Under new IRS Reg 7216, CPAs are obligated to get written consent when they “send out” work on tax returns.
But there’s precious little concrete guidance available yet, the deadline is approaching and many tax practitioners are confused and worried.
So what to do? I’ve been asking around. And, while there’s no cut-and-paste template available yet, a clearer picture is emerging.
They work for one of the nation’s leading CPA firms. Now put them to work for you.
by Rick Telberg
At Large
Heading into the worst economic crisis in a generation, CPAs and CPA firms are being tested to provide more than impeccably accurate work. They are being challenged as never before to add new value and create new opportunities for their clients and their companies.
“It could be a tough deal for CPAs,” Mack Lawhon, chief executive of the Fort Worth-based Weaver & Tidwell, was saying in his genteel Texas drawl. When I talked to him a few days ago, Lawhon had just closed on the acquisition of another CPA practice, bringing his firm to 42 partners, 375 staffers and an annualized run rate of $60 million.
Your mother was right: “Become an accountant and you’ll always make a living.”
Take a look, for instance, at the latest jobs report from the U.S. Department of Labor, which showed the overall economy lost 533,000 jobs in November – but it also showed gains for CPA firms against non-CPA accountants and bookkeepers.
Small business formations actually accelerated in the last two recessions. It’s more evidence that the CPA profession is counter-cyclical. But can it happen this time?
You don’t need hundreds of hours of CPE to get started. All you need is a client. Just one client. So says Gale Crosley, business development adviser to CPA firms at Crosley + Co. [Click here to buy her book.] … Continued