outlook & analysis

pros tackle 49% of e-filed returns

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chart of weekly irs tax return filing datarefunds are down 19% in number and total amount.

by beth bellor

as in recent years, accountants are losing ground to diyers when it comes to individual income tax returns. the question is, do they care? or is this ground they’re all too ready to yield for more profitable pastures?

more: survey: tax season swings into the red | another tax season from hell? | pros process 44% of tax e-filings | tax professionals report tough slogging | busy season 2021 gets off to weak start
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the irs had received 85 million returns as of march 26, down 6.2 percent in a season that started 18 days later than in 2020. it had processed 76 million, down 12.7 percent.
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the cpa’s best role: leveraging knowledge, not just process

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david bergstein says you’re wasting your time and your client’s money if you’re not focussing on the future.

with steven sacks
the new fundamentals: thriving in disruption

to be more competitive, cpas need to shift their focus from compliance service to process-oriented, value-added work, veteran cpa david bergstein tells 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间. this means working with clients to understand their business operations, competition, and financial challenges, such as liquidity, solvency, and profitability.

more on value-add: how cas communications are different | how value billing eliminates guesswork | avoid last-minute deal making | how a great managing partner impacts firm growth | tax season client meetings: kill them now | do you give yourself too much credit? | the 17 rules for making partner at a cpa firm | family feud isn’t just a game show

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see more 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 videos here | see more david bergstein here

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the key takeaways:

  • accountants need to switch their focus to look to the future and real-time accounting, which means that the right way of doing things these days is to take advantage of all technology and automation.
  • it’s a small and mid-size business that doesn’t have a bookkeeper, that doesn’t have an accountant, that doesn’t have a controller, that doesn’t have a cfo that looks to cpas to help them. cpas’ advantage is to use that technology to automate all those processes and then spend time selling value-added services.
  • today, to be successful as an accountant, you must identify what platform or platforms you’re going to use to capture your clients’ data at the source to move it through the system.
  • payroll tax processing services can be expanded by setting up the human resource tools that go with it. beyond processing payroll, cpas can find ways to get lower workman’s compensation; automate the onboarding of employees, and provide various benefit options.
  • as part of the de-emphasis on process, younger staff members don’t want to do vouchering anymore, which will be supplanted anyway by automation. so, it’s great for firms to offer more training opportunities to their younger staff regarding analytical thinking, selling, and how to consult with clients to find out what their needs are.

 

transcript

david bergstein, interviewed by steven sacks
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who’s heating up accounting tech?

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the 21 top venture capital funds and the software companies they’re backing.

by randolph p. johnston

through the years, the opportunity to introduce good entrepreneurs with fine products to larger companies or investors to help their company and product grow. while preparing materials for presentations, the money behind the technology used by accounting professionals.

more in tech: survey: communication plan is to stay the course | stop drowning in client documents | survey: phone, email tied for client communication | hunker down: the irs backlog isn’t going away anytime soon | five top tech trends for 2021 | make tech your ally in protecting clients |

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while who owns what changes daily, investment strategies illustrate what will happen in the future. while my personal preference is to create and operate, many operators prefer to create and flip, taking the money they have made and choosing to do something else.

the links in this post should help you navigate who is holding what. my intent is certainly not to show you all technology company holdings but to simply illustrate a few that are critical to accounting professionals. first, consider a simple listing of venture capital partners and firms. (you can click through these links to see a simple list of each.)

now for a few examples of vc firms and representative holdings:

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