COVID-19 Advisory Team Formed as our Work for You Continues

Published on March 23, 2020 by Jay Rammes in COVID-19, Firm News

Effective late Monday, March 23^rd, both Ohio and Kentucky have placed significant restrictions on the types of commerce which can be conducted for the next few weeks. Fortunately for our clients, accounting services firms are exempt from these restrictions. Since March 14^th, our Firm has maintained full operations remotely out of our three offices in Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Crestview Hills, Kentucky, and will continue to do so.  Our focus continues to be the service of our clients, while ensuring the health and wellbeing of our employees.

Our audit teams continue to work with our clients to provide critical financial statement assurance services to ensure that covenant deadlines are honored.  Since March 14^th, we have asked that our client service teams discuss with clients their level of comfort of our team’s meeting at client sites.  Many have chosen to do so remotely rather than on-site.  Given the recent orders, on-site client assurance will be very limited.  Please do all you can to keep your and our employees safe and continue the assurance process remotely.

Tax compliance services have continued unabated, and in fact, are ahead of our progress over last year.  While many Federal and State tax deadlines have been extended until July 15^th, our Firm’s goals are to continue to focus on the original April 15^th deadline to better help our clients understand future tax obligations and cash flow needs. To that end, please continue to forward all of your tax documents as you normally would so that we can continue to push forward and best serve you.

On behalf of my fellow Directors, I want to publicly thank all of our employees who have rallied to this challenge.  They all have been phenomenal in meeting client needs during this difficult time.  As you continue to work with our client service professionals, please thank them for all they are doing.  Best team we could ever hope for!

Barnes Dennig COVID-19 Advisory Team

Given all of the economic incentive legislative in Washington, we are finding ourselves in a unique position to help all of our clients in this critical time.  Accordingly, we have established a COVID-19 Advisory Team, led by Scott Cress, Cheryl Ganim, Matt Rosen and Jennifer Wesselman, to help our clients understand and navigate all of these incentives.  Things are changing rapidly and you need the best advice possible to ensure you are best positioned under these complex and changing times.

• The Barnes Dennig COVID-19 Task Force is ready to assist you with the new federal paid sick leave requirements created by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), effective April 2, 2020. We can help you calculate the various coronavirus-related leave payments for employees and complete the application for immediate refundable tax credits for these payments.
  • FFCRA contains provisions requiring certain employers to provide employees with paid leave when they miss work for coronavirus-related reasons, including a lack of childcare resulting from school closures, and provides associated tax credits to employers. The tax credit form is pending with the IRS.
• The Barnes Dennig COVID task force is closely following the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act which is before the Senate now for a vote as soon as Monday. Our task force will be here to communicate the new laws, advise on next steps, and help you execute on these changes so you can quickly help your business and employees. Some of the areas we will be monitoring and advising on are:
  • Emergency and bridge loans to distressed businesses
  • Grants and technical assistance
  • Extended net operating loss provisions requiring amendment of prior year tax returns
  • Expansion of charitable deductions
  • Reduction in interest expense limitations

Additional Resources

Visit Barnes Dennig’s COVID-19 Resource Center for a comprehensive list of communications. Please contact our COVID-19 Advisory Team or any of our leadership team at Barnes Dennig to discuss.

Barnes Dennig COVID-19 Advisory Team Leaders:

• Cheryl Ganim
• Andy Bertke
• Matt Rosen
• Ryan Lauer
• Nick Pennekamp

Federal Resource Centers:

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• World Health Organization (WHO) Coronavirus Site
• IRS Coronavirus Tax Relief
• Coronavirus (COVID-19): Small Business Guidance & Loan Resources

State COVID-19 Resource Centers:

• Indiana State Department of Health
• Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services
• Ohio Department of Health

State Unemployment Resource Centers:

• Indiana Department of Workforce Development
• Kentucky Unemployment Office
• Ohio Unemployment Office

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