Throughout 2020, Congress released numerous pieces of legislation designed to lessen the impact of the COVID-19 disruption, particularly for organizations that struggled to maintain their headcounts. One provision involved a refundable credit that organizations could apply against qualified wages and certain health insurance costs – the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC).
Topics: IRS, tax relief, tax credit, COVID19, Coronavirus, CARES Act, PPP, PPP Loan Forgiveness, Consolidated Appropriations Act, Employee Retention Tax Credit, The Act, ERTC
COVID-19 changed how most businesses operate day-to-day. Similarly, many financial statement audit teams were tasked with migrating to a fully remote environment in order to complete year-end financial statement audits and other attest functions. But while these changes to core auditing practices can raise questions around quality, these differences from standard customs are generally misunderstood. Below are some common misconceptions about the remote audit process.
Topics: accounting, financial statement audit, Kevin Higgins, COVID19, Coronavirus, remote work, remote audit
President Biden recently unveiled his $2.29 trillion dollar plan to invest in transportation infrastructure and other capital projects, The American Jobs Plan (AJP). Although designed to stimulate the economy, the AJP may come with unfavorable tax provisions. Biden’s proposed eight-year AJP would be funded over the next 15 years through increases to corporate taxes and changes to U.S.-international business taxation. These permanent tax increases would offset the cost of the infrastructure and capital projects, and would begin to reduce federal deficits thereafter.
Topics: Taxes, COVID19, tax extension, Coronavirus, American Jobs Plan, AJP, Reconciliation, Budget Reconciliation
The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) created by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and extended by the December 2020 year-end appropriations bill provides a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on payroll. It is backed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and provides potentially forgivable, low-interest loans for small to medium-sized organizations who can demonstrate expenses were used toward retaining their headcount.
Topics: Tarra Curran, Independent Contractor, COVID19, Coronavirus, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, PPP Loan, Small Business Administration, PPP Loan Forgiveness, Payment Protection Program
The coronavirus pandemic has continued to create unparalleled levels of uncertainty across the U.S. economy and business community. In response, we conducted a follow-up survey of some of the top professional services companies, alongside other private companies, in the Greater Boston area to determine how the impact of COVID-19 has shifted since June, and gauge how local leaders are currently responding to the pandemic.
Topics: private companies, private company, Bob Smith, survey, Kevin Higgins, COVID19, Coronavirus, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act, ARP Act
As we start a new year, it is important to look ahead to those upcoming accounting standards to plan for their application. Whether a company is a public company that must be prepared for first quarter interim reporting or a private company that needs to plan for its year-end financial statements, accounting standards take time to work through and implement, so it’s advisable to have a roadmap of what changes will affect financial reporting.
Topics: accounting, private company, Kevin Higgins, COVID19, Coronavirus
On March 17, the IRS announced that the tax filing and payment due date for individual taxpayers is postponed until May 17. Lawmakers and lobbying groups previously sought a longer postponement, but the additional one month provides welcome relief to many.
Topics: IRS, Taxes, COVID19, tax extension, Coronavirus, tax day
The coronavirus pandemic has continued to create unparalleled levels of uncertainty across the U.S. economy and business community. In response, we conducted a follow-up survey of some of the top private companies in the Greater Boston area to determine how the impact of COVID-19 has shifted since June, and gauge how local financial leaders across various industries are currently responding to the pandemic.
Topics: Tarra Curran, Larry Kaplan, private companies, private company, survey, COVID19, Coronavirus, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act, ARP Act
On February 22, the White House announced changes to the Paycheck Protection Program that give exclusive access to certain small businesses.
Year-end legislation provided additional funding and an extension of the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for the first quarter of 2021. Effective February 24, the Biden-Harris administration is instituting a 14-day holding period on new PPP applications (sometimes referred to as PPP2 loans) for businesses with 20 or more employees. The goal of the hold is to lessen the PPP competition for small businesses and sole proprietorships that may have had difficulty accessing the federal funds previously.
Topics: Election, COVID19, Coronavirus, employees, CARES Act, Paycheck Protection Program, PPP Loan, PPP Loan Forgiveness, Biden, PPP2
The new Biden administration has many priorities and some ambitious goals. Perhaps none is more immediate than an additional stimulus package to mitigate the deepening impact of a pandemic that has dragged on for nearly a year. After months of declines, initial jobless claims rose again in December to 782,000, which remains above the previous record of 665,000 set in March 2009 (excluding years prior to 1967 when unemployment was measured differently). State legislatures may also implement additional spending cuts in the coming months that could also lead to deleterious effects on unemployment.
With these challenges in mind, it is time to look at the Biden administration’s “American Rescue Plan” to aid in the economic recovery.
Topics: IRS, Taxes, Election, Tax Reform, COVID19, Coronavirus, Stimulus, #taxplan, Covid vaccine, loans and grants