CPA Now Blog Archive

To relieve pandemic-impacted business, the U.S. government provided billions of dollars to businesses, state and local governments, and not-for-profits. While the funding provided much-needed relief, the assistance comes with added complications for many: specifically, the need for single audits.

New Hampshire recently challenged Massachusetts's policy of taxing nonresidents who had worked in-state but were working remotely from New Hampshire due to the pandemic. Although New Hampshire's efforts were blocked, the underlying issues are far from settled. In fact, for jurisdictions that employ “convenience of the employer” rules, such as Pennsylvania and Philadelphia, the issue is very much alive.

The effective implementation date of ASC 842 for private companies is Jan.1, 2022, and these companies and their CPAs simply are not ready. The PICPA’s Accounting and Auditing Steering Committee has petitioned the FASB for a two-year deferral of the effective date of ASC 842 , but we need your input, and we need it today!

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) measures continue to evolve as a strategic business imperative. Future accountants need to be aware of the continuing growth of sustainability accounting and reporting. To date, 80% of Fortune 500 firms provide some form of nonfinancial disclosure regarding their ESG landscape.

The COVID-19 pandemic had an odd collateral effect on more seasoned workers. Previously distant retirement plans were suddenly within arm’s reach. Personal savings grew as economic impact payments were stowed away by those with uninterrupted employment. If you are one of those with a pandemic-induced retirement acceleration option, should you take the money and run?

Emerging technologies are truly attainable and accessible to all corporations. It is important to separate fact from fiction as it relates to the perceived barriers of entry. This blog highlights three "reasons" why many firms feel they are unable to implement emerging technologies and addresses those concerns head on.

There are plenty of ways to make more money as a CPA, but the trick is making more money without working any harder. There are three general reasons why CPAs work as hard as they do and still under-earn. Fix these shortcomings and you will be on the path to earning more without working harder.

Accounting firms with double-digit growth have one thing in common: they actively focus on recruiting and retaining a high-quality marketing staff. These high-performers have almost twice the marketing resources of slower-growing firms.

Technology offers the accounting world a wealth of benefits, from saving time on tedious processes to incorporating innovative ways of handling compliance, insight, and advisory services. A digital transformation can make refocusing a company swifter and easier so it can seize new opportunities for growth while ensuring stability.

For a nonprofit to achieve its mission despite strong headwinds, it needs efficiency and innovation. Digital resources, for example, can make nonprofits more agile and responsive. Dashboards, specifically, offer a gateway to real-time financial reporting and operational visibility and can help nonprofit leaders drive change, accountability, and improvements.

The U.S. Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) Office of the Chief Accountant (OCA) is about to undertake a study to assess the quality of audit work with respect to financial statement audits of employee benefit plans for the 2020 Form 5500 filing year. Plan administrators and independent qualified public accountant firms need to be ready.

When reflecting on a career in accounting, it is easy to find a few situations that stick out as lessons learned. These situations often involve something dramatic, funny, or ironic. For those in the early stages of their careers, perhaps there is something in these observations that you can use in developing your practice.

The Financial Accounting Standard Board (FASB) decided several years ago to revisit the accounting model for goodwill and identifiable intangible assets. Given that there is close to $6 trillion of goodwill recorded on company balance sheets, the decisions that the FASB eventually settle on will significantly impact many companies.

Soon bank finance and accounting departments will start their annual budgeting. Marketing expenses are always a sticking point. There are areas within financial institutions where it is difficult to gauge the value that brand-building expenditures bring. This can be a stressful time for the marketing manager, but it doesn't have to be.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently updated its COVID-19 guidance for employers and employees. Following the lead of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, OSHA recommends that employers consider requiring employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine or submit to regular COVID-19 testing, and to wear masks in indoor settings. The new guidance, coupled with the Pfizer vaccine receiving full approval from the Food and Drug Administration, has employers reevaluating their return-to-work policies.

Your education in debits and credits, tax law, and accounting principles prepared you for the technical aspects of becoming a practitioner, but your studies did not prepare you for the death of a client. Clients become part of an extended family, and each passing is equally hard. But even more difficult than coping with your feelings is talking about important tax matters with family members still raw with emotion.

The COVID-19 pandemic forever changed the way we think about working remotely. Fully remote or hybrid work options are becoming more commonplace as employers adapt their policies to allow for more employee flexibility. However, this shift will cause headaches for employers and employees as they attempt to navigate the evolving state and local tax ramifications.

The changing field can be daunting for those accustomed to old-school processes. Too many companies, in fact, still rely on manual processes to manage financial data. Those companies that are fully embracing digital transformation, however, are rapidly improving their overall business performance.

Service providers are taught that “the customer is always right,” but it is important to our sanity, and our bottom lines, to recognize that some prospects are wrong for us. Even poisonous.

CPAs who are hired to estimate individual or business damages (a money award) for matters in dispute never have it easy. Add to this difficulty the challenges presented by the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the endeavor gets very tangled very quickly.