Business Frame Weekly - QuickBooks Business Network to Automate B2B Payments / Tax Season 2023 / 20% of U.S. Business Plan to Reduce Staff

Intuit QuickBooks Business Network is expanding availability to millions of small and mid-market businesses in the U.S. in order to accelerate and automate B2B payments.

The annual tax season of 2023 may see smaller refunds, higher audit rates for higher earners, and shrinking childcare and dependent expenses. Mutual fund investors may also see surprise distributions with a capital-gains tax bill.

The National Association for Business Economics survey revealed that 20% of U.S. businesses expect to reduce staff in the coming months. Only 12% of survey respondents had increased employment over the past three months.

In this newsletter:

• Intuit QuickBooks Business Network to Accelerate and Automate B2B Payments for Millions of U.S. Businesses
• Tax Season 2023: Smaller Refunds, Higher Audit Rates, Jarring Capital-Gains Bills
• 20% of U.S. Business Plan to Reduce Staff; 12% Plan Increase
• Practice Management and Tax Practice in the Current Environment
• How Firms Use Stay Interviews to Boost Retention

January 21, 2023

Intuit QuickBooks Business Network to Accelerate and Automate B2B Payments for Millions of U.S. Businesses

Intuit expanded availability of the Intuit QuickBooks Business Network to millions of small and mid-market businesses in the U.S., creating one of the largest business-to-business (B2B) networks aimed at accelerating and automating B2B payments and improving overall cash flow. “With the QuickBooks Business Network, we’re innovating to address age-old challenges small businesses face when it comes to B2B payments, 70% of which are still paper or check-based in the U.S.,” said Rania Succar, senior vice president, Intuit QuickBooks Money Platform, and CEO, Mailchimp.

Tax Season 2023: Smaller Refunds, Higher Audit Rates, Jarring Capital-Gains Bills

The annual rite of filing a federal tax return is kicking into full swing. Stimulus checks are no more. Generous credits for children and for childcare and dependent expenses, mostly daycare, have shrunk to pre-pandemic levels. Steep losses from the stock market, which fell nearly 20% last year, have handed some mutual fund investors surprise distributions with a capital-gains tax bill. Throw in spiking audit rates for higher earners, and the financial jolts of the 2023 filing season will hand many filers slimmed-down refunds, or none.

20% of U.S. Business Plan to Reduce Staff; 12% Plan Increase

A National Association for Business Economics survey showed about a third of respondents say their firms are not facing any labor shortages, and nearly 20% expect employment at their company to fall in the coming months. Only 12% of those surveyed think headcount will rise in the next three months — less than half the share that said their companies had increased employment over the past three months. The survey of 60 NABE members was conducted Jan. 4-11.

How Firms Use Stay Interviews to Boost Retention

Job interviews have long been an essential part of the hiring process. But now, some public accounting firms are turning the lens on themselves. They're conducting "stay" or "retention" interviews with existing employees. The goal is to understand how they can be a more attractive workplace and reduce employee turnover — a top issue for many public accounting firms.

Practice Management and Tax Practice in the Current Environment

The 2022 Annual Survey of New York State Practitioners revealed that survey respondents relied on technology tools to help them with tax compliance and research activities. They expressed satisfaction with the features of tax preparation and research software used to meet client needs for compliance and planning, with modest increases in almost all ratings relative to the previous year. Professional accountants continued to deal with practice-related, economic, social, and tax law changes resulting from the global pandemic during the 2022 busy season, as well as a continuation and worsening of issues from 2021.

Random Ramblings

• Cloud technology aids the corporate tax function.
• 4 ways to increase employability in uncertain times.
• Auto depreciation limitations make a big leap for the second year in a row.
• Here are the federal tax brackets for 2023 vs. 2022.
• Auditing best practices What academic fraud research reveals.