CPA Now Blog

CPAs with clients who are exploring succession planning and exit strategies may want to consider employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). Mark Flinchum, Mark Kossow, and Andy Manchir discuss the advantages and disadvantages of ESOPs for companies, sellers, and employees. Flinchum and Manchir are co-chairs of the ESOP Services Group of Katz Sapper & Miller in Indianapolis, Ind., and Kossow is a member of Clark Hill PLC in Princeton, N.J.

Communicating complex financial issues to nonfinancial professionals is essential for CPAs working in forensic accounting and business valuation. Chris Mercer, founder and CEO of Mercer Capital in Memphis, Tenn., specializes in how accounting professionals can better talk to judges and juries. Mercer will speak on this issue and what you need to know about buy/sell agreements when working with attorneys and referral sources at PICPA’s 2019 Valuation and Forensic Accounting Conference on Nov. 18 in King of Prussia, Pa. Mercer provides a preview of these critical topics in this episode.

The expertise of CFOs can play a major role in an organization’s decision to undergo a strategic business transformation. So, it is important to be fully informed on types of transformations, reasons to undergo them, and the pitfalls you may run into along the way. For this reason, we spoke to J. Stephen McNally, CPA, CFO of PTI Family of Companies in Toledo, Ohio, who gave us insight based on a career of spearheading such projects.

Shifting from accumulation to the distribution phase in retirement poses various challenges for personal financial planners. Jamie Hopkins, JD, LLM, CFP, director of retirement research for Carson Wealth, discusses these challenges and the reasons to focus on safety in a decumulation portfolio. Hopkins will speak at greater length on this topic at PICPA’s 2019 Personal Financial Planning Conference on Nov. 7 at Penn State Great Valley.

The importance of the CPA license within the business community should be well understood, but that is not the case. Recently, the CPA credential is among the licenses that have come under attack as part of a movement to deregulate professions whose jobs influence public safety. At the Sept. 19, 2019, PICPA Leadership Conference, CPA Conversations cohost Jim DeLuccia and I spoke with Skip Braziel, vice president of state regulation and legislation for the AICPA, and discussed this movement and what Pennsylvania CPAs can do to halt its momentum.

Laura Solomon, JD, following up on her presentation from PICPA’s 2019 Not-for-Profit and Government Accounting Conference, discusses charities behaving badly. She highlights major changes to corporate governance over the past year, commonly neglected fiduciary duties, the risks facing charities with outdated governing documents, and much more. Solomon is the founder of Laura Solomon & Associates in Ardmore, Pa., a law firm devoted to representing charitable and other tax-exempt organizations and philanthropic individuals.

The qualified business income deduction, or QBI, was one of the most popular changes to the tax code in 2017. Stephen J. Slade, CPA, tax director of Wouch Maloney & Co. LLP in Horsham, Pa., dives into the restrictions and exceptions and what they really mean for your clients. Slade also addressed this topic for CPA Now.

Section 163(j) packs a mighty punch for being just one section of the tax code. Daria Palaschak, CPA, MST, partner in the tax department of Sisterson & Co. LLP in Pittsburgh, discusses the significant changes to the limitation on the deduction of business interest expense brought on by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

How does Sandra Wiley, president of Boomer Consulting Inc., define firm culture? As she tells us in the latest episode of CPA Conversations, it’s more than getting a half-day Friday every other week. In fact, it could be the thing that turns your best and brightest from one-year wonders to long-term employees. Get her insight on hiring, retention, training, and more.

There are many ways by which CPAs can benefit their employers. According to Michael Cade of MFCCoach LLC in Morrisville, an emerging avenue is through the management of company legal fees. Learn why CPAs are uniquely qualified for this responsibility. Check out more of Cade’s insight at http://nfpbeyondthenumbers.com.

To preview their Oct. 16, 2019, presentation at the PICPA Construction Industry Conference, John Bieber of National Glass & Metal Co. Inc. and Tony Stagliano of CBIZ Inc. joined us to discuss the ways in which treatment of the revenue recognition standard is unique to the construction industry, plus differences for public and private contractors.

In a preview of “Practice Integration Imperatives,” his Practitioners column from the fall 2019 Pennsylvania CPA Journal, Ira Rosenbloom of Optimum Strategies LLC tells us why coming up with a well-designed integration plan could be just as important as getting the financial details right when going through a CPA practice transfer or merger.

The ripples of tax reform have reached CPAs working in the construction industry in a big way. Emily Gunther, CPA, CCIP, a principal with CLA LLP in Plymouth Meeting Pa., discusses Section 199A, business interest, and much more. Gunther will speak at greater length on this topic at PICPA’s 2019 Construction Industry Conference on Oct. 16 in Malvern, Pa.

Long-term care is a subject many would rather not think about, but not doing so could be costly. Phil Sirolli, CPA, a wealth transfer adviser with Valley Forge Financial Group, clarifies some common misconceptions about long-term-care planning, outlines insurance options, and explains why CPAs need to have this conversation with clients.

While the current expected credit losses standard is expected to be delayed by the FASB, it will have a sizeable effect on financial institutions in the near future. In a preview of their presentation at the Sept. 17 PICPA Financial Institutions Conference, Allison Minnis of Crowe LLP and Tim McPeak of Abrigo join us to talk implementation status among industry sectors, common difficulties confronted during the process, and the prospects of the aforementioned FASB delay.

Long-term yields on interest rates have fallen quickly since the October 2018 “Powell Pivot,” which was when Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell chose not to raise interest rates until inflation accelerates. Frank L. Farone, managing director of Darling Consulting Group in Newburyport, Mass., discusses the challenges CPAs working with financial institutions now face, as well as a few lending and funding strategies they should consider. Farone will present this topic at PICPA’s 2019 Financial Institutions Conference on Sept. 17 at Penn State Great Valley in Malvern, Pa.

Pennsylvania Rep. Frank X. Ryan (R-Lebanon County) developed House Bill 13 “The School Property Tax Elimination Act.” Ryan, a CPA and PICPA member, addresses the changes this bill would bring to the Pennsylvania tax system, along with who pays and who benefits. Ryan is seeking comment to his proposed legislation by Aug. 13.

Most workers with access to a retirement benefit today must contribute to their plan as opposed to relying on a pension. We’re in the “save for yourself” era. Jacquelyn M. Basso, CPA, CFP, of J.M. Basso & Associates in Downingtown, Pa., believes that employees just aren’t saving enough to live comfortably in retirement. Basso, who is chair of PICPA’s Personal Financial Planning Committee, discusses how her fellow CPAs can help address this retirement crisis with their clients, staff, and the public at large. She also addressed this topic in a PICPA CPA Now blog on June 26, 2019.

“You're fired.” They are words that are incredibly tough to hear, and they are probably just as difficult to say if you are a person in charge of making personnel decisions in a competitive marketplace. But what if you are saying it to a client? For CPA firms whose instinct it is to hold onto every client, it could seem to be a counterintuitive decision. However, the decision to drop a troublesome client is one that could have benefits that go beyond the financial bottom line.

Qualified Opportunity Zones have been a much-discussed topic since they were created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Two PICPA members from Drucker & Scaccetti in Philadelphia – Chris Catarino, CPA, MT, and Steven Rossman, CPA, MST – discuss the regulations and how CPAs can advise clients on these new investment incentives.