GRKB receives recognition at the BBB’s 2018 Central MA Awards for Marketplace Excellence

On Wednesday, November 14, 2018, The Better Business Bureau of Central New England hosted their annual Central MA Awards for Marketplace Excellence at the Manor in West Boylston. Greenberg, Rosenblatt, Kull & Bitsoli, P.C. (GRKB) Senior Vice President, Rick Powell, serves as Chairman of the Board of the Better Business Bureau. During the Awards program, GRKB was recognized with a President’s Club Award for celebrating 46 years of membership. GRKB employees Courtney Miller and Brendan Robertson attended the event and graciously accepted the award.

Pictured left to right: Nancy Cahalen, President and CEO of the BBB; Brendan Robertson, Courtney Miller, and Rick Powell from GRKB

RICHARD F. POWELL, CPA, NAMED CHAIR OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE OF THE DIOCESE OF WORCESTER

Worcester, MA—Greenberg, Rosenblatt, Kull & Bitsoli, P.C. (GRKB), one of the region’s leading CPA firms, is honored to announce that on June 29, 2017, Bishop McManus named Richard F. Powell, CPA, as Chair of the Audit Committee for the Diocese of Worcester. Rick, a shareholder of GRKB, has been a member of the Diocesan Finance Committee since 2015.

GREENBERG, ROSENBLATT, KULL & BITSOLI, P.C. ANNOUNCES NEW HIRE

John A. Guarnotta, CPA, MST, MBA, has joined GRKB as a Tax Manager. Mr. Guarnotta has over 20 years’ experience in public accounting and was most recently with the CPA firm of Morris & Morris.  Prior to that, he was a Tax Manager at Gray, Gray & Gray.  He specializes in tax planning and compliance for individuals and privately-held businesses; multi-state tax matters; and representing clients under audit.  Mr. Guarnotta is a member of the AICPA and MSCPA.  He received his BS from Stonehill College; his MBA from Boston College; and his MST from Bentley University.

RICHARD F. POWELL, CPA, ELECTED CHAIR OF BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU OF CENTRAL NEW ENGLAND

Worcester, MA—Greenberg, Rosenblatt, Kull & Bitsoli, P.C., one of the region’s leading accounting firms, is honored to announce that Richard F. Powell, CPA, a shareholder of the firm, has been elected as Chair of the Better Business Bureau of Central New England.  He has been a board member of the BBB for 10 years and has previously served as Vice Chair and Treasurer.

New Lease Accounting Standard: Planning for Implementation

After years of deliberation, in February 2016 the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU 2016-2 – Leases (Topic 842) – that will change the accounting and reporting of leasing activities for nearly all entities that issue financial statements prepared in conformity with U.S. GAAP. The main focus of the new guidance is on lessees’ accounting and reporting for leases, and recognition of a lease asset, the right of use (“ROU”) asset, and a lease liability in the statement of financial position. While the income statement recognition will not significantly change under the new guidance, the recognition of ROU assets and lease liabilities may have a major impact on an entity’s financial ratios used by its lenders in financing arrangements. Understanding, and communicating, the impact on the financial statements and related financial covenants to lenders will be important to the entity’s financing and operations.

The FASB’s stated goal was to “… increase transparency and comparability among organizations by recognizing lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet and disclosing key information about leasing arrangements.”

In very summary form, for lessees the guidance requires:

  • For all lease contracts (other than short term leases) the present value of the stream of lease payments will need to be recognized as a lease liability and a right of use (“ROU”) asset (with certain adjustments) on the balance The income statement recognition will depend upon the type of lease involved.
  • For operating lease contracts (most property leases), an expense will be recognized in the income statement as the sum of the interest on the lease liability plus amortization of the ROU asset as a single lease cost in the income Amortization of the ROU asset will be the difference between the periodic lease cost and the interest on the lease liability.
  • For finance lease contracts (most equipment and other property leases), the income statement will recognize depreciation/amortization of the ROU asset and interest expense on the lease liability consistently with similar costs related to similar assets.

Implementation of this guidance will likely require significant effort. All existing  lease contracts must be inventoried, evaluated to determine how they each will be accounted for, and assessed for the overall impact on financial statements and financial covenants, etc. Communication with lenders about the financial impact and related financial covenants will likely also be necessary.

The evaluation will require analysis of all lease contracts (both existing and new) to determine the lease classification and term, to separate the lease component from any nonlease components, and to allocate the consideration to the lease and nonlease components based upon relative standalone prices observed in the market. Payments that are reimbursements of costs of the lessor are not components of the lease and will not be allocated any consideration.

In general, for non-public companies, the guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020. Transitional guidance requires recognition and measurement of the leases at the beginning of the earliest period presented using a modified retrospective approach.

Please contact us if you have any questions.

In Memory of Dorothy M. Richmond

Dorothy

Dorothy Richmond

1917 – 2016

 

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of our long-term employee and friend, Dorothy Richmond, who passed away Wednesday at the age of 98.  We’re grateful for all the years and good times we shared together.

 Information on Funeral Arrangements can be found here: 

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/telegram/obituary.aspx?n=dorothy-richmond&pid=177763827

 

Greenberg, Rosenblatt, Kull & Bitsoli is Worcester Art Museum’s Longest-Running Business Partnership Member

Greenberg, Rosenblatt, Kull & Bitsoli, P.C. : WAM Business Partner since 1989!

For over a quarter of a century, the accounting firm of Greenberg, Rosenblatt, Kull & Bitsoli, P.C. has supported the transformative exhibitions and programs at WAM through a business partnership. That makes theirs our longest-running corporate membership!

Read the complete story at https://grkb.com/PDF_articles/GRKB_WAM.pdf

Check out the latest issue of Worcester Art Museum’s access magazine for the latest events, exhibitions and behind-the-scenes info at http://www.worcesterart.org/information/access/