Author: Tony Novak
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NJ election campaign committee no fee banking services
Purpose This page is meant for candidates for political office who elect to use my no fee services as a volunteer campaign committee treasurer. This is not meant for candidates who pay for services. (If you are paying for campaign banking services then you can design banking services however you want). The service is designed to…
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Updated checklist of nonprofit business support services
Thanks to peers this past week, this is an updated list of nonprofit business support services in PDF format. This version is dated 10/28/2021 and includes expanded discussion of an approach to budgeting methodology for external accounting services. Additional periodic revisions are likely as regulations, technology and industry practices evolve.
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Revised ‘Best Practices’ in accounting services engagement agreement
I revised the Best Practices section (the wordy section) of my engagement agreements effective September 1, 2021 with a number of small changes but the major change is meant to accommodate the growing portion of clients who prefer an ongoing service agreement rather than repeatedly starting and ending shorter duration services. As before, a sample…
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Small business workload shock hits home
Managing my workload now as a small business service provider is unlike any challenge I’ve faced before in my work career. I hear the same from my accountant peers. Some days it seems like I just go from one life emergency to another life emergency, never even reaching normal work tasks. I find it almost…
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Is dumbing down curriculum our only hope?
The field of accounting is losing CPAs at an alarming pace. The statistics are disturbing. Older practitioners are still working well beyond their planned retirement age and younger candidates are choosing to bypass the rigorous professional training. I’ve been involved with NJCPA’s student outreach efforts and I can confirm that in my experience, students are…
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Taxation of accounting services
Some states are likely to propose taxing professional services including accounting services. Proposed legislation to tax professional services will likely be introduced later this year in California, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington. The probability that these proposals will become law is unclear. Other states including Colorado, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas,…
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Unlicensed tax preparers
Key points of unlicensed tax preparers: There are about 500,000 unlicensed tax preparers in the U.S. IRS is concerned about fraud and incompetence among tax preparers. There is no implication that all unlicensed preparers are problematic. We need these unlicensed tax preparers in our economy. Other tax preparers – attorneys, CPAs and EAs – are…
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Tax provisions of the infrastructure bill
Why are we discussing this? The infrastructure bill passed the Senate this month with a strong majority support but is not yet law. What tax provisions are included? Cryptocurrency broker reporting is the hot topic. The bill also includes a longer tax filing extension after disasters. (This is important because we expect to see more natural…
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Four keys to successfully suing your accountant
We sometimes hear about cases where a lack of application of professional standards by an accountant causes problems. Sometimes things do not go as was hoped, just like any other business. If you believe that your accountant is legally responsible, consider these practical points. First, there must be substantial actual damage. In many cases, damage…
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The bitcoin conversation
Text message from Facebook friend: “Quick question: what are your thoughts on bitcoin? My sons keep telling me I need to get into. My accountant at present advises not. I only ask as I know you are a fountain of knowledge in the accounting world and just wanted to learn your opinion. Thanks!” Me: “What…