Small Business Tax

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 S-corporation shareholders, individual investors, and partnerships with offshore structures. Here is a focused action brief for firm owners.

Transfer Pricing for CPAs: How to Document Intercompany Transactions for Small Business Clients

Transfer pricing isn't only a Big 4 problem. As more small businesses have foreign owners, cross-border activity, or related-entity structures, the IRS is scrutinizing intercompany loans, management fees, and cost-sharing arrangements at every size. This guide walks CPA practitioners through the documentation requirements, applicable safe harbors, and how to scope and price a transfer pricing engagement for smaller clients.

Guidance on Eligible Investments for Trump Accounts: What CPA Firms Must Do Now

The IRS released proposed regulations on August 21, 2026 defining eligible investments for Trump Accounts—the new minor-beneficiary savings vehicles created under recent tax legislation. The rules restrict allowable assets until the beneficiary turns 18 and affect trustees, account administrators, and CPAs advising individual and employer-plan clients. Here is what small and mid-size CPA firms need to know and do this week.

Self-Directed IRA Tax Traps: What CPAs Must Catch Before Filing

Self-directed IRAs holding real estate, private equity, or crypto create compliance landmines that most tax software won't flag automatically. This practitioner-level guide walks CPAs through prohibited transaction rules, UBTI and Form 990-T obligations, year-end valuation requirements, and a pre-filing checklist to protect both the client and the firm.

SECURE 2.0 Act for CPAs: What Retirement Rule Changes Mean for Your Clients

SECURE 2.0 Act provisions are still rolling out through 2026 and 2027, with catch-up contribution Roth requirements, auto-enrollment mandates, and plan amendment deadlines all converging. This guide breaks down the operational implications for CPAs advising small business owner clients — and how to track compliance across a full book of business without anything slipping through.

IRS Income Taxes Rule Published August 21 2026: What CPA Firms Must Do Now

The IRS published a new income taxes document in the Federal Register on August 21, 2026 (Document No. 2026-17154). This brief cuts through the agency language to tell CPA firm owners exactly which client segments are affected and what steps to take before the week is out.

Fixed Asset Depreciation Schedule: How CPAs Build and Maintain Them at Scale

Managing fixed asset depreciation schedules across dozens of business clients is one of the most error-prone workflows in a CPA firm. This guide walks through how to build a scalable system — from MACRS method elections to bonus depreciation phase-downs in 2026 — and explains how AI-assisted reconciliation eliminates the trial-balance discrepancies that cost firms hours every filing season.

Employer Contributions to Trump Accounts and Nondiscrimination Rules Explained for CPAs

On August 11, 2026, the IRS published proposed regulations governing employer contributions to Trump accounts and nondiscrimination rules for dependent care assistance programs. This news brief extracts the operational impact for small and mid-size CPA firms and lists what to do this week across 1040, S-corp, partnership, and nonprofit client files.

Health Insurance Deduction for S Corp Owners: What CPAs Must Get Right

The health insurance deduction for S corp owners involves a precise chain of steps — payroll add-back, W-2 Box 1 inclusion, and a 1040 deduction — that most payroll platforms get wrong by default. This guide gives CPAs a staff-ready workflow to execute the deduction correctly on every return, catch prior-year errors, and avoid the Section 199A trap that quietly kills the deduction for many S corp shareholders.

Foreign Currency Gain or Loss of Controlled Foreign Corporations: What CPA Firms Must Do Now

Treasury and the IRS published proposed regulations on August 14, 2026 that reshape how controlled foreign corporations compute and recognize foreign currency gain or loss on QBU remittances. CPA firms with international clients need to assess exposure now and document their review before comments close.

Goodwill Amortization for CPAs: How to Handle Section 197 Intangibles

Section 197 amortization is one of the most consequential post-close tasks in any business acquisition engagement — and one of the easiest to mishandle across a large client base. This guide walks CPAs through identifying qualifying intangibles, computing the 15-year straight-line schedule, navigating partial-year rules, and flagging the allocation mistakes that invite IRS scrutiny.

Bonus Depreciation 2026: How CPAs Maximize Section 168 for Business Clients

Bonus depreciation is phasing out under the TCJA schedule, but 2026 still offers a meaningful deduction window for business clients who act before year-end. This guide walks CPAs through the mechanics of Section 168(k), the Section 179 interaction decision tree, and how AI-native practice management tools can automate the intake screening and schedule documentation that most firms still handle manually.

Clergy Tax Returns: How CPAs Handle Minister Housing Allowances and Self-Employment

Clergy tax returns sit at the intersection of employment law, IRS code, and church governance — a combination that trips up even experienced CPAs. This guide walks through minister dual tax status, the Section 107 housing allowance exclusion, self-employment tax obligations, voluntary withholding agreements, and how to build an engagement workflow that handles every minister client consistently.

Worker Classification for CPAs: IRS Employee vs Independent Contractor Rules

Worker classification is one of the most audit-prone areas of small-business tax compliance — and most CPAs only engage with it when the IRS is already knocking. This guide covers the IRS common law test, Section 530 safe harbor, Form SS-8 strategy, and how AI-native practice management can surface high-risk clients before penalties attach.

Section 199A Deduction: How CPAs Maximize the QBI Benefit for Pass-Through Clients

The Section 199A deduction remains one of the most valuable — and most frequently miscalculated — benefits available to pass-through entity clients. This guide walks CPAs through the full calculation workflow, SSTB boundary analysis, W-2 wage and UBIA property limitations, and how AI-assisted practice management tools can systematize documentation before the potential 2025 TCJA sunset.

Automatic Exemption from Penalty: What CPAs Must Know After IRS Replaces First Time Abate

The IRS has replaced the familiar First Time Abate process with a new automatic exemption from penalty system — and many CPAs are still relying on outdated FTA playbooks. This guide breaks down exactly what changed, how the new automatic relief process works, and what penalty abatement strategies still hold up for clients with complex histories.

California Sales Tax on Software 2027: What CPA Firms Need to Know About SB 122

California's SB 122 will extend the state's sales tax to SaaS subscriptions and downloaded software beginning in 2027 — a significant shift that raises operating costs for every CPA firm relying on cloud-based practice management tools. This guide breaks down exactly what the law covers, how much more California firms may pay, and what steps to take now before the effective date.

IRS Standard Mileage Rate Mid-Year Change: What CPAs Must Do Now

A mid-year IRS standard mileage rate adjustment is rare — and it forces CPAs to apply two separate rates to a single tax year's business miles. This guide walks through the split-year calculation methodology, client communication steps, and how AI-native practice tools can reduce the manual burden across your entire mileage-tracking client base.

Non-Filer Back Tax Returns: How CPAs Reconstruct Expenses Without Records

When a non-filer client hands you nothing but a box of cash-deposit records and a vague memory of what they spent, reconstructing Schedule C expenses becomes an exercise in forensic accounting. This guide walks CPAs through IRS-accepted methods, industry expense ratio sources, and the documentation workflow that keeps your firm protected on multi-year back tax engagements.

Increase in Threshold for Requiring Information Reporting

On July 2, 2026, the IRS published a hearing notice for proposed regulations (REG-113229-25) that would raise the dollar thresholds triggering 1099 information reporting and backup withholding for trade or business payments. CPA firms serving self-employed clients, S-corps, partnerships, and nonprofits need to understand the operational implications now — before the public comment window closes.

State Tax Nexus for Growing Clients: How Small CPA Firms Manage Multi-State Compliance

When a business client hires their first remote employee in another state or crosses a sales threshold in a new market, multi-state tax obligations follow immediately. This guide walks small CPA firms through a repeatable workflow for identifying nexus triggers, managing state registrations, and deciding when a referral makes more sense than in-house compliance.

Entity Selection for Startups: How CPAs Choose the Right Structure

Most entity selection articles talk to founders. This one talks to their CPAs. From LLC vs S-Corp vs C-Corp tax modeling to multi-state nexus checks and engagement templates, here is how experienced CPAs structure their new-business advisory workflow — and how AI-native tools are automating the heavy lifting from day one.

Cost Segregation Studies: How CPAs Unlock Hidden Depreciation for Clients

Cost segregation studies are one of the most powerful accelerated depreciation strategies available to real estate clients — yet most CPAs leave them on the table. This guide walks through how to identify qualifying properties, coordinate with engineers, and document results on the return, all without adding headcount.

Returns Relating to Sales or Exchanges of Certain Partnership Interests: What CPAs Must Do Now

The IRS published final regulations on May 20, 2026 modifying information reporting obligations for sales or exchanges of certain partnership interests — specifically those holding inventory or unrealized receivables. CPA firms with partnership clients need to review engagement scope, update intake workflows, and flag affected returns before the next filing deadline.

Passive Activity Rules: What CPAs Must Know to Protect Client Deductions

IRC Section 469 passive activity rules are among the most commonly misapplied provisions in individual and business tax returns — especially for real estate investors, limited partners, and multi-entity business owners. This guide walks CPAs through the seven material participation tests, real estate professional status requirements, passive loss carryforward mechanics, and the AI-assisted validation workflows that catch costly errors before they reach the IRS.

Retirement Plan Options for Self-Employed CPAs: SEP-IRA vs Solo 401k

Most retirement planning content for CPAs focuses on advising clients — not on the CPA as a business owner with variable income and no employer match. This guide breaks down SEP-IRA vs Solo 401k vs SIMPLE IRA contribution limits, tax deduction mechanics, and how solo and small-firm owners can align retirement contributions with estimated tax cycles to maximize savings without cash-flow surprises.

S Corp Election Guide: When and How to File

Your clients on Schedule C may be overpaying self-employment tax by thousands each year — and a timely S-corp election can change that. This guide gives CPAs a clear decision-making framework for when to recommend the election, how to file it correctly, and how to build it into a scalable advisory offering. Stop leaving five-figure savings on the table across your book of business.