some predict those clients will be coming back for cleanup.
tax professionals are sounding off in 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 comments on an apparent upsurge in do-it-yourself amateur self-filers while e-filing by professionals is lagging last year’s rates for four straights weeks so far.
nahon
“interesting that self-prepared is up and professionally prepared is down on a ytd basis,” says bea nahon, a bellevue, wash., cpa, and long-time advocate of women’s and small-firm interests.
“is that because business is shifting to the do-it-yourselfers?,” nahon says. “i suspect instead it’s due to the professionals bogged down in the mire of the tpr regulations. and the increasing trend of fraudulent self-prepared returns,”
“in fact,”nahon adds alarmingly, “some of those self-prepared returns are likely going to turn out to be our clients, which we don’t discover until we attempt to e-file.”
irs processing nearly 98 percent of returns received.
tax professionals e-filed more than 38 million returns through march 13, lagging 3.4 percent from the same time in 2014. yet, that’s an improvement from last week’s 4 percent deficit.
last week, 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 reported that the industry’s 33.4 million e-filings accounted for 53.6 percent of all the e-filed returns, compared with 56 percent in 2014. read more →
after a fast start at the beginning of the season, the pace of e-filing by tax professionals continues to brake, compared with the same time last year. but the number of do-it-yourselfers is growing briskly.
tax professionals e-filed over 33.4 million returns through march 6, 2015, down 4 percent from the over 34.8 million returns e-filed by the same time in 2014. read more →
the ohio society of cpas has launched a series of micro learning courses for certified public accountants that provide timely knowledge packaged in 10-minute modules.
the ohio rollout follows by only days action by the maryland state board of public accountancy to vote unanimously to adopt the final cpe regulations for “nano” learning, or 10-minute cpe increments.
hood
the regulations take effect march 31 in maryland, which joins ohio as the only other state in the union to win official approval of this new cpe format.
the so-called “future of learning” is a professionwide initiative to advance the cpe model started by the aicpa.
“this is an important step in moving toward the future of learning for cpas,” tom hood, maryland society ceo, says.
irs criminal prosecutions over the past 20 years / trac
prosecutions down 16 percent in 2014.
budget cuts are clearly undermining the nation’s ability to collect tax revenue and enforce tax laws, widening already gaping budget holes, 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 data show.
for instance, tax prosecutions, which peaked during the early clinton administration, bottomed during the bush administration. read more →
compensation, work-life balance among the factors.
are your employees satisfied? how sure are you? nearly 48 percent of respondents in a new 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 survey say no, not really. their answers range from deep dissatisfaction to on the fence. read more →
refunds also are down. tax professionals e-filed over 28.7 million returns through feb. 27, 2015, down 4.4 percent from the nearly 30 million-plus returns e-filed by the same time in 2014. related: have fun this tax season! | tax preparation … continued
the u.s. tax, accounting and bookkeeping industries are among the economy’s bright spots, according to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 sources.
here 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 reports on:
current hiring trends in each of the bookkeeping, tax, payroll and cpa segments of the industry.
average hourly wages for key segments.
typical hours worked per week.
and trends concerning women in the accounting workforce.
overall, the u.s. economy added 295,000 jobs in january, with 51,000 of those in professional and business services. the unemployment rate fell 0.2 percentage point to 5.5 percent. read more →
camico, the california-based malpractice insurer, describes five ways cpa firms can increase their exposure to lawsuits and what preventive measures to take.
highlights:
1. accounting rules: while accounting rules don’t require certain procedures, e.g., confirmation of information in a compilation engagement, juries may not take that rule into consideration. so if something doesn’t seem right to you, it is best to do some probing and make sure it is right. then be sure to document it and communicate it. read more →
“today we measure hours, not on the development of a particular competency,” indiana cpa society president and ceo tells 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间. “as the world becomes more specialized we need to focus on competency more than hours spent in class.”
“i’m not sure people believe in the hours-based system we have today,” says gary bolinger. to be sure, the struggle has been going on for years and it’s hard to say it’s even begun. but few in the business believe today’s regimen for professional development can last for much longer.
for its part, the indiana society has created a center of excellence with interactive courses and other innovations to push the issue forward.
“i have to say, i’m very excited about the potential shift to a competency-based approach to cpe,” says caleb bullock, cpa, cgma, and a supervisor at supervisor at indiana-based somerset cpas, p.c. “personally, i’ve had a chance to take a few of interactive courses offered through the center of excellence and found them to be much more beneficial than your traditional cpe course. very exciting times to be a cpa in indiana!”
but what would a new cpe system look like? bolinger says testing could be part of it. but a system like firm peer review could emerge just as well.
“we have a fairly rigorous system in place for a firm’s auditing competency,” bolinger says, which could be translated into personal professional development reviewed and certified by peers and specialists in any given field.
and some change is afoot. for instance, last year maryland and ohio became the first two states to move toward granting cpe credit in 10-minute increments. last year, the aicpa launched a task force on the future of learning. and three years ago the national association of state boards of accountancy issued statement on standards for continuing professional education programsas a trial balloon for change. so far, little of consequence seems to have happened.
the irs has processed more than 97 percent of returns received.
tax professionals e-filed over 23.7 million returns through feb. 20, 2015, down 3.9 percent from the nearly 24.7 million returns e-filed by the same time in 2014.
1. focus on the solution, not the problem. because society rewards analytic thinking, we believe that identifying the cause of our troubles is the answer: why is this happening? that’s a starting point, but don’t spend too much time there. what are you going to do about where you are?
some predict those clients will be coming back for cleanup.
