Originally published in Los Angeles Business JournalThe COVID-19 pandemic has forced companies to re-invent themselves in the short term. For many, the priority has been to weather the economic fallout by maintaining adequate cash flow and ensuring overall liquidity, all while keeping their employees safe. As the region slowly begins to emerge from this crisis there w [...]

Consumers have so much more power in reducing food waste. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, very little food is wasted in poor and developing countries, whereas, in the U.S., nearly 40 percent or 150 billion pounds, of the food supply is thrown away annually. During a recent audit engagement, I was introduced to the term Responsible Vendor Sourcing Pro [...]

GHJ Entertainment Partner Ilan Haimoff and Guest Speaker Jeff Cole, USC Professor and Director of the Center for the Digital Future, discuss the lasting impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the entertainment industry. How will movie theaters, studios and streaming services recover, and what does that recovery look like in the long-term? Hear the experts discuss the outl [...]

According to the AICPA, the borrower has an option: either treat the PPP loan as debt or as a government grant. The fact that there is a choice reflects the current vast diversity of opinions on the question. AICPA Guidance The AICPA’s recent Technical Q&A states: Given the unique nature of the PPP, questions have arisen relating to how a borrower under the pro [...]

On June 11, 2020, in response to changes created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“TCJA”), the IRS released much anticipated guidance for 1031 exchanges in the form of proposed regulations. In the regulations, the IRS addresses the definition of “real property” since 1031 exchanges are now limited to real property for exchanges completed after Dec. 31, 2017. Sinc [...]

The COVID-19 pandemic is as unprecedented medically as it is financially. Never before has there been a period in which all business have had to collectively look at their liquidity and assess the short-term future in such a critical manner. Such situations are typically reserved for discrete business models, niches or geographies. For every single business to contemp [...]

On June 5, 2020, President Donald Trump signed H.R. 7010, the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020, into law. As a result, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) rules have changed once again. Significant changes to the PPP program include: Borrowers can choose to extend the 8-week period to a 24-week period, or they can choose to keep the original 8-w [...]

Welcome back to our Movie Business Podcast Series with hosts Ilan Haimoff, Partner at GHJ, and Jason E. Squire, Professor at USC School of Cinematic Arts and Editor of The Movie Business Book Fourth Edition. Our guest panelist is Peter Dekom, top entertainment lawyer whose clients have included George Lucas and Ron Howard. Peter has been listed in Premiere Magazine as [...]

The entertainment industry has been affected by #COVID19 just like every other industry. A newly released book, Movie Money: Understanding Hollywood’s (Creative) Accounting Practices, authored by GHJ Entertainment Leaders Partner Steven Sills, Principal Peter Klass and Manager Tracy Liang, takes an in-depth look at the accounting side of the entertainment industry, pr [...]

While diversity, equity and inclusion have become buzzwords in recent years, the definitions and what they mean and how they apply to each company or organization can differ. For example, there is no clear definition of equity, even in the nonprofit sector. According to a recent whitepaper from LA-based accounting firm GHJ titled The Give and the Get: The Future of Ph [...]