Specialized accounting search

14+ hour, 33+ min ago (327+ words) Just in time for Giving Tuesday, there's some good news for charities. The tax deduction for charitable giving is undergoing some changes next year thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, with a new above-the-line deduction for cash donations that may encourage some donations, but also new caps and limits that may discourage others. For tax years starting after Dec. 31, 2025, there's a $1,000 above-the-line deduction for single filers, or $2,000 for married couples filing jointly, who don't itemize. However, the provision isn't indexed for inflation and it's not available for donor-advised funds or private foundations, or for those who itemize." Taxpayers may want to evaluate their long-term philanthropy planning and accelerate some of their charitable giving for 2025 if necessary. One strategy is to bunch deductions by itemizing several years' worth of charitable contributions into one year, and then taking the standard…...

15+ hour, 53+ min ago (122+ words) Eide Bailly added Wall, Einhorn & Chernitzer; Brown Edwards acquired Sheldon & Co. CPAs; and LGA merged with Cohen Cohen & Co. Last month brought a slight uptick in wage and job growth at small businesses, payroll company Paychex reported. Carcaught; a big shank; this order's definitely to go; and other highlights of recent tax cases. A tweak to the deductibility of gambling losses may not bring in a lot of tax revenue, but it could certainly alter a lot of wagers next year. A study found that students underestimate the audit profession's attractive aspects and overestimate its less appealing aspects. The law requires the IRS to provide a clear explanation of tax-filing errors to taxpayers on its math error notices....

16+ hour, 25+ min ago (658+ words) The U.S. penny may finally be on its way out. Producing each coin now costs the U.S. Mint about 3.7 cents, at a total taxpayer cost of more than $100 million per year. Ending production may make economic sense, but it will also have consequences for accountants, retailers and tax administrators who must adapt to a new reality of rounded transactions and potential compliance inconsistencies. At first glance, this appears to be a simple step to simplify payments. In practice, it raises new questions for sales tax calculation, recordkeeping and reconciliation. When rounding becomes part of every cash transaction, even small differences between cash and card totals can create confusion for customers and complications for accounting teams. Under most rounding proposals, sales tax would still be calculated before rounding occurs. Tax rates, formulas and exemptions would not change, but cash totals could differ slightly…...

16+ hour, 54+ min ago (480+ words) BDO U.K. partner pay fell 14% in its latest set of results after a slowdown in its deals practice. The U.K. arm of the accountancy firm said average profit per equity partner for the year to July 4 slipped to "589,000 ($780,000), from "681,000 in the previous year, the firm said in a statement." Revenue was broadly flat at "1 billion, while operating profit fell 7.5% to "210 million as the firm navigated an uncertain economic backdrop in the U.K." The firm, which now has more than 500 partners, said its deals practice shrank 4% and its audit unit was down 3.7%, while its tax business grew 3.4% and its consulting, risk and outsourcing arm grew 5.4%. "The well-documented economic headwinds across the U.K. have resulted in a challenging year for the profession as a whole," managing partner Mark Shaw said in the statement. "Growth rates have slowed and profitability has come under pressure." Shaw said in…...

18+ hour, 28+ min ago (711+ words) Will AI ultimately supplant financial advisors? We certainly see headlines hinting at such a fate, including one in Financial Planning: "Don't think AI will replace you? That's this CEO's goal." In the October article by FP reporter Rob Burgess, Fahad Hassan, head of RIA Range Advisory, likened the future of his firm to ride-hailing service Waymo and predicted a future of fully "driverless" wealth management firms. Let me be clear: That's not going to happen. Hassan's vision misunderstands both technology and human behavior. AI will absolutely transform how advisors work, but it will not replace them in our lifetimes. Could a financial services professional do the same research manually? Yes, if given enough time. What AI does is give that time back, freeing human advisors to do what only they can: listen, empathize and guide people through life's biggest financial…...

19+ hour, 1+ min ago (352+ words) Last month brought a slight uptick in wage and job growth at small businesses in November, payroll company Paychex reported Tuesday. Wage growth has remained relatively stable at less than 3% in recent months, and there was little dramatic change in terms of states and industries in November." "The Midwest, from an overall standpoint, is still outperforming the two coasts, which is definitely a change over the last few years," said Fiorille." The Midwest (99.79) remained the top region for small business employment growth for the 18th month in a row. Indiana (101.22) led all states in the jobs index in November, gaining 1.54 percentage points during the past quarter. Phoenix (100.34) topped the other metro areas in terms of employment growth, followed by Philadelphia (100.32) and Dallas (100.11). Education and health services (100.64) led the way among industry sectors for small business job growth for the 18th month in…...

1+ day, 10+ hour ago (446+ words) It's a decent bet: Professional gamblers will become the first taxpayers ever to pay Uncle Sam for unrealized or "phantom" income in 2026. That's because, barring changes to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, one provision in the vast legislation cuts the deductibility of gambling losses to no more than 90% of winnings, beginning next year. That means that breaking even will come with a tax bill. Hobbyists who itemize will also see an impact to their federal taxes and, possibly, their state taxes." Experts say the changes make it even more important for gamblers to keep careful records of their wins and losses. Bipartisan lawmakers have introduced bills in both houses of Congress to tweak the provision, but whether they might pass in time to alter the rules for 2026 is unclear. "I don't understand what they're trying to accomplish with this,…...

1+ day, 10+ hour ago (434+ words) Students consistently misjudge key features of the junior auditor role, highlighting the need to levelset student expectations to help address the accounting talent shortage. A study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that students underestimate the profession's attractive aspects, like intellectual challenge, client interaction and autonomy, and overestimate its less appealing aspects, like repetitiveness and overtime. The misconceptions are particularly pronounced for Big Four Firms, and decrease the likelihood of students pursuing an auditing career." The study surveyed 344 undergraduate and graduate students at Dutch universities, as well as 161 junior auditors, to measure the expectations-reality gap on topics such as the nature of auditing work, required skills, organizational culture, development opportunities, work-life balance, career prospects, job security and salary. "The data tell a clear story: students are not rejecting the auditing profession, they're rejecting a misconception of it," said Christian Peters,…...

1+ day, 11+ hour ago (662+ words) For a long time, the main purpose of accounting tech has been to help accountants do their jobs faster and more accurately. This made sense, but it only got us so far. Artificial intelligence has not only sped up the manual processes, but some tools have also begun to think. It has started to anticipate our needs, learn our patterns, and perform tasks that traditional tools couldn't even touch. Accounts payable, which used to be a total headache and busywork, ended up being the perfect place to test it out. Adding AI shouldn't be about throwing automation at a problem. It's more about how accountants using it evolve. Accountants who are adopting this trend are transitioning from bookkeeping to analyst, financial adviser, and strategic partner roles. Most finance teams are already testing the waters, with about 72% using it in some…...

1+ day, 14+ hour ago (975+ words) Muskogee, Oklahoma: Michael Anthony Houser, formerly of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, has been sentenced to 70 months in prison for one count of theft of federal funds and three years for one count of tax fraud, to be served concurrently. Between July 2016 and February 2024, while manager for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Gaming Operations Authority Board, he embezzled and obtained by fraud $24,907,436.07. He also failed to disclose the stolen income for filing federal income taxes, causing a loss to the U.S. in 2016 through 2022; in tax year 2022 he also failed to report $7,851,027,28 in income. In total, his false filings deprived the U.S. Treasury of $8,205,834." Houser, who pleaded guilty earlier this year, was also ordered to pay $17,337,949.50 in restitution to the Muscogee Nation and $8,205,834 to the IRS." Pembroke, New Hampshire: Business owner Michael Kirouac has pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining more than $1 million of federal CARES Act…...