With the seemingly insatiable desire of the Government for more tax revenue, income tax planning and compliance services have become an increasingly important part of the services vital to our McDonald’s owner/operators and other clients. We review our clients’ financial pictures regularly to determine if all legitimate methods of decreasing Federal and State tax liabilities are being used to the maximum advantage.

With our McDonald’s clients, we completely review all details to determine the most effective tax options on all new store start-ups and acquisitions. Franchise cost amortization and allocation issues are examined to ensure the operator’s income tax burden is minimized.

RLS & Associates provides a turnkey service available to all of our clients. We handle incorporations, if desired, and all initial applications and tax compliance filings. We also provide close personal consultation with our new business owners on the hazards and pitfalls of their new business opportunity. The form of doing business is evaluated with each client to make certain their objectives are being met.

As an essential part of our services, we provide corporate and individual income tax return preparation to ensure compliance requirements are met. Each client’s personal income tax situation and tax cash flow requirements are reviewed to guard against unexpected tax liabilities.

Each McDonald’s operator’s financial statements are reviewed on a monthly basis to help keep our clients attuned to the financial aspects of their operations. Financial ratios are analyzed and business owners are offered suggestions for improvement when needed.

A vital service to many of our McDonald’s owner/operators is the accurate and timely preparation of monthly financial statements. With most clients, we receive their monthly information digitally. Automating this process allows us to prepare monthly statements efficiently and on a timely basis.  We have experience in preparing statements with software packages including: RTI and QuickBooks. We also download information directly from Quicken for many McDonald’s operators. Our goal is to automate as much of this process as is feasible. This improves efficiency for both the clients and us.

We encourage clients to maximize their use of technology to minimize their time in the back office and keep accounting fees as low as possible. Our ultimate goal is for each client to transmit and receive their financial data via the internet.

We also transmit financial statement information directly to McDonald’s Corporation for those operators requesting it. Statements are transmitted to McDonald’s Corporation in the standardized format.

In our Accounting Services Department, we use a team approach.  Though one person has primary responsibility for an account, the team approach provides improved efficiency and accuracy.

Our BOS Team is experienced in working with McDonald’s Operators to insure that back office tasks such as cash flow monitoring, register polling and accounts payable are handled in a very cost effective manner. Our BOS Team will handle these tasks and allow you to devote your time to its most productive use possible–being in your restaurants. We verify bank deposits daily and monitor your cash flow as part of our services. We process your Accounts Payable after your review and approval for payment. Our BOS Team provides this valuable service so you can eliminate the hassle of constantly training a back office person or having to provide an office in your home for these services. We will be glad to furnish references from existing McDonald’s clients who use this service.

RLS & Associates has played an active role in more than 450 business sales and acquisitions giving our firm special insight into this field. We provide a full range of advisory services for purchases and sales including tax-free exchanges, cash flow analysis, purchase feasibility, and strategic factors affecting the McDonald’s owner’s objectives.

We have solid relationships with national and regional lenders providing our McDonald’s owner/operators and other clients with a wide variety of financing sources. Whether a loan is fixed or floating at prime or LIBOR, we can evaluate all financing arrangements to ensure debt is properly managed and negotiated.

Operators may need valuations of their McDonald’s restaurants for a number of reasons. Whether it is for personal financial planning, gift giving as a component of a comprehensive estate plan, divorce settlements, or any other situation, we are familiar with all aspects of store valuations. Both Richard Sparkmon and Emmitt White have testified as expert witnesses in cases requiring business valuations of McDonald’s restaurants. We review the analysis of a business’ projected cash flow considering the base and percentage rent structure, operational profitability, franchise term, and many other factors that can impact the valuation of a McDonald’s restaurant.

Of vital interest to many McDonald’s operators is the continuation of the business they have worked diligently to develop. RLS & Associates is experienced with McDonald’s licensing policies regarding second generation licensees. We review new store opportunities carefully to ensure, as part of comprehensive estate planning, these new stores are properly structured to consider the needs of the present owner/operator and the second-generation licensee. If necessary, we can evaluate an owner/operator’s situation to determine if a reorganization is needed to accomplish the operator’s objectives.

Our planning and forecasting services include meeting with McDonald’s clients to evaluate new or existing store opportunities and financial viability. We prepare multi-year cash flow projections for our operators to help them with their planning process and to help ensure their business success. We have an internally developed model to help operators analyze co-investments on restaurants as well as various rent options on rebuilds.

The automation of a McDonald’s operator’s back office procedures is no longer a luxury but a necessity. With the demands on time and the need for instant, accurate information, the automation process is vital to the success of the owner/operators. We have assisted many of our McDonald’s clients in automating their procedures. We are available to help with the selection of both the hardware and software.

We have a working knowledge of many of the most popular software packages used by McDonald’s owner/operators. These packages include Restaurant Technologies, Inc., Quicken, and Quick Books. By ensuring our staff is trained in all of the latest versions of software, we provide all tools necessary to our clients for the highest degree of operational efficiency and profitability.

As our country undergoes an unprecedented wealth transfer over the next 10 to 15 years, we believe it is important to work closely with our clients to guarantee their estate planning objectives are met. Estate tax planning analysis includes review of the estate’s liquidity needs and the operator’s will. We then work to reduce the estate tax burden of the McDonald’s owner/operator, while accomplishing their overall objectives. Close contact with McDonald’s licensing officials allows us to design programs in adherence to McDonald’s licensing policies. Further, we work with attorneys to formulate a plan meeting all of our client’s needs. We serve as the executors or administrators of some of our client’s estates to protect their single largest asset - McDonald’s Franchise.