You walk into your office on a Saturday morning during tax season to find a staff member waiting for you with sweaty palms and a look of terror on her face. She takes a while to get the words out, but you soon learn that she backed up some client
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TOPICS
Information management and technology assurance
Make it rain
Q: I work with several massive Excel workbooks that contain large quantities of data consisting of many millions of rows, contained in multiple workbooks. As our data continues to grow, I find my current computer system to be inadequate. I need a computer that is not only powerful, but also
Three reasons finance should focus more on business intelligence
Many organizations recognize the value in harvesting data, whether the information is about customers’ buying habits or workers’ performance measures. But some of those companies haven’t been able to tap into the full potential of business intelligence, i.e., getting the right information from the data to make better business decisions.
Ernst & Young becomes EY as new leader takes helm
Ernst & Young has a new brand name, EY, and a new leader, Mark Weinberger. Weinberger, 51, officially became EY’s global chairman and CEO on Monday, the firm said in a news release. He replaced Jim Turley, who retired after 12 years as the firm’s chair and CEO. Weinberger’s previous leadership
Is this client the right fit for your firm?
A contentious divorce. Clients who want to file delinquent tax returns. The new client who represented himself as an upstanding businessman but has been indicted—for the third time. After malpractice claims are resolved, CPAs often say, “I never should have taken this client.” But there is a way to help
A large problem
Q: Each day I export a list of outstanding accounts receivable balances consisting of several thousand customers, and it is my job to produce a report containing the customers with the 25 highest outstanding balances for follow-up. As illustrated below, the problem is that the accounting system produces a list
Mergers emerge as dominant trend
Powerful forces are transforming the accounting profession in the United States. The Baby Boomers are heading into their retirement years. Baby Boomer CPAs are in charge of most U.S. accounting firms. And most U.S. accounting firms don’t have a signed succession or practice-continuation plan in place. These realities are rewriting
How to open new doors by closing your office
Virtually no one who has leased office space has enjoyed writing that rent check every month. It might have been satisfying at first, when the firm or company was young and having an office was a sign of progress, but watching money go into a landlord’s pocket inevitably gets old. Still, the
A bit confusing
Q: When installing Office 2013 on my 64-bit computer running a 64-bit operating system, the Microsoft installation routine recommends installing the 32-bit version of Office 2013, but it also provides the 64-bit option of Office 2013, which seems to be the more obvious option. Which do you recommend and why?
Five iPad tips
1. View full URLs. In Safari, holding your finger on any hyperlink for a few seconds reveals the full URL and also allows you to copy that URL. 2. Full-screen videos. You can increase the size of a video to full-size screen by tapping twice on the video. Pinch the
A good measure
Q: How can we tell if our internet service provider is delivering the internet speed we are paying for? A: There are many web-based internet speed tests, but use caution: Some so-called “speed tests” also install malware on your computer. For this reason, I like to use reputable speed tests
Three Word-based hyperlink questions
Q: Why is it that sometimes when I type a webpage address in Word, it converts to a hyperlink automatically, and sometimes it does not? A: Word recognizes and converts to a hyperlink webpage addresses containing “www” (such as www.irs.gov), but not those that don’t (such as irs.gov). The next
Staffing, succession emerge as top CPA firm concerns
Succession planning and staffing joined new client acquisition and dealing with the complexities of rapidly changing tax regulations as the top issues facing U.S. accounting firms, according to an AICPA survey released Tuesday. The 2013 Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) CPA Firm Top Issues survey found evidence that CPA firms
Excel at hyphen removal
J. Carlton Collins outlines two ways to remove hyphens from Social Security numbers in Excel.
OverScan
Q: I purchased a new television for use as a computer monitor and connected the device using an HDMI cable, but this solution is not working properly as my computer displays an oversized screen image that is about 10% too big for my monitor. This prevents me from viewing the
Survey spotlights need for data and security strategies
On the surface, the results of the 2013 North America Top Technology Initiatives survey show that “managing and retaining data” nudged past “securing the IT environment” to become the top technology priority cited by the nearly 2,000 accounting professionals polled. Dig a little deeper, and the evidence indicates that the
Going paperless checklist
Q: Our company has finally decided to go paperless, but we are not exactly sure where to begin. Can you provide some guidance for getting started? A: Most CPAs who go paperless later report they are glad they did. There are many ways to reduce the amount of paper your
Independence is in the eye of the beholder
The independence of CPAs is the hallmark of the profession. As such, accountants put forth significant focus and effort to comply with independence requirements related to everything from investments to business and employment relationships to services delivered to clients. But being what accountants call independent in “fact” isn’t enough. CPAs
Five iPhone tips
1. Magnify. To magnify the iPhone’s screen to improve readability and view image details, enable screen zooming by double-tapping the screen with three fingers. You can then pan the screen image by dragging with three fingers. To use this feature, you must first turn it on by selecting Settings, General,
Trigger happy
Q: I use my client’s GoToMyPC connection once a month to log in to her Windows 7 system to inspect her bookkeeping system and financial reports, and this application is not used for any other purpose. My client does not like having this application up and running on her computer
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SPONSORED REPORT
Preparing clients for new provisions next tax season
As the 2025 filing season approaches, H.R. 1 introduces significant tax reforms that CPAs must be prepared to navigate. These legislative changes represent some of the most comprehensive tax updates in recent years, affecting both individual and corporate taxpayers. This report provides in-depth analysis and guidance on H.R. 1.
From The Tax Adviser
November 30, 2025
Digital asset transactions: Broker reporting, amount realized, and basis
October 31, 2025
Recent developments in estate planning
October 31, 2025
