Page 16 - BusinessWest August 4, 2021
P. 16

  It’s Not Just the Numbers
    Patrick Leary, CPA, Partner Douglas Theobald, CPA, Partner Springfield | Hartford | Boston
Working with you and your team, we develop strategies that lead to smart, financially advantageous decisions.
  www.thempgroupcpa.com
 Nick Lapier says a taxing period for all accountants was exacerbated by the federal and state governments constantly “moving the goalposts.”
posts,” he said, referring to the many changes in tax laws — some com- ing in the middle of tax season — and moving of filing deadlines. “For some people who filed their tax returns early, we then found ourselves amending those returns because they changed some of the rules. And some we didn’t file because we hoped they would change the rules.
“The end zone kept moving,” he went on. “We’d be on the 10-yard line, work really hard, and still be on the 10-yard line. There are 50 sov- ereign states that have the right to tax, so if you have clients filing tax returns in multiple states, each state was also possibly changing their laws and moving the goalposts.”
As the calendar turns to August, those we spoke with said this has been a time for many at area firms to catch their breath and take some of the vacation days they didn’t take last year or earlier this year. It’s also a time to reflect on what has transpired and what likely lies ahead in terms of the lessons learned and which of the changes seen over the past year and half are more permanent than temporary in nature.
Julie Quink, CPA, CFE, managing partner of West Springfield-based BurkhartPizzanelli,P.C.,saidherfirm,likemostothers,isnotsim- ply turning back the clock to late 2019 when it comes to returning to something approaching normal, especially when it comes to how and where business is conducted. She said most employ-
   Melanson specializes in top quality vaulation services coupled with meaningful and valuable business consulting services. Our team consists of both certified valuation analysts (CVAs) and certified public accountants (CPAs) who work closely with you, as well as your legal and banking representatives, on a variety of engagements.
Contact us today to find out how we can partner with you!
Buying or Selling Your Business?
You Need a Business Valuation.
 Succession Planning • Increasing Value • Gift & Estate Taxation • Buy-Sell Agreements • Mergers & Acquisitions • Marital Dissolutions • Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) • Shareholder Disputes • Chapter S Election • Purchase Price Allocations • Banking Relationships & SBA Loan Funding
 Merrimack, NH | Andover, MA | Greenfield, MA | Ellsworth, ME 800.282.2440 | melansoncpas.com
  ees have returned to the office, but moving forward, there will be even more flexibility when it comes to schedules and working remotely because of what’s been learned over the past 18 months.
“We’re not going to dial back to everyone needing to be here those static hours of 8:30 to 5,” she noted. “I’m a glass-half-full person, and if there is a positive from the past 16 or 17 months that we’ve been dealing with, it’s taught us that we need to be more flexible, more mobile, and more adaptable — and understand that people don’t have to be actually sitting in their offices to get their job done.”
“It’s very hard for us to focus on our work when the government kept moving the goalposts.”
     Meanwhile, Lapier told BusinessWest that many accountants, himself included, spent far less time
meeting face-to-face with clients in 2020 and early 2021, and he expects that trend to continue.
“This current generation lives in the digital world; they don’t need to see people — they transact their personal and their business life electronically,” he explained. “What has changed because of COVID is that all the prior generations have adopted that same mentality — not 100%, but a heck of a lot more than before the pandemic.”
Howard Cheney, CPA, MST, a partner at Holyoke-based Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C. and director of the firm’s Audit and Account-
ing Services, agreed, while noting, as others did, that the pandemic in many ways accelerated a trend within the industry toward accountants shifting to roles that are more advisory in nature, with a greater focus on the future than the numbers from the past quarter or two.
  16 AUGUST 4, 2021
ACCOUNTING & TAX PLANNING
Staff Photo
BusinessWest








































































   14   15   16   17   18