CPA Now Blog

For CPA firms, staying ahead of online advertising advancements is crucial to their marketing strategies and tactics. Google Ads is a prime player that continues to evolve. This blog briefly explores its most significant updates, key trends shaping the future, and actionable strategies to help CPA firms maximize their impact.

The PICPA is proud to announce its 128th Annual Meeting & Conference on May 5-6, 2025. This year the festivities will take place in historic Center City Philadelphia.

An updated Form 6765 for R&D credit now requests an extremely high level of detail and documentation. Taxpayers will need to be able to split qualified research expense wages into categories and assign them to specific business components. Now is the time to start preparing for its tax year 2025 rollout.

Declining student enrollment in accounting programs is a concern within the profession, which is working to reverse the trend. Educational institutions, though, must also adapt to address the challenges by making accounting learning relatable and fun.

In the not-so-distant past, working from home was a perk; a reward for loyal and often higher-paid employees. In 2025, we have more people working from home than ever before. To be productive working from home, however, employees must build a functional home office space.

Part of the job for many CPAs in public practice is business development. But in such a role, sometimes we are told “no.” True rainmakers never really take a “no” to mean anything other than “not now.” Other times, hearing “no” can sometimes be a welcome sound.

When the Pennsylvania Department of the Auditor General conducted an audit of five cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania, it found that from 2020 to 2023 they increased revenues by $425 million and reserves by 144%, due in part to an outdated funding formula. In this blog Auditor General Timothy DeFoor discusses these findings and outlines corrective actions that are needed.

The IRS is proposing alterations to Circular 230, the rules that govern those who practice before the IRS, including CPAs, attorneys, and enrolled agents. PICPA and AICPA member Ed Jenkins presented testimony before the IRS recently to share some concerns.

There are different paths to building a successful accounting practice. But all successful practices share one attribute: they have mastered the 3 P's of people, processes, and profits.

The Pennsylvania Board of Appeals is launching a new Online Petition Center for those taxpayers wishing to appeal state taxes or submitting a request for refund.

Artificial intelligence (AI) – particularly generative AI – has the potential to transform traditional business and accounting processes. In this blog, get a sneak peek into Eric E. Cohen's presentation on the topic at PICPA's CFOs & Controllers Conference.

The PICPA State Taxation Steering Committee brings PICPA members together to discuss key developments in Pennsylvania tax policy, recent court rulings, and legislative updates. As technical experts and strategic thought leaders, State Taxation Steering Committee members play a critical role in shaping state tax policy and providing guidance on complex tax matters.

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review a decision of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that state income taxes paid to other states cannot be used to offset local income tax due. The key issue was whether state and local can be aggregated for the purpose of applying credits. There is a lack of consistency among states in this regard, which will continue until the Supreme Court settles the issue.

An R&D tax credit project is anything but common, routine, and nontechnical. Hardly an area one should trust still-unproven artificial intelligence to provide an accurate and comprehensive report.

The accounting profession has consistently supported community efforts over the years. In addition to the external positives, benefits exist for employees who take part, including skills and leadership development. But don't overlook the benefits to the firm when working with nonprofits: every interaction is a networking opportunity, thus growing potential business connections.

The latest PICPA Insights report highlights the growing importance of benefits and flexible work policies for accounting firms aiming to attract and retain top talent. It emphasizes that firms must adopt holistic compensation strategies, combining salary, benefits, career development, and work-life balance to remain competitive in the evolving workforce landscape.

Continuous Partial Attention is a pattern of behavior that keeps us from being fully present with our colleagues, family, and friends. And the modern work environment itself seems rigged to make us undermine our own work with self-imposed distractions.

AICPA’s Leadership Academy is a four-day program for emerging accounting and finance professionals to engage in an examination of leadership and what that means for their personal lives and the accounting profession. Read about the experiences of two PICPA members who attend in 2024.

The PICPA is proud to announce a bold initiative to modernize Pennsylvania’s CPA licensure laws. The proposed updates introduce a new pathway for aspiring CPAs to attain licensure while upholding the rigorous standards required as a professional CPA that maintain financial trust, transparency.

Project management tools help you connect the dots between what needs to be done and actually getting it done. Their true strength rests in their adaptability. These platforms can facilitate far more kinds of work than you might realize.