The TaxScout Blog

Information Reporting Regarding Qualified Opportunity Zones: What CPA Firms Must Do Now

The IRS published proposed regulations on September 11, 2026 that impose new information reporting requirements on qualified opportunity funds and the businesses they hold. CPA firms with partnership, S-corp, or high-net-worth individual clients invested in QOFs need to act before comment…

Engagement Profitability Analysis: How CPAs Find Which Clients Actually Make Money

Most CPA firms track revenue. Far fewer track profit at the individual engagement level — and that gap is where margin quietly disappears. This guide walks through the operational mechanics of engagement profitability analysis: how to calculate true cost per client, identify scope creep patterns…

1040 Review Checklist: How CPAs Catch Errors Before E-File

E-file rejections and client callbacks during peak season almost always trace back to the same place: the handoff between preparer and reviewer. This step-by-step 1040 review checklist walks CPAs through every quality-control gate — from basis calculations and carryforward tracking to state…

Automate Tax Client Intake Without Missing Key Details

Most tax organizers fail before a client ever opens them — too long, too generic, and asking questions the preparer already knows. This guide covers what intake must capture before work can begin, why prefill from prior-year returns is powerful but limited, and where automation reliably breaks…

Allocation and Apportionment of Deductions to Foreign Source Income: New IRS Proposed Rules

The IRS published proposed regulations on September 11, 2026 that overhaul how deductions are allocated and apportioned to foreign source Section 951A category income and deduction eligible income. Small and mid-size CPA firms with clients operating abroad through foreign or domestic corporations…

Preparer Tax Identification Number: How CPAs Register, Renew, and Protect Their PTIN

Every paid tax preparer must obtain and annually renew a preparer tax identification number — yet most platforms treat PTIN management as a footnote. This guide walks CPAs through IRS online registration, renewal timing, common rejection causes, and how to protect your PTIN from theft or misuse.

AEO for CPA Firms: How to Get AI Search to Recommend Your Practice

AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Google AI Overviews are becoming the first stop for business owners searching for a CPA. This guide gives accounting firms a technical and strategic roadmap — schema markup, FAQ architecture, structured content, and AI-native workflows — to get cited and…

Buy-Sell Agreement Valuation: What CPAs Must Review Before a Partner Exit

When a business owner faces a partner death, disability, or voluntary exit, buy-sell agreement valuation errors can trigger IRS challenges, estate tax disasters, and costly litigation. This guide walks CPAs through the IRC 2703 traps, cross-purchase vs. entity-redemption basis decisions, and the…

Federal Independent Dispute Resolution Operations Correction: What CPA Firms Must Do Now

A correction published in the Federal Register on August 28, 2026 fixes typographical errors and omissions in the IDR final rule that took effect August 3, 2026. CPA firms advising self-insured employers, group health plan clients, and providers need to review the corrected text now and update any…

Phantom Income Tax: How CPAs Protect Partnership Clients From Surprise Bills

Phantom income tax catches partnership clients off guard and erodes CPA-client trust overnight. This operational playbook shows CPAs how to identify at-risk K-1 clients, communicate proactively, and build an AI-assisted flagging workflow that surfaces phantom income scenarios before year-end…

Racial Nondiscrimination in Private Schools: What CPA Firms Must Do Now

The IRS published proposed regulations on September 4, 2026 that would revoke tax-exempt status for private schools that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national or ethnic origin. CPA firms serving private school clients — and donors who take charitable deductions tied to those…

Tax Document Data Extraction: How Accurate Is It, Really

AI tax data extraction promises to eliminate manual data entry — but how accurate is it on real-world documents like faded 1099s, handwritten K-1 attachments, and complex depreciation schedules? This guide gives skeptical CPAs a practical accuracy framework, document-type benchmarks, and clear…

Superfund Tax on Chemical Substances: NBR Petition CPA Firms Must Track

The Federal Register published a notice on September 9, 2026 announcing a petition to add acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR) to the IRS list of Superfund taxable substances. CPA firms serving chemical manufacturers, distributors, and industrial supply clients need to flag this now before the…

Tax Workflow Management: Designing Stages a Firm Will Actually Follow

Tax workflow management breaks down not because firms lack software, but because their pipeline stages encode the wrong things. This guide explains why stage design fails, what a workable stage set looks like for 1040 and entity work, and how to distinguish a stalled return from one that is simply…

How to Automate Tax Workpaper Preparation in a CPA Firm

Assembling a tax workpaper package by hand consumes hours that should go to review and advisory work. This guide maps exactly which workpaper steps — classification, extraction, cross-referencing, lead-sheet mapping — are mechanically automatable today, which still require professional judgment…

Car Loan Interest Deduction: Final IRS Rules CPA Firms Must Act On Now

On September 8, 2026, the IRS published final regulations creating a new above-the-line deduction of up to $10,000 for qualified passenger vehicle loan interest on individual returns — and paired it with mandatory information reporting for lenders paying $600 or more. CPA firms serving individual…

Partnership Basis Adjustment: How CPAs Apply Section 754 Elections for Clients

Section 754 elections are among the most consequential — and most operationally complex — elections a CPA can make on behalf of a partnership client. This guide walks through exactly when the election is triggered, how to compute inside-versus-outside basis discrepancies under Sections 743(b) and…

Section 898(c) Transition Rule for Allocating Foreign Taxes: What CPA Firms Must Do Now

On August 31, 2026, the IRS published a correction to proposed regulations REG-115145-25 in the Federal Register, amending rules on the Section 898(c) transition rule for allocating foreign taxes and the Section 960(d)(4) foreign tax credit disallowance. CPA firms with clients holding interests in…

Tax Preparation Fees in 2026: What CPAs Charge and How to Price Competitively

Most articles about tax preparation fees are written for clients wondering what they'll pay — this one is written for CPAs deciding what to charge. Discover 2026 benchmarks by return type, how to structure service tiers, and why AI efficiency is the strongest argument for raising your rates…

Pro Rata Share of Subpart F Income, Tested Income, or Tested Loss: What CPA Firms Must Do Now

The IRS published proposed regulations on August 26, 2026 that reshape how U.S. shareholders must calculate their pro rata share of Subpart F income, tested income, or tested loss from controlled foreign corporations. The rules affect any CPA firm with clients who hold CFC interests — including…