In the News – November 25, 2024

We know turkey day is on the way so if you want to share with the fam all the latest in the accounting profession, we’re here for you. Read up on everything from National Tax Security Awareness Week to private equity’s involvement in the bookkeeping profession. And most of all, enjoy your holiday! 

IRS news  

IRS, Security Summit partners announce 9th annual National Tax Security Awareness Week starting Dec. 2 IRS.gov 

The Internal Revenue Service, working with the Security Summit partners, today announced a special awareness week focusing on taxpayers and tax professionals to protect sensitive financial information from identity thieves and tax scams as the holidays and the 2025 tax season approach. Read more...  

IRS takes steps to help prevent refund delays by accepting duplicate dependent returns with an IP PIN for 2025 filing season; taxpayers encouraged to sign up soon for IP PIN, Online Account IRS.gov 

The Internal Revenue Service is making it easier for taxpayers to protect their information and avoid refund delays by accepting certain e-filed tax returns that claim dependents who have already been claimed on another taxpayer’s return. This change will benefit filers claiming important tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit. Read more... 

IRS encourages taxpayers to prepare for 2025 filing season with online tools and key reminders IRS.gov  

As the nation's tax season approaches, the Internal Revenue Service is reminding people of simple steps they can take now to prepare to file their 2024 federal tax returns. This reminder is part of the IRS's "Get Ready" campaign to help everyone prepare for the upcoming filing season in early 2025. Read more...  

Technology news  

Sage Intacct Multi-Company Support Insightful Accountant 

One of the reasons businesses with multiple companies, like C-corporations with LLC subsidiaries, migrate from QuickBooks Enterprise to Sage Intacct is their ability to support multiple companies with ease of access between companies, inter-company transactions, and consolidated reporting. Read more...  

Accounting news  

Answering common questions about HSAs and Medicare enrollment Journal of Accountancy 

Americans age 55 and over hold an estimated $52 billion in their health savings accounts (HSAs), according to HSA investment company Devenir's most recent research. It's no surprise that as clients approach Medicare enrollment, they are increasingly interested in continuing to fund their HSAs to provide for current and future health care expenses. Read more...  

Gary Shamis: The Private Equity Hazards for Young Partners | Accounting Influencers CPA Trendlines 

In a deep dive into private equity’s involvement in accounting, Gary Shamis, CEO of Winding River Consulting, describes how investment firms see value in the sector’s steady cash flows and resilient recession history. “It’s not that accounting is recession-proof,” Shamis states, “but its inherent stability during economic downturns is highly appealing to investors.” He adds that accounting firms with strong advisory practices that offer scalable revenue opportunities are particularly interesting to private equity. Read more...  

Mergers and acquisitions  

Grant Thornton UK Picks Private Equity Over Merging With Its US Cousins Going Concern 

Finally, Grant Thornton UK has picked a private equity firm to whore itself out to. We can only hope this means that the UK media — looking at you, The Times — will stop cranking out hype pieces about how private equity firms are battling it out to win GT’s PE deal. It seems all that hype worked out for GT given that bidding exceeded the firm’s revenue by £646 million, a nearly 2x multiplier. Read more...  

Accounting Firms Upshift to Corporate Model CPA Trendlines 

The private equity influence and activity clearly will continue to dominate mergers and acquisitions in the profession in the near future. At this point there is likely over $10 billion in fee volume generated by firms PE has invested in. Even more if you include ESOP-based firms (an alternative form of investment). Contrast that with less than $2 billion at the height of the consolidation phase in the early 2000s. It seems likely that the fee volume generated by PE-backed firms could exceed $20 billion within at most 18 to 24 months. Read more...  

Other interesting things we found  

Cultivating Professional Growth Through Continual Learning Woodard Report 

If there’s one thing we all know, accounting isn’t static. Especially today, when new apps roll out every month, new regulations drop continually, and the world itself seems to be spinning faster. Read more...  

Is Your Global Strategy Focused on the Wrong Things? Global Small Business Blog 

The Global Small Business Blog explores potential impacts of upcoming policies on small businesses worldwide. From regulatory changes to new trade agreements, the article discusses how these factors might shape the future landscape for small enterprises. Read more...