Practice Management & Professional Standards

Topics

April 14, 2016

Transparency for Individual Taxes

This article reviews how “taxpayer receipts” can help practitioners provide additional tax information to clients.

April 1, 2016

Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative

Many practitioners find that the IRS does not process their Form 2848 filings and returns them because the form was prepared or filed incorrectly.

March 17, 2016

Work-Product Doctrine Protects Accountant’s Tax Advice

the Second Circuit held that the taxpayer did not waive the attorney-client privilege by sharing documents with a consortium of banks with which the taxpayer had a common legal interest.

March 1, 2016

Tax Season Business Development

Tax season presents an opportunity to interact with current and prospective clients at a time when interest in the firm and its services is at its peak.

February 1, 2016

Tax Return Processes: The Intersection of Due Diligence and Quality Control

This column explores the interrelationship of ethical and practical considerations that start before client data come into the office and continue after the return is filed.

December 17, 2015

Preparing for the 2016 Filing Season

This year-end article offers a list of tasks to consider to get ready for the upcoming filing season.

December 1, 2015

Training Seasonal Staff

The key to developing a working training program for seasonal staff is to start early.

November 1, 2015

An Overview of Tax Practice Issues That Arise Under Statement on Standards in Personal Financial Planning Services

This column discusses some of the issues that might arise for tax practitioners in light of Statement on Standards in Personal Financial Planning Services.

October 1, 2015

Identity Theft: Staying One Step Ahead of the “Bad” Guys

A number of steps can be taken to minimize the opportunities for identity thieves to be successful.

September 1, 2015

Attracting and Motivating Seasonal Staff

To successfully attract and maintain seasonal staff, a practice needs a different approach than the one it takes with traditional full-time employees.

August 1, 2015

2015 Tax Software Survey

See how CPA tax practitioners rated the strengths and weakness of major tax preparation software products they used in 2015.

August 1, 2015

2015 Tax Software Survey: Individual Product Survey Responses

Online-only: Contact information, basic packages and their features are shown below for selected products receiving more than 1% of total responses in the survey.

August 1, 2015

Resolving the Theft of Tax Clients’ Identity

This article offers tips for dealing with identity-theft fraud that requires correcting a taxpayer’s account.

August 1, 2015

Voluntary Tax Practice Reviews

This column provides an overview of the various provisions and resources that should be consulted if a tax professional is considering a review of his or her tax practice systems and procedures.

July 16, 2015

Majority of CPAs Polled Had Clients Victimized by Tax ID Theft This Year

Many CPAs reported it was difficult or very difficult to resolve the issue with the IRS, echoing recent findings by the Taxpayer Advocate Service.

July 13, 2015

Emerging Tax Issues Cause Due-Diligence Problems

From foreign accounts to health care, from marijuana businesses to captive insurance, emerging tax issues are presenting practitioners with thorny due-diligence problems.

July 1, 2015

Marijuana Business and Sec. 280E: Potential Pitfalls for Clients and Advisers

This article examines the unique income tax issues that are faced by regulated marijuana businesses and their CPAs.

July 1, 2015

Handling Last-Minute Changes for Clients: It Is Who We Are … It Is What We Do …

This column addresses the concerns of small CPA firms dealing with a business client base with assets of less than $10 million and the final regulations on tangible property or the "repair regulations."

June 1, 2015

Tax Practice Management: More Than Just Words

Competent practitioners should already know what it takes to have a successful accounting firm or to be a part of one. Financial capital, strong client relationships, and technical know-how are all key; however, other aspects must be consistently considered. This column provides a sampling of those areas and ideas.

May 1, 2015