October 2017 - CPA Practice Advisor

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In this issue

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Firm Management

2017 Review of Website Builders for Accounting Firms

Your website should also offer an easily accessible list of services that your firm offers. You’ll also want to provide a convenient way for potential clients to get in touch with you regarding those services so a Contact Us page or an online ...

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Payroll

Repealing Obamacare: / ACA: What’s Next?

The latest Senate legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), known as Graham-Cassidy, was not put to a vote before the September 30th budget reconciliation deadline. While Republican leaders have signaled that they are not ...

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Firm Management

Apps We Love: Password Managers

There was a time when I wanted all my passwords to be the same, but that was way way back when we weren’t so worried about identity theft and hackers. So it’s time to move into the 21st century and learn about options for password management.

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The Most Overlooked Tax Deduction by Real Estate Owners

The IRS has provided real estate owners with a juicy tax deduction. The de minimis safe harbor election is an annual tax return election that permits a taxpayer to deduct, as ordinary and necessary business expenses, purchases of items that would normally have to be capitalized. Yet this advantageous election is often overlooked by taxpayers. […]

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Firm Management

2017 Review of Accounting Firm Portals

Wouldn’t it be great to simply retrieve client documents in the portal, process their tax returns, upload the return to the portal for the client to access and sign, and simply efile the signed return? Wouldn’t it be great to have a repository of ...

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Firm Management

2017 Reviews of Hosting Providers

Today, business owners and employees alike use a variety of methods to access software, including iOS and Android smartphones. IT staff has been pared down or eliminated as the need to install and maintain multiple software products on a local ...

Small Business

October 2017 Small Business Channel

More than 25 states allow the sale of marijuana for medicinal use; eight states permit the sale for recreational use. This activity has created new business opportunities for many public accounting firms, but there are unique challenges and risks in ...

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Accounting

October 2017 Accounting & Audit Channel

Digital badges appear as an icon or a logo online. Clicking on the badge takes you to a website that validates and explains the certificate. Badges can be used with any online communication like websites, email signatures, resumes and LinkedIn profiles.

Firm Management

Pay to Fail: Is There Benefit in Rewarding Failure?

Have you ever made a mistake and then tried to cover it up, hoping no one would notice, hoping you could fix the problem on your own, or counting on it not being an issue relevant enough to worry about? Put yourself in the shoes of the person most ...

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Payroll

How to Help Employees Understand and Fill Out Form W-4

When you hire employees, you should have them complete Form W-4 when they start work. The form lets you know how much federal income tax to withhold from employees’ wages.

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Small Business

There’s a QuickBooks App for That!

New Apps tab within QuickBooks Online Accountant helps accounting pros expand their role as trusted advisors and add apps directly to their clients’ QuickBooks Online accounts

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Payroll

October 2017 Payroll Channel

A new study shows significant trends in enterprise use of external contractors; growing enterprise demand for on-demand support, influx of highly skilled contractors into the workforce, business challenges, and increased individual interest in ...

Firm Management

October 2017 Firm Management Channel

It’s ironic that a profession dedicated to minimizing financial risks is so fraught with risk. While many business owners worry about liability and property risk — especially in the immediate wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma — insurance for ...

Accounting

Taking a Small Firm to the Cloud

Steve's practice uses AccountantsWorld's Accounting Power system, which makes it easy to collaborate with clients to share data, includes strong financial reporting and write-up functions, has trial balance, and includes a full bookkeeping system for ...

October 2017 Tax Channel

As with previous proposals, the new plan promises to cut taxes for individuals and businesses, while wiping out deductions and repealing other controversial tax provisions.

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Accounting

Cloud Accounting – Way of the Future or a Tool for Now?

The concept of cloud computing that we were discussing 20 years ago around products like QuickBooks Online, Intacct and NetSuite, followed shortly thereafter by Accounting Power, SAP Business by Design, Acumatica, Financial Force, Zoho, Sage One, ...

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Accounting

7 Marketing Tips to Attract Real Estate Pros and Brokers

When it comes to marketing to real estate clients, it can be tough. They are on the move constantly.

Firm Management

You’ve Been Breached. Now What?

Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America and accounting firms, with their wealth of taxpayer personal information, are often ground zero for cybercriminals. For many, the question is not if you’ll be the target of a cyber-attack, but when.

Achieving a Successful Tax Practice Takes Trial and Error

I pride myself on being ahead of the curve in this business. Accounting is such a conservative profession, and there is a lot of resistance to change. I was a partner in a partnership for 18 years. I spent a lot of my time dragging my other partners ...

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Accounting

What Your Clients Need to Know about Cloud Accounting Software

Anyone still skeptical about the importance and viability of cloud software in business probably should consider a line of work that doesn’t involve business. The promise of the cloud (and all its various nomenclatures: “SaaS,” “web,” etc.) is here and...

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As If It Couldn’t Get Any Better for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS)

REITs were already a good thing for real estate investments. Now with Rev. Proc. 2017-45, they are even better.

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Tax Planning

Estate Planning Part I – Passing Along Your Business to Your Children

Most business owners want the same thing; they want to pass on their business to their kids. Others may want to sell the business, and some just want to give it away. However, all these options have unique tax concerns that must be considered.