Geoff Mandala, MBA

Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the IRS just confirmed: ✅ No changes to individual information returns ✅ No changes to withholding tables …at least for Tax Year 2025. Honestly, I’m not surprised. Anytime major tax reform rolls out, the phased approach is the only way to keep payroll teams, tax pros, and employers from going into panic mode. I remember the scramble back in 2018 when the withholding tables shifted mid-year, businesses were scrambling to reprogram payroll, employees were confused about why their checks looked different, and tax preparers spent half their season explaining what happened. This time, it feels like the IRS learned that lesson. By holding off on changes for 2025, they’re giving everyone breathing room to: 🔵 Get familiar with the broader provisions of the Act 🔵 Update systems in advance 🔵 Educate staff and clients before the real shifts hit This is the perfect window to prepare, not panic. Review your systems, get your training in place, and be ready for when changes do come down the line. For employers - don’t treat “no change” as “no work.” This is your chance to get ahead so you’re not scrambling when the next phase hits. #IRSUpdate #TaxProfessionals #Payroll #TaxPlanning #TaxNews #OneBigBeautifulBill

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1099-R out of an IRA with a distribution code of 1 for a client under 59 1/2 "Early distribution, no known exception" Most tax preparers take that to mean "#taxes AND penalties will be due" Not a ridiculous assumption but I've seen first hand plenty of times where that's a completely incorrect assumption If you're under 59 1/2 and complete a Roth conversion and don't withhold for taxes from the distribution (that piece is key) the distribution is taxed but not penalized And if you think that sounds obvious you're in the minority not the majority I had an RTS Premiere member just last week reach out because a tax pro was fighting them on this exact situation, insisting that the penalty applied. The advisor felt confident in the answer but not in how to address it with the tax pro The forms are confusing and unhelpful (this 1099-R also had box 2b checked, which is the custodian acknowledging they don't actually have all the information to determine what the tax treatment is) If you are helping your clients with financial planning and especially if you are helping with tax planning you HAVE to be involved in the tax filing process in some way or you are rolling the dice every single year Tax planning doesn't count until it's reported to the IRS correctly Happy Tax Planning!

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I recently chatted with a software developer who bought an accounting firm, doubled it's size within a year, but said he wish he'd known these things: 1. The Technical Debt Runs Deep Modernization of tech was a much bigger lift than expected. Most firms run across a huge number of disparate tools (some even run on paper). The scale of cleanup required before automation became possible was staggering. 2. Change Management Is a Beast Changing systems was one challenge. Getting people to change how they work? That's a whole other monster to navigate. They quickly realized introducing new tools or workflows wasn't the challenge, convincing the team to actually adopt them was. 3. Marketing Was the Biggest (and Easiest) Win The most actionable insight for other firms: the biggest ROI didn’t come from tech or operations, it came from sales and positioning. They clearly defined who the firm served, did some simple outreach and nearly doubled the firm’s recurring revenue within a year. 4. Modernization Is Personal, Not Just Procedural Changing workflows messed with people's identities. For many accountants, their process is their profession. Shifting it is emotionally loaded and often interpreted as a judgment of their competency. Buying the firm turned out to be a people problem more than a process problem. I love seeing non-accountants come into our space. While they come with a host of blindspots, we have our own as well. More background on this convo + another discussion with a non-accountant who has rolled up several firms now, linked below

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