tax season

seven changes in the new taxpayer first act clients need to know

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young man under rain-covered umbrellaone congressman says it “levels the playing field.”

by barry j. friedman, cpa
industrynewsletters

the taxpayer first act of 2019 is redesigning how the irs works with taxpayers, even though it may take a while for many of the provisions to take effect.

more: how manufacturers can use the r&d tax credit | padding your tax deductions? the consequences are serious | beware the taxes of self-employment | charitable giving under tcja
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some experts have highlighted the following aspects of the bill as especially important:
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how many tax preparers do you need?

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stacks of papers on the corner of a deskalso: why error tracking is vital.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

we’ve discussed planning for tax season in terms of how many full- and part-time preparers you need. now, let’s discuss this in terms of capacity and turnaround time. let’s ask why we should ever hire additional tax preparers at all, because hiring additional people only costs more money.

more: farm-aid for accountants? | wip-ing clients into shape | maximize your role as visionary | the land mines in tax returns | give your people the resources they need
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we’ll start with a really ridiculous example and then get realistic.
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how manufacturers can use the r&d tax credit

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bottles of sunflower oil on an assembly linethere’s a 4-part test.

by barry j. friedman, cpa
industrynewsletters

many manufacturing companies fail to take advantage of the generous research and development (r&d) tax credit simply because they don’t have staff working in a lab. the internal revenue service’s (irs) definition of r&d is codified at internal revenue code section 41 and its related regulations – and it may not be exactly what you think it is.

more: padding your tax deductions? the consequences are serious | alternative minimum tax: what’s it like today? | 6 key facts about excise taxes | gifts to charity: 6 facts about written acknowledgments | yes, home equity loans may still be deductible
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from 2018 to 2027, the estimated value of r&d tax credits to be claimed by u.s. companies is estimated at $163 billion, with $148 billion of that going to corporations.
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wip-ing clients into shape

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//www.g005e.com/2019/09/18/wip-ing-clients-into-shapepresent draft tax returns for their approval.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

poor scheduling isn’t the only way wip gets out of control. clients cause wip to grow by not answering questions or approving drafts on a timely basis.

more: how the annual tax meeting died | whittle down wip | the tax practice traffic cop | how to coach your staff | how to create good managers
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do you think you can’t control client behavior? think again.
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how the annual tax meeting died

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businessman shaking hands with grim reaperthink clients really want those meetings? move them out of season and charge for them.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

better scheduling reduces wip. a while back www.g005e.com published an article by a brilliant writer (me) called “the annual tax season meeting is dead.” i based this article on years of scheduling mistakes in our firm that drove up wip and killed turnaround. here’s the gist of that article.

more: whittle down wip | maximize your role as visionary | the land mines in tax returns | give your people the resources they need | 4 tips for managing advanced preparers | the right way to assign staff projects | workflow for dummies | how effective project management makes your life easier
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beginning in the early 1990s, we began prescheduling personal tax meetings. we had the best intentions. our practice was growing, and we could no longer afford to have clients call us when they got around to it. we needed to bring sanity to the scheduling of meetings. we couldn’t have all of our clients call to schedule in mid-march. thus, we sent out postcards with prescheduled meeting times.
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whittle down wip

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piles of paper, decreasing in sizeit’s cheaper than adding capacity.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

want to increase profitability and client retention? manage projects effectively.

more: maximize your role as visionary | how to be the chief communicator | how to teach reviewing and time management | 4 steps to take before next tax season | 3 tips for handling rookie tax preparers | what goes into a client project?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

if you don’t have these measures, get them, or turn in your ceo title. if, as a value pricer, you’ve sworn off practice metrics based on productivity, you’ll learn nothing from this article. you just don’t have the numbers. mark cuban is on hold waiting to yell at you.
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maximize your role as visionary

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woman ladder binoculars city view outlook vision success climb adobestock_57204649.jpegdo the things that only you can do.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

your final role as ceo is visionary. this differs from your role as strategist, as the visionary role deals with the long-term future of your firm.

more: how to be the chief communicator | the tax practice traffic cop | the land mines in tax returns | how to teach reviewing and time management | how to coach your staff | give your people the resources they need | 4 steps to take before next tax season
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

this is the fun part, if you really relish your role as ceo. consider your firm a blank canvas on which you can experiment endlessly.
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how to be the chief communicator

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man on the phone in officeif you follow this plan, you’ll have the time and reap the benefits.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

your role as chief communicator is closely related to your traffic cop role. in the traffic cop role, we covered prodding clients to keep projects moving along, but there is more to client communications than just moving projects along to completion.

more: the tax practice traffic cop | the land mines in tax returns | how to teach reviewing and time management | how to coach your staff | give your people the resources they need | 4 steps to take before next tax season | how to create good managers | 4 tips for managing advanced preparers | 3 tips for handling rookie tax preparers | how to hire and manage great admin staff | the right way to assign staff projects
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

how many times per day do clients contact you to ask such pressing questions as, “are my dog’s vet bills deductible medical expenses?” the answer is yes, if your vet holds dual dvm and md degrees and your dog is classified as a dependent on your tax return. see irs code section 999, subsection c, paragraph 666.
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the tax practice traffic cop

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illustration of traffic lightauto-nagging isn’t always enough.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

one of your roles as ceo is chief traffic cop. you keep the flow of returns moving along the information superhighway that is your workflow system. you manage the managers. you remove process bottlenecks. you soothe irritable clients.

more: the land mines in tax returns | how to teach reviewing and time management | 4 steps to take before next tax season | some uncommon advice on hiring full-time staff | what goes into a client project? | the value-pricing con job | the 21st-century cpa firm | ruthlessly efficient workflow management
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i live in 15-minute increments during tax season. there are four things i do over and over and over again:
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the land mines in tax returns

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woman reading paper document at office desk in front of computerdata entry errors = public beheadings.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

your next role as ceo is reviewer. there are two types of review: primary and secondary.

more: how to teach reviewing and time management | how to coach your staff | how to create good managers | how to hire and manage great admin staff | managing people: the heart of effective project management | tammy’s tale of tax season tardiness | beware the leeches and consultants | the value-pricing con job | the 21st-century cpa firm | ruthlessly efficient workflow management | the annual tax meeting is dead. clients killed it.
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

depending on the size of your firm, you may only have primary reviews. if your firm consists of you and a preparer, you won’t have a second level of review. i don’t consider the self-review as a review step. i consider it part of preparation.
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how to teach reviewing and time management

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businessman sitting in office and reading documentsavoid “what’s the status of” hell.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

let’s discuss two training issues in detail: teaching time management and teaching review skills.

more: how to coach your staff | give your people the resources they need | 4 tips for managing advanced preparers | the right way to assign staff projects | workflow for dummies
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the biggest training gift that you can give your staff is time management training. you may want to offer formal training, but i have never found one that was really specific to cpa firms and the daily challenges we face.
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should the irs go down in history?

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stock image of businessman pushing a giant stack of documents isolated on white background3 reasons an agency historian would be a good idea.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

karl marx may have been wrong about workers rising up against their capitalist overlords, but he was right in observing that much of history can be explained by economics.

more: 5 easy ways that congress could fix tax collection | 4 ways to fix irs collections | taxpayers deserve better receipts | what’s the real impact of irs audits?
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if history and economics go hand in hand, it makes sense  that the internal revenue service, an entity through which trillions of dollars pass in a constant flow, should have an in-house historian. its policies, programs, decisions, managers, records, cases, controversies and artifacts are an important part of american and world history – but only if they survive for historical analysis.
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