ensure that you’re up to date on current tax issues that affect your operations.
Case in Point
We have assisted physician offices in structuring accounting systems to fully automate physician’s compensation arrangements.
Retaining and training staff is a key concern for all organizations, for which many clients have employee benefit plans. The regulatory requirements have increased significantly, requiring more specialized knowledge and audits of larger plans.
Howard has a specialty in employee benefit plan knowledge to assist in compliance requirements. Our firm is a member of the Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center, a nationally recognized program that requires significant understanding of benefit plans, which enables us to perform audits efficiently, as well as to provide the most current best practices in the changing regulatory environment.
Case in Point
Howard consistently identifies changes needed to plans in the first year we audit the plans, ultimately lowering the costs of compliance.
