Just as supply chain issues start to ease and manufacturers think they have inventory management under control, talks of an economic downturn pick up speed. At least for the time being, manufacturers will continue walking an inventory management tightrope.

Earlier this month, The Empire State Manufacturing Index showed a big decline in business conditions, with new orders and shipments significantly down, while delivery times are steady and business inventories are up slightly. This was reiterated in the New York Fed’s description of the economy as slowing to a crawl. In June, the U.S. Fed indicated there was a downshift in economic growth, but a month later reported a slight increase in manufacturing output. Needless to say, it’s more challenging than ever to make operating decisions, especially when it comes to inventory.

Globally, manufacturers are seeing inventory levels reach record highs. While this is occurring across all 12 manufacturing sectors, automobiles, electronics, and machinery are responsible for most of the buildup. In April, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency reported, “The uncertainty around supply chain disruptions and future demand creates risks for firms.” It went on to state, “As some, possibly many, companies look to maintain safety stocks in a just-in-case model, the risk of an inventory overbuild may be higher than in the past.”

In many cases, a just-in-time inventory management strategy worked until COVID, but then manufacturers hit a major speed bump with supply chain delays and issues. Building a just-in-case safety stock served as a work around to catch up and meet demand. Now, inflation and other economic headwinds appear to be slowing demand and increasing inventory. With a lot of speculation about what comes next, manufacturers are left in a precarious position about how to manage inventory going forward.

Safety stock provides a cushion to help a manufacturer avoid missing deliveries and losing customers. It serves as “backup” to cycle stock or inventory expected to be sold within a defined time period, and helps address a variety of issues from supplier delays and inaccurate forecasts to excess demands and financial constraints. With the right safety stock, you can continue filling orders even if your cycle stock runs out.  (Abby Jenkins, Safety Stock: What It Is & How to Calculate It, Oracle Netsuite)

While it’s tempting to reduce safety stock to zero when demand slows, it also increases the risk of not having a cushion to meet demand fluctuations or supplier delays. On the other hand, too much safety stock translates into excess stock that ties up cash, can be a considerable expense, takes up space needed for cycle stock or new products, and results in revenue losses.

Different formulas (click here for one and  here for a few others) can be used to calculate safety stock for different situations. As an alternative, some manufacturers set fixed amounts for safety stock, but this increases the likelihood of overstock. InFlow Inventory suggests comparing carrying costs against the cost of potential stock outs, when making decisions about excess inventory. A Fast Company article suggested “leveling production rates with demand” even though that demand may be difficult to forecast, especially since different industries will likely experience shortages and excess inventory issues throughout the year.

An inventory management software or platform may provide some relief by helping address a number of challenges inherent to the entire inventory management process, from tracking, warehouse efficiencies, and data issues to order management, warehouse space management, and more.

As you strategize your inventory management approach for the months ahead, please know RBT CPAs is here to take care of your accounting, tax, and audit needs. This way, you’re freed up to safely walk across that tightrope, one step at a time.

If your organization is struggling to find talent – a common position given the Great Resignation of 2020/2021 and a continuously tight labor pool, you may want to tap into groups that have traditionally faced significant barriers to employment. While helping you address staffing challenges and boost workforce diversity, it may also result in valuable federal tax credits through 2025 – a worthwhile proposition given the escalating benefit and payroll spending you may be experiencing as you compete for talent.

The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) has been around in various forms for decades. The Federal government updated it during the COVID pandemic to encourage employers to keep targeted workers on payroll and to encourage hiring them to rebuild staff following the worst of the pandemic. The WOTC was set to expire in 2020 but has been extended until December 31, 2025. It is jointly administered by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Labor (DOL).

Targeted groups covered under the WOTC for taxable businesses include qualified IV-A recipients; qualified veterans (including disabled veterans); ex-felons; designated community residents; vocational rehabilitation referrals; summer youth employees; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients; Supplemental Security Income recipients; long-term family assistance recipients; and qualified long-term unemployment recipients.  For tax-exempt organizations, qualified veterans are the only group eligible. Employees related to the employer or certain owners of the employer are not eligible. (For definitions of eligible targeted groups, click here.)

On or before the day a job offer is made, you and the applicant must complete Form 8850, along with ETA Form 9061 or ETA Form 9062. Within 28 days of hiring an employee, you must submit the forms to the state workforce agency to verify the employee is a first-time qualifying member of a targeted group. You’ll receive confirmation on whether the employee meets eligibility criteria. Then, you can file for a tax credit ranging from $2,400 to $9,600 for each targeted worker through 2025.

Taxable employers claim the tax credit as a general business credit against income taxes on Form 3800. The credit cannot exceed business income tax liability.

• Qualified tax-exempt organizations claim the credit against payroll taxes using Form 5884-C. The credit cannot exceed Social Security taxes owed.

(For auditing purposes, all forms should be retained for a period of four years.)

There is no limit on the number of employees you can claim credits on, but there are limits on the value of credits. At a for-profit employer, a WOTC credit equals 40% of the first $6,000 of a targeted employee’s qualified first year wages for 400+ hours of service, for a maximum credit of $2,400. If an employee completed less than 400 hours of service but at least 120 hours, the credit is up to 25% of the first-year eligible wages or $1,500. A different maximum credit calculation may apply for qualified veterans and summer youth employees. Note! Certain wages – like federally funded on-the-job training – do not qualify for the WOTC credit.

At a not-for-profit employer, a WOTC for a qualified veteran equals 25% of qualifying first-year wages for 400 hours of service or 16% for at least 120 hours of service but less than 400.

To learn more, visit the DOL website, which has a fact sheet, reference guide, and more information on definitions of targeted groups. The IRS website has complete details, FAQs, links to forms, and more. The NYS Department of Labor website has additional information and resources.

If you have any questions or need assistance on this or any accounting, bookkeeping, tax, or audit requirements, RBT CPAs are here to help. Give us a call.

The new lease accounting standard – ACS 842 – took effect for private and non-profit organizations for fiscal years starting January 1, 2022 (or 2023 for non-calendar year-end entities). While that means at the earliest your organization must account for all leases on your financial statements by the end of this year, there’s a lot of work to be done to meet the new standards. If you haven’t started, now is the time. If you wait until year-end, it will probably be too late.

First, a number of departments/functions may be affected by the change. This includes accounting, tax, real estate, equipment leasing, procurement, treasury, information technology, and legal. Consider creating a task force with representation from all impacted areas to put together a project timeline and plan.

Second, there are several activities you’ll need to complete, from policy development to data management and extraction to technology design, workflow, implementation, and more.  Perhaps one of the biggest considerations is whether you should be adopting a technology solution to automate identifying lease language, monitoring, bookkeeping and more, which is something we strongly recommend.

So, if you haven’t already started, you need to catch up now.  Waiting for year-end is not an option. If you need a refresher or to get reacquainted with ACS 842, following is an overview (originally published by RBT CPAs in August 2021 and updated for manufacturing companies).

RBT CPAs has partnered with Trullion – a lease management software company – to use modern technology to streamline the process. If you are interested in learning more about how this may benefit your organization, give us a call.

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Did you know that, in a matter of months, your leases will be accounted for differently due to the new lease accounting standard? While previously only capital leases were recorded on the balance sheet, effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021, all leases will be on the balance sheet. That translates to January 1, 2022 for calendar year entities, and fiscal 2023 for non-calendar year end entities.

What does this mean moving forward? It means all manufacturing organizations need to make sure they have a thorough handle on all of their leases that are for longer than 12 months, including those related to real estate and operations. Especially if your organization has been leasing more equipment or space, the number of leases you may need to review and track could be quite large. Now is the time to review and evaluate contracts.

The new definition of a lease under ASC 842: “A contract, or part of a contract, that conveys the right to control the use of identified property, plant, or equipment (an identified asset) for a period of time in exchange for consideration.” This slight change means that all contracts should be evaluated to determine if they fall within the scope of this new criteria. Contracts that were previously considered leases may no longer meet the lease criteria and vice versa. Be mindful of lease language when you are reviewing your contracts.

There will still be two categories of leases. The leases formerly known as capital will now be called finance leases. The classification criteria remain essentially the same as under the existing standard; the only major difference is the elimination of the bright-line percentages.  All leases that do not meet one of those criteria will be classified as operating.

If a lease contract includes a non-lease element, that non-lease component must be accounted for as a separate contract distinct from the lease itself. For example, the cost of an equipment lease that includes a maintenance contract must be allocated between the two elements and accounted for separately.

Lease liabilities for operating and finance leases will all be accounted for in the liability section the same way capital leases currently are: split between current and long-term. The offset to the liability will be a right of use (ROU) asset. There will be two lines: a ROU asset – operating lease line, and a ROU asset – finance lease line. These ROU assets are all long-term.

The new standard was designed so that there should be minimal impact to your income statement. Operating leases will continue to be recognized as a straight-line expense over the life of the lease. Finance leases will continue to be frontend loaded because the interest is higher at the beginning of the lease than at the end.

The most significant impact will be on the company’s current ratio. Because the ROU assets are all long-term, but the lease liability is split between current and long-term, the current ratio will be negatively impacted. This change will be particularly important for entities with debt covenants that reference the current ratio. If you have significant operating leases that may create an issue with your debt covenants, connect with your bankers now.

Ultimately, it’s important that both the borrower and the lender understand that this is a reporting change, not a change in a company’s financial situation. Having this conversation early on instead of waiting until the last minute will avoid confusion, and a lot of headaches.