The complexity of tax and accounting regulations imposes clerical, administrative, and legal responsibilities. PYA GatesMoore offers specialized services that can be customized to address your tax and accounting needs. We go beyond preparation of timely, accurate returns. We provide in-depth tax planning and examine opportunities to minimize your tax liability.
Greg B. Gates, CPA and one of the original founders of GatesMoore, was named one of Atlanta’s Five Star Wealth Managers of 2009: Best in Client Satisfaction, for the second year in a row.
Our areas of expertise include:
Financial Controls
Financial Management
Retirement Plans
Tax and Accounting Services
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Result – The practice has been able to save $250,000 per year in its contributions for its employees, while at the same time reducing administrative costs.
AHA Moment – While not a huge “AHA” for PYA GatesMoore staff, it certainly was for the practice when it was discovered that their plan design was outdated and not taking advantages of changes in the law in this area.
The Story – Without bogging the reader down in tax and accounting details (after all that is why you use a firm likes PYA GatesMoore) suffice it to say that many business advisors and CPAs are simply not versed in the complex rules affecting retirement plans. The not so secret to success for PYA GatesMoore is that they know the law and they review retirement plan documents with a fine toothcomb. While there is not a lot of mystery, there is simply a lot of thorough work.
In this practice, all of the physicians were making the maximum amount of contributions for themselves – $49,000. In order to do this the practice had to meet certain requirements in its obligation to fund their employees’ retirement plans. At the time most employees were receiving a benefit in this area equal to 16% of pay, a figure quite out of balance with industry norms. PYA GatesMoore was able to reduce this to 5%, while still being able to contribute the maximum for each of the physicians.
The practice’s plan design was outdated and it was not taking advantage of recent changes in the law. As a general rule, every participant is required to receive the same percentage of pay in order for plan to be deemed non-discriminatory. Typically this is tested against the actual amount of contributions made to the plan on the front end while applicable law allows you take into account the estimated VALUE when you retire. So obviously you do not need to fund a younger employee’s plan as heavily as you do an older employee’s because the younger employee has more time in which their plan’s funds will grow.
By revisiting the plan design and applying current law, the accountants at PYA GatesMoore were able to reduce the cost of the practice’s employee retirement funding by a quarter of a million dollars annually.