FAQs

Unlimited access gives you unlimited access to your Client Advisor for meetings, emails, calls, etc., and any service in our wheelhouse that doesn’t require a monthly plan upgrade. This includes, but is not limited, to GAAP audit support, state tax registrations, S-corp elections, and more. Please ask your Client Advisor, and they will tell you if a specific task is covered in Unlimited Access.

Please send all tax notices to Notices@forkcpas.com. We will address tax notices or mail audits from a tax authority triggered by filings and financials we prepared and submitted while you are a client. The Notices received as a result of work performed by you or your prior accountant will need to be addressed by you or your prior accountant respectively. Our services do not include participating in IRS or state office/field audits.

We value the trust you put in us as custodians of your data, and we take steps to ensure that all our apps and data are secure. It’s vital for us that we have enterprise-grade security. We’ve partnered with Practice Protect, Tech Guru, and Island to create a safe and secure cloud-based ecosystem.

We save our client data in Sharepoint (a Microsoft app). Sharepoint is only accessible through Island. All login credentials are saved in Practice Protect and are accessible only through Island. Island is accessed using Microsoft 365 SSO and multi-factor authentication. Our Microsoft user accounts are monitored by Tech Guru to ensure authorized logins.

Practice Protect is our password management software, which only operates within Island. Passwords are encrypted with 2048-bit encryption. Practice Protect is also integrated into our email system to ensure that our emails are under the same security parameters as our apps and passwords.

We also have a Cybersecurity insurance policy to protect us in a worst-case scenario. Our insurance policy is through Coalition Cybersecurity Insurance, which provides state-of-the-art cybersecurity and best-in-class cyber insurance. The Coalition Cybersecurity platform offers 24/7 security monitoring, automated alerts, employee training, and access to experts who help prevent cyber incidents before they occur.

We prepare and manage your accounting data, but you own it. This includes your QBO, Marginedge, Restaurant365, and all source documents we store to prepare your financials. If you ever want to leave us or move your accounting in-house, we’ll transfer admin access for your QBO or Restaurant365 and all documents upon request.

For Thrive plan clients, we set up and manage an Accounting@ inbox under your domain name. For example, if you own Big Pete’s BBQ, and the domain name bigpetesbbq.com, then we will ask you to set up accounting@bigpetesbbq.com for our team. This email will be used to interact with your vendors to deal with Accounts Payable issues, such as requesting vendor credits. It’s meant to replicate an in-house accounting team.

Accounting@ is meant for Accounts Payable-related issues. You shouldn’t send vendor introductions, invoices, receipts, statements, vendor credits, or any other vendor related issues to your Client Advisor. These will go to accounting@.

By default, we assume we are responsible for all bills, including credit card payments, rent, utilities, insurance, suppliers, liquor/beer/wine, etc. We will confirm this during your onboarding and kick-off meeting.

 

If the bill is uploaded by the restaurant to Marginedge, xtraCHEF, or Restaurant365 then we assume the restaurant has approved it for payment. If a bill appears in a vendor statement and was not uploaded to Marginedge, xtraCHEF, or Restaurant365, we will send you a client task asking for approval to record and pay the bill.

All third-party delivery orders should get processed through the POS using the pricing that is shown in the delivery platform. We recommend using an aggregator that consolidates your third-party orders and sends them to the POS. Better yet, you can use a POS (like Toast) that integrates directly with your third-party delivery providers. Whether you use a system to consolidate these orders, or if you’re inputting the orders manually, we recommend inputting the orders as if it’s a regular sale and using the third-party delivery tender for payment. We also recommend setting up a separate tender in your POS for each third-party delivery provider.

Until the end of 2022, our default policy was to record fixed assets and depreciation on a tax basis using bonus depreciation. Considering most fixed assets qualified for accelerated 100% depreciation in the year of purchase, you would see a large depreciation expense on your P&L in the month of purchase. Starting in 2023, we’re recording depreciation on a true book/GAAP basis because 100% bonus depreciation is no longer available. When you purchase a fixed asset, we will determine whether it needs to be capitalized or expensed based on the IRS’s cost segregation guide for restaurants. If the purchase is a fixed asset, we will add it to our fixed asset schedule and calculate monthly depreciation over the useful life of each asset.

Your vendor balance is updated weekly in QBO or Restaurant365 if you’re a Thrive client. You can access this information by going to QBO or Restaurant365 > Reports > Unpaid Bills. Alternatively, you can run an aging report by going to QBO or Restaurant365 > Reports > Accounts Payable Aging.

All receipts, invoices, and bills uploaded to Marginedge/XtraCHEF/Restaurant365 will be attached to their respective transaction in QBO or Restaurant365. Otherwise, transactions will be recorded without documentation in QBO or Restaurant365.

When there are missing bills (that we haven’t received from the restaurant) that appear on a vendor’s statement, then we will email the vendor to request a signed copy of the bill. If the vendor can’t provide a signed copy then we will either (1) request it from you via a client task, or (2) take the vendor’s word, based on your preference.

You shouldn’t run personal expenses through your business for multiple reasons, but here are the top 5:

1. It makes your financial statements meaningless for analysis
2. You could mislead external stakeholders and provide inaccurate financials, resulting in potential legal action. One of the main rules in running a successful business is to have it always ready for sale. And if you’re using the business as a personal bank account, then no one will want to buy or invest in something like that. A savvy investor/buyer will know if your numbers are lying, so don’t compromise your valuation because you don’t feel like transferring money to your personal account.
3. It could pierce the corporate veil, meaning you could lose your limited liability shield if you were ever taken to court, and they could prove that your business account was being used for personal expenses.
4. If the IRS catches you doing this, then they will start questioning all of your legitimate business expenses.
5. If the personal expenses are classified as distributions, then your distributions could trigger a red flag from the IRS because they’re very high in proportion to your salaries.

We recommend paying all tips through payroll for the following reasons:

• You don’t need to worry about reporting cash tips separately through payroll or under-reporting tips to the IRS.
• It allows us to reconcile tips received with tips paid out more accurately because we see all transactions related to tips.