·         Arbitrage Rebate Calculations & Certifications

For governmental entities, IRS Code Section 148 requires that any arbitrage earned on invested bond proceeds must be paid to the United States Treasury.  The calculation of arbitrage rebate can be a cumbersome and expensive process and, while there are exceptions to arbitrage rebate, the application of those exceptions must be assessed.  Cook, Burns, & Associates, P.C. and its affiliated strategic partners can assist you with the entire Arbitrage Rebate Calculation process.

Our services include:

• Guaranteed written fee proposal

• Calculation of arbitrage rebate in accordance with IRS Code Section 148

•  Exception assessment if arbitrage exists

•  Written report and opinion, including all supporting documents and calculations

•  Preparation of all required IRS filings should a rebate payment be required

 ·         Landlord & Tenant Analysis Projects

•   Percentage Rent Calculations (inspecting the underlying records of the Tenant and testing the resulting calculations)

• Common Area Maintenance Calculations (either, on behalf of the Landlord, performing the initial calculation, and preparing the tenant invoice … or, on behalf of the Tenant, testing a calculation and invoice tendered by their Landlord)

·         Franchise Inspections

Cook Burns & Associates P.C. has staff which are qualified and experienced in inspecting the books, records, operations and controls of franchisees (we do not use the term “audit”, because that has a defined meaning under the standards of the CPA profession). 

Every franchise, however, is unique.  Any proposal must be tailored based upon the legalities of the underlying Master Franchise Agreement.  Accordingly, CBL frequently issues proposals that are “menu-driven” and that allow the franchisor to select, by franchise, specific elements to inspect.  Examples of such inspect-able elements might include:

•  Business Segregation Procedures (in the event that differing levels of franchise fees are charged on differing types of business).

•   Financial Payments Made (involves testing the activity levels which are the basis for determining the level of payments from the franchisee to the franchisor, and then testing the resulting calculations).

•  Financial Procedures & Controls (absence of good financial procedures and controls is an early warning sign of a franchise heading for financial difficulty).

• Franchisee Operations (if the franchisor has specific requirements or standards involving the operations of the franchise, such as territorial restrictions, requirements to maintain and be in compliance with various manuals, advertising approval requirements, facility and vehicle maintenance requirements, etc.)

• Franchisee Credit History, Background, and Relevant External Filings  (most Master Franchise Agreement has several restrictions regarding insolvency, judgments, liens, levies, felony convictions, granting of security interests, etc.). 

•  Franchisee Performance against Benchmarks (comparison against the performance of all other franchises.  If no standard benchmarks have yet been set, CBL could assist in analyzing several years’ data points to arrive at useful and reasonable benchmarks)

• Franchisee Customer Satisfaction Levels and Complaints Tracking / Resolution Procedures  (if the Master Franchise Agreement has requirements regarding initial response time to complaints, and time to resolve complaints)

Cook Burns & Associates P.C. is ready to assist you with any needs you may have in these specialty analysis areas.  Please contact us for a guaranteed proposal.