Key Risks
Many companies approach 2026 with books and entity structures that cannot withstand regulatory scrutiny. Inaccurate or commingled financials block effective tax planning. QBI eligibility is frequently missed when income drifts outside optimal ranges. S corporation owners often lack reasonable compensation analyses, increasing audit exposure.
When a business grows but its entity structure does not, inefficiencies accumulate quietly and compound over time.
What Organizations Must Do
A secure tax environment begins with clean, separate books for each legal entity. Leaders should conduct annual reviews of entity structure to ensure alignment with tax policy changes and future planning goals. Modeling QBI thresholds helps keep income positioned to maximize deductions. Conducting reasonable compensation analyses reduces audit risk.
PTET elections and other strategic opportunities should be used intentionally and only when financial data is accurate and well-maintained.
Key Risks
HR functions continue to manage more sensitive data than most leaders realize Social Security numbers, banking details, dependent records, and payroll histories often stored in spreadsheets, email attachments, or shared drives lacking basic protection. At the same time, compliance exposure grows through I-9 errors, misclassified workers, and inconsistent multistate payroll practices.
Poorly structured onboarding and offboarding processes extend system access long after employment changes, creating preventable security gaps.
What Organizations Must Do
Strengthening HR security requires discipline and modernization. Sensitive information must be moved into secure systems, eliminating manual or ad-hoc data storage. Standardized onboarding and offboarding procedures ensure system access is granted and removed consistently. Annual compliance audits should validate worker classification, I-9 accuracy, and state payroll rules.
Finally, HR and IT must align, reinforcing training on cybersecurity awareness, data protection, and responsible use of emerging AI tools.
Key Risks
AI-enabled cyber threats are accelerating in frequency and sophistication. Yet many organizations still lack baseline controls such as multi-factor authentication, centralized device management, and automated patching. Backups exist but are rarely tested, reducing confidence in recovery.
Slow detection times and inconsistent user-access management, especially during turnover, remain major sources of vulnerability.
What Organizations Must Do
A secure technology environment requires enterprise-grade standards applied consistently. Multi-factor authentication should be mandatory across all systems. Device management must be centralized to enforce updates, patches, and secure configurations. Backups should be automated, encrypted, and routinely tested.
Cybersecurity awareness training and phishing simulations reduce human-driven risk. Organizations lacking internal expertise should consider 24/7 monitoring to ensure real-time threat detection and rapid response.
Security is the foundation of sustainable growth in 2026. When HR protects sensitive data, Tax ensures financial integrity, and IT fortifies digital defenses, businesses reduce risk dramatically and unlock the strategic clarity needed to scale confidently.
Securing these core areas is not optional, it is the prerequisite for everything that comes next.