SIDNEY — “The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that passed in December, 2017 provided many new opportunities for McCrate, DeLaet & Co. and our clients,” said Mark Hoge, CPA, CVA, McCrate, DeLaet & Co. CPA partner. “While much of the political talk was on tax simplification, the reality is that the changes have resulted in additional complexity. However, with change comes opportunity, so at McCrate we have spent considerable time and resources working with clients to implement new tax planning strategies and corporate restructurings to position our clients for success.”
His report continues:
There are many individual tax provisions that have changed, but much of the focus for our firm has been on the business tax regulations. Specifically, many pass-through entities are now eligible for a 20 percent Qualified Business Income deduction. This deduction comes with many strings attached, so careful planning is needed to maximize the benefit. For “C” corporations we are now enjoying a flat 21 percent tax rate, along with many changes in international taxation. These changes, along with the slew of individual tax changes have kept our staff at McCrate busy throughout 2018.
Cybersecurity continues to be a focus for us as well as our clients. We have completed a thorough review of our internal data security procedures, taken many steps to enhance our security, and implemented new data security policies to help protect our client’s sensitive information. McCrate has an audit/technology partner, a manager with the Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP) designation, and an internal IT professional that have all assisted in this area both internally and with our clients.
Another area of growth for the firm was in financial services*. Specifically, our most significant growth was in the business retirement plan space (401k’s, Simple IRA’s, etc.). McCrate has a team of seven licensed financial advisers, six of which are CPA’s, that have been successful in obtaining new retirement plan work with our focus on service. In addition to retirement plans, we also experienced growth in the areas of tax focused personal investment and wealth planning. McCrate has restructured the wealth management side of our business to accompany this growth by bringing on a fully dedicated experienced financial adviser to better service our clients.
On the staff side McCrate has added five new staff members during 2018.
Brad Hoge joined the team on the wealth management side of the business. Prior to joining McCrate, Brad spent 11 years in the industry as a financial adviser and brings great experience to the team. Brad lives in New Knoxville with his wife and three children.
Brenda Barhorst joined McCrate in December bringing 19 years of prior accounting experience. Brenda lives in Minster with her husband and two children.
Nate Yoakum joined the team in the summer after his graduation from Ohio Northern University. Nate resides in Ada with his wife.
Tom Kueterman came to McCrate this past fall as an IT specialist. Tom brings a wealth of experience in the IT area to our firm. Tom lives in Celina with his wife Melanie.
Connor Rose is the newest addition to our team. Connor is a student at Wright State University and is from Fort Loramie.
McCrate has specialists in the areas of taxation (corporate, partnership, individual, gift & estate, trusts), audit & attestation, business valuations, cybersecurity, forensic accounting, payroll, financial services*, and bookkeeping (including Quickbooks & Sage Peachtree).
Please contact us at 937-492-3161 or visit our website at www.mccrate.com and we will be glad to assist you with any of your accounting, audit, or tax needs.
*Securities offered through 1st Global Capital Corp. Member FINRA, SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through 1st Global Advisors, Inc.
