News

In late March, a 44-year-old CPA-triathlete was getting ready for a morning run before a busy day at work. While getting dressed, he suddenly had a massive stroke. His wife was able to call an ambulance and get help quickly, but the CPA was in a coma for a week and hospitalized for several months thereafter. The CPA was a sole practitioner, and the April 15 tax deadline was approaching. His wife, who had no prior experience with his business, was thrust into having to address the impending deadline, all while juggling her career, their three children, his care, and her feelings and emotions.

The business world is undergoing a profound transformation that extends far beyond traditional financial statements and profit margins. The pace of societal change and environmental impacts has elevated the focus around the impact of business activities on the environment and society. Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations have often become embedded into the enterprise risk management process, influencing investment decisions, shaping corporate reputations, and impacting regulatory requirements.

Why is retaining talent consistently ranked as one of the greatest management challenges impacting the accounting and finance profession? What really drives the profession's perpetually higher-than-average turnover rates? The 2023 Illinois Society of CPAs Insight Special Feature, "Righting Retention," aims to answer those questions and more.

Rolleri & Sheppard CPAs, LLP has promoted Jayme White, CPA to Partner effective January 1, 2024.

In a letter addressed to members of the House Financial Services Committee and Senate Banking Committee, the AICPA and all 54 state CPA societies, including the Connecticut Society of CPAs asked that H.R. 4035 and S. 2623, the Protecting Small Business Information Act of 2023, or similar legislation to delay, be included in any year-end legislative package. The bills would delay the Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting requirement until all three rules under the Corporate Transparency Act have been finalized to specify that all such rules would take effect on the same date.

(Rocky Hill, CT) – The Connecticut Society of CPAs (CTCPA) will honor 14 outstanding women at the CTCPA Women’s Awards event on Wednesday, January 17, 2024 from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the TPC River Highlands. Awardees will be honored in three categories: Distinguished Service, Women to Watch, and Aspiring CPAs (a new category for 2024). This is the fifth year the CTCPA has honored outstanding females in the profession.

Effective Jan. 1, 2024, an employee’s receipt of severance pay will now result in disqualification from receiving unemployment compensation benefits for the period of time covered by the payment.

Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a final rule (RIN 1506-AB62) Wednesday extending the deadline for companies created or registered in 2024 to file initial beneficial ownership information (BOI) reports to 90 calendar days from the original 30 calendar days.

CironeFriedberg, LLP welcomed Jack Kneisel, CPA as Audit Manager. In this role, he will provide audit and accounting services to clients in many industries. Kneisel brings 8 years of audit and accounting experience with a specialization in commercial real estate. He received his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Elon University and is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Connecticut. Prior to joining CironeFriedberg, Kneisel was Assurance Manager at a large global accounting firm, where he developed a strong foundation of audit and accounting skills. Tony Cirone, CironeFriedberg’s managing partner, says “We are happy to welcome Jack to our team and look forward to his many contributions providing high level audit services to our clients.”

The Connecticut Society of CPAs (CTCPA) will host a Day of Giving social and collection drive to benefit Connecticut Foodshare and Connecticut Children’s Medical Center at the CTCPA office in Rocky Hill on Tuesday, November 28 (#GivingTuesday) from 8 to 10:00 a.m.

As the busy season lumbers into view, Lucy Cohen offers some practical and effective tips to help you banish burnout.

The average small business loan interest rates range from 5% to more than 11%. High-interest rates and limitations on traditional loans can impede small business owners’ ability to borrow money to reinvest in or expand their businesses. Supported by the Connecticut Department of Economic & Community Development (DECD), the Connecticut Small Business Boost Fund is focused on helping small businesses and nonprofits thrive. This low interest, fixed 4.5%, loan program provides access to flexible funding for capital expenditures and working capital and connects business owners with free support services. Supported by the Connecticut Department of Economic & Community Development (DECD), the Connecticut Small Business Boost Fund is focused on helping small businesses and nonprofits thrive. This low interest, fixed 4.5%, loan program provides access to flexible funding for capital expenditures and working capital and connects business owners with free support services.

CTCPA has joined AICPA and dozens of other state CPA societies to ask the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to extend and expand the deadline for beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements, specifically for Reporting Companies Created or Registered in 2024.

CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen LLP) announced a number of career advancements, including several members in Connecticut.

The AICPA and over 50 affiliated organizations recommended in a letter to Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) that the agency extend the effective date for the beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirement by one year to give the millions of affected businesses time to learn about the new and complex rules. The letter asked that the scope of the one-year deadline delay include not only new entities created in 2024, but all entities created thereafter and all entities making updates or corrections to their original filings.

Connecticut has passed four directives regarding CPA Exam credit retention.

CTCPA Past President Greg Lainas and his wife MaryAnn were mentioned as characters in the new fiction book Rumor of Evil: A Novel by Gary Braver. Maryann appears with her maiden name of Liczek. There will be a book signing at the Southington Public Library on Thursday, December 7 at 6:00 p.m.

In shareholder litigation, a frequent issue is whether, under state law, valuation discounts are permissible in determining the value of a minority shareholder’s interest. This article discusses a 2022 Connecticut court case dealing with this subject. It also examines and compares recent disputes in other jurisdictions where valuation discounts became an issue in calculating the appropriate value of minority shares under a fair value standard.

The Internal Revenue Service announced tax relief for individuals and businesses affected by the terrorist attacks in the State of Israel. These taxpayers now have until Oct. 7, 2024, to file various federal returns, make tax payments and perform other time-sensitive tax-related actions. In Notice 2023-71PDF, the IRS provided relief to certain taxpayers who, due to the terrorist attacks, may be unable to meet a tax-filing or tax-payment obligation, or may be unable to perform other time-sensitive tax-related actions. The IRS will continue to monitor events and may provide additional relief.

Mfon Akpan, CGMA, DBA, an assistant professor of accounting at Methodist University, and Scott Dell, CPA, DBA, an assistant professor of accounting at Francis Marion University, explain why CPAs and other professionals can be left behind professionally if they don't spend time learning about tools such as ChatGPT. They talk about productivity gains, the competitive divide that could develop, and how, in the short term, more training is needed to fully harness generative AI.