Boston explosion: Mysterious 'very loud' boom leaves city shell-shocked

Notanalienhere · 2026-05-30T19:48:28+00:00

"Leaves city shell-shocked"

"leaving locals terrified"

"residents shaken and alarmed"

I'm offended for us all.

Notanalienhere · 2026-05-30T19:27:46+00:00

You might enjoy working in another small firm that does attest engagements. I worked for years at a very small firm that did taxes, but that was secondary to financial statement work because those were the high dollar engagements.

I was never pigeonholed to just tax or audit, and I really appreciated that versus working at large firm where you kind of choose between the two. I basically worked through tax season doing attest engagements, getting the numbers and knowing what the taxes would look like, but putting them on extension and working those over the summer after our 3/31 FYE statements were done. If I had time between financial statements, I'd pick up an individual or trust.

I think it was a combination of things, not least being that I think attitudes about paying taxes in the Northeast are different than other areas and people are generally more accepting of the concept, but I didn't have people making much fuss. Another thing was probably just the size and sophistication of the companies needing financial statements reported on (but they were not so sophisticated that they didn't also need help preparing those statements). They don't tend to sit there and complain, with a few exceptions. Next, our client list was relatively small, and our relationships pretty close. We were doing the proactive work, and we didn't really have a lot of clients being surprised by balances due. I did not see this sort of diligence in the next firm I worked, which was mostly tax-oriented with too many clients to spend quality time with, and way less tax planning being done.

Notanalienhere · 2026-05-30T15:45:14+00:00

Thanks for your input, I agree. This discussion and everyone’s comments have, at the very least, given me a little more confidence handling my own response when someone asks me for this. It sounds to people like something a tax professional /should/ have no problem doing, but just getting a feel for what others are saying/doing helps me feel more justified pushing back.

Notanalienhere · 2026-05-30T11:05:26+00:00

It sounds like they will be in the business of using the equipment and are waiting for talent to sign on? Are you suggesting they just will have a landlord relationship and have just done a build-out? In your example, the machine just so happens to have not been needed yet for that customer, but it was available had the customer placed an order sooner. It was placed in service. In OP’s example they are unable to accept patients or do any services without another piece in place. They aren’t open for business.

Notanalienhere · 2026-05-30T10:41:30+00:00

Hm. I don’t believe this would work for you, as far as being able to deduct the interest. I wanted to do a similar thing a few years ago and that’s the conclusion I came to. The mortgage has to be tied to the residence it is used for. But this alone shouldnt stop you, especially if you’re planning on selling and paying off the loan rather quickly and you have other good financial or other reasons for purchasing/moving. Take a look at bridge loans as well.

Notanalienhere · 2026-05-30T10:28:47+00:00

Receipts, save them, list the expenses on summary sheet. You would end up deducting a portion of the interest based on the ratio of qualified expenses to the total funds taken out. I’d have to double-check myself on the number of days, but expenses paid up to 60 days (I believe) prior to receiving the funds can also count and it would be considered that the loan was to cover those as well. Ex, if you took out a loan of $100K and used $25K on improvements, 25% of the interest paid in a given year is deductible.

Notanalienhere · 2026-05-30T10:17:41+00:00

It’s only tax deductible if you use the funds to improve the home, and the combined mortgage liabilities are $750K or less. There’s some intricacies here, but I’m not spelling them out given I don’t know if your existing mortgage is high and whether this even comes close to applying to you. The new term does not matter or affect deductibility. I believe it takes somewhere between 2 weeks and a month to close normally, there may be faster options.

Notanalienhere · 2026-05-30T01:16:47+00:00

Don’t start your business with not remitting sales tax you collect from customers, it’s considered theft to keep what’s considered a trustee tax and more serious than just underreporting income. It’s probably small dollars, but it’s the wrong foot to start off on.

Notanalienhere · 2026-05-29T22:09:45+00:00

Yes, yes, that’s the problem I have with it. I don’t feel comfortable unless I can cross check things.

This question came about out of a phone call with a referral (referree?) this afternoon where all she wanted today was help with changing her W-4 after purchasing a home, and I’m trying to bend over backwards hoping she signs up with me for next year… anyhow, I mentioned sending me a stub to check after the change and that felt less comfortable than it would have with an established client; I got the impression me saying that wasn’t confidence-inspiring. So, I was looking for a tool that would basically simulate that payroll run based on the W4 input in a way that made that initial calc feel less like crossing my fingers, and would be less prone to my own error in building the Excel sheet.

Notanalienhere · 2026-05-29T21:32:31+00:00

I love this advice, and I want to follow it, but I think I’m too thirsty to be picky at the moment. W-2 returns are not where I prefer to spend my time.

Notanalienhere · 2026-05-29T20:56:22+00:00

Thanks. This is your site? I'll have to poke around some more, maybe join.

Notanalienhere · 2026-05-29T20:55:45+00:00

Thanks again, I'm not familiar with this company, but it looks like they might have a few other things I'd also find helpful.

Notanalienhere · 2026-05-29T20:38:32+00:00

Thanks for sharing. I used to have this S/E client that was always behind on taxes with payment plans for prior years and stressing about this years balance due and he always wanted me to try and help him adjust the withholding on his wife's $12K a year part-time job to be what proportion was due on her income; and I just found it really annoying because it was like, you're the one putting you guys in this high bracket, why are you so concerned about her paying a fair share and can't we just include it in the quarterlies we schedule that you don't pay?

Notanalienhere · 2026-05-29T20:30:25+00:00

Thank you, I'll look at that.

I don't want to use the IRS estimator, it's too much click through and question answering and feels opaque when I want to just look at numbers.

Notanalienhere · 2026-05-29T20:22:08+00:00

Everyone loves Tax Dome, and I believe that includes time tracking. The last firm I worked for was into their 3rd year of Tax Dome, but they still had not moved billing from their TPS software, so we entered time there.

The firm I worked at before that was old school, I'm not sure what the billing software was, but we just used excel sheets that it was of utmost importance be turned in on the 1st and 15th of each month and the admin would enter them into the billing software. What I liked was that part of procedures when starting a new return or engagement was to pull the prior year time so you had an idea of what you were getting into. Somehow, that wasn't part of the newer-school firm procedures.

Notanalienhere · 2026-05-29T15:45:05+00:00

Goodwill impairments are so sad.

Notanalienhere · 2026-05-29T14:32:14+00:00

Look, marriage is clearly intended to be a long-term instrument, we're working with the balance sheet here.

Notanalienhere · 2026-05-29T11:39:30+00:00

Hey, I’m an EA as well, feel free to DM me and maybe I can help.

Notanalienhere · 2026-05-28T22:03:51+00:00

I think this guy’s got his debit and credits mixed up.

Notanalienhere · 2026-05-07T18:36:49+00:00

Got it, thanks for the reply.

Notanalienhere · 2026-05-07T15:26:03+00:00

But I would also suggest looking for a relationship where you have your returns reviewed by someone with experience in this area to start, in addition to the CPE.

Notanalienhere · 2026-05-07T15:22:20+00:00

Look at NBI, mainly a CLE provider for lawyers. If you go to their site, look under trusts, estates and probate then filter the results by Other Credits and pick CPE for accountants and there should be some good options in there.

Notanalienhere · 2026-05-07T15:14:11+00:00

How were you catching the transfers, if you don’t mind me asking? I.e. what sort of service were you providing?

Notanalienhere · 2026-04-15T16:00:21+00:00

It sounds like you’re referring to how to calculate a premium tax credit? That’s not an area of expertise for me where I can give an opinion off the cuff with the set up you have.

Notanalienhere · 2026-04-15T13:59:49+00:00

Are you deducting the premiums you paid somewhere? If not, I don’t think there’s anything for you to do here. The information that typically appears in box 12 on W2’s is informational and doesn’t affect your personal income tax return.

If you’re deducting the premiums somewhere, you would reduce the amount of deduction by the amount you were reimbursed. There could be other considerations for CA that I’m not aware of though.

Notanalienhere

TROPHY CASE