The Super Bowl meets expense reports, nurses beat accountants for honesty & ethics, tax season could get ugly given the shutdown, another new $99 tax service for the masses, and more

Show Notes Females underrepresented at the AICPA Annual Executive Roundtable — Twitter — Dan Hood, editor of Accounting Today, shares Barry Melancon’s complaint that only 22 percent of accounting firm partners are women — and that we need to do better. Meanwhile, only 5 to 10 percent of attendees at the roundtable were women this year. Super Bowl LII Will Feature An Ad About Expense Reports — AdAge — The Super Bowl marks Expensify's first ever TV ad. Tax season could still be ‘ugly’ as 57% of IRS workers to return — Accounting Today — The agency is rushing to update its systems following the biggest change to the tax code in three decades — while a government shutdown has kept seven in eight IRS employees away from work for the past 25 days. The New $99 Tax Service for the Masses — CPA Trendlines — A new startup called Visor has just raised $9 million in financing to build a tax service for the masses. ScaleFactor Adds $30M from Bessemer to Boost Accounting Software — Xconomy — ScaleFactor is adding a $30 million round of funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners to make new hires and add more features to its software BeachFleischman and GMLCPA create completely virtual firm — Accounting Today — BeachFleischman PC and GMLCPA PLLC have teamed up to create a virtual firm, MOD Ventures, that will service both firms’ outsourced accounting services clients going forward. Nurses Again Outpace Other Professions for Honesty, Ethics — Gallup — Accountants come in below police officers but above funeral directors on Gallup’s annual ranking of how Americans perceive the honesty and ethical standards of professionals. Google raises prices on its competitor to Microsoft Office for the first time in a decade — CNBC — Google is raising prices 20 percent for the basic and business versions of its G Suite productivity apps, like Gmail and Docs, for the first time ever. The price increase comes only months after former Oracle executive Thomas Kurian takes the helm. The price of the enterprise edition is not increasing. Will Farnell announces 6 hour workday and unlimited PTO for his firm — LinkedIn — Will Farnell, Founder & Director at Farnell Clarke Limited in the UK, announced on LinkedIn that his firm is moving to a six hour workday and unlimited PTO and remote work. Bank Of America’s Zelle P2P Transactions Increased 97 Pct In Q4 — PYMNTS — Zelle P2P payments increased 97 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018, Bank of America said Wednesday (Jan. 16), signaling the latest burst of growth for that payment method. During that quarter, consumers made 52 million payments worth $14 billion via Zelle. Evolving tech could mean evolving the CPA license — AICPA Blog — Last year, NASBA and the AICPA launched the CPA Evolution initiative to explore ways to evolve CPA licensure to integrate technological and analytical expertise. Susan Coffey welcomes your feedback at susan.coffey@aicpa-cima.com. Finally, to make sure you don’t miss any news, like our Facebook page! Subscribe Listen on iTunes Listen on Google Play