COVID-19 news and information for CPAs

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March 8, 2021

How to nurture your accounting staff during the pandemic

Here’s what you can do to help staffers deal with the pressures of working virtually under current conditions.

March 6, 2021

Senate passes amended $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus bill

The Senate approved a $1.9 trillion pandemic economic relief bill on Saturday. The bill will be sent back to the House of Representatives because the Senate changed the legislation originally approved by the House.

March 5, 2021

AICPA calls on SBA to change ‘unfair’ PPP guidance, deadline

The AICPA reiterated its recommendation that the SBA delay the end of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) application period by at least 60 days and also urged the SBA to make retroactive new rules issued this week changing the formula sole proprietors use to calculate their maximum loan amounts.

March 4, 2021

Employee retention credit guidance update and rising economic confidence

This podcast with transcript shares analysis of the latest IRS guidance on the employee retention credit and takes a look at CPA executives’ sentiment about the economy.

March 4, 2021

AICPA requests tax deadline postponements until June 15

In a letter, the AICPA asked the IRS to postpone until June 15, 2021, all 2020 federal income tax and information returns and payments (e.g., extension and estimated payments) originally due April 15, 2021.

March 4, 2021

Economic confidence recovers to near pre-pandemic levels for finance leaders

Sentiment has risen for three consecutive quarters in a quarterly survey of CPA executives in business and industry. Revenue and profit are projected to increase in the next year.

March 3, 2021

PPP borrowers can use gross income, SBA rules

Paycheck Protection Program rules released by the SBA allow self-employed individuals who file a Form 1040, Schedule C, to calculate their maximum loan amount using gross income instead of net profit.

March 3, 2021

Will states be able to extend their tax filing seasons?

An AICPA expert details some of the factors that could affect changes to filing dates.

March 2, 2021

AICPA urges Congress to extend PPP deadline

The American Institute of CPAs, citing ongoing processing problems with the Paycheck Protection Program, called on Congress to extend the program’s application deadline past the current March 31 date. The AICPA is recommending an extension of at least 60 days.

March 2, 2021

IRS issues employee retention credit guidance

The IRS issued guidance on the employee retention credit in effect for qualified wages paid after March 12, 2020, through Dec. 31, 2020, including how it interacts with Paycheck Protection Program loans.

FROM THIS MONTH'S ISSUE

Build reusable Skills in Anthropic’s Claude AI

Instead of rewriting prompts each time, CPAs can turn routine tasks into reusable AI Skills. This Technology Q&A walks through how to build Claude Skills that process files, ask setup questions, and export clean Excel outputs.