Accounting
Trump nominates hedge fund chief Bessent to lead Treasury
President-elect Donald Trump said he is nominating Scott Bessent, who runs macro hedge fund Key Square Group, as the next U.S. Treasury secretary, enlisting a key adviser to manage the sweeping economic agenda he has vowed to enact in a second term.
“Scott has long been a strong advocate of the America First Agenda,” Trump said in a statement Friday. “On the eve of our Great Country’s 250th Anniversary, he will help me usher in a new Golden Age for the United States, as we fortify our position as the World’s leading Economy.”
Bessent, 62, emerged as the pick after an extended search for a Treasury chief that saw Trump consider multiple candidates — and Wall Street executives and business leaders vie to influence the president-elect’s decision. Allies believed that Trump sought a candidate that would be favored both by Wall Street as well as an electoral base eager for him to implement
Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg
Bessent beat out other prominent contenders including Apollo Global Management Inc. executive Marc Rowan, former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh and Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty as well as Trump transition co-chair Howard Lutnick, who was named to lead the Commerce Department.not supported.
If confirmed by the Senate, Bessent would be the first openly gay Treasury chief, and one of the wealthiest in modern times. Bessent has said that he has always wanted to serve his country, but in the 1980s his sexual orientation prevented him from going to the U.S. Naval Academy, and after graduating from Yale University, from joining the State Department.
He joins an economic team beginning to take shape just weeks after Trump won a second presidential term. Trump announced that his former budget director, Russ Vought, would be returning to the same role in a statement to his social media platform later Friday.
“He did an excellent job serving in this role in my First Term – We cut four Regulations for every new Regulation, and it was a Great Success!” Trump said.
Vought, a key architect of
Political thickets
As the nation’s highest ranking economic policymaker, Bessent will have to wade through political thickets in Washington, spearhead international economic diplomacy and bring Wall Street know-how to crisis situations. He will also be closely watched by investors and financial institutions, who are looking for predictability and stability.
He has been a proponent of realigning U.S. currency policy, but has stopped short of supporting an overt strategy of depreciating the dollar. During Trump’s first term, the then-president called out dollar appreciation for being harmful to US manufacturers and even considered government intervention to manage the greenback’s value.
Bessent has acknowledged that while a weaker dollar would be good for some parts of the economy, some of Trump’s proposals would drive up its value.
He has criticized President Joe Biden’s administration for its management of federal debt financing, and has talked about expanding its “friendshoring” policy to create a tiered system among trade partners.
At the Treasury, Bessent is expected to advise Trump on candidates to chair the Federal Reserve when that job opens up in May 2026. Earlier this year, he talked about the
He has said the Fed was too slow to respond to rising inflation in 2021, and
Bessent spent part of his career managing money for billionaire George Soros. He lived in London and was part of the team, under Stan Druckenmiller, that made $1 billion in 1992 shorting the pound — a wager that helped force the currency out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, and made Soros famous as the man who broke the Bank of England.
He would be the second Treasury secretary, after Steven Mnuchin, who has worked for groups with close ties to Soros.
Soros’ family office made about $10 billion in profit under Bessent as investment chief, or about 13% annualized. Since then, he’s run Key Square, which started with a $2 billion investment from Soros — funds he later returned as other investors came in.
“I think he’ll be outstanding,” said Druckenmiller. “Having worked for me and George for all those years, he’s been exposed to everything a Treasury secretary has to deal with. He has a deep knowledge of markets and he’s also an intellectual who has the chops to work with academic policymakers. It’s a rare combination.”
Bessent will be returning his hedge fund clients’ capital as soon as possible after Dec. 1, according to a person familiar with his plans. Federal rules require cabinet members to develop plans to remove their potential conflicts of interest, and then follow through on them, usually within as little as 90 days.
Here’s a look at some key areas of responsibility for the role of Treasury Secretary:
Oversight, taxes
Bessent is expected to play a key role in pushing for a renewal of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts through Congress, many of which are set to expire at the end of 2025.
The Treasury chief could be charged with liaising with Republicans in Congress to expand the scope of the tax bill to include some of Trump’s campaign-trail tax promises, including a 15% corporate rate and exempting tipped wages from taxation.
The Treasury Secretary is also charged with running the Financial Stability Oversight Council, a panel set up after the financial crisis. Under outgoing Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, FSOC looked at the issue of
FSOC under Yellen also recommended stronger oversight of stablecoins, which the Fed has likened to bank deposits and money market funds — and which are subject to much more regulation. Trump’s advocacy of the crypto space on the campaign trail likely will put the new Treasury chief’s stance under the spotlight.
Economic diplomacy
Peppered through the year are meetings of the finance chiefs of the Group of Seven, G-20 and other international organizations, which the Treasury secretary typically attends as the chief U.S. representative.
The Treasury Department implements U.S. sanctions on foreign countries, companies and individuals, which have soared in number over the past several years. Yellen helped to lead efforts at the G-7 to isolate Russia after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and to step up financial assistance for Kyiv.
The secretary also has often served as point person on engagement with China. The Treasury chief tends to be a cautionary voice when it comes to proposals aimed at America’s biggest strategic rival. Mnuchin, Trump’s Treasury head in his first term, was seen as playing that role when tensions escalated in 2018 and 2019.
Debt management
In charge of the nation’s purse strings, Bessent will have to deal with a costly, and ballooning, debt load. The federal budget deficit crept up to
“No one has been more terrified about this debt stack and the coming refinance we’ve got to do,” Bessent said on a recent War Room
Bessent has also
Debt managers may need to be active in managing the Treasury’s liquidity, because the federal debt ceiling is scheduled to
Glen Capelo, who spent more than three decades on Wall Street bond-trading desks and is now a managing director at Mischler Financial Group, called Bessent a “fiscal hawk.”
“He definitely will be positive overall for the economy and the markets. He wants to rein in spending. Bessent wants to get the Secretary of the Treasury back in line with the markets – because he does believe Janet Yellen has twisted the issuance around a bit,” Capelo said.
Let’s face it: Clients of accounting firms come with unique, continuously evolving needs, which can make streamlining operations something of a moving target.
But in the realm of client accounting services, improvements in one area — travel and expense management — can have an outsized effect on maximizing efficiency. In pursuit of this goal, more firms are embracing integrated T&E solutions, which help them standardize their tech stacks.
However, not all T&E management solutions are created equal. And one feature in particular can give accounting firms a distinct advantage over the competition: enabling their clients to choose whichever credit card they like. Here’s why.
The changing face of T&E management
Traditionally, T&E inhabited separate worlds, and companies used separate applications to manage both. This legacy process has been fraught with inefficiencies, such as reconciling credit card statements and ensuring compliance with company policies. The result: a heavy load of busywork for admins — and a large number of headaches.
Once the benefits of merging travel and expense became clear, a single platform was as inevitable as it was game-changing. Today, modern solutions have brought travel booking, expense reporting and reimbursements together and automated many of the processes to a transformative degree. For some of these solutions, the innovations don’t stop there.
The case for flexibility
T&E platforms can differ in important ways, but the technology behind almost all of them mandates that customers switch corporate cards. Until recently, adopting the platform’s prescribed card was the only way to reap the rewards of a modern T&E solution. It’s been all or nothing.
Changing cards, however, can easily complicate a client’s overall financial ecosystem. And some clients simply don’t want to switch. In a recent survey, 71% of business travelers said they were happy with their corporate card solution but that their expense management platform doesn’t always support their needs. So why should they have to switch?
They don’t. Technology now exists that allows customers to bring their own cards — a flexibility that offers important advantages to accounting firms and their clients. These include:
1. Client autonomy and satisfaction: Clients may have strategic financial agreements, loyalty programs, or credit limits with their existing cards. Offering a platform that adapts to their needs rather than forcing a change strengthens client satisfaction and trust.
2. Tech stack standardization: Platforms offering card flexibility make it easier for accounting firms to standardize their tech stacks. Why work with more vendors and more complexity than necessary?
3. Simplified finances and comprehensive reporting: Supporting multiple credit cards lets accounting firms provide their clients with a more seamless integration into existing financial systems. Firms can more effectively capture comprehensive financial data, providing deeper insights and facilitating more robust financial analysis and reporting. It’s a holistic approach that aligns perfectly with the CAS model, by augmenting advisory capabilities with richer data sets.
4. Empowered negotiations and business relationships: The flexibility to select credit cards can empower clients in negotiations with financial institutions, potentially securing lower fees or enhanced bonuses. By allowing any credit card, firms can foster strong business relationships with clients who appreciate the autonomy and empowerment this choice provides.
5. Adaptability to multiple client requirements: Within the CAS model, firms may deal with a diverse clientele across various industries. Each client might have distinct policies, vendor relationships or geographic considerations that influence their choice of credit cards. An adaptable T&E platform mitigates the friction of onboarding and accommodates a wider array of client needs, ultimately enhancing a firm’s versatility and market reach.
Looking beyond the status quo
Delivering value is what every accounting firm wants to do for its clients, and an integrated T&E platform with flexible credit card options can help. Of course, the inverse is also true — restricting clients to specific credit cards may inadvertently limit their own adaptability and obstruct clients’ existing financial strategies.
Flexibility, adaptability and client-centric models are crucial for the future of T&E solutions, and key to what accounting firms can offer their clients. As the industry continues to innovate, platforms that marry robust features with client-first flexibility will lead the pack, setting a standard in service delivery that resonates across industries.
The bottom line is this: Providing clients with their choice of credit card clearly shows the firm is committed to a higher level of service, deeper insights and a more personalized client experience. For accounting firms advancing their CAS practices, this could be the linchpin for delivering enhanced client satisfaction and staying competitive in a dynamic market.
A federal court has greenlit the Internal Revenue Service to serve a John Doe summons on JustAnswer LLC, seeking information about U.S. taxpayers who were paid for answering questions as “experts” from 2017 to 2020.
The IRS wants the records of individuals who were paid by Covina, California-based JustAnswer, which operates a digital platform where the public pays for answers by professionals such as tax pros, doctors, lawyers, veterinarians and engineers.
In the
There’s no indication that JustAnswer has engaged in any wrongdoing in connection with its digital platform business, authorities said, adding that the IRS uses John Doe summonses to obtain information about individuals whose identities are unknown and who possibly violated internal revenue laws.
JustAnswer must produce records identifying U.S. taxpayers who have used its platform to earn income, along with other documents relating to their work.
“The gig economy has grown in recent years and with it, the concern for tax compliance issues has increased,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General David Hubbert of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, in a statement.
“Like their fellow Americans who earn income through traditional means, U.S. taxpayers who earn income from digital and other platforms that comprise the gig economy need to pay their fair share of taxes,” added IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel in a statement.
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IRS gets John Doe summons for JustAnswer gig workers
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