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Brought to you by the Maryland Association of CPAs |
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| | | | Podcast: The anticipation advantage | What risks should accounting and finance pros consider as they build the blueprint for the profession’s future? Futurist Amy Zalman, Ph.D., has some ideas in this week’s episode of our “Future-Proof” podcast. (From the MACPA) |
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| | Legal considerations of COVID-19 vaccine incentives | COVID-19 has left employers who want their employees back in the office in a difficult position. With the pandemic still raging, many employees are fearful of returning to the office with unvaccinated peers. In order to ease their employees’ concerns and provide a safe work environment, some employers are offering incentives to get vaccinated. (From The National Law Review) |
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| | Here come the cicadas: Brood X will soon invade Maryland | Brood X, a new generation of cicadas, will begin to show up in Maryland in the next few weeks, after a 17-year-long hiatus. The red-eyed, “straw-nosed” bug will begin to show up as early as late April, will fully emerge by the millions by the beginning of May and last until June. (From Maryland Reporter) |
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| | | | (04/22) A/R Collections KPIs and Uses | For small businesses who want to grow and get paid, Tally Street provides customer insights that help them retain customers by using data to anticipate problems before they happen. Webcasts from Tally Street review metrics and KPIs used by accounting, sales and revenue operations to segment customers, boost retention rates, improve A/R collections and minimize risk. |
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| | Forensic Valuation Services Conference 2021 | Business valuation, litigation support, and forensic accounting have all seen massive changes in the last few years thanks to new regulations, legislation, and technological developments. MACPA has designed the Forensic Valuation Conference specifically to serve the critical niche of CPAs involved or interested in these sectors.
TWO TRACKS AVAILABLE!
Choose the track that’s best for you based on your professional experience. |
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| | | 2021 Employee Benefit Plan Audit Conference | The Employee Benefit Plan Audit Conference equips CPAs in public practice with guidance on how to perform a quality audit of an EBP. |
The conference offers two tracks that will be offered over two days in May – Basic and Intermediate/Advanced – each dealing with issues that impact EBPs. |
Wednesday, May 12 – The Intermediate/Advanced Track provides CPAs an update on accounting and auditing issues and offers a variety of sessions designed to address areas that add complexity to EBP engagements.
Tuesday, May 25 – The Basic Audit Track walks through the required audit procedures for CPAs who are new to auditing EBPs. |
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| | 2021 Future CPA Leadership Series | The Future CPA Leadership Series is a virtual offering designed to give aspiring CPAs an inside look into the profession. Each day of the series is broken down for individual registration to allow you to take advantage of as little or as many of the sessions your schedule allows. We know life is busy and the current environment uncertain, but MACPA is here to help you navigate your future and plan for continued success. |
Please note, the Future CPA Leadership Series is open to all students and upon completion of the series in its entirety, you will receive a certificate of completion. |
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| | Virtual Beach Retreat 2021 | The annual MACPA Beach Retreat is a CPE experience that’s unlike any other. And even though we can’t be together in person this year, we’re excited to present this year’s Beach Retreat through an innovative virtual format! |
Choose from any of the courses offered each day of the retreat, including a professional issues update to kick things off and two full days of seminars with some of MACPA’s leading instructors and subject matter experts. |
Back by Popular Demand: #FutureReady Learning Labs
Please join us for MACPA’s #FutureReady Learning Labs, a complimentary series of TED Talk-style presentations that will kick off Beach Retreat |
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| Maryland General Assembly |
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| | Maryland CPAs earn key legislative victories | The 2021 session of Maryland’s General Assembly came to a close on April 12, and unlike last year’s version, this year’s legislative session actually went the distance. As usual, though, the accounting and finance profession earned its annual share of key legislative victories. (From the MACPA blog) |
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| A difficult and historic General Assembly session | The 2021 Maryland General Assembly session drew to a close at midnight Monday with little fanfare and no balloons or confetti falling from the galleries to the floors below. (From The Daily Record) |
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| Session over, business community breathes a sigh of relief | With a few notable exceptions, business owners in Maryland — especially small businesses and the hospitality industry, which was decimated nationwide by the coronavirus pandemic — are breathing a sigh of relief following the General Assembly session that concluded Monday. (From The Daily Record) |
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| Gov. Hogan signs dozens of bills into law | Hours after Maryland lawmakers adjourned their annual session, Gov. Larry Hogan signed off on dozens of new laws Tuesday, including measures that set standards for compensating the wrongly incarcerated and restructuring the leadership of the Maryland Environmental Service. (From The Baltimore Sun) |
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| Pot legalization, tax proposals that failed to gain traction will likely return | The 2021 legislative session of the Maryland General Assembly will probably be most remembered for the enactment of landmark police reform legislation but there were many other proposals championed by progressive lawmakers that failed to gain traction, such as marijuana legalization and changes to the way the state taxes its most wealthy residents. (From Maryland Reporter) |
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| | | | The estimated tax dilemma: What tax pros are doing and telling clients | While the IRS extended the tax return deadline to May 17, it kept the usual April 15 date for the first quarterly estimated tax payment of 2021. This is awkward for the many people planning to base 2021 estimated taxes on 2020 income reported in their Form 1040 tax returns. How are you supposed to know your April estimated tax payment if you haven’t yet done your 2020 tax return? (From Forbes) |
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| How the 2021 busy season is different | Across the country, some accounting firms prepared for the 2021 busy season by staffing up and offering more flexible work options for employees who are dealing with family issues during the pandemic. But navigating business needs amid employees’ personal needs during an ongoing pandemic has proved to be challenging. (From the Journal of Accountancy) |
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| | 12 ways to stress less this busy season | Many adults reported not knowing what to do to change their lifestyle so they could reduce their stress, so it just makes sense to talk about this a little. (From CPA Trendlines) |
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| | | Biden proposes $1.2 billion increase in IRS budget | President Biden’s fiscal 2022 budget unveiled Friday proposes a substantial increase in funding for the IRS, in an effort to prevent wealthy individuals and corporations from avoiding their taxes. (From The Hill) |
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| IRS to roll out expanded Child Tax Credit on July 1 | Internal Revenue Service commissioner Charles Rettig indicated the IRS is already working to implement a new program for an expanded Child Tax Credit under the American Rescue Plan by July 1, but left open the possibility there may be delays. (From Accounting Today) |
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| Everything we know about the new Child Tax Credit so far | When President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion-dollar American Rescue Plan last month, he launched a new and improved Child Tax Credit. The Child Tax Credit has been around since the Clinton Administration, yet this new version may have a positive effect on Americans who have been trying to find financial stability through the Covid-19 pandemic. (From Forbes) |
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| | | 4 reasons to apply for PPP right now | The forgivable Paycheck Protection Program could run out of money this month. But if you act now, you may get cash easier and faster than before. (From Inc.) |
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| What to know about the Restaurant Revitalization Fund draft application | The Small Business Administration is fleshing out details of its $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund ahead of what it said would be a late April launch — complete with what appears to be a draft of the proposed application for business owners. (From the Baltimore Business Journal) |
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| | | Global corporate taxes face ‘revolution’ after U.S. shift | A surprise U.S. drive to overhaul international corporate taxation promises a new era for governments to capture a bigger tax take from some of the most successful global businesses — if only the rest of the world can agree. (Accounting Today) |
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| | GASB proposes name change to avoid racist connotations | The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has proposed changing the term “comprehensive annual financial report” to “annual comprehensive financial report” because the abbreviation sounds like a racist term in South Africa. (From Accounting Today) |
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| SEC issues accounting guidance for SPACs | The U.S. securities regulator on Monday issued accounting guidance for special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, which called into question whether warrants issued by hundreds of SPACs could be considered equity instruments. (From Reuters) |
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| CFOs step up to face their new enemy: Poor data | Data quality has become one of the biggest issues requiring CFOs’ attention. As companies rely increasingly on data to drive performance, the risks of misreporting due to poor data have become critical. (From Financial Management) |
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| | | Maybe it’s time for your firm to pivot to Plan B | It’s time to pause and look around you. 2021, a year of fiscal and general economic uncertainties, might be an opportune time for you to do a self-assessment of your strategy. (From Accounting Today) |
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| | Are you asking clients the wrong questions? | With so much change and turmoil over the past year, our clients are reeling. If you haven’t gotten an earful about the challenges they’re facing, you probably aren’t asking the right questions to get to the root of the real problems. (From AccountingWEB) |
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| | How to counter clients’ cognitive biases | Our cognitive biases serve a purpose: They develop out of a need to sort through vast amounts of information in our daily life and make sense of it quickly. However, cognitive biases can also negatively affect how clients handle money. (From the Journal of Accountancy) |
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| | | Diversity in a virtual world | Here’s why the pandemic and the move to remote work can help the accounting profession move the needle on diversity. (From Accounting Today) |
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| How to implement diversity and inclusion in your firm | Embracing diversity and practicing inclusion is critical to the success of your firm. Welcoming different perspectives and creating a true sense of belonging for everyone is how you build strong teams. (From the AICPA) |
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| Women lag in accounting jobs recovery | Women’s numbers in the accounting profession declined to 638,100, down 2,600 or 0.4 percent for the month and 17,500 or 2.7 percent for the year. (From CPA Trendlines) |
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| | | Commerce Secretary Kelly Schulz to run for governor | Maryland Secretary of Commerce Kelly Schulz announced Wednesday she will run for the Republican nomination for governor in 2022. Schulz, 52, has served in Gov. Larry Hogan’s cabinet since he came to office in 2015. (From the Baltimore Business Journal) |
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| | Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley: EPA? Vatican? Trade press is buzzing | Former Maryland Gov. Martin J. O’Malley is being touted for a top job at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a leading environmental publication reported Tuesday. But two other specialty news websites this week suggested O’Malley may be under consideration to become U.S. ambassador to the Vatican. (From Maryland Matters) |
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| | | ADP releases diversity analysis tool, and more | HR and payroll tech provider ADP has added several new tools to its DataCloud platform. The new ADP DEI Dashboard and Organizational Benchmarks Dashboard help analyze diversity in a workforce, and help better allocate staff resources. (From Accounting Today) |
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| | SafeSend partners with Lead Edge Capital | SafeSend, a market-leading provider of e-sign and workflow automation technology for CPAs and tax preparers, has announced a partnership with Lead Edge Capital, a growth-stage investment firm based in New York and Santa Barbara, to accelerate the growth of the SafeSend Suite. Learn more here. |
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