The majority of businesses in New Jersey began their official work from home protocol the week of March 15. During that period, companies had to adapt quickly to a new and unstable daily environment. Now, approximately eight weeks later, what have we learned?

Here are some key lessons:

• Communication. One thing that has come to everyone’s attention is how easy it is to go dark. The breakdown in communication is the number-one problem most organizations have with working from home. Those who are succeeding right now are using communication tools such as Microsoft Teams, Slack, Zoom, Skype and app-based phone systems to keep employees, managers, owners and clients all within close contact. 
• Routines. Many people thrive on the structure that a typical 9-to-5 routine gives their lives. Our current work-from-home situation allows many people to fall out of those routines. Stories of people working in their pajamas or gaining the ‘Quarantine 15’ are becoming more and more common. Getting into a standard routine and treating your remote working situation similar to your office situation is essential to productivity. Creating and enforcing a schedule, regular eating habits and dedicated down time are all key to both productivity and mental health.
• Security. Getting thrown into a remote working environment has forced many workers, managers, businesses and customers into situations where time and convenience make security and privacy take a back seat. With such an increased usage of electronic tools to send and receive information, all users need to be well aware of how this information could be exposed and what the potential risk of that exposure is. Email, electronic signatures, secure portals, encryption and personally identifiable Information are all hot areas that all remote workers need to be concerned about.
• Separation. Now that you have figured out how to work, have you established how to turn it off? Many people are experiencing the effect of working even more hours and disrupting more personal and family time by always having access to their email and company resources through portable computers and mobile devices. This can put additional stress onto a working relationship and add additional burdens to an already difficult working environment. Setting dedicated out-of-office hours can help make working hours more productive and non-working hours more rewarding.

One thing to note is that this is an ever-evolving and changing business landscape. The rules that apply today may not apply tomorrow. And once our country begins to take steps to fully open up safely, the rules will change again. Our ability to adapt and pivot in real time will ensure our success not only as individuals, but as organizations and as a country.

The Trump Administration recently announced expanded Medicare telehealth coverage that will enable beneficiaries to receive a wider range of healthcare services from their doctors without having to travel to a healthcare facility. This is especially helpful amid the coronavirus pandemic and provides an opportunity to show how valuable telemedicine services are in our society. We believe this expanded coverage will provide Medicare with the data it needs to justify the payments made to providers utilizing telemedicine to treat their patients.

On March 6, 2020, Medicare — administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) — temporarily paid clinicians to provide telehealth services for beneficiaries residing across the entire country. On March 13, 2020, President Trump announced an emergency declaration under the Stafford Act and the National Emergencies Act. Consistent with President Trump’s emergency declaration, CMS is expanding Medicare’s telehealth benefits under the 1135 waiver authority and the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act. Access the CMS Fact Sheet here: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/medicare-telemedicine-health-care-provider-fact-sheet.

Prior to this, Medicare was only allowed to pay clinicians for telehealth services such as routine visits in certain circumstances. For example, the beneficiary receiving the services must live in a rural area and travel to a local medical facility to get telehealth services from a doctor in a remote location. In addition, the beneficiary would generally not be allowed to receive telehealth services in their home.

Now, a range of healthcare providers, such as doctors, nurse practitioners, clinical psychologists, and licensed clinical social workers, will be able to offer telehealth to Medicare beneficiaries. Beneficiaries will be able to receive telehealth services in any healthcare facility including a physician’s office, hospital, nursing home or rural health clinic, as well as from their homes.

Medicare beneficiaries will be able to receive various services through telehealth including common office visits, mental health counseling, and preventive health screenings. This will help ensure Medicare beneficiaries, who are at a higher risk for COVID-19, are able to visit with their doctor from their home, without having to go to a doctor’s office or hospital which puts themselves or others at risk.

For CPAs who work in the medical field or whose clients work in the medical field, this also means easier payment processing. Clinicians can bill immediately for dates of service starting March 6, 2020. Telehealth services are paid under the Physician Fee Schedule at the same amount as in-person services. Medicare coinsurance and deductible still apply for these services. Additionally, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is providing flexibility for healthcare providers to reduce or waive cost-sharing for telehealth visits paid by federal healthcare programs.

We’re thankful for technology around here, especially in this trying time with COVID-19 going around the world. If it weren’t for apps and the internet, we’d be stuck in the dark ages of filing paper by hand.

The best thing about technology is that it keeps getting better and better. Features that are only found in state-of-the-art products trickle down to everyone. On this week’s Grow Your Firm podcast by Jetpack Workflow, we welcome back Kellie Parks, cloud-accounting specialist at Calm Waters Cloud Accounting in Canada for another interview.

It’s different from our previous interviews. We’ve asked Kellie to talk about the top five apps that she thinks should be on every accountant’s radar right now, and along the way, we go down some interesting tangents. Here we go! 

Kellie's Top Five Cloud-Based Apps for Accounting Success

Kellie is a self-admitted app junkie, but for her business, she prefers to keep a minimalist toolkit of apps that work well together. She understands that there’s an absolute glut of apps to play with. If you have an existing app that fills these niches in your toolchain, keep using it!

A crucial idea that Kellie brings up is that choosing apps means more than just choosing something that has the features you need. You also have to enjoy using the application. If the user experience or the interface are tough for you to use or wrap your head around, you’ll hate using the application even if it does what you need. One thing that drew her to Jetpack Workflow was how similar checking things off in our application was like checking things in Excel, so she considered it a natural fit.

She also explains that the number one thing you need to do when you look at an app stack is to define the outcomes you want to have from your technology. Once you have that, then the rest falls into place. Kellie wanted to collaborate with her clients seamlessly in the cloud in real-time and drop paper entirely. With this app stack, she could do it!

If you’re looking to try something new, here’s what she recommends.

1. QuickBooks Online. QuickBooks Online (QBO) is the main hub of her operations, and most readers of this blog will be familiar with it. Kellie has been using it since 2012, and it has come a long way from the early days. We asked her why she chose QBO over Xero, the main competitor. Kellie used to be certified in Xero, but for her needs and for her tastes in UI, she prefers QBO.
2. Rewind. One difficulty of moving things to the cloud is figuring out how to back up all the data coming in from your customers. A loss of customer data is the same as having your filing cabinet full of receipts catch fire. It’s terrible! But with cloud apps, it’s not like you can pull a few files either. Accidents happen! Rewind cuts through all of that. It is a backup solution that is designed for cloud apps. It can connect directly with QBO to automatically back up your client’s information. Furthermore, it lets her go back in time and cherry-pick transactions to restore if there was a problem. It also links to many of the major e-commerce apps like Shopify so your clients can have peace of mind knowing their accounting information is saved if something should happen on their end. Kellie once saved eight hours of work after some sales receipts had to be deleted for a retail client of hers using Rewind. We’ve linked her story in the resources section.
3. Receipt Bank. If you are looking to go paperless with your company, start with this document management app! In fact, she’s moved her clients so far down the paperless route that she doesn’t have printers or scanners in her office. Some of her clients prefer to use Hubdoc, and she has one bank that doesn’t play nice yet with Receipt Bank, so she is using two apps for document management, but everything is forwarded into Receipt Bank because she prefers that program’s reporting tools.
4. Plooto. Pluto is an AR and AP payment processing tool that connects with your accounting software to auto-load upcoming bills and invoices. Kellie uses the data gathered from Receipt Bank and QBO to handle that side of her business. Kellie is in Canada, so there are fewer options for payment processors than there are in America. Plooto is one of the few that will work with both AR and AP in Canada, but the important thing is that you have a payment processing component in your tool stack. However, if you use one, then it is crucial to get buy-in from both your clients and your client’s vendors to have deposits drop straight into their bank accounts rather than receiving checks. Kellie’s approach was to play hardball. If they didn’t want to use the system, they got one more check and were dropped as a vendor. That may not work for you! What helped them to become comfortable was sharing the information from things like Receipt Bank and proving that everything was kosher. Once they knew that the system was working as it should, they were much more comfortable with it.
5. Zapier. The four apps we’ve talked about all handle their own part of the accounting package. Zapier is the glue that connects them all together so they can share information without conflicting and automate workflows between them. Around 1600 different applications can connect with Zapier! Many apps have some way to share information with other apps already. This native sharing may be enough for you, but if you get conflicts or one program isn’t pulling enough information into another one, Zapier can ensure all the information is correct. Another great feature of Zapier is that you can tell it to send orders to a second program when something finishes in another program. For instance, if you add a new client in one tool, Zapier could add them automatically to a mailing list in MailChimp.

Wrapping it Up

If you’re working remotely, why not give one of these five apps a try and see how they might help improve your workflows? Take some time to figure out how to get them to talk with one another and start thinking of possibilities that will increase your efficiency. It may even help you work from home for good!

This article first appeared in Jetpack Workflow's blog. It was reprinted with permission. 

Working mom! How many times have you heard this? You know you are a working mom when your mind seamlessly transitions from remembering to change a diaper on your way out the door to strategizing about tax savings for your multi-million dollar client as you are driving to work. As a senior certified public accountant at Cullari Carrico, LLC, I work on individual and business tax returns, compile financial statements, perform review services and serve as a member of the quality control committee. My day consists of juggling an active infant and a non-stop toddler, to managing endless deadlines, to remembering to reflect new regulations in my prepared financial statements. 

As a professional, you are passionate about your career by making sure you are on your A game during a meeting, but all of a sudden your watch buzzes with a call from daycare. You leave to answer and come back to a meeting that is wrapping up where someone else has shined and you sit back and nod in agreement to what they are saying. It feels like another missed opportunity because life as a working mom has gotten in the way.  

No matter what anyone says or what any “superwoman” portrays, being a working woman isn’t easy. No matter how advanced society has become, the majority of the time it’s women who are the “mental worriers.” Have you ever heard a dad talk about their kids’ bowel movement? 

As a mother, you want to do it all without feeling guilty. Feeling guilty because instead of baking, you sent in store-bought goodies during a school holiday party or you couldn’t do happy hour at work where new clients would be discussed.

You want to do it all and rightfully so...and with the right boundaries, work-life balance may be achievable!

It’s apparent that there is no one way to do it, but here are few things to keep in mind:

• Schedule out your week, day and hours. This forces you to stay on track with little room for distractions.
• Work with your employer for a mutual flex hour work schedule. It may be not be possible to reach the office during early hours, but hopping on remotely after kids’ bedtime may be more productive.
• Set scheduled times for check-ins. It’s impossible to turn off your mom brain at work, but instead of checking in with the caregiver at random times, this will help more.
• Disconnect. It’s difficult to disconnect from work even when you are home...but set boundaries to focus separately on family and work. This could be not spending more than a predetermined time on work at home.
• Ask for help!! It’s okay to say no to a project or hire help at home. Even superwomen need help to function sometimes!

If self-doubts, inaction, or the desire to put your social life at the forefront resonates with you and your progress towards becoming a CPA my story may be for you.

My journey towards becoming a CPA has spanned a third of my life, which means most of my adulthood was spent, in part, working towards this goal. This length of time is not representative of my attempts at taking the actual CPA Exam, rather it represents the time it took me to overcome the mental hurdles and self-doubt prior to sitting for one of our country’s hardest professional certification exams.

Over the length of my career thus far I have been surrounded with incredible mentors. They all shared the same sentiment: the longer I waited to take the CPA Exam the harder it would be as responsibilities at work and at home would grow. The first time I was on the receiving end of this insight I distinctly remember feeling a rush of misplaced pride that outright rejected their cautionary tale. In reality, the “pride” I felt was insecurity bubbling to the surface. Deep down, I knew they were right; however, I made the decision to ignore them. I decided, out of fear, to sacrifice future growth for current comfort and allowed self-doubt to root.

By 2013 I found myself interested in my work but remained uninspired to tackle the academic mountain which is the CPA Exam. In order to reinvigorate my passion for learning I enrolled in my alma mater’s Master of Accountancy program. I graduated December of 2014 with a refreshed outlook and revamped skillset to take on the exam. Before I dove head-first, I told myself, “I deserve a break before busy season.”

That was January of 2015.

Over the next four years, I transitioned into my current firm, WilkinGuttenplan; moved to an entirely new city; proposed to my girlfriend (now wife), Becky; and celebrated the awesome personal and professional milestones of my friends and family. Throughout all of that what remained absent was additional progress towards the CPA. I had positioned myself in a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure through inaction. I could hear my mentors, past and present, saying, “I told you so”.

By July 2018, after a series of meetings with my tax partner/coach the first section was scheduled. Passing this particular section wasn’t a high priority. What took precedent was the act of simply starting the process. I had to learn to face the fear and self-doubt I had let fester within and take my best shot.

What I learned throughout the following year’s successes and failures is simple; the CPA Exam is a war of mental attrition where the persistent and dedicated are rewarded. Paramount to my success was the support structure that built up my confidence to start the process and to hold me up through the setbacks. With the support of my wife, partner group, family and friends, exactly a year to the day of finding out I passed my first section, I had passed the final section at the ripe age of 32.

My final message to anyone procrastinating: Stop putting it off. You can do this!

For most new graduates, coming into a CPA firm is a great opportunity to start one’s career in accounting. At the same time, there are challenges a staff accountant will face that, without the proper guidance, can become overwhelming. However, with the proper mindset and the right leadership to offer direction, these challenges can be turned into opportunities. This is particularly true for new staff accountants.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• A new staff accountant is never expected to turn out a perfect tax return from start to finish. Bearing that in mind can alleviate a great deal of stress in the first few years in the accounting industry.
• Communicating with peers and reviewers in a professional manner will show the firm that you’re greatly committed to its success.
• Focusing on completing the basic tasks, such as assisting with extension preparation, basic workpaper preparation and keeping pace with your CPE classes, are all great ways to set yourself up for future accomplishments.
• Ask pointed questions about unclear subjects. Though it’s tempting to say you understand what’s going on, when in truth you’re unsure, it’s better for your development and your work product to ask the questions that will help you gain mastery of skillsets. Managers appreciate you asking for clarification before starting, as opposed to waiting until the deadline is right on top of you and finding out you’re lost. 
• Show managers your determination and drive to improve as an accountant. Even though working through a tax return can bring along its share of challenges, working as hard as you can to figure out the return is best.
• Realize this is your chance to show everyone that you are a go-getter and see if you can help the team out or go beyond the call of duty even though it may be easier to just wait for the work to land in your inbox.

In the long term, you’re much better served when you aim to distinguish yourself from your peers.  

A lot has changed in the last ten years about the ways that we manage information. Here are some examples:

These are just a few big changes that have critical impacts on security and productivity, and we’re all playing catchup trying to adjust to them. Following are three key things that you can do to be more secure and productive by 2020.

1. Install Multi-Factor Authentication for Basic Security in the Cloud

In the old days, your critical and confidential documents and data were kept securely on servers, behind locked doors in your office. Today we store documents using cloud services like Dropbox, Box, Office 365, and Google Drive. We store sensitive constituent data in Salesforce, Mailchimp, and Classy. There’s no one key that’s going to lock the door on all of it, so instead of securing that data by protecting its location, we secure it by restricting who can access it.

As we’ll discuss below, with the sophistication of password cracking tools, passwords alone don’t protect you. They need to be supplemented with an additional identity check. Google and Microsoft both include Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) as an option with their products, and there are options available for Dropbox, Box, and other online document storage services. Put simply, by sending you a secondary text, email, or phone call, MFA verifies that you are the person typing in your login info, and not some hacker in another town or country. It is a highly effective safety protocol.

2. Adopt Pass Phrases. It’s Time to Pass on Words

The old-school thinking on passwords was that they should be impossible to remember and changed frequently. In the last few years, the major experts on information security have changed their minds about that. They now recommend that people use relatively easy to remember pass-phrases (like “Mary had a little cow” or “Lucy in the ocean”) that are at least 15 characters in length. The new guidelines also point out that passwords need to be changed when data breaches occur; having an “every three month” policy doesn’t protect you if the breach occurs two days into the quarter.

For now, you should probably continue to comply with the old-fashioned C0nfU$1ng password rules, as many of the security standards that we are subject to (HIPAA, PCI, etc.) have not updated their requirements. But you will still be safer if you make your password longer and change it when you’re alerted to an issue.

More importantly, the time has come to use password management applications to remember those 300 passwords for you. It’s not safe to get around the issue of too many passwords by using the same one for Facebook that you use for your bank, and it’s equally insecure to save them all in unencrypted word documents or spreadsheets. LastPass and Dashlane offer popular personal and corporate products.

3. The Best Protection is Education

The tools recommended above offer a large layer of protection, but nothing will keep you 100% safe. Regardless of how many precautions you have in place, it is still very difficult to avoid a targeted and sophisticated scam. Scammers have gotten much more adept at disguising their emails and pop-ups as legitimate messages. At a minimum, you should hold semi-annual security training for all staff so that they know how to recognize phishing attempts and related scams, as this is how cyber-criminals install ransomware or redirect wire transfers to their accounts.

To help with this, a new class of software called Security Awareness Training has arisen. Applications like KnowBe4, Phishme, and Wombat do two primary things: test your users on their susceptibility to phishing scams and provide targeted training on cyber-security. The pricing of these solutions for nonprofits is very economical and typically less than any lost monies released by your organization as the result of a scam.

In Summary

Today’s data is secured by longer passwords, password management tools, multiple authentication methods, and your good, educated judgment. These are some of the basic security tools for the 2020s. Next time we will dive a little deeper and talk about mobile security and policies.

As with any general statement or recommendations on IT security, they are subject to change. This article is meant to discuss general guidelines. You should verify whatever protocols you put in place with your IT team or consultant.

This blog was reprinted with permission by Marcum LLP. 

As CPAs and accounting professionals, we hear it all during tax time. Let’s face it. For some clients you must gently warn of the potential downsides of aggressive tax positions; for others, you must read them the federal sentencing guidelines. During tax season, the public accounting analog to “will you love me in the morning?” is “will you still employ me after April 15?”

As another tax busy season slogs to a close, CPAs have lots of interesting memories to share. Here are mine. See if they ring true for you: 

• Client: “Why must I give you the same forms that I gave to you last year? Can’t you just use those?”
• My wife on March 20: “I booked our vacation for April 1-7; we got a great rate!”
• A client on March 25: “I want to thank you for the great job on my taxes. How about dinner the first week of April?”
• Client: “Why must I pay? I don’t like what the government does with my money!”
• Client: “I realize you’re 5 days from a final deadline but I really wanna talk about tax planning for next year. Would you call me in the next hour?”
• Client: “In response to your request for my wage statements, I enclose all of my charitable contributions. I trust you now have everything and can complete my return.”
• Client: “Hi. I dropped my taxes off this morning and was wondering if I could pick up my returns now.”
• To client: “We need your brokerage statements to complete your return.” (client): “Okay. What do you need to complete my return?”
• Client email: I still have to get you the remainder of my tax papers. :) And the deadline is only 2 weeks away. :)  I’ll be on vacation next week in the Bahamas. I’ll get you everything when I get back. Boy, I bet you could use a vacation!
• Client: “I only gave 4 of the 24 pages of my brokerage statement to you as I did not want to overwhelm you. I also figured that this would keep the bill for your services down. You’re welcome.”
• Client: “Is a deposit on my grave tax-deductible?”  Yes, in the after-life.
• Client: “I tagged and identified what each self-explanatory document is (1099, w-2, etc.) just in case you couldn’t understand them. But I threw my receipts in an envelope and assume you can figure them out.”
• Client: “I got your voicemail about brokerage statements and to answer your question, I included the food store flier as I took advantage of their 10% Off Sale and wasn’t sure if that had tax implications.
• Client: “This is unbelievable. You mean I owe $200,000 of taxes on 1 million dollars of income??!!?? I can’t comprehend this misfortune!!! WHY??!!??”
• For a deceased client’s final return, what address do you use? Heaven? Hell? How about their occupation? Corpse?
• Client: “I know you might be busy as it’s April 10 but I got the 17th and final notice before levy for me to file a franchise tax return for 2 years ago. I didn’t give you the prior 16 notices as I assumed this would all blow over. They gave us 10 days from receipt to file which means it must be submitted tomorrow.”
• Client: “I don’t mind [sort of] paying you for your services but my refund was only $300; isn’t your fee of $200 a bit much compared to my refund?”
• The client from March 25 above: “I haven’t heard from you. May I presume Friday night, April 1?”
• Client: “My taxes this year should be easy as there’s not much to report: most of my income was paid in cash.”
• Client: “It’s so stressful trying to get my papers to you. How do you do it?”

A complete version of this missive can be found at thedailyyap.com.

As a CEO or managing partner of an accounting firm, your most challenging task is anticipating the future and bringing it back to today. This needs to be done to develop current management action plans and to align them with long-term vision. We also must recognize that the future will be entrusted to our new and emerging leaders and we will not succeed by holding onto existing paradigms.

So, where do you start?

• Create real opportunities. Developing leadership for the future of a firm isn't done by talking about it, it's best done by creating real opportunities for others to lead. We try to develop leadership skills in our next generation by senior leadership leading from behind.
• Support new ideas. As the next generation demonstrates leadership, courage, authenticity and creativity, we celebrate and support their new ideas. Their ideas are fresh and driven by their energy and current immersion in today's reality. They are also willing to take on ownership of our collective future and success. Our job is to support their ideas and give them the opportunities to succeed (or fail). We must also positively reflect on failure so the fear of it doesn't inhibit new ideas and innovation.
• Listen and empower. Empowering and listening to the next generations allows us to break away from past patterns and narrow ways of looking at issues and enables us to be a catalyst for new ideas and innovation. At WilkinGuttenplan, we have developed formal, branded, leadership development initiatives to create tangible opportunities. We have several mechanisms for doing this including our Future Council, Innovation Council, and Advisory Committee, among others. These are staff-led with partner involvement, invited mostly to act as sponsors of the ideas and to have our partners hear what’s on the minds of the next generation and the unique and valuable insights they have. However, listening is not enough.
• Embrace change. We must act to validate and test new ideas and embrace change. The idea of leading from behind includes business development efforts as well. Through our NexGen experiential learning program we regularly take out our generations of future leaders on sales calls, marketing activities and client meetings. While they are not needed for these events, it gives them an opportunity to prepare for their future roles in a setting of learning and mentorship. This is a clear message of our investment in them.

The more we reach down, listen and value the talents of our next generations beyond daily production value, the more firms and the profession will be prepared for the changing future.

Graduating from college and other advanced degree programs is a big deal — not just for the education obtained, but for the commitment of focusing oneself for four to five years on a goal. Here are my 10 pointers for young professionals:

1. Save 25 to 35 percent of your net pay. You never had the money before, so you will never miss it. Start building your war chest of savings now, because it will come in handy later.
2. If you have student loans, use every disposable dime (after saving per #1) to pay it off. I’m serious. Get rid of those loans.
3. Invest money in one or two custom-made suits, custom-made shirts, some high-quality shoes and a nice coat. It will cost some serious money, but if you are on the lookout for deals (i.e., finding a quality tailor, looking out for yearly deals from stores like Nordstrom, tagging along to a friends and family event at a luxury retailer, etc.), you will be amazed by the money that you can save.
4. Start developing a secondary source of income. Start off with a Stock Dividend Fund, a Municipal Bond or Treasuries. Then, consider investing in an investment or rental property. Invest in a business or restaurant. Whatever. The point is, you will do yourself a favor by growing a source of income that is NOT from your job. 
5. Sign up for match – as in your 401(k) match.  Since your income is expected to be relatively low, here’s a retirement savings trick that I would recommend – Contribute to your 401(k)/Roth 401(k) just enough to secure the company’s match (which is free money), stop contributing after that and max out a ROTH IRA. Many employer Retirement Savings Plans have mediocre investment options at best and are full of hidden fees.
6. Cash Rules EVERYTHING Around Me (CREAM).  If you can’t pay for it with cash (and I’m not referring to your savings), don’t buy it. Credit is not an extension of your income. It is BORROWED MONEY.  Nothing is sadder than seeing a young adult paying on a credit card balance for clothes that he/she bought a year ago, or for a trip that you took two summers ago.
7. Be pennywise… and I don’t mean that big-headed clown from It.  Live frugally. Notice that I did not say “cheap”. Being frugal is all about being an informed and vigilant consumer. You take the time to shop for the best deal possible.
8. Understand that all things that glitter, isn’t gold. You will have friends that have a new car, bought those $100+ jeans, partied last weekend in VIP at ‘the club’. They’re living this fabulous lifestyle. However, they have no assets, bank account is just above the minimum (if not constantly incurring overdraft fees), and they’re barely making ends meet. This is not a judgement – just an observation. 
9. Luxurious living costs you big time. Thinking about moving to the “hot urban areas” with the brand new apartment complexes? With one bedrooms costing nearly $2,000/month ($24,000/year), you say “what the heck… you only live once, right?” That may be true, but if you were able to find a studio a few miles away at $1.250/mo ($15,000/year), you can save $9,000 year which could go towards, savings, investments or retirement.
10. Speak to a professional. You may not necessarily be ready to work with a financial advisor year-round, but it doesn’t hurt to pay a few hundred dollars to meet with an accountant and a fee-only advisor to discuss tax, budgeting and investment strategies for the ensuing six to 12 months.

Also, you can utilize tools like Mint.com or Betterment.com if you feel comfortable and savvy enough to navigate through this with a little help.

This abridged article was reprinted with permission. It was originally posted on www.njcpablog.com.

What’s the best way to mentor a student? In short — be present. By that I mean, be involved, be proactive in communications with the student and don’t just wait for them to contact you. They may be shy or intimidated; keep the relationship active by becoming familiar with the CPA Exam format, what their personal interests are or what their professional goals are. Thus, a mentor is somewhat like a big brother or sister.

What kinds of advice should a mentor give?

• Be one step ahead of the curve — the accounting profession is moving towards an advisory business first, with tax and assurance in the background.
• Be very technology-friendly. The ever-changing landscape of the accounting profession is being driven by technology.
• Be familiar with industry buzzwords: cybersecurity, international tax, advisory, etc.
• Be available, be enthusiastic and contribute to the conversation. Students should research their likes and dislikes, so they know what questions to ask their mentor.They should tell the mentor which accounting classes they enjoyed the most and what topics they enjoyed.
• Know that a mentoring relationship works both ways. A mentor has a wealth of experience to offer and can provide their opinion/view on any topic but they cannot read minds. Be friendly and don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Mentoring relationships occur at all stages in one’s career from student to staff to manager. The relationships that one fosters as a student, if kept alive, can very well take them through one’s career. These relationships can turn into friendships or even networking opportunities in the future. You never know where a simple conversation will lead you.

The New Jersey Society of CPAs (NJCPA) awarded nearly $375,000 in scholarships to 70 students in April from the NJCPA Scholarship Fund. Scholarships are worth from $1,000 to $7,000 each, split between four-year, one-year, chapter, and minority awards. The fund has supported more than 1,700 students, with more than $4 million given out over the last six decades.

I am indeed thankful to be selected as one of the recipients of the NJCPA Scholarship Awards for the 2018/19 academic year and grateful to have had the chance to attend the 58^th Annual Scholarship Award Ceremony with my accounting professors. I can highlight several impacts on my education from receiving this award. These include:

• Opportunity: The award provides me an opportunity to pursue my accounting degree. Receiving this scholarship, I spend less time working to keep on top of my accumulated student loan and worrying about my university debt. I am able to spend more of my time enjoying my studies and have a greater opportunity to maximize my college experience.
• Motivation: This scholarship motivates me to continuously work hard at school. Receiving this award produces better outcomes for my academic endeavors. It also allows me to progress in continuing to achieve my goal to become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
• Inspiration: Investing in my education provides me with a solid base upon which I can build a career in accounting. The NJCPA Scholarship Fund offers monetary assistance to support students’ education. It further proves that the NJCPA is committed to its members and demonstrates their willingness to go above and beyond to ensure student members succeed. Their generosity has inspired me to contribute to scholarships and I look forward to being able to give back and invest in an education for future student members.  

Congratulations to other scholarship recipients (listed here) — our hard work now will help us succeed in the accounting profession.

During my undergraduate years, the NJCPA has also helped me develop my professional network at events such as NJCPA’s 2018 Annual Convention & Expo and its Career Night. I would like to thank NJCPA for continuing to support and provide the resources needed for student members to pursue an accounting education.

Because of the enactment of last year’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, fewer taxpayers will use itemized deductions on future tax returns. Although this could mean a reduction in charitable giving, your nonprofit client may have options for mitigating any potential revenue loss from the new tax law.

According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, the new law will cause the number of filers who itemize to drop from approximately 30 percent to 13 percent. Because fewer taxpayers will itemize, fewer people will be able to deduct their charitable donations. It is estimated that this could reduce charitable giving by between 4 percent and 5 percent annually. Another concern is the doubling of the estate tax exemption, perhaps reducing the incentive for some estates to donate assets.

Nonprofits should prepare as soon as possible by adjusting their financial plans to accommodate the tax changes. Despite the reduction in itemizers, consider other tax changes and different revenue-raising strategies you can use to offset the impact.

1. Flexibility for high-dollar donors: Much has been made of the increased standard deduction change, but the new law also increased the income cap for annual donations from 50 percent to 60 percent of adjusted gross income. Plus, the law repealed the “Pease” limitation, which limited the value of itemized deductions for higher-income earners. This means that wealthy donors could make larger contributions in a given year. With the new AGI cap, a household with $2 million in income could now donate an annual maximum of $1.2 million, a 20 percent increase from the previous cap. And households that were previously precluded from claiming a charitable deduction because of the Pease rule now have more flexibility to take the deduction for more of their giving.
2. Higher after-tax income may increase willingness to donate: A major aim of the new law was to limit the use of deductions to help lower tax rates across the board. Because income tax rates are lower, the dollar value benefit of the charitable deduction is now lower even for taxpayers who continue to itemize. However, higher after-tax income for households presents a new opportunity as well. As taxpayers adjust to the new, lower tax withholdings from their wages, they may have more disposable income that could go toward charitable contributions. By tracking national and regional wage growth patterns, nonprofits can monitor whether a particular donor base has enough income flexibility to overcome the reduced allure of the charitable deduction.
3. Reduce reliance on fourth quarter giving: Nonprofits may need to adjust their end-of-year fundraising strategies to maximize revenue. Traditionally, the encroaching end of the calendar year gave nonprofits a chance to remind individuals that they have an opportunity to make a donation to save on their soon-to-be-filed tax returns. Depending on the demographics of the contributor base, it may make sense to instead do a steady stream of advertising throughout the year. Plan to put more time and spending into soliciting donations year-round, rather than planning on a spike in collections during the final quarter related to the advertising of tax benefits.
4. Accommodate the use of donation bunching: A number of taxpayers will fall just below the deduction level necessary to itemize. Imagine a household that hits the new $10,000 cap for the state and local tax deduction, has $5,000 in mortgage interest to deduct and donates $5,000 to charity. Under previous law, the $20,000 in potential deductions meant itemizing provided more value than taking the $12,700 standard deduction. Now that the standard deduction for married joint filers is $24,000, that same couple would no longer itemize. But to maximize the tax benefits, that same couple could instead donate $10,000 once every two years. Their average giving would still be $5,000, but combining it into one filing year allows the couple to claim the full value of the deduction.
5. Keep up-to-date on other tax changes: Although the new law is in place, the Department of the Treasury is still formulating important rules that could impact charitable giving options for businesses. In some instances, taxpayers may instead have opportunities to make fully deductible donations via their business income instead of their individual income. It’s important to follow these developments closely to know the charitable deduction options available that impact your nonprofits' fundraising abilities.

The new tax landscape may make charitable giving slightly more challenging in the near-term. But nonprofits can manage these challenges by strategizing with their accounting team to revise their long-term revenue goals and fundraising strategies.

This blog is reprinted with permission from Spire Group P.C.

The dominos first began to fall on June 25, 2018, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first marijuana-based drug for use in the United States. The drug, Epidiolex, contains cannabidiol (CBD), a purified chemical extract of the cannabis sativa plant (i.e., marijuana) as one of its main ingredients. The Controlled Substances Act, as originally written, does not provide for any relief for derivatives of the cannabis sativa plant and thus, the approved drug remained a Schedule I narcotic, even despite its FDA approval… until now.

On Sept. 28, the Acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) issued an official proclamation paving the way for certain CBD-based drugs to be rescheduled from Schedule I to Schedule V should they meet three tests. These conditions are:

1. The drug must be approved by the FDA.
2. The compounds used to create the drug may only contain cannabidiol (CBD) derived from cannabis.
3. And, there may not be higher than .1 percent residual tetrahydrocannabinols (THC) present.

Now, despite the euphoria of those in the cannabis industry that see this as the first step towards federal deregulation, the DEA has provided a very limited scope by which certain cannabis-based drugs are now on Schedule V. Any drug failing to meet the above definition will still be a Schedule I narcotic. In fact, really only Epidiolex meets this criteria today.

So wait… why does any of this matter to a boring tax accountant (i.e., me)?

Well, here's why:

Anyone who has been following the cannabis industry is familiar with Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). This section, created by Congress in 1982, provides that “no deduction or credit shall be allowed for any amount paid or incurred… in carrying on any trade or business if such trade or business consist of trafficking in controlled substances.” What most people do not tend to focus on in this section, is the caveat that “trafficking in controlled substances” is followed in parentheses by “(within the meaning of Schedule I and II of the Controlled Substances Act).” Thus, by providing for an outlet by which drugs derived from the cannabis sativa plant to now be placed on Schedule V instead of Schedule I, the DEA has provided a scenario in which a plant-touching business — sorry, a major pharmaceutical company — can now theoretically disregard IRC §280E when calculating their net taxable income.

Accountants would be wise to keep their eyes on this. If this is the beginning of a trend for the DEA, perhaps all businesses operating within the medical cannabis space may soon be able to claim exemption from IRC §280E. I suppose we will just have to wait and see if this snowflake turns into the avalanche that many hope it will become.  

It’s crucial to view networking as building a friendship and possibly even a partnership instead of wondering what an individual in the profession could do for you. Networking is a two-way street, which would ideally result in expanding both parties’ contacts and professional relationships.

Below are a few tips that can help navigate the networking world:   

• Arrive on time. Showing up to a networking event early or on time will make it easier to find someone to talk to since most people won’t have conversation partners yet.
• Be approachable. Smile, make eye contact and listen to what people have to say.
• Keep the conversation casual. There is no need to start a conversation with a sales pitch. Remember to keep the conversation light and fun which will allow it to naturally progress to a deeper conversation. Do have a short elevator pitch ready on what you and your firm does if someone asks. The purpose is to connect with the person and try to find a mutual interest. People tend to do business with whom they get along. Asking general questions about the other person, weekend plans or favorite sports/teams are all great ways to further a conversation and will give you something to build on and to bring up in your next interaction.
• Share hobbies and interests. It should be relatively easy to find a personal connection with a networking prospect and truly expand on this common interest to form a lasting bond. Discussing hobbies or interest you are passionate about can help you find a common connection with someone. Even if this is not a common interest between the two parties, an interesting hobby will show you are well-rounded and have a personable side which will hopefully spark a lot of questions from the other party.
• Follow up. By following up, you are reinforcing the relationship with the person you met. If you collected a business card, shoot the person a quick email the next day simply saying that you enjoyed meeting them. Try to connect a discussion point from your conversation. You can also connect with your new contacts through LinkedIn, which will help you stay in their network.

Most importantly, remember that very few people are naturally comfortable with networking. It takes time to build the confidence to recognize other people are actually interested in what you have to say.