Sometimes we need to talk here about costly taxpayer mistakes that could have been avoided with professional consultation. Take the recent case of a securities firm owner doing business as an S corporation. An S corporation's income is directly taxable to its owners, and its losses pass through to owners for deduction on their tax returns. S corporations are like partnerships in this respect, and the problem we'll describe arises with partnerships, too.

According to a Pricewaterhouse Coopers Survey of 200 companies in 30 countries, only 2.5% of these companies had 100% of their projects come in on time, within budget, to scope, and delivering the right business benefits. Whether you term it project planning and management or goal setting and achievement, this study demonstrates that 97.5% of the time we get it wrong in some way.  Goals are essential for establishing direction, defining actions, and measuring progress. Similarly, it is critical that businesses be able to plan and execute. Over the years I’ve had many discussions on this topic and it continues to be an area of challenge for both individuals and organizations. It’s obviously an area at which we need to improve, so here are some hints that I hope will help you be even more successful with your goal planning and execution:1. In defining your goal, make sure it is SMART(Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistically High and Time-based). Also, make sure it is documented in a form that i ...