Author: Tony Novak
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Sample accounting services engagement agreement 2022
In our practice, each client service agreement is unique and customized to the specific situation. It helps, however, to have a listing of the best practices based on past experience as the basis for our work agreement. This is a sample only, dated 1/18/2022. Thank you for choosing me to help you with your accounting…
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Best Practices for Setting up an Accounting System for a Charity or Other Nonprofit Organization
There is no single right way or wrong way to set up an accounting system for a nonprofit organization. Every method has its pros and cons. Yet small new nonprofits may find a that simple clear list of best practice recommendations is useful to save time and money and to avoid learning ‘the hard way’.…
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Donation acknowledgment letters from charities
This is the time of year that many smaller charities send donation acknowledgement letters to contributors. IRS requires these letters as documentation of the contributions. It seems that larger charities send these at the time the donation is made while some smaller charities with fewer donor management capabilities wait until year end. This post is…
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Sample Work Plan for tax preparation
This is the beginning of another tax season and I notice already that some independent preparers are struggling with the increasingly messy topic of client communications. As part of my coaching certification program I am now working with more tax accountants on helping them build their business. So this topic came up a few times…
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Audits are expensive, even for small charities!
Update for 2022: Our State of New Jersey recently raised the minimum size requirement for nonprofit audits to $1,000,000 gross receipts. These bullet point comments are meant to introduce the topic of costs associated with financial statement audits of small charities. Financial statement audits are not the only type of audit undertaken by small charities…
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How many states will require you to file a nonresident tax return this year?
If you worked in, sold to customers in, or own property in another state, pay attention to avoid nasty penalties, legal action and collections. Seven states that do not require individual tax returns filed are Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. That filing exemption goes for individual residents and non-residents*. Most other…
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Cash App misinformation for 2022; Five clarifying points*
When a bank, payment processor, finance company, cash app company, mortgage company, attorney, settlement agent, etc., reports a transaction to the IRS and/or a state revenue department, THIS DOES NOT MAKE THE AMOUNT REPORTED TAXABLE INCOME. There is NO CHANGE IN FEDERAL OR STATE TAX LAW in 2022 that changes the taxability of any transaction,…
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“My accountant disappeared”
Preface: For years industry observers have warned about the aging of existing CPA professionals, the growing portion that were working beyond intended retirement age, the mass exodus of middle level producers at larger firms, and the lack of younger accountants coming into the public accounting industry. Yet none of that predicted the accounting industry crisis…
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Tax court upholds IRS on charter boat tax accounting
A recent tax court case caught my attention because of the subject matter – a charter boat used as a tax shelter – but it quickly became apparent that the case had more to do with how different my boat charter clients are from the subject case. Small business activities, including charter boat activities, are…
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2021: the year of tax misinformation
2021 may be remembered as the year when more taxpayers were hurt by bad tax advice than any other. Some recently published sources say millions were led astray by just one illegal strategy involving IRAs. The scam was promoted by just a few sales companies but gained viral popularity as quickly as other fake news…