ARTICLES

Toxic managers can ruin a business from the inside out. Toxic managers don’t have a clue how their behavior affects their employees, or don’t care. They are self-interested, have big egos and don’t respond well to feedback about their behavior....

Onboarding. The word is reminiscent of the golden days of train travel. But it’s also the current shorthand for new employee orientation. The Society for Human Resource Management defines onboarding as “the process by which new hires get adjusted...

Running out of space in your office? You may not need to move. Instead, consider ways to maximize the space you have. For help, you can hire a professional office space designer, interact with a computer program or create your own simple hand-drawn...

Time is a precious and perishable resource. It is, perhaps, the most perishable resource on the planet. Each second that passes is the destruction of an asset – the asset of time. We can’t save it to use later, we can’t recycle it, and we can’t...

Collusion – a secret agreement between two or more individuals for a deceitful or fraudulent purpose – is one of the most difficult types of fraud to expose. Auditors routinely excuse themselves from the responsibility of detecting fraud, collusion...

A yearly audit from your CPA cannot – and should not – be replaced by internal auditing. But during the year, keep a trained eye on your company’s expense accounts. That’s an important step that can avert problems and bring savings to your company....

The job of recruiting new managers does not end with the new hire – or the promotion from within. It begins there. It is now up to you to groom your new manager for success. Grooming managers is a hands-on, proactive process. Kicking back will not...

Customer focus groups can provide clues for increasing sales and revenue, but only if you ask the right questions. Here are some tips for coming up with a first-rate list of questions for your groups. Decide on the objectives for your focus groups....

We've all heard the news. The Baby Boomers have begun turning 65, the traditional retirement age. Over the next 19 years, all the Baby Boomers will hit that milestone. While not everyone wants to retire at that magic age, it is a reminder that time...

The nonbusiness energy property tax credit was extended for one year by Congress in the December tax bill. It allows homeowners a credit for the cost of making certain energy-efficient home improvements. But before you make a qualifying purchase...

These challenging economic times have meant a bit of belt tightening for most of us. If you’re in this mode, here are a few major expense items you might want to consider. 1. Insurance Most people believe they have to carry insurance and, in most...

For the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2010, the IRS examined about 18.4 percent of returns filed by the highest income demographic – people with income in excess of $10 million. That represents a significant increase from the prior year, when the...