What an Ethics CPE Course Actually Covers (and What’s Changed Recently)
Ethics CPE gets a bad rap. The assumption is that it’s a rehash of principles every CPA learned before getting licensed, packaged into the minimum hours a state board will accept. Sit through it, click through it, move on. That reputation isn’t entirely unearned. But the substance of ethics CPE has shifted in the past […]
Five Year-End Corporate Tax Deadlines That Catch Practitioners Off Guard
Corporate tax deadlines don’t always land where practitioners expect them. Some are obvious (the filing deadline). Others are buried in code sections that only matter once a year, at exactly the wrong time. Missing them rarely triggers a dramatic penalty. It triggers a missed deduction, a forfeited election, or an underpayment that compounds quietly. Five […]
C Corp vs. S Corp Taxation: The Differences That Trip CPAs Up
Most CPAs spend the bulk of their careers in the pass-through world. S corporations, partnerships, sole proprietorships. The tax logic is familiar: income flows through to the owner, one level of tax, done. Then a C corp question surfaces, and the assumptions stop working. The two entity types share a corporate structure but operate under […]
Trusts in 10 Minutes: What CPAs Actually Get Asked
Trusts come up constantly. At client meetings, at family gatherings, in conversations with colleagues who handle estate work. And the questions tend to follow a pattern: What exactly is a trust? Do I need one? What’s the difference between revocable and irrevocable? Most CPAs didn’t get formal trust training. They picked it up on the […]
AI Tools and Professional Standards: What the Rules Actually Say
Every CPA uses AI now, or will soon. Even something as routine as pasting text into ChatGPT or uploading a document to a cloud-based analytics platform counts. And every one of those interactions falls under professional standards that predate AI by decades. The rules aren’t new. The way they apply is. The AICPA Rule That […]
Trump Accounts: What They Are, How They Work, and Why Everyone Is Asking
If a colleague, client, or family member hasn’t asked about Trump Accounts yet, they will. The name alone generates questions. And since the accounts went live on July 4, 2026, those questions are getting more specific. Here’s the short version of what CPAs are being asked and what the answers actually are. The Basics Trump […]
The OBBBA at One Year: What Changed in the Tax Code and What Didn’t
A year ago, the tax code looked different. The TCJA provisions were expiring. The SALT cap sat at $10,000. Bonus depreciation was phasing down. Then the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Public Law 119-21) landed on July 4, 2025, and rewired significant portions of the Internal Revenue Code in a single stroke. If it’s been […]
Best CPE Subscription for CPAs: What to Look For and Why It Matters
A CPE subscription for CPAs changes how annual compliance works. Rather than paying per credit hour and rationing access accordingly, a flat-rate subscription gives a CPA open access to a full course catalog for a defined period. CPE is an annual obligation. How a CPA approaches it — through per-course purchasing, employer-provided content, or a […]
AI in the Accounting Workflow: Use Cases, Limits, and Judgment
The most useful question about AI tools for accountants isn’t whether to use them. It’s where in the workflow they actually deliver, and where the professional’s judgment is still doing the work that matters. The gap between what AI tools are marketed to do and what they reliably do inside a real accounting or tax […]
Form 1041: The Income Tax Return That Runs Alongside the Estate
Filing Form 706 closes the estate tax question. Form 1041 — the estate and trust income tax return — is a different question entirely, and one that often runs on a longer timeline. Estates and trusts are separate taxable entities. Income they generate during administration, whether from a brokerage account, a rental property, a business […]