Isaac M. O'Bannon is the managing editor and digital content manager for CPA Practice Advisor (www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com), drawing on two decades of experience covering the areas of professional accounting, taxation, business productivity and consumer technologies.
Prior to CPA Practice Advisor, O'Bannon was a consultant at firms in San Francisco, Denver and Tulsa, serving clients that included Logitech, Polycom, Hilti, Microsoft, the Stanford Research Institute, the University of Oklahoma's College of Engineering and other technology leaders. He is a U.S. Navy veteran.
Email: isaac.obannon - @ - cpapracticeadvisor.com
April 6, 2010
As technologically reliant as modern tax and accounting professionals are, it is astounding, at least to me, that about half of practices in the U.S. don’t even bother to have a website. Yet, that’s what our annual reader surveys and Productivity Survey continues to show, and both correspond with measurements made by the AICPA and...…
March 4, 2010
For years, many communities in Alaska have laid claim to the highest sales tax rates in the nation. But no longer, according to a report by Vertex, Inc., a provider of sales tax research data and compliance solutions for enterprise businesses. But no longer.
February 20, 2010
Okay, just a little humor as professionals start to really dig into the tax season. Despite the ongoing movement by tax and accounting practices toward paperless processes as a part of modern workflow, print is, of course, still ocassionally necessary. So, let’s try a couple of new terms when referring to the occasional paper functions...…
February 11, 2010
Google has plans to build an experimental broadband system in select communities across the U.S., according to the company. The system would supposedly be able to provide speeds up to 100 times faster than current high-speed Internet capabilities, and as much as 1,000 times faster than the fastest non-high-speed systems. How fast is that? Well,...…
February 8, 2010
While there probably aren’t too many young children dreaming of statistics-driven actuarial analysis, a recent study by online job search engine CareerCast has found that actuaries have the “best job in America.” The accounting profession was cited as the 9th “best job.” The study, onCareerCast’s website, rated professions on several factors, including physical demands, work...…
January 27, 2010
Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate joined an effort to quickly pass legislation that allows U.S. taxpayers to deduct their Haiti aid donations on their 2009 income tax returns.
January 22, 2010
As an update to a blog post a few days ago, both chambers of Congress have now passed legislation enabling taxpayers to claim charitable deductions made for Haiti aid relief efforts on their 2009 tax returns. The Haiti Assistance Income Tax Incentive Act passed through the House of Representatives unanimously yesterday, and quickly moved through...…
January 18, 2010
Bipartisan Push on Capitol Hill Would Allow Donations to Quake Relief to be Applied to 1040 Returns Currently Being Filed In a seemingly rare display of bipartisan effort by both chambers of Congress, Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate are pushing to quickly pass legislation that will allow U.S. taxpayers to deduct...…
January 13, 2010
The OSCPA is continuing their annual tradition of providing free tax return preparation for military families. To qualify, the filer (or one of the joint filers) must be a permanent resident of the state of Ohio and be currently deployed outside of the state. As a veteran who served overseas several times, I would like...…
January 11, 2010
The IRS announced last week that, starting with next year’s filing season (TY 2010), all paid tax preparers who are not already recognized by the IRS will have to follow new guidelines. The proposal essentially creates a new category of professional preparer (acronym as yet unknown) who will be required to register, receive a preparer...…
December 15, 2009
We’ve got a great webcast tomorrow (Tuesday, 12/15 at 2pm ET). Darren Root and I will discuss several technology concepts and tips for small businesses – not just professional accountants, but their clients, too. Plus, 2-hours of free CPE! Register at http://www.cpata.com/webcast_tw. Intuit has also put out a Top 10 List of technology-focused small business...…
December 11, 2009
Congratulations to Teresa Mackintosh and Jon Baron of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters has announced that Teresa, a multi-year 40 Under 40 Honoree by The CPA Technology Advisor, has been named the new Senior Vice President and General Manager for the Tax and Accounting arm of Thomson Reuters. She has been named to this top post...…
