news

aicpa taps tom hood, acquires maryland society’s cpe business

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hood, top, and brown, bottom, commenting on the news in an macpa video here

hood named executive vice president for business growth and engagement.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

in a move rocking the cpa profession, the association of international certified professional accountants (more commonly known as the aicpa) has hired tom hood, former executive director and ceo of the maryland association of cpas, as executive vice president for business growth and engagement.

hood reports to barry melancon, aicpa ceo since 1995.

in addition to hood’s appointment, the aicpa acquired the business learning institute, the macpa cpe arm, launch by hood in 1999,  and one of the nation’s top 10 cpe providers, with about 400 courses in its catalog. hood will continue as bli’s top executive.

the news carries a number of implications, including:

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avalara acquires business licenses llc for $97 million

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follows deal for transaction tax resources inc.

via avalara

avalara, a leading provider of tax compliance automation software for businesses of all sizes, is aquiring the operational assets of business licenses, llc, a company that provides software and services for the research, acquisition, and management of business licenses, registrations, and permits for businesses of all sizes. the transaction is valued at approximately $97 million in cash and stock.

last month, avalara acquired transaction tax resources, inc. to continue to build the industry’s leading content database for tax. with the acquisition of assets from business licenses, avalara furthers its pioneering vision of being part of every transaction in the world by supporting the compliance life cycle through advanced technologies.

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the covid outlook: a long, slow climb back to recovery

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why right networks’ acquisition of rootworks may be just what the doctor ordered

^ click to play

with rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

the accounting world shifted a little with the acquisition by right networks, a cloud-hosting vendor, of rootworks, a technology platform provider to cpa firms.

though conceived before the pandemic, the deal was closed as the first wave of coronavirus was crashing against the shores of the u.s. and it may be a sign of the times under pandemic conditions, as accountants — and, indeed, business in general — race for new technology solutions and business models.

see: right networks acquires rootworks

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in this exclusive interview with 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间, right networks ceo joel hughes and rootworks founder darren root, explain the reasons for the deal, and their forecast for the future under covid. warning: their forecast for the future under covid is not pretty.

but the combination of the two companies may augur hold clues to the future of the profession.

transcript

here’s the full transcript, only lightly edited:

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accounting firms take billions in ppp payouts

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cpa firms grab the biggest slice of ppp loan payouts, accounting for 56% of the tax and accounting industry’s imperiled jobs. (卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research)

thousands of tax prep shops, bookkeeping companies, cpa firms, and payroll services take emergency loans, promising to save over 200,000 jobs.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

some 6,610 tax, accounting, payroll, and bookkeeping firms have so far received millions of dollars in small business administration paycheck protection program loans, potentially saving over 210,613 jobs, according to new data obtained by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research.

the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 full list of tax, bookkeeping, payroll and cpa firms is available to pro members here.

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the leading borrowers have all been cpa firms – each collecting $5 million to $10 million against a promise to save 10,298 jobs, more than half of the entire industry headcount threatened by the pandemic-fueled economic crash.

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how covid has pulverized irs operations

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delays, postponements, system failures, shutdowns, and mounting backlogs.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

taxpayers who filed a 2019 paper return and are entitled to refunds may be in for a long wait, according to the first report to congress from the new irs watchdog.

more on the 2020 season: the mystery of 10 million missing tax returns | tax pro e-filings down 20 percent | irs web traffic doubles over year-ago | covid drowns irs in new filings | 2020 tax season comes to a screeching halt | the tax season 2020 dumpster fire | tax pros fall behind 6.2% in returns filed
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the irs was forced to suspend the processing of paper tax returns, and as of may 16, it estimated it had a backlog of 4.7 million paper returns, says national taxpayer advocate erin m. collins, who succeeded long-time predecessor nina olsen just as the pandemic was ramping up.

although the irs is reopening some of its core operations, it is not clear when it can open and process all the returns sitting in mail facilities, the taxpayer advocate service reports.

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avalara launches a.i. tool to streamline tax classifications

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simplifies product classification and taxability determinations.

seattle-based avalara inc., a leading provider of cloud-based tax compliance automation for businesses of all sizes, is rolling out an artificial intelligence-based tax classification tool, designed to cut the time spent by avalara avatax users classifying products and taxability.

“the accurate classification of products and services has always been a bottleneck for customers in their tax compliance journey,” said sanjay parthasarathy, chief product officer at avalara. “by harnessing the power of ai and machine learning, we have not only accelerated the classification process by providing a solution that helps users arrive at the right tax classification quickly and efficiently without being a tax expert, but we have also made it more accurate.” read more →

right networks acquires rootworks

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rootworks founder darren root joins right networks as gm and vp strategy.

joel hughes (left) and darren root
joel hughes (left) and darren root

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

signaling a move to broaden its industry footprint, right networks, a leader in cloud-enabled technology solutions for accounting firms and small businesses, has acquired rootworks, which provides accounting firms with tools, resources, and guidance to create a high-performing, proactive modern firm.

rootworks will continue to operate as an independent line of business within right networks with founder darren root serving as rootworks general manager and right networks vice president of market strategy, according to the company announcement.

“while right networks is a leading technology supplier to the accounting profession, we recognize that our firm customers need more than technology to succeed in the face of the profession’s digital transformation,” says joel hughes, ceo of right networks, which counts over 5,000 accounting firms and 180,000 users as clients. “firms need the business context, the ‘why and how,’ in order to adapt and move forward. rootworks has pioneered and perfected a repeatable business model for ‘the modern firm,’ supported by education and dedicated coaching via a technology platform and peer community that fosters success. firms owners need help. right networks with rootworks can deliver the level of help they require.”

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feeling the pain? the biggest job losses by client sector

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jobs survey pinpoints client niches suffering the most under covid. bonus: infographic.

卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 business barometer:
how accountants are managing:
join the survey. get the results.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

private sector employment decreased by 20.2 million jobs from march to april according to the april adp national employment report, and that doesn’t reflect the full impact of covid-19.

a quick scan of the data shows the hardest hit client sectors, with the smallest businesses hit particularly hard.

more staffing and hiring trends:  planning for the coronavirus recession |  automation and the future of accounting  |  getting and keeping the best: the struggle continues |  headcounts dip by 3,500 in tax & accounting |  creative perks for remote employees |  what staffing shortage? |  hiring trends flash warning signs of slowdown in tax & accounting |  salary survey: top skills getting top pay

see: all 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 special coronavirus crisis coverage

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“job losses of this scale are unprecedented. the total number of job losses for the month of april alone was more than double the total jobs lost during the great recession,” says ahu yildirmaz, co-head of the adp research institute. “additionally, it is important to note that the report is based on the total number of payroll records for employees who were active on a company’s payroll through the 12th of the month. this is the same time period the bureau of labor and statistics uses for their survey.”

the details by company size and business sector:

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receipt bank raises $73 million

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debt and equity infusion to be used for expansion and product development.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

london-based receipt bank, which fields machine-learning software that fetches financial information from multiple sources, digitizing and categorizing it for more than 50,000 accountants and bookkeepers, has raised $73 million in debt and equity financing for product development and market expansion.

the news follows bill.com’s initial public offering in december on the new york stock exchange where it sold 9.82 million shares, raising $216 million and giving it a valuation of about $1.6 billion. bill.com automates invoicing for 81,000 businesses.

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mgi and cpaai to merge

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cpa firm associations combine 250 firms with $1 billion in revenues.

left to right: jim holmes, international chairman of cpaai; michael parness, president of cpaai; clive viegas bennett, ceo of mgi worldwide, and roger isaacs, chairman of mgi worldwide, celebrating the merger agreement at mgi worldwide’s annual global meeting in dubai, uae.

卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

mgi worldwide, a global network of independent audit, tax, accounting, and advisory firms, headquartered in the u.k., and cpa associates international, headquartered in the u.s., have announced that they will merge, effective jan. 1, 2020.

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bkr adds three firms

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ecuador, el salvador, and edina, minn.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

bkr international is adding elias & asociados, san salvador, el salvador; gw carter, ltd., edina, minn.; and auditores externos varela & patiño cia. ltda., guayaquil, ecuador,  to its roster of 160 firms with 500 offices in 80 nations. read more →

floqast releases bot-powered update

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floqast ceo whitmire

connects to oracle, sap, workday and other on-premise erp systems to accelerate closings.

via floqast
floqast.com
floqast, a provider of close-management software, is rolling out floqast connect 2.0 to provide organizations with frictionless connectivity between on-premise erp systems and cloud-based close management software.

more in tech:  when a doorbell raises privacy concerns  |  farm-aid for accountants? |  why daily t/e entry should be required |  irs clamps down on unreported cryptocurrency profits |  a new tool for security management |  onenote: the hidden treasure in office 365 |  more…

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“accounting teams that rely on floqast for their month-end close typically close three days faster than they did without us,” says mike whitmire, cpa, co-founder, and ceo of floqast.

“however, when general ledger data is locked away in on-premise erp systems, organizations are forced to find workarounds for getting to the data, that can erode the efficiencies gained using a solution like floqast. with connect 2.0, floqast is providing a secure, automated way to tap into on-premise data, ensuring accounting teams realize the full value of our close management platform.”

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