Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, LLC’s Post

I really do hope that this gloomy prediction by Accountancy firm Azets, and highlighted today by the Independent Schools Council, of up to 1 in 5 independent schools closing in the next three years, is wrong. I remain more optimistic. However, I urge ALL independent schools to demonstrate value for money, and be crystal clear on their strong selling points. The Three Rs - Recruitment, Retention and Reputation are now more important than ever. I'm going to add a fourth R - Relationships. These are also vital to thrive. Talk to your stakeholders, be positive but realistic. Be strong. #schoolsmarketing #optimism #action #valueformoney #recruitment #retention #reputation #relationships #schoolleaders #independentschoolheads #bursars https://lnkd.in/ehT_Nmzb

However, because of its vastness, national income accounting is a very complex topic for class 10 students.  #Class10 #OnlineClasses #Tuition #OnlineTuition #Education #Learning #OnlineLearning #SecondaryEducation #VirtualClasses #RemoteLearning Visit us:- https://lnkd.in/gV6jAUqv

The VSCPA has joined the AICPA and other state CPA societies in encouraging Congress to support legislation recognizing accounting as a STEM field. You can weigh in too by contacting your members of Congress today to ask them to sign on as co-patrons to H.R. 3541 (STEM Accounting Pursuit Act) and S. 1705 (STEM Education in Accounting Act). #accountingisSTEM

See below RSM's summary of the draft legislation released yesterday regarding the impending implication of VAT on school fees. Lots of thoughts included on the latest updates and recommendations on how to proceed.

Craig raises some interesting - if not controversial points in this piece. But these are certainly some positive takeaways: "In lieu of backward-looking debates about student loan forgiveness and myopic, time-consuming fights about how to tame small and shrinking for-profit colleges, we should be talking about issues where there’s an emerging consensus, namely: 1. Ensuring every student receives relevant, in-field, and paid work experience before graduating. 2. In a world where choice of major is the best predictor of return on investment, increasing investment to provide equitable access to the most remunerative programs. 3. Encouraging colleges and universities to open their doors to more practitioners. 4. Pushing schools to incorporate recognized industry certifications into degree programs. 5. Incentivizing all colleges and universities to become more efficient. 6. Encouraging the most successful schools to expand capacity. 7. Establishing new financial responsibility metrics to safeguard small colleges and their students. 8. Increasing accountability for student outcomes and establishing clear metrics for what the college premium really is. 9. Requiring accreditors to do more than simply review voluminous self-studies and confirm there’s a plan to improve and promoting innovation in accreditation. 10. Building earn-and-learn infrastructure to develop a more balanced approach to career launch and provide high school graduates with more options than college or Chipotle."

The Supreme Court Puts An End To Higher Education Regulatory Whiplash - Forbes (Arvell) I was a bit impatient, so I invoked a little summary via Augment AI // Augment Summary: "The recent Supreme Court decision has ended the Chevron deference, a 40-year precedent that required courts to defer to federal agencies' interpretations of ambiguous statutes. This ruling, in the case of Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, significantly reduces the regulatory power of agencies like the Department of Education and other federal entities. Chief Justice Roberts argued that the Administrative Procedure Act mandates courts to interpret laws independently, rather than deferring to agency interpretations. This decision is expected to create uncertainty in higher education, as future regulations will now face greater judicial scrutiny. It could potentially halt policymaking unless Congress steps in to provide clear legislative guidance. Critics, including Justice Elena Kagan, warn that this shift will lead to inconsistent rulings and undermine the expertise of specialized agencies. Proponents believe it will prevent regulatory overreach and restore legislative power to Congress. Overall, the ruling represents a major shift in how federal regulations are crafted and interpreted, impacting various sectors, including higher education. For more details, you can check the full articles on SCOTUSblog and Inside Higher Ed.

In this article below I wrote for Accountancy Ireland, I talk about the importance of starting your study regime early. This will be useful for all students starting their CAP One or CAP Two journey in the coming weeks.

So instead of just adopting the simple and equitable policy allowing CPA candidates to get an extra year of experience in lieu of an arbitrary 30 additional credits, we are heading down a path where every state creates their own #cpa ELE equivalent where the extra 30 credits are obtained through hollow "work study" hours that still cost money. Florida today. NJ yesterday. A new state tomorrow. The AICPA will then keep their ELE program to fill the gap. Or, we could just admit the additional 30-hour rule was a mistake. It's not working. And we should change it; and should have years ago. I've said it before, but if you neee to design 3-dimensional chess programs to get around an outdated and arbitrary rule you shouldn't have the rule. For New Yorkers, the 30-hour rule is the equivalent of the Cuomo Chips rule during the pandemic. Remember all the workarounds we had for that? https://lnkd.in/eZJxQ5DN

I am seeing a lot of these stories, and I understand why they resonate with people. Tax avoidance is a common motivation, and it likely contributed to the high house prices during the pandemic and the stamp duty holiday. We often saw clients willing to pay well over the asking price at high interest rates to avoid the stamp duty that would have otherwise been payable. Could paying school fees now actually end up hurting rather than helping? Time will tell. Lastly, could that money, if invested elsewhere, compound and provide a better return? I am not an investment advisor, but let’s consider this scenario: if the upfront school fees for a full school payment per child were £150,000 and you had invested that amount into an S&P 500 tracker 8 years ago, what would it be worth today? For context, the S&P 500 was at 2106 in July 2016 and is currently at 5588, which is a percentage increase of approximately 165%. VAT is 20%… interesting!

"The journey ahead will be exciting and challenging." Professional accountancy exams will challenge you in ways you haven’t experienced before. By starting your study regime early, you’ll come out the victor in these challenges. Edel Walsh, student coach and mentor, tells us how. Read the full article on the Accountancy Ireland website: https://brnw.ch/21wNcLv #Exams #Study #CharteredAccountancy #CharteredAccountants