Accounting
law — it has created “a leveling” up and down the chain of command. “We’re all having to learn the new rules,” she says.
Although Nakamoto
poring over tax legislation is not an awe-inspiring activ- ity for most people, the level of excite- ment at the firm has risen as accountants
scramble to understand the legis- lation, Nakamoto says. In addition, she says, clients
are asking for immediate help, placing increased pressure on tax practitioners while trying to deal with the stress of the current tax season. If all that were not enough,
Nakamoto and other accountants also say they have been fielding tax questions at social events. “The curiosity level of friends and families and other colleagues has absolutely heightened,” she says.
Easing the panic Paul DiNardo, CPA, a
Paul DiNardo of Wall, Einhorn and Chernitzer in Norfolk, says phones began ringing after the tax law passed with clients asking, “How does this apply to me?”
is absolutely the right answer,’ ” Thomson says.
Challenges, opportunities In essence, tax clients are
looking for clarity from accoun- tants who still are on a steep learning curve. Thomson says that dynamic is creating challenges and opportunities for the profession. One challenge for accounting
firms has been the time devoted to learning the intricacies of the tax law since it was signed into law Dec. 22. “If you look at the number of hours where people had to be redeployed from doing client work to doing this tax work … it definitely has impacted us” in terms of chargeable hours, Thomson says. On the plus side, the new
tax law has given his firm the opportunity to reach out to clients
40 APRIL 2018
in helping them understand the legislation. That interaction has helped to build trust that likely will lead to more business in the future. Another plus has been that
many companies with their own tax departments have sought help from accounting firms in dealing with the crush of questions the tax law has created. “So, it’s an opportunity for us to get entrée into companies that wouldn’t nor- mally outsource their work or ask for supplemental help,” Thomson says.
Questions at parties Kelly Nakamoto, CPA, the
mid-Atlantic tax leader for Price- waterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC), says that — because everyone from partners to first-year accoun- tants are challenged by the tax
principal with Wall, Einhorn and Chernitzer in Norfolk, says that in the closing days of 2017, just after the tax law was passed, requests for accounting advice suddenly spiked. Phones began ringing. Emails and texts surged. “What this law did was to put a number of our clients into a panic before year’s end,” DiNardo says. Most of those clients had the same question, “How does this apply to me?” DiNardo says that his firm
had been following various versions of the tax bill through Congress. When the House and Senate reconciled their differ- ences in the final bill, accountants scrambled to advise their clients on issues such as prepaying cer- tain taxes and choosing when to make charitable gifts. “Accountants are introverts by
nature,” DiNardo notes. Leaving their offices to meet with clients required some accountants to
Photo by Mark Rhodes
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64
