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.

 Wolters Kluwer has integrated the 1040 Return Dashboard in  CCH Axcess Tax with the company’s Axcess iQ and AnswerConnect products.

The company says Dashboard users can access federal and state events on the platform, in addition to utilizing predictive intelligence which identifies recent and upcoming legislative changes that may affect a firm’s clients.

The integration with AnswerConnect also means preparers can “improve their accuracy with a 360-degree view that dives deeper into complex issues.” WK says the information provides additional information for greater clarity on trouble spot.

In addition, a new integration means users can view the progress of Axcess Client Collaboration requests directly from the Axcess Worfklow control sheet and open Client Collaboration from “My View” in Workflow.

Paychex is adding new benchmarking reports and an enhanced HR analytics applications to Paychex Flex, its HR software platform. The payroll company said then new capabilities will be rolled out over the next few months.

The features are being added through an alliance with Visier, which markets people analytics and workforce software.

Paychex said the new technology will enhance the analytics already available in its enterprise-level reporting. Combined data sources will provide validated analytics for accurate benchmarking and text insights to medium and small businesses.

Available analytics include guided analyses and intuitive insights on workforce distribution and cost, attrition, turnover, retention, pay, and equity and compensation benchmarks to compare workforce compensation against 750 million market data points. Customers will be able to view and information directly through a self-service model  or a shared analytics workspace with Paychex HR professionals.

 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.   

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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 former Orange County, Calif.-based tax preparer has been found guilty of a multi-year tax fraud conspiracy. A jury found Stephen Jake McGonigle, 66, of Victorville, Calif., in the case that spanned three continents.

He was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft.

McGonigle was found to have recruited others, including two-co-defendants who had already pleaded guilty,but not yet been sentenced, in a scheme that began in 2013.

He sent one o-defendant to Thailand to obtain ID documents that utilized the stolen identifies of victims. He then directed a co-conspirator to use the fake IDs to obtain prepaid debit cards, as well as numerous commercial mailboxes across Orange County and elsewhere.

The debit cards were sent to the mailboxes with McGonigle and his conspirators filing fraudulent tax returns using identity the theft victims’ Social Security numbers with the refunds to be deposited in the debit cards or bank accounts the group controlled

IP addresses used to file fraudulent returns were traced back to office spaces leased by McGonigle and to Costa Rica, where law enforcement surveillance and travel records showed that McGonigle and his co-conspirators opened an office and hired employees to help file additional fraudulent returns. 

Xero is offering the ability to calculate and file sales tax from its accounting software. The New Zealand-based company is utilizing technology from Avalara.

Xero described the initial functuonality as best suited “for those who invoice for their goods and services in Xero, operate across multiple jurisdictions and have a mix of taxable, non-taxable and exempt goods.” 

The company said use cases will be expanded beyond invoices over the next few months. Planned new features include adding filing deadlines and “expanding past invoicing to other documentation and adding other revenue sources.”

Features included a guided set up for all states in which a business is registered to collect sales tax. The software can calculate appropriate rates upon invoices automatically, based on where a business is selling from, selling to and whether an item is taxable according to state rules.

Uses can view a summary of sales obligations and also break down information by state, jurisdiction, and tax exemption. Xero customers will also have the option of signing up for Avalara’s automated e-filing, with Xero’s sales data connecting to Avalara.

Corvee has integration of Augusta Rule deduction filing guidelines into Instead and Instead Pro. The Augusta Rule—Section 280A—enables homeowners to rent out their homes for up to 14 days without needing to report rental income.

Instead and Instead Pro offer Augusta Rule savings estimation to help plan, calculate, document and file a return.

Corvee CEO Andrew Argue noted the rule gives individuals the ability to rent out vacation homes to their business and deduct rental costs on business return, while accepting rental income tax-free

Introduced in June, Instead is designed so users can identify and document qualified projects for R&D tax credits.Last month, Corvee introduced AI Tax Assistant which provides answers to specific questions and clarification on navigating the IRS four-part test for R&D eligibility.

A former Kentucky CPA has been indicted for failing to report $320,000 in income on his federal 1010 returns for 2018 and 2020. For Charles Marshall Stivers of Manchester, Ky., it was the third set of indictments over the last eight years.

Stivers was indicted on two counts of making fales statements on the returns

In 2015, Stivers was convicted in Tennessee for participating in a cigarette tax stamp conspiracy which resulted in the Kentucky Board of Accountancy’s revoking his CPA license. He was sentenced to house arrest and probation.

In 2021, he he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison for submitting false documents to the Internal Revenue Service, that on multiple occasions from 2016 through 2016, he held himself out as a CPA and submitted 2848 Forms to the IRS indicating he was a licensed CPA.

Anders CPAs + Advisors has named four individuals as partners. Two each were named in the technology and tax practices.

The four, Julia Deien, Jason Gotway, Jane Maddox and Sean McKenzie, are becoming partners effective in January.

The co-leader of Anders Technology and principal, Deien started her career at the firm in 2006 as a software administrator. She has experience in the Microsoft 365 and Azure cloud environments and leads a team of Microsoft Certified engineers. Deien is a treasurer for the International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners. 

Gotway is co-leader of Anders Technology and joined the firm in January 2011 works with clients to enhance their technology and cybersecurity strategy.  Hef requently speaks aboutpreventing cyber-attacks, educating companies and individuals on best practices for creating a secure network.

A principal in the tax practice, Maddox is leader of firm’s Real Estate and Construction group. She was a tax intern with the firm from January 2009 through April 2010 and joined it as an employee in January 2011. She also had prior experience providing interim controller support. Maddox also serves many individuals and privately held businesses in the legal industry.

McKenzie, who joined Anders in 2021, is a principal in the tax practice and works individuals and closely held businesses on tax strategies and compliance. He came to Anders from Brown, Smith and Wallace where he worked from December 2002 through August 2021 and was a principal in tax services. The firm was acquired by Armanino that year.

 Accounting firm Sikich has hired Rick Young as a senior director to lead it data and analytics practice. Sikich said services will include data governance and fluency, master data management, information management modernization, advanced analytics, and artificial intelligence.

In addition, the firm has hired John Eisenhauer and Laurel Solo  for the new practice. Eisenhauer, a director of strategic consulting, leads operations and program development while Salo is in charge of the practice’s business development.

Young was most recently associate VP of Alpharetta, Ga., based Highland, which specializes in data analytics services in the areas of enterprise data strategy, data governance, and intelligent automation from January 2022 until he joined Sikich in September. Before that, he was a partner of Three Bridge Solutions for three years, nine months and was a founder and CEO of 3sage Consulting from October 2009 through December 2018

Self-employed as co-founder of TEG Home Buyers from June 2019 through June 2022, Eisenhauer was chief of data governance for Humana from May 2014 through 2019 and senior director of data governance for McKesson from November 2009 through April 2014.

Salo served as director of business development for Trexin Consulting from March 2022 through this month. Before that, she was client engagement director for Turnberry Solutions from May 2016 through April 2022.

 Redpath and Co. has named Ryan Everhart as managing director effective October 1. He will succeed Mark Gibbs, who has led the St. Paul, Minn.-based CPA firm since 2014.

Everhart will be the fourth managing partner in the firm’s more than 50-year history

The firm noted Everhart’s planned focus on the advisory services area that was started in 2020. 

Everhart, who joined Redpath in June 2014, was a client manager who was named partner in 2014. He previously led the firm’s large industry area, the construction industry practice. Before he joined Redpath, Everhart was a manager at Wilkerson Guthmann from August 2011 through May 2014.

Previously, he worked at Baker Tilley Virchow Krause from January 2005 through August 2011 and starting as an accountant, becoming a CPA in December 2007.

 Xero has hired Ashley Grech to the newly created role of chief revenue officer. At the same time, the small business software company said chief customer officer Rachel Powell is leaving Xero after eight years.

Powell will remain with Xero through October 31.

Grech will be responsible for all go-to-market functions including global sales operations, regional managing directors and leadership, customer experience, ecosystem and partnerships and revenue operations. 

Based in the San Francisco, Calif., Bay area, she was previously chief operating officer of Recharge from July 2022 through March 2023. Immediately before that, she spent four-and-a-half years with Square where she was global head of sales from  July 18 through December 2021.

 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.

Avalara is the latest in the flood of companies integrating ChatGPT with their software. The software company says it has a sales tax calculator plugin that accesses the generative AI tool.

Avalara says the connection to ChatGPT allow users to ask the platform  to calculate and research  sales tax rates based on their location. Users don’t have to be Avalara customers and the plug-in does not provide access to Avalara’s full suite of products.

Users with ChatGPT Plus accounts can install the Avalara plugin from the ChatGPT store. After that is installed, users can query ChatGPT for sales tax locations or calculate tax on a specific sale and ChatGPT will chose when to use the plugin based on the question and conversation.

Currently, the plugin is open to ChatGPT Plus subscribers in the Unites States and will be rolled out to other regions at some point.

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Avalara has introduced Avalara E-Invoicing and Live Reporting, a compliance API for multinational businesses.

E-Invoicing can be integrated into systems such as accounting, ecommerce, and ERP applications. It is designed to meet legislative requirements globally.

The sales-and-use tax software company says more than 60 companies have e-invoicing mandates or have announced plans to require e-invoicing and predicts the number may double by 2030. Avalara notes many countries have introduced other digital reporting requirements, including live reporting of invoice data and e-reporting of international sales and purchases.

With Avalara E-Invoicing and Live Reporting, users can accomplish the following:                                                                                                                                                     *Set up global e-invoicing capabilities in their ERP, ecommerce, or accounting systems store, set up their credentials, and configure the app based on their reporting need;                  *Access e-invoice exchange networks and government platforms;                                                                                                                                                                          *Support e-invoicing models by country or region;                                                                                                                                                                                                  *Monitor the status of e-invoices; and                                                                                                                                                                                                                               *Set up archiving. 

 QuickBooks Online can now recommended appropriate sales tax item categories for products and services.

Part of the November enhancements to QBO, the ability means when clients map a product or service to an item category, the rate will always be correct—even when the rate changes.

When items in Products and Services are setup, QBO will make category recommendations when sales tax machine-learning model has high confidence in the sales tax item category. It will prompt customers to edit categories for recommendations when the model has medium-high confidence in the selection.

In addition, Intuit said it has made it easier to migrate desktop QuickBooks data to BQO via the addition of a view-only mode feature. Clients can use this to view their data up to one year after their desktop subscriptions end.

The QuickBooks Online app for Windows QuickBooks Desktop uses who are using a QBO Essentials, Plus or Advanced subscription. The app must be downloaded by December 31 or before 25,000 app downloads have been reached whichever comes first.