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Intuit rolls out new features and capacities for QuickBooks

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Intuit announced a bevy of new and upcoming features and enhancements to its suite of products during its most recent user conference in Las Vegas, most of which center around AI and automation. 

Many of these enhancements are made specifically with accountants in mind. With regards to QuickBooks Online Accountant, the company’s vision is to provide a personalized space for accounting firms with accountant-specific workflows and robust client management capabilities that span multiple clients. This hub may include a client console that provides access to client data to improve decision-making and speed-to-action to better serve clients; advanced role-based access controls and permissions; and a dashboard and file review experience that automatically surfaces anomalies across all clients and tracks and enables closing books at scale.

Accounting firms will also now be able to subscribe their clients to QuickBooks Live offerings through QuickBooks Online Accountant, freeing up time for accountants by connecting businesses to QuickBooks Online-certified experts to educate them on how to set up and manage their business within the platform as well as answer questions on specialized topics such as business tax and payroll tax compliance. Each time a client wraps up a call with a QuickBooks Live expert, the accountant has access to a call summary, providing transparency on topics discussed.

Intuit Bangalore office

Accountants will also be able to use QuickBooks Live Expert Full-Service Bookkeeping, which offers them the ability to outsource ongoing bookkeeping work to a dedicated bookkeeper, who works directly with the client to perform monthly tasks. A dedicated bookkeeper will get to know the business, bring past books up to date, and manage the monthly bookkeeping, complementing a firm’s client engagements beyond scope or if they are tax-only. QuickBooks will also provide access to a QuickBooks-certified bookkeeper to bring a business’s books up-to-date within 30 days, going back to their most recent tax filing. 

Beyond new capacities for QuickBooks Online Accountant, QuickBooks itself  now includes AI-enabled transaction categorization and matching within QuickBooks Online; Intuit Assist, the generative AI assistance in QuickBooks, will soon have the ability to auto-generate invoices, estimates, bills, and expenses, and auto-draft invoice reminders that help get small businesses paid on time. 

Meanwhile, within QuickBooks Online Payroll, the software can now calculate and withdraw payroll tax liabilities as they increase, such as at the time of a payroll run, and pay agencies when taxes are due; the software will inform  businesses which taxes are being filed and paid automatically and which need to be handled manually. The product also now supports the ability to schedule compensation changes in advance and set up employees with multiple different pay types (i.e. salary and hourly). A new History tab also allows employers to easily view historical employee information, including position and compensation data. Users can also make bulk changes to multiple employees at once, saving significant time and clicks, especially for larger customers. Payroll professionals, meanwhile, can now access paycheck corrections, which allows them to fix errors even after payroll has been processed and the quarter is closed. Additionally, a new HR Manager role has been introduced, assigning a user access to all QuickBooks Payroll, QuickBooks Time, and HR functionality without access to the company’s finances in QuickBooks Online.

Also, select QuickBooks customers will soon be able to unlock referrals, reviews, testimonials, and customer growth recommendations with QuickBooks Customer Hub, powered by Mailchimp in the Customers Tab within QuickBooks Online. 

Intuit also brought up its Enterprise Suite for businesses (see previous story), plus its reimagined Pro Advisor Academy (see previous story).

“Intuit and our accounting partners have a shared goal of helping businesses grow,” said Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi. “Together, we serve the financial needs of millions of shared customers, and by harnessing the power of AI, we’re delivering a connected platform for accountants and their clients that save them time, drive more informed business decisions with predictive analytics and insights, and help them thrive as they expand.”

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Accounting

Vanguard settles target-date fund investor case

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Vanguard agreed to pay $40 million to settle a potential class-action case over steep capital-gains taxes that hit thousands of investors in the firm’s target-date funds.

In the Nov. 6 preliminary settlement awaiting approval in Philadelphia federal court, the asset management giant did not admit any guilt or wrongdoing. However, the payout would add on to another $6.25 million in fines and restitution against Vanguard in 2022 in the settlement of a case filed by Massachusetts regulators on behalf of investors who absorbed capital gains — and the accompanying tax burden — when the firm opened the lower-cost institutional share classes of the funds to midsize retirement plans it had previously shut out from them in 2020.

Those clients rushed into the cheaper shares in a move described by The Wall Street Journal as an “elephant stampede” that caused the target-date funds to sell 15% of the products’ holdings in transactions saddling taxable-account investors with a capital-gains distribution that was 40 times any previous level, according to the March 2022 lawsuit. Less than a year after reducing the minimum-asset requirement for institutional shares to $5 million from $100 million, the firm merged them together with the retail versions of the funds. That adjustment caused no tax impact, leading experts to question why Vanguard didn’t simply do that in the first place.

“You got these huge capital gains that had to be distributed, and that was really the big problem,” said Daniel Sotiroff, a manager research senior analyst of passive strategies for Morningstar Research Services. “Vanguard actually did kind of mess this one up.”

Representatives for Vanguard didn’t respond to requests for comment on the case or the settlement.

READ MORE: How Vanguard’s tax-bomb target-date funds slammed wealthy investors 

It and the plaintiffs had indicated in September filings that they reached agreement in private mediation that month. The investors accused Vanguard and its top executives of breaching their fiduciary duty, aiding and abetting that breach, gross negligence, breaking the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, unjust enrichment and violations of several state laws. In the course of discovery, Vanguard deposed 10 of the plaintiffs and produced 250,000 documents.

The company agreed to the settlement “solely to eliminate the burden and expense of further

litigation,” and nothing in it is “an admission or finding of any fault, liability, wrongdoing or damage whatsoever or any infirmity in the defenses that [the] defendants have asserted, or could have asserted,” according to court filings.

“Defendants have denied, and continue to deny, that they have committed any act or omission giving rise to any liability or violation of law,” the “stipulation of settlement” document stated. “Defendants have asserted, and continue to assert, that the conduct was at all times proper and in compliance with all applicable provisions of law, and they believe that the evidence developed to date supports their positions that they acted properly at all times and that the action is without merit.”

In the agreement ordering Vanguard to pay $40 million to target-date investors who paid the tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes three years ago, the plaintiffs agreed to take roughly 15% of the “best-case scenario” payment of $259.5 million in damages, according to their filing for approval of the settlement. The settlement agreement limited attorney fees to no more than one-third of the award and capped litigation expenses at $985,000. If the settlement gets preliminary approval, the plaintiffs would then reach out to potential class members for their reaction before seeking the final green light on the agreement.

The cash settlement “provides an immediate recovery to impacted Vanguard [target-date fund] investors and avoids the considerable risks of continued litigation in this complex class action,” the filing stated. “Plaintiffs and class counsel believe that the case has merit, but they recognize the significant risk and expense that would be necessary to prosecute Plaintiffs’ claims successfully through class certification, continued fact and expert discovery, summary judgment, trial and subsequent appeals, as well as the inherent difficulties and delays complex class action litigation like this entails. As previewed in the parties’ class certification briefing, which focused almost exclusively on damages model issues, proving damages would be risky, complicated, and uncertain, involving conflicting expert testimony.”

READ MORE: Vanguard to pay some — not all — of tax bills created for TDF investors

Besides the substantial payout, the case helped remind financial advisors and their clients of the potential risks involved with holding mutual funds in taxable accounts, Sotiroff said. ETFs or separately-managed accounts could help avoid the tax surprises in non-retirement holdings, even though target-date funds may not be as readily available in that form.

“If you’re going to hold a mutual fund, you have to expect that you’re probably going to get some capital gains distributions from it,” Sotiroff said. “You’re always potentially on the hook for a capital gains distribution.”

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Accounting

M&A roundup: Aldrich and GHJ expand

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Aldrich, a provider of financial, wealth, tax, and business transaction strategies based in Salem, Oregon, has acquired HMA CPA, an accounting firm based in Spokane, Washington.

The Aldrich Group of Companies includes Aldrich CPAs + Advisors LLP, a Top 75 Firm, as well as Aldrich Wealth LP, a registered investment advisory firm with over $6 billion in assets under management, and Aldrich Advisors Capital LP, which provides advisory services for business transactions. 

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.  All four HMA partners and 25 employees will be joining Aldrich, which has $86 million in revenues and 500 team members across the U.S. and India. Aldrich ranked No. 72 on Accounting Today‘s 2024 list of the Top 100 Firms.

The acquisition of HMA CPA will enable Aldrich to expand to the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, area, by adding HMA’s four partners and their employees. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

“We share with HMA a commitment to serving our people, our clients, and our communities and are honored to build on HMA’s 40-year legacy,” said Aldrich CEO partner John Lauseng in a statement Tuesday. “We are excited to work together to help Spokane and Coeur d’Alene-area companies, owners and employees meet their financial goals.”

HMA was founded in Spokane in 1983 and has grown by expanding its services and through acquisition. In addition to Kevin Sell, HMA’s other owners, Kristi Bushnell, Laura Hays and Mike Whitmore, will be joining Aldrich, along with their colleagues.  

“Joining Aldrich will allow our team to deliver even more value to our clients, as well as create growth opportunities for our professionals,” said HMA CEO Kevin Sell in a statement. “Aldrich shares our entrepreneurial spirit, and we look forward to providing more services to our Spokane area clients through Aldrich CPA + Advisors, Aldrich Wealth, and Aldrich Capital Advisors.”  

After the deal, Aldrich now has eight offices in the Western U.S. across Oregon, California, Colorado, Utah and Washington. 

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Accounting

IFAC names Jean Bouquot its president

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The International Federation of Accountants announced Jean Bouquot as its president and Taryn Rulton as deputy president.

Bouquot will serve a two-year term through November 2026, previously having served as IFAC deputy president since November 2022.

“It is my honor to serve as IFAC president,” Mr. Bouquot said in a statement. “Together with my fellow board members, I will work on behalf of all IFAC members, convene the profession and its stakeholders to highlight the role and activities of IFAC, and always advance the profession in the public interest.”

IFAC offices

Bouquot has over 44 years of audit experience at EY with exposure to international activities. He currently runs his own practice in Paris. He joined the IFAC board in November 2020, nominated by Compagnie Nationale des Commissaires aux Comptes and Conseil National de l’Ordre des Experts-Comptables.

He was formerly president of the CNCC, formerly president and deputy president of the Compagnie Régionale des Commissaires aux Comptes de Versailles et du Centre, and is currently a board member of IFAC Network Partner organization Fédération Internationale des Experts-comptables et commissaires aux Francophones.

Rulton, elected as IFAC deputy president, joined the board in November 2020. She has over 30 years of experience across the U.K. and Australia with a background spanning the banking industry, Big Four firms KPMG and EY, government, private companies, non-governmental organizations and universities.

She is currently chief commercial officer at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, and serves on multiple corporate boards and committees in the not-for-profit and public sectors, including as chair of audit and risk committees. She has standard-setting experience and completed two terms on the Australian Accounting Standards Board.

The IFAC also announced new and re-appointed board members.

New appointments: 

  • Josephine Su Han Phan (CPA Australia)
  • Michael Niehues (IDW/WPK, Germany)
  • Patricia Stock (SAICA, South Africa)
  • Mark Vaessen (Royal NBA, Netherlands)
  • Lei Yan (CICPA, China)
  • Ahmad Almeghames (SOCPA, Saudi Arabia)

Reappointments:

  • Greg Anton (AICPA, USA)
  • Tashia Batstone (CPA Canada)

The IFAC Council also approved new member and new associate organizations. The admissions were approved at the 2024 IFAC Council hybrid meeting, with a physical location held in Paris on Nov. 6-7.

New IFAC members:

  • Colegio de Contadores Públicos de Pichincha y del Ecuador
  • Consejo General de Economistas de España
  • Emirates Association for Accountants and Auditors

New associates:

  • Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Maldives  
  • Ordre National des Experts-Comptables Algériens
  • Ordre des Professionnels Comptables du Burundi
  • Ordre National des Experts Comptables du Gabon

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