special

put a little zip in your zoom

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come on. sit at the cool kids’ table.

group corporate video conference computer monitor screen

by beth ziesenis
app of the week

i don’t think the founders of telecommuter appreciation week could have anticipated worldwide adoption.

more apps of the week:  make your computer a clean slate | recycle and repurpose old devices | enlist ai for more productive meetings | keep teams on task with project management apps | apps to put your affairs in order | app of the week: celebrate black business month | app of the week: cheap flights | help your clients save money | time to upgrade your spreadsheets | app of the week: secretly stash cash | easy apps for increasing client engagement with video | app of the week: grow your business knowledge and career skill sets | app of the week: upgrade your resume | app of the week: end procrastination | 
see all: apps of the week here |
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

the date is a tribute to telephone pioneer alexander graham bell because it’s the week of his birthday (march 3).

so much of the working world experienced telecommuting in 2020, many millions of people learned to say, “you’re on mute” on cue. read more →

what makes an excellent tax return reviewer

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bonuses: a 10-question test (and answer key), plus 18 other issues you might want to test.

by ed mendlowitz
how to review tax returns: the field-tested update

firms have to decide who will do the tax return review, and how qualifed they are for this. ideally, trained tax department personnel are the primary reviewers. however, the bunching and compression of work often shifts some of the review to higher level, non-tax personnel such as audit managers and partners who might not have the comprehensive training, background, knowledge and experience to handle everything that comes up during the tax preparation process.

more: ‘quick and dirty’ tax review | when returns should be submitted for review | tax follow-up worksheets can mean more revenue | stop tax return review shortcuts | routine is key to reviewing tax returns | seven types of tax return reviews
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

additionally, in many firms, almost everyone on the staff will prepare some returns to ease the almost insurmountable burden on the tax department. that lack of trained preparers, though, places an added burden on the reviewers, making it important for them to be more aware and alert when they perform the review.
read more →

four steps to firm caas buy-in

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hitendra patil cas q-and-a logoeveryone has to be on board.

by hitendra patil
client accounting services: the definitive success guide

q: what is the best way to get firm-level buy-in for the caas practice?

more cas q&a: how much advice should your firm provide? | battling cas cost pushback | will my clients find cas expensive? | cas: much more than bookkeeping
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

a: assuming client accounting and advisory services is somewhat new to your firm, introducing a new service line to your firm requires devising a strategy to make the new service line successful, careful planning to implement the strategy, and of course, excellent internal communication. here are some quick steps:
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busy season barometer finds many cpas in transition

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join the survey. get the results.

dropping services … and clients. help wanted.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

the 2023 cpatrendlines busy season barometer generally looks for the status of firms as they dig into this year’s tax filings. practitioners tell us how things are going, how well they’re doing, what their main concerns are and what they see happening in local and national economies.

more: more cpas see worsening economy | has early tax season optimism peaked? | marchternity: just say ‘no’ | marchternity: the solution is community | why the irs is still doing data entry by hand | news on irs is maybe sort of a little bit good | why we all hate the tax code | how bullish are you this tax season? | accountants’ top problems for tax season 2023 | tax season 2023: better or worse?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

at the end of the survey, we ask what else we should know about their firms. this year, we’re receiving hints of firms in transition – slowing down, branching out, shifting gears, moving on, revamping business models and generally looking for a better business life.
read more →

are feds laid back on white-collar crime?

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bar chart of percentage of crimes prosecuted by typelet’s say the odds of prosecution are low … lower still for business entities.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

accountants are often the first to notice white-collar crime. they’re also the ones with access to the evidence. contrary to the cliché, numbers can lie, though not forever. when there’s something fishy in the figures, it’s an accountant who first notices.

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

but then what happens? often the case gets reported to the federal department of justice. and then what?
read more →

why you need standard naming conventions

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man's hands typing on computer keyboardsixteen suggested guidelines to use … and document.

by penny breslin
it’s not just the numbers

one of the most time-consuming parts of reconciliation is attempting to discover why or where to allocate expenses. you want to find and pay the correct vendor. you also want to be sure that you have the vendor’s correct name and tax id number when 1099 reporting time rolls around, yet it won’t be easy to do so if you do not have a consistent vendor naming convention.

more: procedures require regular revisiting | how to use onenote to create a firm playbook | how to develop procedures for bos | choose your little black dress of technology | keep the accountants focused on accounting | what do you want advisory services to be?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

consistent naming conventions are a critical component of good file management. the same is true if customer names are in the accounting program. any list really needs to have consistency of entry. duplicates and linking to the wrong record are common mistakes that take time to find and fix.
read more →

more cpas see worsening economy

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… especially for small businesses.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

accountants have a unique view of economies – local, national and micro. more than anyone else, they scrutinize numbers, the real numbers, the numbers that real companies and real families report. they see what’s really happening in black and white … and red.

more: has early tax season optimism peaked? | marchternity: just say ‘no’ | marchternity: the solution is community | why the irs is still doing data entry by hand | news on irs is maybe sort of a little bit good | why we all hate the tax code
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

and what they’re seeing now, in terms of economics, according to latest results from the 2023 cpatrendlines busy season barometer, doesn’t look good.

the economic future didn’t look good when the first responses came in, and now it’s looking a little worse.
read more →

irs processing returns as fast as it gets them

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data tablerefund numbers up 20+ percent, but average amounts still down.

by beth bellor
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

has the internal revenue service been bingeing nascar videos? the agency put the pedal to the metal in processing individual income tax returns, with an incredible current rate of 99.8 percent.

more: only 39% of tax returns filed by pros | tax season opens with refunds up 85%
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

as of feb. 17, the latest data available, the irs had received 36.9 million individual income tax returns, up 2.6 percent from the same period in 2022, and processed 36.8 million of them, up 9.9 percent.
read more →

when an owner dies without a buy-sell agreement

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three ways to value the business. four lousy alternatives.

by ed mendlowitz
77 ways to wow!

the right thing to do is have a buy-sell agreement, but many owners stupidly neglect to get this done. here is a suggested buyout plan where one owner drops dead, unexpectedly, and there is no agreement.

more: are you ready for a co-owner to drop dead? | you don’t need this, but your survivors do | five ways to ward off fraud in not-for-profits | client hires new manager: you need a plan | anatomy of a fraud
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

a caveat is that the right way is to engage an appraiser to determine the value and go through an entire process that was explained in my previous post. however, with smaller businesses where the families want to keep costs low, not cause excessive time and stress, and remain friends … what follows is a suggested plan. this might not work in every situation and is certainly not ideal. however, it does offer a manageable method of price and terms.
read more →

has early tax season optimism peaked?

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add your thoughts.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

tax practitioners were looking a bit optimistic last month, according to the early results coming in to the 2023 cpatrendlines busy season barometer.

more: marchternity: just say ‘no’ | marchternity: the solution is community | why the irs is still doing data entry by hand | news on irs is maybe sort of a little bit good | why we all hate the tax code | how bullish are you this tax season? | accountants’ top problems for tax season 2023 | tax season 2023: better or worse?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

but as the second wave of responses comes in, the early-bird optimism seems to be waning.

what’s happening?
read more →

how to offer proof to cas prospects

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portrait of a man talking on the phoneyour existing clients can help. be sure to track your sales success.

by hitendra patil
client accounting services: the definitive success guide

as you hone your sales discovery process, you will see that asking and telling is not enough. you need to “show” as well.

more: you don’t need a cas sales pitch | get clients to toot your cas horn | seven ways to market your cas offering | how to choose your cas processes | nine ways to measure client experience | twelve clues it’s time to outsource or offshore | yes, you have the staffing for cas
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

what you show during the discovery discussion are your client accounting services sales collaterals. they are the “proofs” that you actually do what you say. these collaterals answer the often-unexpressed question in the prospect’s mind “what will i get?” for your cas sales process, the following are some examples of the sales collaterals:
read more →

no more cold calls

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start by finding emails for new connections.

concept of sending e-mails from your computer

by beth ziesenis
app of the week

to celebrate no brainer day on february 27, let a handy site help you figure out company emails without any effort.

more apps of the week:  make your computer a clean slate | recycle and repurpose old devices | enlist ai for more productive meetings | keep teams on task with project management apps | apps to put your affairs in order | app of the week: celebrate black business month | app of the week: cheap flights | help your clients save money | time to upgrade your spreadsheets | app of the week: secretly stash cash | easy apps for increasing client engagement with video | app of the week: grow your business knowledge and career skill sets | app of the week: upgrade your resume | app of the week: end procrastination | 
see all: apps of the week here |
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

according to national today, the holiday is believed to be funded by adrienne sioux koopersmith “to encourage people to keep things simple and resolve situations calmly without stress.”  basically, if any activity requires planning, studying, analysis or thinking of any kind, then it’s an assignment for another day.

 

back to finding emails….

read more →