Ideas and Opportunities

Meet Our Firm

Melissa English

Melissa is a Senior Audit Manager in the firm working with clients across a variety of industries. She is responsible for managing audits of non-profit organizations, employee benefit plans, and small to medium size businesses. She is also the lead professional working with our employee benefit plan practice.{more}

Why you might not want to use AI to write your cover letter

There are two promises of generative AI that seem tailor-made for the job search process. One is that it eases repetitive tasks. The second is that it provides valuable suggestions that could improve your writing. On the surface, these two benefits are perfect for a job search. (More)

What Will the Workplace Look Like in 2025?

The shift to remote work will be among the biggest business trends in the coming years, though it won't be the only lingering effect from the pandemic. Before the pandemic, General Motors Co. was moving toward giving employees more flexible schedules. However, the coronavirus outbreak threw that effort into overdrive.(More)

BOI update: 6.5 million of 32 million reports filed so far

With less than two months left for most small businesses to file beneficial ownership information (BOI) reports, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has received a fraction of the expected 32 million reports, a FinCEN representative said Thursday during the AICPA's Town Hall. New businesses created in 2024, which are under tighter deadlines to file the reports than older businesses, account for many of those, said Phil Lam, FinCEN's beneficial ownership operations and innovation chief. (More)

Now is a Good Time for a Donor Advised Fund

Charitable gifts offer a great opportunity to reduce income tax liability. When a taxpayer makes a charitable contribution, typically they get an offsetting charitable income tax deduction. Unfortunately, that offsetting deduction doesn’t always end up reducing the total tax burden. To take a charitable income tax deduction, the taxpayer needs to itemize their deductions. If the charitable contribution and other itemized deductions don’t exceed the standard deduction amount, then it makes sense to take the standard deduction and forego the itemized deductions.Let’s look at an example. Assume that Charlie Charitable has taxable income... (More)

Estate and Inheritance Taxes by State, 2024

In addition to the federal estate tax, with a top rate of 40 percent, 12 states and the District of Columbia impose additional estate taxes, while six states levy inheritance taxes. Maryland is the only state that imposes both an estate and an inheritance tax. Estate taxes are paid by a decedent’s estate before assets are distributed to heirs and are thus imposed on the overall value of the estate. Inheritance taxes are remitted by the recipient of a bequest and are thus based on the amount distributed to each beneficiary. (More)

What you need to know about the Massachusetts tax amnesty program

Good news for taxpayers with Massachusetts back taxes: The Massachusetts Department of Revenue will administer a tax amnesty program from November 1 through December 30, 2024. While tax amnesty is in effect, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will waive most penalties for qualifying taxpayers who fulfill the terms of the program. The fiscal year 2025 budget bill authorized the... (More)

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