Category Archives: Legal / Accounting

By Jennifer Farnsworth

Part of owning a small business is having a good understanding of the laws that effect it over time. In recent years, understanding codes and protocols is more important than ever. 

Law firms and human resource consulting agencies can be important resources to help small business owners. They can even ultimately protect their livelihood.

Martin A. Miranda, senior counsel at Tully Rinckey PLLC, said his firm has seen an increase in cybersecurity concerns, as well as pandemic-related issues faced by small businesses.

“Due to the pandemic small businesses have relied more on their online business platforms.  As more employees work from home, there has also been a significant increase in cyber attacks aimed at small businesses,” he said. 

“Hackers may find small businesses particularly vulnerable for lacking adequate technology infrastructure and data security expertise.”

Miranda said to compound problems, networks outside of the workplace may not possess sufficient security measures to prevent cyber attacks, which have become increasingly more sophisticated and targeted.  

Common methods of cyber attacks include phishing schemes, social engineering, malware, ransomware and password hacking,  said Miranda.

He has also seen an increase in small businesses reaching out on how to best follow COVID protocols, a completely new area for small business owners to have to navigate.

“I receive many questions regarding how small businesses can maintain a safe work environment for their employees as COVID protocols evolve in response to the multiple variants. Implementing these protocols can be burdensome for a small business and enforcing the protocols can often lead to differences of opinion among employees,” said Miranda.

BY RYAN MCCALL ESQ.

Cryptocurrency has become one of the newest and most prevalent investments of the last two years. As a result, the courts are now faced with the prospect of having to evaluate and distribute cryptocurrency as a marital asset during a divorce proceeding.  

What makes this new and innovative technology so complex is figuring out how much each cryptocurrency is worth.

Assuming a spouse is using a U.S.-based exchange, determining the value of an individual cryptocurrency is relatively simple. All that is needed is a subpoena duces tecum to that institution to obtain the necessary documents. Under these pretenses, the subpoenaing attorney would receive statements detailing how many funds were listed with that exchange and the assets could be easily valued as of any given date just as if dealing with stocks and investment assets.

However, what has become increasingly difficult is the rise of popular international cryptocurrency exchanges. Many of these exchanges are unregulated and will not comply with United States federal regulations. Courts should not be deterred by this in establishing a value for cryptocurrency as a marital asset.

In theory, certain cryptocurrencies—with the most popular one being Bitcoin—utilize blockchain technology, with each individual Bitcoin having a different identification number than the next. Blockchain technology has a continuous ledger of ongoing transactions that are performed and tracked. 

With that being said, there are numerous ways savvy investors can attempt to hide their funds. The most popular way for someone to do this is through a “tumbler” which can issue a separate Bitcoin or fraction of a Bitcoin from the one currently in your possession. This creates a very difficult scenario for lawyers who would be faced with the task of attempting to track down these funds.

What is beginning to take place in the court system is identifying the value of a cryptocurrency based on funds that were withdrawn from an account. 

By David A. Kubikian, Esq.

The word “succession” has become a larger part of our lexicon because HBO a few years back created an immensely watchable show about the cut-throat world of a family owned media company where hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake depending on who gets to take over when Dad leaves (or dies).  

Entertaining? Yes.  Realistic?  Maybe.  A learning moment? Definitely.  

Succession is defined as being “the action or process of inheriting a title, position, property, etc.”  Every business, regardless of size, will deal with a succession event if it is in business long enough. While family in-fighting on private jets may be reserved for the Roy family on TV Sunday evenings, the planning as to the who, when, and how your business transitions from one generation to the next (or not at all) is something that should take shape long before an actual transition happens.   

To illustrate this point, consider a few common issues that come up:

1. The Estate Planning Angle. An all too typical scenario, the business, started by one generation has a younger generation heavily involved.  One child seems to have the chops to continue to run the business once “Dad” hands over the reins (that is IF he ever hands over the reins).  Another child is involved but not as much.  

A third child has no interest in the business and in fact lives out of town. Dad’s estate plan is to treat all of his kids the same.  That is, his last will and testament or his living trust state that all assets held by the trust or governed by the will pass evenly to his “issue.”  

Capital CFO, LLC, a regional provider of bookkeeping, consulting and CFO services to businesses and nonprofit companies, has launched its Professional Development division.

With an eye toward providing increasingly comprehensive business management solutions, Capital CFO Professional Development Division launched in January with online courses, workshops and webinars for business and nonprofit professionals. The complete curriculum will roll out over the course of 2022.

Sabrina Houser, Capital CFO president, saw the need for a cost-effective way for small businesses and nonprofits to invest in their employees. 

“Providing employees with professional development opportunities is a smart investment that increases retention, builds confidence and credibility, and improves succession planning. Ongoing professional development can also re-energize staff and improve efficiency. It’s a win-win,” she said.

The addition of Professional Development extends the breadth of Capital CFO business management solutions to include webinars, workshops and online courses addressing topics that include strategic planning, finance, and nonprofit management. 

“The most successful people (and companies) are always learning and growing by keeping up to date on their industry and area of expertise with an eye toward continuous improvement,” says Liz Chipman, M.Ed., director of education and employment. “We want to be able to help forward thinking companies and professionals do that in a way that is both cost effective and efficient.” 

By Susan Elise Campbell
As businesses adjust to the unprecedented challenges of a pandemic, so do the attorneys who advise them.
“There have been a whirlwind of legal issues that we never thought we would have to deal with,” said James T. Towne Jr. of The Towne Law Firm PC, with offices in Saratoga Springs and Glens Falls.
Unique issues about government relief, bankruptcy and foreclosures, contracts, COVID-19 fraud, cybersecurity and much more are on a daunting list of topics attorneys are being challenged to address this past year.
“During the first 120 days we were confronted with a variety of labor and employment inquiries,” said Towne.
Many of these were rooted in the logistics and liabilities of sending non-essential staff home to work and as a condition of employment, he said.
“Managers are accustomed to taking their laptops and working from home, but maybe not the support staff,” he said. “Matters come up about restrictions on the equipment taken offsite, using that equipment for personal matters, and businesses not enforcing obligations in connection with work performed at home.”
Matthew F. Fuller, partner at Meyer, Fuller & Stockwell PLLC in Lake George, said that whether an employer can mandate that staff get vaccinated has “no clear cut answer. If someone gives you a straight answer, don’t listen.” He is addressing the issues of testing and vaccinations for the municipalities he represents.
“There are conflicting directives from the federal government and from the governor’s office,” Towne said. “In New York, different classes of employees need to negotiate their contracts,” he said. “If the municipality’s internal staff is under a collective bargaining agreement we have to go through that agreement very carefully to see what we’re dealing with” as to what can be mandated.

By Paul Zarecki
Small businesses are more likely to become the victims of fraud than larger businesses.
Small businesses are the most vulnerable to occupational fraud and abuse, according to the Association for Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). In its 2020 Report to the Nation on Occupational Fraud and Abuse, ACFE cites that the smallest organizations, 100 employees or less, suffered higher median losses than did the largest organizations (10,000 employees or more).
While the largest companies suffered losses of $140,000 on average, small businesses’ losses averaged $150,000, based on its survey.
Considering the potential losses and how much more of an impact $150,000 is to a smaller business than a larger business, it befits small-business owners to make the prevention of fraud a priority. Though no business owner wants to feel it employs unscrupulous people, sometimes temptation or personal financial pressures can push even the hardest working, most trusted employee into perpetrating fraud.
Here’s how you can prevent fraudulent activity in your workplace:

By Jennifer Farnsworth
It has been a little over a month since LayerEight, formerly PrimeLink Managed Services division, has reintroduced itself to the business community as a new subsidiary of the 118-year -old Champlain Telephone Co.
In keeping with the telephone company philosophy, LayerEight officials said it will focus on personalized customer service by specializing in IT, cybersecurity and construction services for telecommunications infrastructure.
The company is based out of Plattsburgh, however Vicki A. Marking, its sales and marketing director, said there are a number of well established clients as far reaching as Saratoga County, with the ability to serve satellite offices across New York State.
“The demographic in the Glens Falls and Saratoga area really match with what we have in the Plattsburgh area. We have a sweet spot for certain size businesses who are looking for personalized, local IT support,” said Marking.
She said when the coronavirus first hit last March, business exploded for them in many ways that were initially unexpected. With so many people having to work from home, being able to set people up with networks for a “home office” became a growing demand.
They also were being sought out for their ability to provide IT cybersecurity.
“All of sudden our clients were finding themselves in an unplanned situation where they were having to connect to work servers, and having to think about confidentiality and security, and all from home,” said Marking.

By Rachel Phillips
In business, accounting is the day-to-day tracking of financially operations, both in the short term and the long term.
Not only does accounting serve the purpose of tax compliance and record keeping, but also recording metrics used for evaluating business performance. As such, it is a vital function for success in business.
However, with improving technology and the internet, it has become easier than ever for certain business tasks to be done remotely. As a result, recent years have seen an increase in businesses using outsourced accounting services.
When a business outsources accounting, they hire an outside professional to organize and evaluate their books and records.
Accountant and bookkeeper Lisa Daly of Daly Accounting in Queensbury said outsourced accounting can be a smarter financial decision for small businesses.

BY DANIEL S. GLASER, ESQ.
Local. Real Estate. Attorney.
When buying or selling real estate, it is imperative that you have the counsel, guidance, and skill of a local real estate attorney.
For example, next week you are going under the knife for a triple bypass surgery. You are given two options on how to proceed: use the services of a cardiothoracic surgeon; or save some money by trying to do it yourself.
Yes, you may have a steady hand but going with option one seems like the better way to go.
While the hypothetical may seem unrealistic, the message behind it is real. When you are dealing with something very important, for example making the largest purchase in your life, seek assistance from professionals that have a plethora of experience in their field. When you have to make a decision about whom you should use to represent you in your real estate transaction and dealing with hundreds of thousands of dollars, always go with a local real estate attorney.