New ideas can help you and your firm save time, money, and increase the number of clients you serve. But any idea — whether it’s a tool, system, process, or just a new way to do things — requires change. And people resist change. If you’re part of a firm, and you’ve identified a need for change, how do you … Read More
Q&A: Tax Code Changes for Individuals in 2020
The year 2020 has been filled with change, and the tax code is no exception to this. Recently, yet another occurred: Taxpayers are now temporarily allowed to deduct charitable contributions. The tax code allows individuals to deduct donations to charities only if they itemize on Form 1040’s Schedule A. They can’t claim contributions when they use the standard deduction amounts … Read More
Why Automation Will Change the Way Your Firm Does Business
You must prepare for the future — today. Automation isn’t about replacing people with machines. It’s simply the next step in the accounting evolution. Automation is: Fast. It allows accountants to spend their time using data to create a value-focused firm. More accurate. No more transposition errors or other costly human errors. Automation is a cut-and-paste action rather than transposing. … Read More
Turning off the always-on economy: How to take back control of your time, work, and sanity.
Just a few years ago, people saw technology as exciting and filled with possibilities. But the constant notifications, alerts, and reminders are taking a serious toll on our productivity, our social lives, and our mental health. You can see this epidemic first-hand in coffee shops worldwide. Workers have one eye on Slack, one eye on email, and no eyes left … Read More
Form 1099-NEC Officially Replaces 1099-MISC for Reporting Payments to Nonemployees
In case you haven’t heard, there’s a new tax form on the block for business filers for the 2020 tax year. Form 1099-NEC, Nonemployee Compensation, will be used instead of Form 1099-MISC to report amounts paid by businesses to independent contractors and others who provide services. In actuality, the new Form 1099-NEC isn’t entirely “new.” It’s an updated version of … Read More
Your Best Defense Against Ransomware
Not too long ago, the WannaCry ransomware attack was all over the news, infecting over 400,000 computers. The threat was fairly straightforward: Pay us or we’ll erase your files. Ransomware, like the WannaCry attack, works by encrypting your files to prevent you from using or accessing them. After your files are compromised, the hackers behind the attack then pop up … Read More
How Does the Medicare Surcharge Affect Self-Employed Individuals?
In his latest column on Medicare surtaxes, financial guru Julian Block addresses what your self-employed clients need to know about this complex area of tax law. Julian Block has devoted several previous columns to the Medicare surtax of 0.9 percent on earned income. It applies to high-income individuals when their salaries, other kinds of employee compensation, such as severance arrangements … Read More
Emphasis on Divorce Negotiations: a message from a CPA
I would encourage anyone involved in a divorce to have their CPA involved in the divorce negotiations. Our recent article about the divorce process includes 8 tax factors to be considered. These are good factors to be aware of and they are seldom included in a divorce decree. It is important to have a CPA during tax negotiations because these … Read More
8 Tax Areas to Factor into Divorce Negotiations
This article addresses eight tactics that may be used to affect your spouse’s net worth, which will directly affect your final financial settlement. You need to be aware of these so that you can gain assurance that all aspects of your spouse’s financial assets are fairly and accurately valued and disclosed on their net worth statement. This will enable your … Read More
IRS urged to stop sending notices for unpaid taxes until it catches up on mail backlog
The House Ways and Means Committee is asking the Internal Revenue Service to quit mailing notices for unpaid taxes to taxpayers who may have been affected by the mail backlog at the agency due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many taxpayers have been receiving balance-due notices from the IRS even though they sent in their tax payments to the IRS months … Read More