NEWS

CPA Profession Facing More Battles Across the Country

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Disputes revolve around required hours, definitions and “substantial equivalency.”

By Steven Sacks
The NEW Fundamentals: Thriving in Disruption

Of all the states whose legislature has run amok this past year, the Florida legislature passed House Bill 813 – Certified Public Accountants – by both the Florida House and Senate. This bill creates a new “retired status” license category for CPAs. The legislation will now be sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis for consideration for being signed into law.

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According to the Florida Institute of CPAs CEO, the thinking behind this is to “… uphold retired CPAs’ profound sense of pride and accomplishment and preserve their professional identity.” However, they cannot reflect to the public that they have an active license because many believe the public thinks that if you have “CPA” after your name, you have an active license. If an individual wants to return to public practice, they can complete 80 hours of CPE every two years as part of renewing their license.

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MOVE Announces Best Firms for Women, Best Firms for Equity Leadership

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Pinched between immediate capacity shortfalls and applying talent to innovation, firms are crafting new ways to recognize and reward women’s resilience.

By Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk

You can’t go the distance on an empty tank.

It takes pacing, re-fueling and constant systems checks to achieve long-term goals, for both accounting and advisory firms and women in the profession. Individual career sustainability is essential for firm growth – and vice versa.

In the recently released 2023 Accounting MOVE Project report, a talent-starved profession receives a fresh influx of strategies and inspiration for investing in the women it must attract and retain to achieve short goals and survive long-term. With nearly 75% of accounting firm leaders eligible for retirement, and accounting degree college enrollment continuing to drop, the profession is at a crossroads. It is more important than ever for firms to find ways to attract and retain employees to not only meet increasing client needs, but to simply survive. So, what are firms that are outpacing the industry doing differently?

MORE: Jina Etienne: Practice Fearless Inclusion | CSR for CPAs: The Missing Ingredient | New Study: Embracing Diversity in Accounting |Why the Diversity Problem Won’t Be ‘Fixed’ |Sponsorship Might Keep Talent from Exiting | New Study: Embracing Diversity in Accounting
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The Accounting MOVE Project report finds firms embracing the new super skill of career sustainability are rising to the occasion. For women, career sustainability addresses the capacity to maintain motivation and energy at every step, while rebalancing the personal and professional with each engagement. For firms, it engenders a leadership culture, defining new capabilities, qualifications, and measurements for unmapped growth. And for both, this super skill is the ability to “skate to where the puck is” on slanted ice through upended physics. Through it all, mutual respect and collaboration remains paramount, the inescapable legacy of the workplace upheaval brought on by the pandemic.

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Forvis and Mazars Combine to Form New Top Ten Global Firm

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But it’s not your typical merger.

By CPA Trendlines Research
Beta: This article was created using generative A.I

In a significant development for the global accounting and audit industry, FORVIS and Mazars have announced their intention to form a new top 10 global network. This move represents a major shift in the audit market landscape, aiming to challenge the dominance of the Big Four.

The merger is a strategic decision that leverages the strengths of both firms — FORVIS, known for its deep expertise and presence in the United States, and Mazars, which boasts a strong international footprint. With this union, the new network sets its sights on expanding its global reach and enhancing its capabilities to provide a wider array of professional services to clients worldwide.

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Art Werner: What the Corporate Transparency Act Means for Accountants

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A crucial guide for you and your clients.

By Art Werner
Werner-Rocca Ltd.

Concern is starting to be expressed by many CPAs as to what their responsibilities are regarding the Corporate Transparency Act. Clients, if they haven’t done so already, will be expressing their own concerns and frustrations.

What compliance issues are on our client’s horizon, and where does the CPA fit in regarding the CTA? CPAs and tax professionals need to know how to advise their clients in this new regulatory era of the CTA.

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The Corporate Transparency Act mandates that a business entity must disclose who the beneficial owners of the business entity are. Corporations, partnerships, Professional Corporations, and Limited Liability Entities are all subject to the CTA. The purpose of the CTA legislation is to assist the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network in identifying entities that may be involved in money laundering, terrorism, tax evasion, organized crime, and/or other illegal activities.

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When Live Events Fail

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How to do in-person conferences the right way.

By Seth Fineberg

Some of you may know my views on the importance of live events in accounting. But now we’re witnessing a shift in why attendees go or need to go: Human support.

MORE SETH FINEBERG: Getting Real: Accounting Tech Decisions You Need to Make Today | Accounting Tech Doesn’t Have to Be Daunting | Who’s in Control? You? Or Your Clients? |  Time Management Rule #1 for Accountants |  Plan to Go ‘Live’ Post Tax Season |  Why VC Is a Bigger Threat Than AI  |   What Does Taking Control of Your Firm Mean? | Accountants Need Each Other More Than Ever | Marchternity: Just Say ‘No’ | Some Thoughts on In-Person Events | So You Think You Know Accountants? | What Bogs Down Accountants

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Sure, CPE, networking, and quality content are indeed a thing when it comes to considering the time and expense of attending an in-person event. But accountants these days need more. They need each other more than ever.

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Why the U.S. Must Act Now to Protect Our Online Privacy

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Lawmakers need to step up. Don’t expect Big Tech to help.

By Jonathan Baron

I’m thankful for the European Union. They watch out with much more diligence to protect privacy and do so with an eye to cybersecurity as well. But at least our regulators in the U.S. are fairly good, but slow, followers.

MORE CYBERSECURITY: Top Tax Vendors Caught Red-Handed Selling Private Taxpayer Data | How Hacker-Proof is Your Firm? | It Takes a Village to Stop Cybercrime | One-Third of Cyber Attacks Involve Small Businesses | Cyber Insurance Costs Rise in Health Care as Attacks Soar | The Why, What and How of Cybersecurity for Accountants | When Cyber-Crime Hits Close to Home | Cybersecurity for Tax Professionals |

MORE JON BARON: Top Tax Vendors Caught Red-Handed Selling Private Taxpayer Data | Client Accounting Services Poised to Surge in Post-Corona World | Tax Pros Retake Market Share from DIYers | Three New Technologies that Will Change Everything [VIDEO] | Economic Mega-Trends [VIDEO] | Today’s Best Opportunities for Accounting Firms [VIDEO] | Re-Invest in Your Firm or Get Out? [VIDEO] |  When Tax Work Dies [VIDEO] |  The Big Shift and The Shakeout [VIDEO] | Why the U.S. Lags the World in Tax Tech [VIDEO]

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I was reminded of this because the other day, I received my quarterly report from DeleteMe, which I use to periodically clean up my data being bought and sold without my knowledge on the open market. Since our last report, my wife and I have had over 20 new third parties needing cleanup. Unbelievable.

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Remembering John Stokdyk

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John Stokdyk
Stokdyk

The profession mourns a loss.

By Seth Fineberg
At Large

How does one honor a life? It’s a heavy thing upon initial approach. But when you start from a point of celebration of what was lived and not mourning what was lost, I think you begin down the right path. But this isn’t about me or anyone other than the man I knew barely eight years of chronological time and who, I believe, should be remembered in the accounting community.

MORE SETH FINEBERG: Who’s in Control? You? Or Your Clients? |  Time Management Rule #1 for Accountants |  Plan to Go ‘Live’ Post Tax Season |  Why VC Is a Bigger Threat Than AI  |   What Does Taking Control of Your Firm Mean? | Accountants Need Each Other More Than Ever | Marchternity: Just Say ‘No’ | Some Thoughts on In-Person Events | So You Think You Know Accountants? | What Bogs Down Accountants

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To know John Stokdyk as an editor, thinker, avid statistician and collector of all manner of data on accountants and related technology only touches the surface. I met him as he still held the Editor title of AccountingWEB UK, which still boasts the largest audience of accountants in the UK. He and then AccountingWEB US Publisher Andy North interviewed me for the vacant Managing Editor role here.

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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.

Get the instant download here:
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.

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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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