With the holidays behind us and a new year upon us, it is a great time to reflect back on some of the "hot topics" in the accounting world in 2014. I don't think I attended a single CPE class in all of 2014 that didn't at least touch on the Affordable Care Act. With many of the original due dates/implementation dates being in 2014, we started out the year with much uncertainty as to what needed to be done and when. Well, we ended the year pretty much in the same position we started from. We had the issues with the Obamacare website not working properly, due dates have been changed and then changed again. One thing is for certain, there will be a lot of extra work for both corporate and public accountants in the years to come.

 The final tangible property regulations came in to effect January 1, 2014, giving us de minimis safe harbor expense amounts and IRS definitions of things like "unit of property" and "plant property". There was wide spread panic for us tax accountants, that we'd have to file a change in accounting method for every business we file a tax return for. While the sky isn't quiet falling on us, there is still a lot of work we will have to do for the 2014 tax returns on certain businesses.

As the year began to wind down, we were left wondering, until the last minute, which expiring tax provisions would be extended and which would be allowed to expire. Do you think the government will ever get to a point where we don't have to wait and wonder? It's hard to do any kind of tax planning when we don't know for certain what the rules are.

Well 2014 is now behind us but we will feel its impact far into the future. With so much change in the field of accounting, we have the opportunity to be valuable assets to the businesses and clients we serve. The Panhandle Chapter TSCPA will continue to strive to provide you, our members, with quality CPE to keep you up-to-date on the latest accounting and tax law changes. I look forward to our future together and to serving the Panhandle Chapter of the TSCPA to the best of my abilities.