Tax Tech

In their response to the coronavirus outbreak, employees and other stakeholders will begin remote work and there is increased pressure on an organization’s cybersecurity risk management. A likely derivative effect of the outbreak, lower in priority but still significant, is increased pressure ... John Doernberg

My EA Journey

After college in 1989, I had to move back in with my parents because, let's face it, who is going to hire a 21 year-old with no experience being part of a team? And my degree was in communication, a double-whammy when it came to corporate governance in the 90s. I was feeling sorry for myself, ... Cheryl Williams, EA

Feature Article

Managing a tax practice is tricky. I frequently meet clients who defend their tax choices and dicey positions because they feel it is correct. The disdain for tax agencies, particularly the IRS, becomes transparent in their conversations. To them, I am the governm... Thomas J. Williams, EA

Tax Tech

The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) recently restructured and revised its Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants. While the IESBA Code is not specifically geared toward management accounting and finance professionals, it d... Daniel Butcher

Practice Builder

Asking clients great questions is central to ruthlessly efficient workflow (REW) management. Great client questions can save hundreds of hours of time during tax season and prevent projects from falling behind schedule. Here is an example of questions done badly. ... Frank Stitely, CPA

My EA Journey

My tax journey started in 2008. I was 29 years old, and living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, near my hometown of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, working in student services at the University of Pennsylvania. I was a student leader in college, both during undergraduate and graduate studies at the Un... Thomas A. Gorczynski, EA, USTCP

My EA Journey

When I was young—18—and attending my local community and state college, I also had a part-time job typing financial records for Stanford University. These documents listed every location on the university’s campus with corresponding columns of numbers and totals. Accuracy was paramount. T... Jean Nelsen, EA

Practice Builder

Studying for the Special Enrollment Exam (SEE) can be an extensive process that, for many aspiring enrolled agents (EAs), can take hundreds of hours. Why should you take the exam? Because earning the enrolled agent credential grants you the privilege of representing ta... Lauren Nilssen

My EA Journey

For me, like many others, becoming an enrolled agent was a second career. It started with a part-time seasonal job preparing taxes while I continued my full-time career as an elementary music teacher. I began studying for the SEE exam and became an enrolled agent the following summer. Membership in NAEA and par... Lori Carpenter, EA, CPA

Practice Builder

It seems that every time I talk to other tax professionals, they are worried about the changes in our industry and what is coming on the horizon. I know of four seasoned professionals who have retired primarily because they do not want to deal with the tax code changes i... Jennifer Brown, EA

My EA Journey

I started on the path to becoming an enrolled agent (EA) in 2004 when I took an H&R Block tax training course. I was newly married and had purchased my first house, so I thought that taking a tax preparation class would help me to understand my own financial situation better. I fell ... Steven Heeley, EA

Feature Article

This article will focus on income tax deficiency and collection due process (CDP) jurisdiction, but the Tax Court also has jurisdiction over IRS’s denial or refusal to act on abatement of interest under IRC §6404 and innocent spouse cases under §6015; cases related to employment status; and denial of whistleblower claims, among others. The Tax Court was established to handle tax deficiency cases that require a timely filed notice of defic... Sherrill Trovato, EA, USTCP

Feature Article

BECOME AMERICA’S ADVANCED TAX EXPERT BY Mary Sunderland, EA, USTCP & Bill Nemeth, EA Do you want to stand out as a tax practitioner? Are you confident that you offer the latest and best tax advice to your clients? Do you want to grow your business by taking on more complicated tax returns and representation clients? Do you want to know the tax experts in these areas? ... Mary Sunderland, EA, USTCP

Feature Article

Due Diligence IT'S NOT ABOUT EITC ANYMORE By Kathy Morgan, EA, USTCP How many of you are starting to feel like we work for the IRS, “pre-auditing” clients for them? As grEAt tax professionals, the rock that we stand on has always been and will always be our integrity. However, just how much must we scrutinize our clients’ information to meet our obligations to the IRS, our clients’ well-b... Kathy Morgan, EA, USTCP

Feature Article

Is Merely Following Circular 230 Good Enough? David J. Silverman, EA, In the years since the Of fice of Professional Responsibility began requiring enrolled agents to complete annually two credits of continuing education in ethics or professional conduct, not one seminar I have attended on these topics has gone beyond what is stated in Circular 230. Some tax practitioners might seek com... David J. Silverman, EA

Feature Article

When I was in high school, my 11th-grade English teacher noticed that I wrote really well and loved to read, but I was getting a D in her class. She determined that I was bored and wasn’t being challenged. So, I was moved to Honors English. My first day in Honors English we were given the assignment to write a short story. At the time, I was reading a lot of Clive Barker novels, and I wrote a 25-page story called “Meat Loc... Craig W. Smalley, EA

Feature Article

As with most great ideas, the idea to promote the enrolled agent (EA) license to students and administrators at two and four-year colleges did not begin with one person. When several NAEA leaders independently recognized the high demand for licensed tax professionals, they also recognized that this required additional education for current college accounting majors to ensure that they could fill this demand. This created the perfect opportuni... Andrew “Andy” Stadler, EA

Feature Article

Are great leaders born or made? This question has been debated for generations. In my opinion, the answer is a resounding, “both.” Some people do seem to have an innate something that makes others gravitate toward them and follow their lead. Yet leadership is also a skill that can be studied, practiced, and developed over time. Imagine what kind of leader you would be today if you had been taking 30 hours of leadership edu... Jerry Gaddis, EA, MBA

Feature Article

Websites and social media are great ways to attract younger clientele to your business. In our digitally interconnected age, it is imperative to have a website that is more than an online business card. Here are five tips for an effective website: 1. A modern website must be mobile-friendly. In a world where there are more mobile devices than there are people on Earth, it is essential that your website be mobile-friendly. What e... Jennifer Brown, EA

Feature Article

The Tax Appointment Worksheet is a tool to help you gather the needed information for new and returning clients for the 2016 tax year. This year’s worksheet has been enhanced to reflect the changes in tax law. Now that the American Opportunity Credit is permanent, the need for the proper Form 1098-T and the educational expense evidence is increasingly crucial. Type of plan Amount of contribution Form 1099-... Mary Mellem, EA

Feature Article

I think I truly fell in love with taxation my sophomore year of college. At this point, I had already declared accounting as my major at Montclair State University. After years of working with my mom during tax season and after my first “Taxation of Individuals” class with a near perfect GPA, I was convinced that I would follow in my mom’s footsteps. Taxation was the career path I would choose. I decided after my four years at Mon... Brianna Antonelli, EA