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Week 5, June End Down

Week five of June concluded much the same as the weeks before it – down. The final week of the month was especially poor in terms of same store sales, with independent grocers reporting 6.01 percent less sales than the same period in 2016. The month of June proved to be a tough one for independents, with none of the five weeks ending higher than sales from the year prior.

The latest unemployment report showed better results, with the economy netting 222,000 jobs according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate edged up to 4.4 percent, but that was probably more due to the fact that the size of the labor force increased by 361,000 jobs. The participation rate, hourly earnings, and job revisions for the previous two months were all up, making for an overall positive jobs report.

Same Store Sales
% Change from last year

Same Store Sales – Previous Months

FMS Hires Gary Lauer as Key Account Executive of the Northeast

FMS is pleased to announce that Gary Lauer has joined the company as its Key Account Executive of the Northeast region. Gary brings with him decades of grocery experience both at the retail and wholesale level. Gary got his start in grocery as a boy at his family's store in Pasadena, Maryland. After college, Gary worked his way up through many grocery positions, from Retail Management Training to Division President.

In 2000, Gary became the Director of Retail Management for AWI and later C&S where he served until 2015. He then joined the Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association as its Director of Membership and Membership Development until his joined FMS in the summer of 2017.

"We're proud to have Gary on board," says Mark Ehleben, Vice President of FMS. "Gary brings a great deal of knowledge and expertise in the independent supermarket industry and will be a tremendous asset to both FMS and our customers."

Gary Graduated from St. Joseph's University with a bachelor's in Food Marketing and earned his MBA from York College of Pennsylvania.

Gary can be reached at garyl@fmssolutions.com or 877-435-9400 x1241.

BGBC Partners, LLP Tax Update: Start-up Expenses

If you are an existing business owner who is considering expanding into a new line of business or a new owner who incurred costs starting your business, you need to be aware of start-up expenses. Start-up expenses are a special category of tax deductions which would otherwise be nondeductible until the business is disposed, but can be expensed up to a limit with the balance amortized over 15 years.

What qualifies as a start-up expense? Any expense incurred to investigate the creation or acquisition of a trade or business as well as any expense incurred to create a trade or business. A key requirement is that these costs must be of a nature that they would be deductible as business expenses if they were incurred in an active business rather than in a start-up phase.

The Tax Code allows taxpayers to deduct up to $5,000 of start-up costs. The remaining costs are then amortized equally over 180 months beginning with the first month of active business.

The $5,000 deduction is reduced dollar for dollar once a business incurs $50,000 in total start-up expenses. The election is automatically made by including the start-up expenses on the tax return for the year incurred. You must be elect out with a statement if your tax position favors them to be capitalized (which is possible but rare).

It is important to separately track these expenses to prevent making an error by over or under deducting them.

The first years of a new business or business line are critical to its long-term success. These special elections are just one way you can help your business get off to a great start. If you have any questions or need assistance, contact an experienced CPA to help you sort through these provisions.

BGBC Partners, LLP is a full service certified public accounting and business consulting practice.

For more information, contact Brad Bell, CPA or Steve Reed, CPA/ABV/CFF at BGBC Partners, LLP (317-633-4700).

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