Insights on tax, equity, and building wealth
Guides and analysis from the Harness team and the advisors on the platform.
Why Are Adjusting Entries Necessary? The Simple Answer
Creating financial statements based on cash movements may seem like an intuitive approach, however, a cash perspective tends not to capture economic reality. Numerous variables (unrecognised expenses, discounts, etc.) can result in reporting inaccuracies that not only distort business performance but can make tax season far more arduous than it needs to be.
How to Help Clients Minimize Taxes with the Secure Act 2.0
Retirement planning nowadays has fundamentally shifted. In the wake of the SECURE Act, astretch IRA strategy is no longer as important. At one time, stretch IRAs were a major engine powering generational wealth transfer, however that has all but vanished for most non-spouse beneficiaries.
IDGTs Explained: A Powerful Trust Strategy for Tax-Efficient Wealth Transfer
One of the most common concerns of high-net-worth clients is how to transfer their wealth across generations while minimizing the tax impact. An effective way to achieve this is through the use of Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts (IDGTs), which reduce estate tax exposure while maintaining control over income tax treatment.
Tax Traps in Shareholder Buy-Sell Agreements (And How to Avoid Them)
When it comes to business succession planning, buy-sell agreements determine how an owner's interest will be bought or sold upon specific triggering events like death, disability, or retirement, ensuring business continuity and a clear exit strategy. While these agreements may seem straightforward, they conceal complex tax implications that can take even seasoned business owners by surprise, triggering a cascade of tax consequences.
How the One Big Beautiful Bill Impacts High Net Worth Individuals
High-net-worth individuals have faced significant uncertainty on many of the tax reductions in the TJCA which was passed in 2017.
Tax Advisor Weekly — August 15, 2025
The dust still hasn’t settled around Trump’s sweeping tax-and-spend legislation—and the headlines this week reflect the ongoing fallout. From IRS leadership turmoil to new tax breaks reshaping tech hiring and car sales, we’re seeing rapid changes ripple across industries and income brackets.
W2 Box 12 Codes Explained—A Simple Guide for 2025
W-2 forms can be deceptively straightforward—until you get to Box 12. It’s one of the most misunderstood sections, packed with codes that can signal everything from deferred compensation to employer-paid health coverage or stock options. And while many of these entries may not seem urgent, they can directly affect how your income is taxed and what deductions you qualify for.
The Easy Guide to Form 1120-S Instructions for S Corps
Form 1120-S is the U.S. Income Tax Return for an S Corporation—a business entity that avoids "double taxation" by passing its income, gains, losses, deductions, and credits directly to its shareholders. Unlike traditional C corporations, the S corporation itself generally doesn't pay federal income tax. Instead, the financial activity of the business is reported by the individual shareholders, with Form 1120-S being a key part of the process.
Tax Advisor Weekly — August 8, 2025
From new tariffs and audit crackdowns to updated tax rules on overtime and Social Security, this week’s headlines signal an era of deeper scrutiny and shifting opportunities for clients.
How the One Big Beautiful Bill Impacts Tax Advisors
Love it or loathe it, the "One, Big, Beautiful Bill" (OBBB) has arrived. Tax professionals everywhere are assessing its implications for clients, including new thresholds, deadlines, and the best ways to educate clients.
IRS Form 720 Instructions—Quarterly Excise Tax Guide
Federal excise taxes are often overshadowed by more familiar filings like income or payroll taxes—but for many businesses, they’re just as important. If your business sells goods or services that fall into certain categories—like fuel, air transportation, or health coverage—you may be required to file IRS Form 720 each quarter.
How the One Big Beautiful Bill Impacts Real Estate Investors
The One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA) is here, and real estate investors face a complex landscape of new policies that can dramatically impact returns. The bill introduces sweeping changes that will reshape planning strategies for decades to come, creating both challenges and opportunities for property investors. From syndicators to REIT shareholders, from 1031 flippers to passive LPs (Limited Partners), nearly every real estate investor is affected by this bill.
Why the Modern Tax Firm Doesn’t Need a Traditional Back Office
For decades, tax firms have relied on a familiar structure: a front office engaging with clients and delivering tax advice, supported by a sizable back office that handles administrative tasks, data entry, and compliance. This model is becoming increasingly obsolete, however, in the wake of sophisticated digital technologies.
How to Automate the Tax Engagement Letter Process
Of all the variables involved in the client/tax advisor relationship, one of the seemingly simplest, yet surprisingly time-consuming, is the creation and management of engagement letters. These key documents, which lay the groundwork for the client-advisor relationship, often serve as a bottleneck in the onboarding process, delaying tax work and frustrating both firms and their clients.
What If Your Back Office Ran Itself?
A tax advisor’s back office has traditionally involved extensive amounts of paperwork, manual data entry, and continuous client chasing. When you add the demands of continual deadlines and the relentless need for accuracy to the equation, it’s a complex administrative engine that requires a great deal of attention to keep running smoothly.
How to Report Cryptocurrency Gains on your Tax Return
As digital assets become more integrated into everyday portfolios, reporting cryptocurrency gains on your tax return has gone from optional to essential. If you're asking, “do you have to report crypto on your taxes?”—the answer in 2025 is a firm yes.
The Best Way to Manage Billing and Collections
In the long list of day-to-day administrative tasks that tax firms face, billing and collections sit near the top in terms of the amount of time devoted to them. While the established methods of manual invoicing, chasing overdue payments, and handling client queries may get the job done, what are these methods costing your tax firm in terms of efficiency?
Back Office Bottlenecks You’re Not Accounting For
Supporting a tax firm’s client consultations and strategic tax planning is a complex system of back-office operations. More than just a collection of minor administrative tasks, this system is a major component of your firm's profitability, efficiency, and client satisfaction. Far too often, however, a back office system quietly siphons away time, money, and even talent via unnoticed operational bottlenecks.
How Tax Firms Can Turn Post-Tax Season into a Growth Opportunity
Spring and Fall are typically when an accounting firm’s gears are in full operation. The mid-season lulls, however, offer valuable opportunities beyond mere recuperation. These less intense periods are important windows that allow your tax firm to evaluate its performance and efficiency, and implement improvements that will not only prepare you better for next year’s peak seasons but pave the way for wider growth in general.
Tax Advisor Weekly — July 31, 2025
From retiree tax breaks to IRS staffing freefall and a looming tariff deadline, this week’s tax headlines reflect a fast-changing landscape for advisors and their clients.
How to Minimize the RMD Tax for High Net Worth Retirees
For high-net-worth retirees, Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) present a significant challenge. RMDs are mandatory withdrawals from retirement accounts, starting at age 73. These mandatory withdrawals can create major complications for many retirees.
Tired of Chasing Clients for Documents? Try This Instead
Tax advisors may be experts in IRS regulations and tax strategies, however, they also need to be gifted in the art of polite persistence—certainly, when it comes to chasing clients for documents. Inefficient client data collection isn't just an annoyance, it’s a drain on a tax firm's resources, often costing a substantial amount of time over the year.
Retirement Tax Strategy: When to Start Drawing Social Security
The age you claim Social Security can cost—or make—you six figures. Social Security isn’t just a safety net, it’s a lifeline. The program is one of the few sources of guaranteed, inflation-adjusted income you can count on for life. And yet, most Americans don’t treat it like a strategic asset. Nearly 60% of people claim their benefits before reaching full retirement age (FRA), even though waiting can significantly increase monthly payouts.
Building an ESG Tax Strategy: Can ESG Investing Help Lower Your Tax Bill?
With political battles raging over ESG, it’s easy to miss the bigger picture: ESG investing isn’t dead or deprioritized. It’s evolving. Despite headlines about record outflows and state-level bans, long-term investors are still turning to ESG as a tool for risk-adjusted returns, portfolio diversification, and yes—even potential tax advantages.
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