Robin Thieme, CPA, CGMA, has similarly embraced the idea of “tech adaptability” in her role as CEO of KBS CFO, a fractional CFO business. When hiring, she no longer looks for specific technology software competencies on a résumé. Instead, Thieme wants to know if the applicant can adopt and adapt to new technologies to solve clients’ problems. The demands and expectations of the profession have “accelerated significantly forward as a result of COVID. The lemonade of that really tough time is that it elevated our thinking,” said Ellison-Taylor, a former executive director for Oracle, past chair of the AICPA, and board director for several major companies. There’s a wealth of financial information at your fingertips, but it won’t mean much without the ability to analyze and visualize it effectively.

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Incorporating data analysis and visualization techniques into your work process should be regular practice. Li Wang, CPA/ABV, CMA, Ph.D., is a professor in the George W. Daverio School of Accountancy at the University of Akron College of Business. Jim Bourke, CPA/CFF/CITP, CGMA, is managing director of Advisory Services at Withum Smith+Brown. Bo Ren, CPA, CMA, Ph.D., is a teaching assistant professor in the Department of Accountancy in the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The new pathway incorporates a broader role for professional experience to be determined at the jurisdiction level. Individual states will need to formally enact legislation and/or adopt rules and regulations, depending on the jurisdiction, before candidates can pursue this path.

Companies can receive early warnings about regulatory changes, so they can adjust business processes before compliance deadlines rather than scrambling to address issues afterward. Small business taxpayers with average annual gross receipts of $31 million or less will generally be permitted to apply this change retroactively to tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2021. And all taxpayers that made domestic research or experimental expenditures after Dec. 31, 2021, and before Jan. 1, 2025, will be permitted to elect to accelerate the remaining deductions for those expenditures over a one- or two-year period.

CPA firms can implement an IPA system to improve their audit risk assessment and planning process. The system can analyze the client’s industry, financial performance, and control environment against a vast database of historical audit outcomes. Using natural language processing, it can review prior audit findings, management letters, and regulatory filings to identify recurring issues or risk factors. IPA represents not just a technological shift but also a strategic opportunity for CPAs to redefine their professional value proposition. This transition is not merely beneficial but increasingly essential for practice sustainability in an evolving marketplace. For instance, an IPA system might analyze historical audit findings, current regulatory guidance, and client-specific risk factors to suggest appropriate testing approaches for an audit engagement — a level of assistance that far exceeds what RPA can provide.

Developing these complementary skill sets is a top requirement for job candidates, current professionals, and finance leaders. At a time when automation and artificial intelligence (AI) are rapidly transforming the accounting landscape, critical thinking remains a uniquely human skill that machines cannot replicate. Critical thinking is the cornerstone of sound judgment and decision-making, enabling accountants to navigate through uncertainties and complexities that arise in their profession. To help with that preparation, we have created downloadable IPA pre-implementation planning guidelines to provide a structured yet flexible framework for organizations to strategically plan their IPA initiatives. The guide addresses key considerations while allowing businesses to customize components based on their specific objectives, operational requirements, and resource constraints. CPAs can use these guidelines for purchasing applications that include IPA, customizing applications with IPA features to meet organizational needs, or developing and integrating IPA with existing systems or data.

WHY CRITICAL THINKING IS CRITICAL

The system can automatically retrieve client financial data from various sources (e.g., ERP systems, banking platforms, and spreadsheets), normalize it, and perform preliminary analytical procedures. The advanced AI analyzes historical patterns to identify unusual fluctuations or high-risk areas requiring deeper investigation. What makes IPA particularly attractive for accounting professionals is its ability to execute the judgment-intensive processes that characterize modern accounting work. Unlike earlier automation technologies that primarily addressed structured, repetitive tasks, IPA goes further, using advanced AI capabilities to make predictions and adaptations based on algorithms.

Systems can be programmed to monitor regulatory changes, flag potential accountancy notre dame business mendoza college of business compliance issues, and even generate appropriate documentation. This is particularly valuable in specialized areas like tax compliance, where firms using advanced automation can handle more returns during tax season without increasing staff size. The resulting capacity allows firms to maintain service quality during peak periods without the traditional stress on personnel and systems.

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“We expect a savvy business user who understands how to use technology to mitigate and manage risks, use technology to improve their decision-making, and use technology to help them anticipate what’s next,” she said. Accounting software like QuickBooks or Xero can automate repetitive tasks, giving you more time for strategic decision-making. Data analytics tools such as Power BI or Tableau enable you to quickly analyze large amounts of data, leading to deeper insights and better decisions. Effective planning anticipates potential challenges, aligns IPA initiatives closely with strategic objectives, and ensures adequate resource allocation. Organizations that invest in comprehensive pre-implementation assessments experience smoother transitions, accelerated return on investment, higher stakeholder satisfaction, and sustainable long-term success. This implementation can reduce compliance penalties and help the tax department shift from reactive filing to proactive planning.

The adopted version of the act merely increases the SALT cap and does not attempt to limit or address the various workarounds that taxpayers are currently using to avoid the SALT cap. The AICPA has published charts comparing tax and personal financial planning provisions of the act with current law (free site registration required). The May webcast featured AICPA CEO Mark Koziel providing his view of the A&A landscape, a deep dive into step 5 of the five-step revenue recognition process outlined in FASB ASC Topic 606, as well as more discussion of quality management.

Building a better CPA firm: Stepping up service offerings

Beyond saving time, this can improve internal control documentation, reduce audit preparation time, and help the finance team deliver more timely insights to business leaders. Rather than automating isolated tasks, comprehensive IPA implementations coordinate activities across multiple systems, departments, and even organizations. These capabilities could help accounting firms automate complex, multistage processes like financial close procedures, tax-compliance workflows, or audit engagements in their entirety, rather than merely automating discrete components of these processes. Familiarity with generative AI technology — which can process and respond to a nearly infinite variety of natural language prompts — will increasingly become a core skill for accounting and finance professionals in the near future, Hood added. Today, Lawson runs PACE, which focuses on identifying and developing the competencies that accounting and finance professionals need to help their organizations succeed by making better, more informed decisions.

Under the act, Treasury can set up Trump accounts for individuals that it identifies as eligible and for which no Trump account has already been created. The act also introduces an inflation-adjusted minimum deduction of $400 for taxpayers who have at least $1,000 of QBI from one or more active trades or businesses in which they materially participate. To view it, please log in to confirm your age.By continuing, you also agree that use of this site constitutes acceptance of Reddit’s User Agreement and acknowledgement of our Privacy Policy. To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Jeff Drew at -cima.com.

Paper tax refund checks on the way out as IRS shifts to electronic payments

The manager’s amendment that was approved by the committee was the result of behind-the-scenes negotiations that have been going on since last Friday. Improve your critical thinking in data analytics skills to diagnose problems with ease, make better data-driven decisions, and identify effective solutions. Understand that while technology offers ways to work faster and more accurately, it still relies on human thinking to interpret information, analyze it, and make informed decisions. This involves questioning assumptions, evaluating evidence, identifying potential biases, and considering alternative perspectives. These tools can help with fraud detection, data analysis, continuous monitoring, predictive analytics, automated documentation and reporting, pattern recognition, enhanced sampling techniques, automation of routine tasks, and risk assessment. The AICPA’s Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP) credential represents the intersection of technology and financial reporting.

• Generative AI has drawn much interest in the past couple of years, especially as it’s been incorporated into countless business software products.
• Critical thinking is the cornerstone of sound judgment and decision-making, enabling accountants to navigate through uncertainties and complexities that arise in their profession.
• The manager’s amendment that was approved by the committee was the result of behind-the-scenes negotiations that have been going on since last Friday.

TECHNOLOGY Q&A

The integration of generative AI within the IPA framework further distinguishes it from previous automation approaches. This creative dimension enables IPA to serve as both an implementation tool and a creative partner in professional service delivery. This provision would limit the usefulness of state passthrough entity taxes (PTETs) in avoiding the SALT cap. Accounting and finance professionals can contribute by learning topics like revenue management, managerial costing, and investment management, which traditional accounting curricula may not cover, Lawson said. Success today requires combining specific new tech skills, including the use of AI and automation, with the human arts of relationship building and strategizing.

So, while IPA can’t make judgments like humans, it can support more nuanced decision-making. The manager’s amendment did not make changes to the original bill’s denial of deductibility of state and local taxes for passthrough entities. The bill does not allow specified service trades or businesses (SSTBs) to deduct state and local income taxes, limiting the usefulness of state passthrough entity taxes (PTETs) in avoiding the SALT cap. The AICPA, in a letter Tuesday to the chairs and ranking members of the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees, had requested that the bill be amended to allow SSTBs to deduct state and local taxes. The practical advice provided in this article is a starting point for unlocking your potential as a forward-thinking accountant in an increasingly digital world. Develop familiarity with real-time financial applications that can provide case scenarios that test and enhance your critical thinking abilities.

To meet standards and assure data quality, human intervention is needed to evaluate the appropriateness of previous audit data and ensure the accuracy of data the algorithm will learn from. A letter to four Senate leaders dated June 28 reiterated the AICPA’s appreciation for multiple provisions in the bill (Senate substitute amendment) and noted the AICPA’s “continued concern” regarding the permanency of the TCJA limitation on such deductions. The Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) designation is the premier management accounting credential, indicating you have advanced proficiency in finance, operations, strategy, and management. With this credential, you embrace global recognition of your business acumen, ethics, and commitment. Gain insight into the skills and competencies required in the finance value chain of the future with the Transform Skills Certificate. With changing business models and financial needs, it is more important than ever for finance teams to transform and drive value for their organizations.

A CPA firm offering outsourced accounting services can employ an IPA solution that combines transaction processing efficiency with advisory insights. Such a system can connect directly to clients’ bank accounts, credit cards, and sales platforms to automatically categorize transactions based on learned patterns. When exceptions occur, the system can apply machine learning to suggest proper classification based on similar historical items. When giving advanced technologies access to client data, adhering to best practices in data protection becomes paramount. Engaging a CPA to conduct a SOC 2 examination is one of the most effective ways to mitigate risk and protect sensitive information.

• Robin Thieme, CPA, CGMA, has similarly embraced the idea of “tech adaptability” in her role as CEO of KBS CFO, a fractional CFO business.
• The integration of generative AI within the IPA framework further distinguishes it from previous automation approaches.
• That’s the remit of sales and marketing folks, but we need to be able to partner with them,” he said.
• The AICPA has published charts comparing tax and personal financial planning provisions of the act with current law (free site registration required).

The updated UAA, according to the news release, maintains that oversight and disciplinary authority over licensees continues with state boards of accountancy. The UAA will continue to allow CPA licensure with one year of experience, passage of the CPA Exam, and either a bachelor’s degree with 30 additional credit hours or a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree. All paths require an accounting concentration at either the undergraduate or graduate level. Under Section 919(g) of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, a remittance transfer is an electronic transfer of funds requested by a sender to a designated recipient that is initiated by a remittance transfer provider. A remittance transfer provider is any person or financial institution that provides remittance transfers for consumers in the normal course of its business, whether or not the consumer holds an account with the financial institution.

Clients and employers today expect their accountants to provide real-time insights, proactive guidance, and strategic partnership (either with the client or, in the case of corporate CPAs, company management). IPA can help CPAs meet these expectations by handling routine processes autonomously, freeing professionals to deliver more sophisticated analysis. Take advantage of various technological tools to enhance your critical thinking skills in accounting tasks.