NEWS

Accountants Raise Alarms on Small Business Outlook

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The Avalara Accountants Confidence Report points to difficulties ahead for small businesses to access capital, increase profits, raise revenues, hire new employees, and control costs.

Looking ahead 12-18 months, accountants expect increasingly acute hardships, led by problems in accessing fresh capital, hiring, and managing labor costs. But new technology and automation could help cushion the pain for some.
https://cpa.click/smb23outlook
Click to download (PDF 19 pages)

Avalara, Inc., a leading provider of cloud-based tax compliance automation for businesses of all sizes, released a new survey of over 500 Main Street accountants representing more than 100,000 small businesses.

Survey responses revealed that looming economic headwinds could create challenges for small businesses in the next 12–18 months. The survey, conducted during the 2023 tax season, shows that accountants believe small businesses will face challenges in accessing fresh capital, increasing profits, managing payroll costs, weathering supply chain difficulties, and hiring new staff.

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The Avalara Accountants Confidence Report

The 2023 Avalara Accountants Confidence Report, produced in conjunction with CPA Trendlines, queried trusted advisors with clear insights into the financial health of small business clients. The report measures accountants’ attitudes and outlook on a variety of pressing issues, leading with sentiment on the health of small business clients, and providing a read on the national economy and the state of smaller accounting practices. Accountants were surveyed as they combed through business clients’ financials and prepared their tax returns.

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Trump Indicted. And, Yes, There’s a Tax Angle

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Download the indictment (PDF)
Download the indictment (PDF)

“The participants also took steps that mischaracterized, for tax purposes, the true nature of the payments made in furtherance of the scheme.”

Read the Indictment and the Statement of Facts for yourself

Statement by District Attorney

District Attorney Bragg Announces 34-Count Felony Indictment of Former President Donald J. Trump

  • The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. All factual recitations are derived from documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. today announced the indictment of DONALD J. TRUMP, 76, for falsifying New York business records in order to conceal damaging information and unlawful activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election. During the election, TRUMP and others employed a “catch and kill” scheme to identify, purchase, and bury negative information about him and boost his electoral prospects. TRUMP then went to great lengths to hide this conduct, causing dozens of false entries in business records to conceal criminal activity, including attempts to violate state and federal election laws.

TRUMP is charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with 34 counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree.

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At the IRS, Short on Staff Means Short on Service

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Guess who suffers?

By CPA Trendlines Research

It probably won’t surprise the average tax practitioner to learn that in the American Customer Satisfaction Index of federal agencies, the Internal Revenue Service ranks dead last.

MORE: Tax Pros Offer Advice for Small Businesses | Busy Season Barometer Finds Many CPAs in Transition | Marchternity: Just Say ‘No’ | News on IRS Is Maybe Sort of a Little Bit Good
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It accomplished the same dubious rank in Forrest Research’s U.S. Customer Experience Index of 221 companies and federal agencies.

Two sad things about this:
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Tax Pros Offer Advice for Small Businesses

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Specific tips from your colleagues.

By CPA Trendlines Research

When the 2023 CPATrendlines Busy Season Barometer asked practitioners what advice they’d give small businesses, most of the responses boiled down to two essential messages:

  • Don’t be afraid … but be careful … and ready.
  • Hang on to your cash.

MORE: Busy Season Barometer Finds Many CPAs in Transition | More CPAs See Worsening Economy | Marchternity: The Solution Is Community | Why We All Hate the Tax Code | Tax Season 2023: Better or Worse?
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A Little Trepidation

Looking at these early responses to the survey – which is still open for responses – we are sensing a little trepidation over the near future.
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How Bullish Are You This Tax Season?

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Tax pros see gains in clients, revenue, and profits.

ROSY SCENARIO: 75% forecast increases in revenue per client. More work, or higher fees, or both?

Join the 5-minute survey. Get the answers. Start here.

By CPA Trendlines Research

If the early results of the 2023 CPA Trendlines Busy Season Barometer are any indication, tax practitioners can look forward to a lucrative year.

MORE TAX SEASON ’23:Accountants’ Top Problems for Tax Season 2023 | Tax Season 2023: Better or Worse? | Tax: The Procedural Checklists Your Firm Needs  |  Stop Tax Return Review Shortcuts  |  Offers in Compromise Aren’t for Everyone  |  Trump’s Tax Returns: Read The Originals Here  |  SURVEY: Tax Software Favorite Keeps Crown

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Over 46 percent of respondents expect a five to ten percent expansion of clientele, and another 13 percent say theirs will swell by more than ten percent.

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Accountants’ Top Problems for Tax Season 2023

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As tax season gets underway, a lot to worry about.

Join the 5-minute survey. Get the answers.
Start here.

By CPA Trendlines Research

If you’re not worried as we plow into the busy season, you aren’t paying attention.

MORE TAX SEASON ’23: Tax Season 2023: Better or Worse? | Tax: The Procedural Checklists Your Firm Needs  |  Stop Tax Return Review Shortcuts  |  Offers in Compromise Aren’t for Everyone  |  Trump’s Tax Returns: Read The Originals Here  |  SURVEY: Tax Software Favorite Keeps Crown

ON THE FRONT LINES: Langworthy, expanding with 200 new clients.

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And if you are concerned, you’re not alone.

  • In Van Nuys, Calif., Steve Glick came up with a new concern: “Now the software companies—TurboTax, Intuit, etc.—are competing against their customers by preparing tax returns.”
  • Gretl Siler, at Succentrix Business Advisors, in Panama City, Fla., has the problem everyone wishes they had, plus the one everyone wishes they didn’t. She says, “Note that I am not having any problem with increasing prices or with competitors.  The problem is too many new clients and staffing… plus the IRS is still terrible.”
  • To be sure, there’s Bob Langworthy, the founder of southern Maine’s Management Accounting. He couldn’t name a single concern. “None!” he says. “We served 1,000 clients last year and already have more than 200 committed new clients this season.”

For 2023, the CPA Trendlines Busy Season Barometer expanded the list of possible concerns, 24 in all, plus an “other” option. It’s our longest list ever, and accountants checked off each and every possible worry.

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