Author: Daniel S. Gordon

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Daniel S. Gordon

Gordon is a New Jersey-based CPA and owner of Turfbooks, an accounting firm that caters to land care professionals throughout the U.S. Reach him at dan@turfbooks.com.

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How to plan for a rising tax environment

Landscape Management columnist Dan Gordon, CPA, details how landscape contractors can prepare their companies for a rising tax environment.

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Beware of financing S-corps with bank debt

Landscape Management columnist Dan Gordon explains why green industry companies should be wary of financing S-corps with bank debt.

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How to keep your company solvent during COVID-19

LM columnist Daniel Gordon, CPA, describes how different landscape companies can stay solvent during the COVID-19 crisis.

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Why are we being audited for sales and use tax?

At some point, your company will probably be selected for a sales and use tax audit, and you need to be prepared. For those landscape professionals who are in states where services are not subject to sales tax, you may believe that you have dodged the bullet. Not true! While the services you sell may […]

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Section 199A: Tax reform’s gift to small businesses

Section 199A, passed as part of the December 2017 tax reform, gives many small business owners a deduction determined with respect to their qualified business income (QBI). Generally, QBI is domestic income from a trade or business received by a sole proprietor or by an individual from a flow-through business (a partnership, LLC, S corporation, […]

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A look at the accounting process

Dan Gordon explains the accounting process and how accountants produce monthly financial statements for an accurate picture of how a business is performing.

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Are you misclassifying independent contractors?

How do you determine if a worker is an employee or an independent contractor? H The IRS is cracking down on employee misclassification.

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Elements of an effective employee credit card policy

While distributing credit cards to employees is a great idea, you should have some policies regarding limits and usage to prevent employee abuse and overuse.

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What a banker looks for in a borrower

As your company grows, you may look for money to buy vehicles, equipment and inventory. Applying for credit can be frustrating. The first place you’ll probably look is a bank. Bankers’ first priority is to protect their loan portfolios and earn a competitive return on their loans, so you need to give them many reasons […]

When the IRS comes knocking for a tax audit

Nothing strikes an emotional chord with small business owners like the prospect of a tax audit. If you practice accurate bookkeeping and obey the tax laws, there’s little to worry about. It’s a matter of proving your company is in compliance. While the audit process may be intrusive, it’s within the IRS’s right to audit […]

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The one-minute management report

When I look at a set of financials, I want to determine within one minute if the company is profitable and if the revenues and expenses are in line with industry standards. So, how do we create such a report? Start with your chart of accounts Surprisingly, many companies use a generic chart of accounts. […]

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What you need to know about the new tax law

The most sweeping tax reform act since the 1986 overhaul has been signed into law. So, what does it mean for you? No matter what side of the political spectrum you’re on, there is a lot here to digest so here is a rundown of the most relevant provisions affecting our friends in the landscape […]

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5 year-end accounting tips

Soon we’ll be ushering in the new year. The decisions we make for the upcoming year will be based on the results of 2017 and the many things we learned this past year. Since we base many decisions on information found in our financial statements, we need to ensure the data is clean and accurate […]

Web Extra: Tax-planning strategies

In his November 2017 column about yearend tax-planning strategies, Dan Gordon summed up tax planning in four words: “Postpone income; accelerate deductions.” Here are his suggestions to do just that. Strategies to postpone income include: Pushing a large job from this year to next, if there is flexibility with the customer; Pushing the sale of […]

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Design an effective compensation plan

Lessons learned from the 2017 employee compensation survey Designing effective compensation and benefits packages are paramount in contending for the best talent in today’s competitive labor market. As the economy improves, the demand for landscape services rises, requiring an increase in skilled labor. While this news is good for businesses from a company sales prospective, […]

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