Author: Tony Novak
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Step by step: Lawyers’ trust accounting in QuickBooks Online
Remote accounting and compliance support is available for ongoing or occasionally as needed. Use the “Let’s Talk” button to plan time to share your concerns. The procedure for setting up a lawyer’s trust account in QuickBooks Online (QBO) is similar to other versions of QuickBooks or other brand accounting software. But since QBO is the…
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KPMG tax reform – initial observations
The latest tax reform analysis boiled down to a neat 165 page summary: https://home.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/us/pdf/2017/12/tnf-conference-agreement-dec18-2017.pdf
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When business expenses are not deductible
A general principle of tax accounting is that we deduct ordinary and necessary business expenses from our gross income before reporting the net taxable income. However, this is not always the case. In some cases it is necessary to modify your tax accounting to comply with specific tax laws – even sometimes when the tax…
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Good for CPAs, Bad for RIAs
As great as this tax bill is for CPAs who offer tax planning services, it is just as bad for investment advisers. Here’s why: RIAs do not benefit from the 20% deduction of pass-through entity income. RIAs tend to have high state, local and property taxes. Limiting this deduction, along with elimination of the personal…
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Remodelers/Developers Wanted in Money Island NJ
I’ve been working on the redevelopment of Money Island New Jersey as a working waterfront aquaculture-based community. The overall community redevelopment plan is posted here. Throughout this process that includes some properties I own, I have also been authorized to represent some of the other principles in this community in planning various other aspects of this…
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Law firm trust accounting overview
This post is meant for non-lawyers and people who want a general understanding of the topic. Lawyers should rely on more specific sources including their state bar associations. Rules vary by state and jurisdiction. These are just general principles. Client funds that are not earned legal fees must be kept in separate accounts and not commingled…
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Manage these five key relationships for a happier 2018
Recently there’s been a media blitz about the power and influence of what the New York Times calls the “Frightful Five”: Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft and Facebook. Despite this media blitz I suspect that most of us know little about this topic. The more we learn, the more we are likely to know why they…
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Skeletons in the closet
Every day now there are more stories of successful men brought to account for their past sexual indiscretions. I’ve wondered aloud how many high powered guys don’t have something to be ashamed of in this regard in their past. I suspect that many more men are scared now. It’s also perfectly clear to me that…
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2018 tax rates for married filing jointly
While most taxpayers get a decrease in marginal tax rates some small group of ‘married filing jointly‘ taxpayers will face higher marginal tax rates. This means that a married taxpayer with taxable income of $237,951 to $315,000 will see slightly less of a tax cut as a percentage of income compared to married taxpayers in other…
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The three basic principles of individual tax reform
The tax reform bill, as passed, does three key things for individual taxpayers: Temporarily changes the way we calculate “taxable income”. No longer do we calculate personal exemptions. Most deductions are eliminated. The standard deduction is increased. To estimate the impact on your taxes subtract the total amount of your current deductions and personal exemptions…