Could the tax-filing deadline be extended? Also, why accountants should be worried about bots and fake AI startups, and Canopy lays off 40% of its staff

Mar 17, 2019

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00:08 -- We got some reviews! Please do us a favor and give us a review on iTunes.
02:08 -- Might tax season be extended to make up for the partial Federal government shutdown? Two house Democrats have introduced a bill to extend the tax-filing deadline by 5 weeks.
03:51 -- Now you can track your team’s labor costs in QuickBooks Projects.
05:08 -- New limits in QuickBooks Online are causing some angst for ProAdvisors. Research from APQC suggests that Intuit set the limit on accounts in the Chart of Accounts too low. Also, the messaging by Intuit as to why they implemented limits seems rather disingenuous.
11:54 -- The State of Louisiana accidentally double refunded about 66,000 taxpayers, resulting in about $26 million in overpayments the state is working to claw back.
14:25 -- Speaking of problems caused by software, those Boeing 737s might be crashing due to a delayed software update.
17:05 -- Why is Blake so concerned about Botkeeper and the failure of many tech startups serving the accounting profession to disclose the offshoring of client data? Because as a listener pointed out, the Internal Revenue Code forbids disclosure of tax return information, which could include bookkeeping data, to anyone outside the firm without express written consent. There are even potential criminal penalties.
22:51 -- Is Gappify another Botkeeper? The firm claims to have built an AI bot called “Alan,” but it looks like they’ve got accountants in Manila doing the same work.
25:34 -- According to a survey from London venture capital firm MMC, 40 percent of European startups that are classified as AI companies don’t actually use artificial intelligence in a way that is “material” to their businesses.
29:02 -- Canopy, the tax practice management software developer, laid off nearly half its staff, despite just a few months ago expanding into a huge new headquarters while saying it planned to double in size. Here’s the post by the CEO and founder, Kurt Avarell, on LinkedIn.
32:13 -- David recommends anyone following the Canopy story read The Hard Thing About Hard Things, by Ben Horowitz.
33:50 -- A fun and enlightening conversation ensued on Twitter after Accounting Today published an article called “Why is your firm worth less than you think?” that makes no mention of technology. "Partners at CPA firms are often surprised to find out that the recommended value for their owner’s interest is less than their notions of what the practice would be worth in a sale." Here's why a firm may be worth less than you think. https://t.co/NS5Ld3V1pT— Accounting Today (@AccountingToday)

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