Tips to keep work and family separate in a family-owned business

Often, a family business can be a 24-7 undertaking. However, in order to maintain a professional business environment, as well as family harmony, it...

Addressing and making change of leadership in business

In just about any organization, there comes a time when the discussion begins to focus on a change of leadership. It usually begins to...

The good, the bad and the ugly of year-end tax planning

With the end of 2018 just around the corner, it’s time for both individuals and businesses taxed as pass-through entities to assess performance, to...

Find patterns in your business’s financial statements

I had a client back in the 1970s who had an extremely high IQ. Had it not been for a variable rate SBA loan...

State of America’s health care makes me sick

At year-end, most businesses that offer health care benefits have gone through the open enrollment process and wrestled through all the issues of vendor selection, plan-design...

What are tax incentives with O-Zone investments?

By now, you may have heard of the federal opportunity zones (O-Zones) that were established by the 2017 federal tax overhaul. In their simplest...

Engagement letters are vital part of doing business

What is an hour of someone’s time worth? Most small business owners are not paid an hourly wage. Their pay is the profits of...

Does human resources impact the bottom line?

Last month, I received a survey whereby of the 700 participants (CEO, CFO, CPO), a large majority of CEOs and CFOs said the human...

Tax reform takes me on a trip down memory lane

My BDO colleagues surprised me with their Dear Bill Matters Column a few weeks back that discussed my retirement. As I transition into retirement,...

A custom solution for a family-owned business

The owners of a successful manufacturing business in West Michigan were struggling to develop a plan for the future. For the second-generation sibling owners,...

Keep your cool: Anger is a choice in life, business

Anger is bad for your health. It is also bad for business. Tom Mooney, Ph.D., is a psychologist who gave me valuable insight many...

Addressing issues of a family-owned business

What makes a business a "family-owned business?" Well, that is easy, it is a business owned by a family. But must all of the...

Leadership in context: What kind of boss should you be?

A couple of years ago, I wrote an article about leadership after the national political conventions had taken place but before the actual presidential...

How does tax reform impact middle-market companies?

On Dec. 22, 2017, President Donald Trump signed what is commonly known as the Republican tax overhaul into law. The overhaul released a whirlwind...

Minimizing surprises in your company’s supply chain

It's a common scenario in supply chains where manufacturers use just-in-time inventory for their production needs: a client contacts us to explain the facts...

Count your blessings; some people aren’t so lucky

I attended The Salvation Army spring fundraising event, where former Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell spoke. As I listened to him, I thought of...

Are job descriptions still valuable to organizations?

We often write about how human resources has changed over the years. Not a surprise. Organizations evolve to meet the needs of the clients...

Dear, Bill: Thank you for your sage advice, knowledge

For those of you who follow the Grand Rapids Business Journal Matters column, you know William (Bill) F. Roth III. Bill has been a...

Thinking about selling your family business to your kids?

If you’ve been thinking about passing your family business down to the next generation, you may be asking: How much should I sell it...

Balancing the cost and value of employee remuneration

Last month, we wrote about a number of practices to attract, keep and motivate employees. The article had some terms currently used to describe...