Do more for your clients with tax-smart financial planning and wealth management.

Posted on by Matthew Davis
The Financial Services Firm of Tax Professionals You may know our parent company Blucora offers a range of tools to help master the tax landscape.  You may not know that they also offer a tax-smart approach to financial advising.  They do this through services provided by our sister brand Avantax SM. The Avantax Advantage Avantax is a pioneer in tax-smart investing, financial planning, and wealth management.  Founded by a CPA in 1983, Avantax has been helping tax professionals, like you, and their clients to pursue a comprehensive approach to financial well-being for over 30 years. Tax and ...
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Paycheck Protection Program and 2020 Taxes

Posted on by Matthew Davis
One of the biggest initiatives to support businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic is the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The PPP was designed to help businesses keep staff on payroll by providing a loan to fund payroll costs as well as limited other business expenses. While a loan is helpful during these uncertain times, one of the major draws of this program is that the loan can be forgiven if a business meets certain criteria. For months there was a question as to the tax implications of the forgiven loan. At the end of 2020, tax treatment questions were definitively answered for f...
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Know Someone Wanting to Start a Tax Practice

Posted on by Matthew Davis
You might have had a recent conversation with someone who is interested in starting their own tax practice. This e-book is a great resource to share with them as they consider how to move forward. It’s not as simple as hanging an open sign in your office window. In this e-book we offer tax professionals tips to walk you through forming your business, building your practice, and growing it with marketing strategies. Whether someone wants to start and stay a solo practitioner or has dreams of growing a larger firm, these first steps will put them on the right path.
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Have You Considered a .CPA Domain

Posted on by Matthew Davis
.CPA is a new, secure domain exclusively available to licensed CPAs starting January 15, 2021.  Having a .CPA domain will help you secure your data, enhance client trust, and strengthen your brand. To apply or learn more, visit https://register.domains.cpa/ today. Brought to you by the AICPA and CPA.com The AICPA is the world's largest member organization representing the accounting profession.  CPA.com is the business and technology arm of the AICPA.  Together, AICPA and CPA.com have worked extensively with ICANN (the internet's governing body) to bring .cpa domains to the profession.
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Pay Later, Get Your Software Now

Posted on by Matthew Davis
ERO Select Program If you’re not ready to pay out of pocket for your tax software, good news: you don’t have to. We’re teaming up with Republic Bank for our ERO Select program. With ERO Select you’ll receive TaxAct Professional software now and then just pay $15 per e-filed TIN. There’s a minimum requirement of 50 returns, but that’s it — no hidden technology, transmitter, or filing fees. To join, fill out the prequalification form or call (319) 536-3630.  
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Renew Your PTIN Now

Posted on by Matthew Davis
It’s that time of year again! The New Year’s ball is about to drop and that means it’s time to renew your PTIN. All PTIN’s will expire December 31, 2020. Who needs a PTIN? According to the IRS, anyone who “prepares or assists in preparing federal tax returns for compensation” needs to have a valid 2021 PTIN. Log into your account to renew your information and get your PTIN for 2021. Or create a new account to register for your first PTIN. The PTIN fee for 2021 is $35.95.
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Essential Virtual Tools for Your Practice

Posted on by Matthew Davis
If there’s anything this year has taught us it’s that being able to work from anywhere at a moment’s notice is vital. But many tax professionals were caught off guard by the different demands of a remote environment. It’s not enough to just set up your laptop in a home office and expect that your business will run the same. Luckily, there are tools that are easy to use and set up that have made running a virtual business possible. Appointment scheduling If you’re going to get your clients scheduled easily, an online calendar can help. Let your clients choose times and book a meeting with ...
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TaxAct Professional and TaxDome Partnership

Posted on by Matthew Davis
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, Jan. 20, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 2020 made one thing extremely clear to tax professionals: the ability to manage their practices online is now an operational and competitive necessity. Thanks to a new partnership between TaxAct® and TaxDome®, tax professionals are now able to modernize their practices with everything they need to run their practices digitally today and into the future. Over the last several months, TaxAct searched the marketplace to find a great partner to deliver core needs for tax professionals, including Practice Management, E-signature, Customizable W...
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How to Improve the Value of Your Tax Practice

Posted on by Matthew Davis
You’re building a successful practice. And while you may love what you do, at some point, you might consider selling your practice. Maybe you plan to sell it when you approach retirement. Or maybe you want to sell it to pursue a new endeavor. Whatever the reason, we can all agree that getting top dollar for what you’ve created is ideal. How do you position your practice to get the highest value offer you can? It starts with understanding how a prospective buyer will value a tax practice for sale. How is a Tax Practice Valued? When deciding on a sales price, the final price is often a multiple ...
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Get your Clients Ready for Tax Season

Posted on by Matthew Davis
2020 is coming to an end, and with the extended tax deadline, both you and your clients haven’t had much of a chance to relax. But just because you’ve had a shorter off-season doesn’t mean you and your clients should ignore any preparation that needs to happen before tax season. As we dive into another tax season, here are five things you’ll want to do to get your clients ready. Review your processes Take some time to review your previous tax season. Take stock of what worked and what didn’t and identify any bottlenecks in your process. For example, you may not have an easy and efficient way ...
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Grow Your Practice in 2021

Posted on by Matthew Davis
While you may be working in your practice day-to-day, it’s also important to step back and work on your practice. And there’s no better time to do that than the end of the year when things are a little slower with your clients, but the busy tax season is just around the corner. If you want your practice to grow and thrive, taking the time to intentionally build it each year will pay dividends. Not sure where to get started? We have a list of ideas to help you get started. Review pricing Is your pricing model still serving you and your clients? When you started your practice, you may have gone...
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TaxAct 2020 Professional Editions Version .92 Update

Posted on by Matthew Davis
Version .92 is now available for all TaxAct 2020 Professional Federal Editions. This update includes: Bookmarks The user interface has been improved and the limitation of 20 bookmarks has been removed (previously released with version .91). Minor fixes and enhancements TaxAct 2020 Professional can automatically check for updates by selecting Tools –> Options, and selecting “If already connected to the internet, automatically check for updates on program startup.” You can also check for software updates at any time by selecting Online –> Check for Updates.
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Welcome to TaxAct 2020 Professional Editions

Posted on by Matthew Davis
We know you have options when it comes to selecting professional tax preparation software. Thank you for choosing TaxAct 2020 Professional Editions. We are continually working to improve our software to help Tax Professionals like you to be more efficient and effective, and to provide a product you and your clients can trust. Throughout the tax year we will make information available to you using the Notification Center within TaxAct 2020 Professional. Subjects will include enhancements, updates, and form availability, among other things. The following TaxAct 2020 Professional Editions a...
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Version 1.25 (1040), 1.17 (1065, 1120, 1041), 1.16 (1120-S), and 1.14 (990) Update

Posted on by Matthew Davis
Version 1.25 for 1040, 1.17 for 1065, 1120, & 1041, 1.16 for 1120-S, and 1.14 for 990 are now available for TaxAct 2019 Professional Federal Editions. These updates include: Data Management Tool This tool can be used to permanently delete Clients, Logs, and Online Backup data stored online. Open the tool by navigating to Tools > Data Management Tool… By default, only practice owners have the permission enabled to use the Data Management Tool. Practice owners can assign the “User can access Data Management Tool” in the Preparer’s Permissions page to allow other users to use thi...
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