I think most tax professionals would agree, one of the last phrases you want to hear in regards to a tax return is “I think we have basis issues.” Definitely no bueno. But what exactly is basis anyway, and why is it so important? Basis is essentially the amount of money that a taxpayer has …
Net operating losses – known as NOLs in the tax professional world – are tax attributes generated when losses allocated from business activities exceed a taxpayer’s income for the year. While common sense might tell you that one generally wouldn’t want to be in a net operating loss position, as that would indicate you are …
While accountants are used to viewing data in a multitude of rows, columns and pivot tables, most people struggle with seeing any patterns in rows of numbers. The implementation of visualizations through data analytic dashboards allow for you to view data in a user-friendly environment in easy to understand visuals. In addition, the creation of …
Predictive analytics is the utilization of analytics to forecast what will happen in a business. Predictive analytics is the usage of everything gathered in descriptive and diagnostic analytics along with the continued use of modeling, machine learning and risk assessments to make predictions about future events/trends by scoring data and forecasting. Predictive analytics are generated …
Diagnostic analytics uses analytics to describe why something happened. Diagnostic analytics takes the development of descriptive analytics a step further and is generating a root cause analysis to see: What caused the company’s sales last month, last quarter, last year to increase or decrease? Why were there changes in the company’s largest customer? Why were …
Descriptive analytics is the utilization of analytics to describe what happened. Generally, descriptive analytics entails the gathering of historical data/transactions and using this data to answer questions about the past and provide context to historical activity. Questions like: What were the Company’s sales last month, last quarter, last year? Who were the Company’s largest and …
It’s not news the IRS is auditing fewer returns; staff levels are down. Still that is no excuse to “play the audit lottery” and cheat on your taxes. Despite low audit risk, the IRS is still conducting audits, whether or not you are preparing. What to do when that dreaded fat envelope shows up from …
I have yet to meet a client who was excited by the thought of an IRS audit, let alone audit trends. In reality the thought of an audit can almost make a person break out in a cold sweat, have an increased heart rate and mimic the signs of a panic attack. Well maybe it’s …
With the ever-growing advancements in technology, the workplace undergoes constant change. With technology being able to do things we once did manually, computers are able to do things automatically and in an efficient manner. Many people believe that with the introduction of robots in the accounting world, the profession could be forgotten. However, it will …
After going public last year, Uber reported in its first quarter report to the SEC that they were currently under audit by the IRS. The 2013 and 2014 returns are being examined but no other information is available at this time. I know what you all must be thinking; can they really go back that …