North Bay Business Journal

Offered for the first time this year, the eight-course Wine Industry Finance and Accounting certificate program takes many of the financial skills taught in Sonoma State’s full-blown wine business degree programs and breaks those topics out for focused instruction to a non-student audience.

Allen Wine Group, LLP, a Calistoga-based wine industry business advisory service and CPA firm, now offers bookkeeping services. …

Nine Marin County communities recently qualified for national “Green Power Community” recognition by the Environmental Protection Agency due to the countywide switch to renewable electric service from Marin Clean Energy. …

Rohnert Park-based sheet metal engineering and fabricator ASM Precision, Inc., purchased and installed a new AMADA EMLK 3610NT punch and laser combination machine. …

Zap Jonway Automobile (ZAAP), manufacturer of electric vehicles and other new energy vehicles with operations in Santa Rosa and China, is exhibiting at the 15th International Shanghai Automobile & Manufacturing Technology Exhibition. …

The city of Santa Rosa earned the highest achievement for its economic development programming — the Award of Excellence — from the California Association of Local Economic Development. …

Healdsburg’s SHED, a multifaceted market, café, coffee bar, fermentation bar and “modern Grange” event center is now open to the public. …

Massage Envy Spa’s Santa Rosa location hired a certified massage therapist in March, Susan Losinski. …

The Meritage Resort and Spa in Napa hired an additional group sales manager, Mary Jo Baird. …

Jen Birmingham, a sales associate in Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage’s Petaluma office, has been awarded membership in the company’s International Sterling Society, an honor bestowed upon the top Coldwell Banker sales associates worldwide. …

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage announced that Gary Sumner, a sales associate in its Santa Rosa office, earned membership in the company’s International Diamond Society. …

Sonoma-based marketing agency V2 Wine Group appointed industry veteran Ken Meyerson director of national retail accounts. …

Business owners, particularly in the wine industry that makes up a significant proportion of the North Coast economy, need to pay attention to major health care insurance, tax and estate law changes this year to avoid steep noncompliance penalties and mitigate significant tax increases, according to local tax-planning and insurance experts.

Vintners and growers of winegrapes often emphasize the value of vineyard terroir, a French term for the contributions of the distinctiveness of a certain location in wine quality. Yet what’s not often realized is what boosts the prestige of vineyards in one area over those in another also can be a big bonus in tax savings.

NORTH BAY – At a time when many businesses are experiencing better cash flow after the worst of the recession, North Bay experts in mergers and acquisitions said that owners looking to sell their business could increase the likelihood of a successful acquisition by clearly depicting a number of key metrics related to their business assets and activity.

Higher tax rates that went into effect this year have further raised the stakes for business owners anticipating a third-party sale, as failure to plan for those impacts could surprise sellers by leaving them with significantly less in take-home pay than anticipated, according to North Bay experts in accounting and business law.

The Internal Revenue Service has released its annual “dirty dozen” list of top tax scams, highlighting schemes that have proliferated during the current tax season and detailing the ramp-up of its efforts to fight fraud. …

Santa Rosa-based accounting firm Dal Poggetto & Company has three new staff accountants from the Sonoma State University accounting program, with plans to hire a fourth after the completion of an internship at the firm. …

David Homan, MS, CFP, has joined Willow Creek Financial Services, Inc. as a financial adviser. …

The office of California State Controller John Chiang has created a day-to-day tally of income tax revenue as it is accounted for at the capitol. …

A common financial planning “hot button” is worry over the cost of healthcare on a fixed income in retirement. While we cannot predict how much care a retiree will need or his/her actual life expectancy, health care risks can be mitigated by maintaining good health, understanding Medicare and by informed financial planning.

Assessing the value of a wine investment opportunity is the key to a good purchase.

The due-diligence process provides an opportunity for a buyer to identify an asset’s unseen potential — and possible pitfalls — in order to gain a better understanding of value.

Carine Arend, CPA, has been promoted to senior manager in the tax department of the Santa Rosa public accounting firm of Dal Poggetto & Company, LLP. … Also in the tax department of the same firm, Ryan Fitzsimons, CPA, has been promoted to manager. …

Reed Upson joined Warren Capital Corp. in Novato as finance and operations analyst. …

Surani Kwan was presented the 2013 Nurse Practitioner of Distinction award by the California Association for Nurse Practitioners. …

Autodesk Inc. of San Rafael appointed to its board of directors Tom Georgens of NetApp. …

Penfolds, managed by Treasury Wine Estates, named Napa-based DLynn Proctor its winemaking ambassador for the Americas. …

The New Energy Efficient Home Credit, also known as the 45L credit, first became available for tax years after Dec. 31, 2005. Though it expired in 2011, the recently passed 2012 Taxpayer Relief Act retroactively restores and extends the credit for 2012 and 2013.

Share your thoughts on this week’s NBBJ Pulse Poll question: “Has your organization enhanced its measures against embezzlement and fraud?”

As investigators continue to aggressively pursue allegations of business embezzlement in the North Bay, regional fraud experts warn that many local companies and nonprofits still lack the basic internal practices needed to catch and prevent those crimes.

As investigators continue to aggressively pursue allegations of business embezzlement in Sonoma County, regional fraud experts warn that many North Bay companies and nonprofits still lack the basic internal practices needed to catch and prevent those crimes.

Office building owners and their tenants have long understood the value of depreciation expense in relation to cash flow.

Depreciation expense is a deduction that reduces taxable income and thereby increases after-tax cash flow.

Doug Wright, shareholder in charge of the International Tax Services Group of Burr Pilger Mayer, was selected as a new board member of the Northern California World Trade Center after receiving unanimous approval from current members. …

Brian Pon, a partner in Financial Connections, a Corte Madera-based financial planning and wealth management firm, has been named Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Member at Golden Gate University for 2012. …

Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce hired Steve Lyman as membership sales manager. …

Kim Link has been hired as the marketing project and research support with the Santa Rosa Convention & Visitors Bureau, focusing on special marketing, sales and media projects. …

Kristina Combs is the new executive director of human resources and labor relations at College of Marin. …

Angwin resident Julie Crow-Petersen, R.N., was hired as a flight nurse by California Shock Trauma Air Rescue, better known as CALSTAR. …

Joan Kermath joined Decker Bullock Sotheby’s International Realty in Marin County. …

Veteran Marin real estate agent Rocky Vannucci joined Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage as sales manager for central and southern Marin County. …

Carra Clampitt of Eugene Burger Management Corp. in Rohnert Park has been elected to the statewide board of directors for Laguna Hills-based California Association of Community Managers. …

A number of accounting firms that have recently made efforts to grow in the Napa Valley are moving into the next phase of their expansions, positioning themselves through hiring and training to help bring those moves to fruition in a regional economy spearheaded by the wine industry.

In a time where our country is muddling through a recession to recovery, more and more schemes are being uncovered.

The North Bay office of Burr Pilger Mayer is taking part in the launch of a new “Nonprofit Education Series,” a six-part educational program focusing on financial risks and strategies specific to the nonprofit sector. …

The Internal Revenue Service has released data reflecting electronic tax filing last year, showing a trend towards Web-based filing services while anticipating usage of its Web and mobile offerings in 2013. …

The federal tax treatment of charitable contributions was the subject of a recent report by the staff of the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation, outlining the impact of the related deduction and casting a spotlight on an issue that has been closely watched by the nation’s nonprofits. …

A partner at St. Helena’s Brotemarkle, Davis & Company has received the President’s Volunteer Service Award, recognizing his history in helping to teach financial literacy to high school students in Napa County, according to an announcement from the firm. …

San Francisco-based Burr Pilger Mayer, Inc., which has a Santa Rosa office, appointed Curtis Burr chief executive officer. …

First District Sonoma County Supervisor Susan Gorin said Pat Gilardi will be her district director. …

Women’s Initiative for Self Employment, an entrepreneurial training and funding nonprofit organization, elected Kim Kaselionis to its national governing board. …

The SMART board of directors unanimously elected Marin County Supervisor Judy Arnold as board chairman and Barbara Pahre as vice chairman. …

Dana Estates promoted Cameron Vawter to winemaker for the Rutherford-based cabernet sauvignon producer. …