highly rated for ‘quality of life:’ moss adams, plante moran, friedman, bpm.
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
deloitte, kpmg and moss adams are gaining ground in the recruiting wars, according to a new survey of more than 8,000 accountants.
while pwc maintains its hold as the best brand in the business, second-ranked deloitte is closing the gap, and kpmg jumped one spot to fourth place, in the latest vault accounting 50, a ranking of the best accounting firms to work for.
even though the big 4 firms rank highly in the formal training category, mid-sized firms are big winners in quality of life rankings.
michigan-based plante moran ranks no. 1 in 11 categories, including culture, overall satisfaction, informal training, business outlook, and firm leadership.
new york city-based friedman ranks no. 1 in hours, work/life balance, and relationships with supervisors. and,
san francisco-based bpm ranks no. 1 in overall diversity, minority diversity, and lgbt diversity.
meanwhile, chicago-based grant thornton got knocked back to fifth and west coast firm moss adams leaped three spots to no. 8, moving back into the top 10.
2017 theme: home of the tax automation revolution.
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
avalara, inc., a leading provider of cloud-based tax compliance automation for businesses of all sizes, is bringing back crush, a tax compliance automation conference and industry gathering, for the second year, scheduled may 2-3, 2017 in austin, texas. 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 is a sponsor.
bringing together leaders in finance and technology who are enabling the strategic evolution of accounting, crush offers attendees opportunities to learn, educate and network with hundreds of peers and experts.
jim bourke, cpa.citp and a partner at new jersey-based withum cpas, explains the new range of opportunities in soc engagements for cyber-security.
bourke adds:
the content at this year’s flagg management show is a perfect example of the transformation of revenue streams at cpa firms today. in order to keep competitive and viable, today’s firms need to embrace the non-traditional, non-attest and non-tax services.
offerings in the areas of cyber security, soc1, soc2, soc3, the new soc for cybersecurity, business process outsourcing, cfo advisory services, merger and acquisition planning and implementation and assistance with collaborative, web-based accounting systems will be critical to ensuring a firm’s continued profitability.
you can’t hide from the fact that attest and tax continues to become commoditized. cpas are the trusted professionals and possess the kills necessary to offer many of these alternative services.
so think out of the box this year and come and hear some of the best thought leaders in the industry discuss these revenue generating opportunities for your practice.
drilling into firm technology and operations provides a roadmap for strategic success
by rick telberg
every day in the united states, more than half of all accounting firm owners are thinking about a merger, an acquisition or both. m&a is now as routine to the day-to-day operations of running a tax and accounting practice as turning on the lights in the morning and taking out the garbage at night.
fortunately, the new accounting firm operations and technology survey by the research team of randy johnston and leslie garrett provides a one-of-a-kind roadmap for growth-minded professionals seeking the hard-boiled data essential to making smarter strategic decisions. with thousands of key metrics for firms of every size, you can compare your firm against similar firms. better yet: you can compare where your firm is today to where you want it to be tomorrow.
i have the honor of leading the technology walking tours at the show. by all means, i suggest you give it a try.
wear some comfy shoes because you’re going to be on your feet for a couple of hours. and, more importantly, get ready to dive into the conference’s exhibit hall without having that feeling of walking the midway at a carnival and trying to avoid the carnival barkers.
on a walking tour, you visit the booths of a group of pre-selected vendors, and listen to a brief presentation in a relaxed setting. there is a difference from the drive-by experience that you would get on your own. first, the vendor isn’t under any pressure to grab your attention in five seconds and keep you from walking away. you are a captive audience, and the presenter knows that, so the presentation can be more heartfelt, real-life experiences can be shared.
often you will have an opportunity to ask questions during a walking tour presentation, and you can do so feeling more like a student in a class than someone who’s worried about whether or not you’ll be able to keep your credit card in your pocket.
in the time that a walking tour presentation is being made, a brief rapport is built, forging the way for you to feel comfortable returning to the booth later. “i heard your presentation,” you can say, and the vendor will immediately know that the sales pitch can be skipped and you’re here for some real answers.
you get cpe credit for your time spent on the tour. and, you even get to take whatever free gizmo the vendor is offering without even having to feel guilty about doing so. you might even find that the best free stuff is in the presentation itself.
gail perry is a cpa and the editor-in-chief of cpa practice advisor magazine. she is also a well-known public speaker and is the author of more than 30 books (including mint.com for dummies and surviving financial downsizing: a practical guide to living well on less money). in addition, she maintains a small tax practice. gail is a graduate of indiana university where she earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism. after returning to school to study accounting at illinois state university, gail earned her cpa and worked for deloitte’s chicago office as a state and local tax specialist. she is a former tax columnist for the indianapolis star newspaper, has been an adjunct accounting professor, and was on staff for 10 years at the indiana cpa society as a computer applications instructor. gail was the publisher and editor-in-chief of accountingweb before joining the cpa practice advisor team.
the traditional business model of the so-called “local” cpa firm is being challenged anew by the emergence of a single, unified coast-to-coast talent market that’s undermining the pay differences between big-city and small-town firms.
that’s bad news for traditional firms trying to control staffing costs. but great news for a new generation of top talent.
the study shows that salaries are increasing faster than inflation throughout the american market, and they aren’t always limited by the local cost of living. the average salary for a tax professional in new york city, for example, has risen to $77,660 this year, up from $75,400 last year. importantly, the numbers ($77,660 this year, up from $75,400) are the same in des moines, iowa, where the cost of living is substantially lower – along with the pricing sensitivity of des moines clients. this augurs new pressures on billing rates and profitability across the nation.
we have all heard a lot of buzz about value billing. it sounds like a great concept to boost a firm’s bottom line, but have you tried it. chances are you haven’t.
why not? because although it is a great theoretical concept, it’s too complex to implement. and there are various reasons why it is hard to implement in accounting practices.
errors associated with educational credits, specifically for form 1098-t, can be easily misinterpreted.
eligible educational institutions often file form 1098-t to report either the aggregate amount of payments received (box 1) for qualified tuition and related expenses or the aggregate amount billed (box 2) for such tuition and expenses. should you receive this form, here are four common errors to watch for, and how to interpret them.
benvie
1) educational credits are based on the amount of adjusted qualified education expenses paid for the student in 2016 for academic periods beginning in 2016 or beginning in the first 3 months of 2017. an issue occurs when the costs for early 2016 tuition were billed in 2015, and the educational institution utilizes box 2 of form 1098-t.example: in january 2016, alex pays $6,000 for his final semester of classes. the university alex attends actually billed the tuition payment in december 2015. in may 2016, alex pays certain qualifying expenses amounting to $200. alex receives form 1098-t for 2016. box 1 is blank, and box 2 includes $200.
internal revenue service workers may be chronically understaffed, but they’re not stupid. they’ve been in the tax collection business since the civil war, and the irs has been harvesting income tax since 1913. it has processed billions of tax returns, and it knows the tricks that taxpayers often try. it also knows the tricks that wanna-be cheats use to exploit the tax system, effectively robbing the honest people who pay what they owe.
for the last three years, the irs has given a name to the most common schemes to swindle either taxpayers or the nation’s treasury. it calls them “the dirty dozen.” this year, half the dozen are scams by third parties that attempt to rip off taxpayers. the other half are taxpayer attempts to effectively rip off their government.
sleazy tax tactics don’t do a practicing accountant any good. the slime taints the tax pro, and the pro may be put in the very uncomfortable position of having to defend the taxpayer before an irs agent. this is not the light tax preparers look for at the end of the busy season tunnel. they’re thinking “bahamas,” not “irs office.”
clients who know about the dirty half-dozen will be disinclined to try a trick the irs is expecting. sharing the list will go far to ward off problems. read more →
highly rated for ‘quality of life:’ moss adams, plante moran, friedman, bpm.
in the war for talent, “local” cpa firms face new threats from distant, bigger rivals – worldwide
exclusively for pro members. 
