ADP has introduced ADP Assist, which it calls a cross-platform tool that utilizes generative AI.

 Using the company’s reservoir of data, Assist is designed to help solves problems across ADP’s HR, payroll, time and benefits products. That includes validating payroll information and checking for payroll anomalies, using GenAI to identify and help resolve missing tax registrations and answer questions.

ADP says that means the GenAI is used to “dramatically simplify report creation by understanding context and generating insightful reports in an easy-to-understand format.”

The company says Assist can also anticipate and solve common employee problems across HR, payroll, time and benefits and eliminate low-value tasks usually performed by managers and HR professionals. 

This is based on  the system’s ability to send personalized, proactive notifications to employees on their mobile device or desktops to help resolve HR issues. In addition, employees can employ its conversational interface to obtain information without involving HR.

Additionally, ADP’s Run payroll and HR application feature an omni search bar that understands intent behind search terms.

Intuit has outlined plans for QuickBooks Solopreneur. The software company did not provide a date other than “coming soon”.  

Solopreneuer will have access to QuickBooks  Live Tax so users can have access to tax professionals and those using QB Online Accountant will be able to add Solopreneuer for their clients.

The software is designed for one-person businesses (Schedule C filers), whose business is their primary source of income. The new edition differs from QB Self-Employed in that is designed for owners who prefer to manage their own day-to-day books.

Solopreneur has single-entry bookkeeping on the front end, but uses double-entry bookkeeping in the background.

Transaction management tools automatically separate business and personal transactions using predetermined categories.

Solopreneur has features that can be used on a mobile device, including mileage tracking.

 FreshBooks will use Gusto’s technology to provide a payroll product to its customers in the United States.

FreshBooks Payroll is scheduled for introduction in January, with specific features to be introduced then. In a prepared statement, FreshBooks president Mark Girvan touted the “reliability and compliance” of Gusto Embedded API’s which provides the integration with the FreshBooks platform.

The company described the software as offering “an embedded, full-service payroll solution that small business and medium-sized owners can seamlessly add to their monthly subscriptions.”

Intuit has introduced QuickBooks Ledger, designed for year-end and tax-only clients. Accessible only through QB Online Accountant, the product has a $10-per-month subscription price.

The company says Ledger will be available first in the United States and soon after that in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. However, Intuit did not state the actual introduction schedule in its press release.

Ledger offers automated bank feeds, bank reconciliation, financial statements, 1099 tracking and a transition to tax preparation. 

The company detailed enhancements to QBOA, including new advanced roles and permissions. In addition, Chart of Accounts templates are available. Accountants can build from scratch or customize included product-based or service-based business charts of accounts.

 The pace of technology does not slow down...

If we thought that it would take a breather after the end of the Covid pandemic and the advent of the remote work era, the impact of trends such as artificial intelligence and on-demand pay proved us wrong. If anything, automation promises to keep changes in payroll moving at a fast clip. That should translate into making it easier to calculate and run payroll and have greater accuracy in producing the end result—paying people for their work. This special report—Payroll Big Changes Ahead—looks at the trends impacting this crucial business.   

Brought to you by:

To say the broad economic picture is confusing when applied to mid-market reselling would be an understatement.

Many observers expect a recession and some report sales cycles stretching out. Meanwhile, the immediate problem for many firms is a shortage of consultants to handle all the cloud implementations—a recession might send more businesses scrambling for SaaS financial software for more efficient operations. In a world reshaped by the Covid shutdown, remote work drove an accelerated interest in cloud computing. It's a new world in which how the forces interplay is yet to be fully understood.

This year's Special Report for Bob Scott's Top 100 VARs, "A Tougher Road Ahead?" looks at the thoughts of leaders in the channel and in the vendor community about these issues and the trends that have impacted ERP mid-market resellers over the last year. Of course, this report also features 100 reselling firms that have been chosen based on revenue. This year's list includes more than the usual number of newcomers and the expectation is, next year will reflect the continue rapid pace of change in technology and layers.

It was a good year for the 2022 Class of Bob Scott’s VAR Stars. It could have been better for many if they could have found more consultants. Finding qualified staff was the major problem facing all of the mid-market channel with both resellers and software publishers grappling with ways to get fresh bodies into the channel. The good news behind the problem is that many businesses have not made the move to the cloud and the future looks brigh for sales. Download our special report and view the list of 100 VAR Stars and read about the factors shaping the industry.

The issues surrounding payroll have changed dramatically over the last two years. With a significant percentage of the population working away from the office—and like to stay away, many businesses now have a work force in more than one state, meaning tax compliance is more complicated.

 The Great Resignation in which millions have changed or are changing jobs having clients asking accounting firms questions about hiring and employee retention. Fortunately, payroll software and service providers are responding with tools to answer these challenges. These include employee self-service that can improve the accuracy of employee records and payroll. Read about the trends that are reshaping payroll and drawing accounting and payroll firms into providing people services in the special report “Self-Service Reshapes Payroll”.

Jeff Siegel is the owner of Siegel Solutions, an 11-person firm that provides outsourced bookkeeping solutions usingJeff Siegel is the owner of Siegel Solutions, an 11-person firm that provides outsourced bookkeeping solutions usingQuickBooks to over 300 clients. Jeff knows what it takes to grow a business: efficiency of scale, real-time insights thatbuild strong customer relationships, and a secure data environment. He gets all three from Right Networks.

In this ebook, we’ll examine:In this ebook, we’ll examine:

• Why DIY (Do-It-Yourself) accounting systems created forsmall businesses cause undue pain for both small businessowners and for accountants
• How the right cloud-based professional accounting systemcan not only eliminate that pain, but also open up newopportunities for accountants to better serve their clients

Steven Brewer, CPA is the President of Steven Brewer and Company, CPAs, located in Salem, IN. He talked to AccountantsWorld about how he’s grown his accounting practice without needing to increase his number of clients – and how those improvements have eased his tax season crunch.

BooXkeeping: How White Label Bookkeeping Services Provide Scalability to Your Firm When it comes to running a business the main thing that every business owner wants to do is sell their products or services, create brand awareness and generate profits that they can enjoy later in life. The last thing a business owner wants to do is to worry about bookkeeping, taxes, and the rest of time consuming accounting tasks needed to run a successful business, with limited resources and time, often the bookkeeping ends up being the last on the list of things that need to be completed.

 A Hialeah, Fla.-based tax preparer has been charged with contempt of court for continuing to prepare taxes for others even though she was banned from the business.

Beatriz Toledo was indicted on one count of contempt, along with 15 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns.

Toldeo, who operated the Immigration and Tax Service Group, was accused of preparing fraudulent returns from 2016 through 2021. She utilized false claims for the Residential Energy Credit and bogus deductions of various kinds.

The contempt charge centers on a permanent injunction issued against her in 2010., which was entered on July 26, 2020, which prohibited her from preparing or assisting in the preparation of tax returns for others. However, she continued to do so.

The Internal Revenue Service is seeking applications for the 2025 Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council (IRSAC) through May 31 for terms beginning in January and is also looking for nominees for a new subcommittee focused on fairness issues.

This new subcommittee will issue recommendations relating  to fairness in tax administration for low-income communities, communities of color and other historically underserved populations. The body  will coordinate with the Treasury Advisory Committee on Racial Equity (TACRE), which previously provided recommendations  concerns racial disparities in audit selection.

For IRSAC membership, the IRS seeks individuals with a wide range of experience in areas including tax preparation for individuals, small businesses and large multinational corporations; tax exempt and government entities; information reporting; taxpayer or consumer advocacy; fairness in tax administration and civil rights and community engagement.

Applications should document the nominee’s qualifications. Applicants must be in good standing with their tax obligations and demonstration high professional and ethical standards and must pass a tax compliance and practitioner check.

Information, including the application form, is available on the IRSAC webpage. 

 The finally totals are not in yet but through April 12, the number of returns received by the Internal Revenue Service were 1.9 percent higher than 2023 through April 14. That compared to this season’s total through April 5. running up .5 percent over the year ago figures.

In its most recent report, the IRS reported receiving 119,592,000 returns, compared to 117,321,000 in last year’s corresponding period.

Buoyed by a jump in self-prepared returns, the number of efiles were 2.2-percent higher than a year earlier, with 115,734,000 total efiles submitted, compared to 113,201,000 a year ago. There were52,416,000 efiles, up from 51,027,000.

Undoubtedly with balance due returns coming in in larger numbers at season’s end, the efiles submitted by paid preparers exceeded the 2023 totals for the first time. For the April 5 report, the efiles from pros were down a few thousands from a year. For the most recently ended period, there were 63,318,000 efiles from tax preparers, running 1.8 percent higher than 62,174,000 in last corresponding period.

Total returns, which have lagged last year’s number all season, closed to within down 1.5 percent of the 2023 numbers with 74,685,000 refunds issued through April 12, compared to75,824,000 in last year’s corresponding period.

The average refund, higher than 2023 totals for all the weekly reports, was $3,031, an increase of 4.4 percent of $2,902 a year ago.

With Instead and Instead Pro, users can utilize depreciation to find and compare tax savings for assets categorized as residential, nonresidential, technology and electronics, office furniture and fixtures, vehicles, land improvements and specialty properties.

The enhancements enable users to compare depreciation methods by toggling between all depreciation methods and combinations and accelerate depreciation when planning to sell assets with calculations and planning for any additional depreciation recapture tax.

They can also visualize savings of different depreciation options over a multiyear period.

 Scott Fleszar is leaving SafeSend, which he has served as CEO since November 2020. Although Fleszar announced the change in a LinkedIn post, the SafeSend website still shows Fleszar on its leadership page and the company has not announced his departure.

Fleszar came to the company as chief operating and strategy officer in November 2019. He listed no specific plans saying, “I plan to take a breath, reflect, recharge and plan purposefully what’s next."

SafeSend’s suite of products is built around SafeSend Returns, which enables staff to assemble, deliver and collect e-signatures for tax returns.

Fleszar came to SafeSend after working for 20 years seven months at Thomson Reuters, and came to Thomson after its purchase of the former Creative Solutions, which originated the UltraTax tax preparation software that Thomson still markets.

 The Iris Software Group has named Neel Lee Chauhan as chief product officer. 

Iris owns several accounting firm products, including Practice Engine, Iris Star Practice Mangement, Doc.It. and the AccountantsWorld product line.

Chauhan is responsible for the strategic direction and management of the Iris portfolio of more than 100 products and will work with the engineering, product, and commercial teams to execute a product roadmap.

He previously worked at FiServ for four years three months where his titles included GM and VP of product management for credit and retail processing. Before that, he had leadership roles at ADP and Google, working slightly more than four years at each.

Centri Business Consulting has named Pavlo Ageyev as a partner. Ageyev joined the Philadelphia, Pa.-based firm in January.

Centri cited Ageyev’s experience in the technology, life sciences, manufacturing and distribution, retail and consumer products, and media and advertising fields in its announcement. 

Ageyev  joined Centri from BDO USA, where he most recently served as an Audit Partner within the firm’s Technology, Retail, and Consumer Products industry groups. He was with BDO from October 2007 through December.

Cherry Bekaert has named Brian Moore as managing partner of tax services. He succeeds Christine Price, who is retiring after holding the position since 2018.

Moore will focus on managing the strategy and execution of the tax service line for client service, talent management and financial operations.

He previously worked at Grant Thornton, which he joined in May 2006,  before joining Cherry Bekaert this month

Avalara has established a online portal of a key part of its new partner program. 

The indirect tax company say the Avalara Partner Portal, provides access to such services as technical support, sales and marketing resources and the engagement desk. 

In its statement, Avalara said, “Partners have access to a richer portfolio of financial incentives that allow them to reach their full potential when bringing opportunities to Avalara.” Other incentives include co-marketing and training.

The company’s channel is comprised by accountants, consulting partners, and technology partners who participate through three primary methods: referring, expanding services and building integration

States are reducing transaction thresholds for tax online goods and services, according to Avalara Tax Changes 2024 special report. 

Driven by the volume of inexpensive goods that could be taxed, the change is likely to be assisted by the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Governing Board which is encouraging members to elimination transaction thresholds.

“The SST states are the majority of states that have a transaction threshold,” Scott Peterson, Avalara’s VP of government relations, and former Executive Director of SST, said in a prepared statement. “If they get rid of it then very few states will have it.” 

Peterson notes that since the Wayfair decision from the U.S. Supreme Court gave states the right to tax online sales from companies outside their borders, states have realized there are many very inexpensive products which produce an amount of tax less than the cost of compliance.

Fourteen states—largely south and southwestern—never imposed thresholds: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

Another ten estates—heavily northern—have reduced thresholds California, Colorado, lowa, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington and Wisconsin

Thomson Reuters has acquired 60 percent of the shares of Pagero, a Swedish company that markets software for the e-invoicing, which is increasingly required by countries around the world. The growing importance of e-invoicing was underscored by a press released from Avalara, which withdrew its bid for Pagero last week.

“E-invoicing is the clear direction for the future of compliance. It’s important to remember that countries that don’t have mandatory e-invoicing requirements now will have them in the future,”  Alex Baulf, VP of E-Invoicing at Avalara, said in a prepared statement . 

Thomson beat out two rivals in the indirect tax software space, Vertex and Avalara. 

 The value of Thomson’s purchase of 53.8 percent of the Pagero has been estimated at $627 million. However, since it won the bid, the stake has been raised to 60 percent of Pagero shares, Thomson CEO Steve Hasker said ina recent investor webcast.

Thomson noted that more than 80 countries have required or announced plans for e-invoicing, which gives governments greater insight into the amount of revenue and indirect taxes generated by sales.

 Avalara says it is improving data import for Avalara Returns for Accountants and Avalara Managed Returns for Accountants. The indirect tax software company says this is being accomplished via five new API extractors.

"The goal of the extractors is to create a more streamlined and efficient way for firms to import data into the Returns console," the company said in a prepared statement.

These capabilities were announced simultaneously with additional integrations of its products with ERP systems.

Avalara is providing its ninth integration for the Salesforce Service Cloud, which will enable sales tax calculation on service- and product-related line items within the Service Cloud and gives customers the ability to easily map custom fields from Salesforce to Avalara AvaTax.

In addition, Avalara E-Invoicing and Live Reporting are now available for Oracle Cloud Fusion ERP. ELR was introduced this year to enable companies operating in other countries to simplify compliance in these areas.