The federal government has intervened to block Illinois' landmark credit card swipe fee law, the latest move in a nearly two-year battle between banks and retailers that has spanned courts, the state legislature, television advertising, and now Washington. The order represents direct federal preemption of a state-level effort to regulate interchange fees. (Source: CPA Practice Advisor, April 28, 2026)

Impact · CPAs advising retail, restaurant, and e-commerce clients in Illinois — and potentially other states considering similar legislation — must now factor in federal preemption risk when modeling payment processing costs. Firms processing their own client payments via credit card are also affected, as interchange fee structures remain unchanged. This signals that any state-by-state swipe fee reform is unlikely to survive federal scrutiny, narrowing the path for cost relief.

Action · Review payment processing cost assumptions in client advisory engagements, particularly for retail and hospitality clients who had anticipated savings from the Illinois law. Brief affected clients this week on the federal intervention and recalibrate margin projections accordingly.

The Treasury Department announced on April 23 that the IRS is planning revisions to Form 990 designed to discover misconduct at tax-exempt organizations and hold fraudsters accountable. The changes are aimed specifically at cracking down on fraud by tax-exempt groups. (Source: CPA Practice Advisor, April 28, 2026)

Impact · Every CPA serving nonprofit clients should expect increased reporting requirements and heightened scrutiny of Form 990 filings. Firms with significant nonprofit practices will need to update engagement procedures, train staff on new disclosure requirements, and potentially re-price engagements to reflect additional compliance burden. Nonprofits with weak internal controls are now at elevated risk.

Action · Audit your nonprofit client roster immediately. Identify clients with governance gaps or historically thin Form 990 disclosures and schedule proactive conversations about strengthening internal controls before revised forms take effect. Begin monitoring IRS guidance for specific revision timelines.

Research indicates that CFOs who implement strategic AI deployment will add 10 margin points of growth. Cloud ERP remains the highest-performing technology across the finance technology landscape, with adoption increasing 7% year over year. (Source: CPA Practice Advisor, April 28, 2026)

Impact · This data creates a concrete benchmark for CPA firms advising on technology investment. A 10-point margin improvement is material enough to justify significant AI spending — and to create competitive separation between firms that help clients capture this value and those that don't. For CPA firms themselves, the cloud ERP adoption trend reinforces that legacy system holdouts are falling further behind operationally.

Action · Incorporate the 10-margin-point benchmark into client advisory conversations about AI investment this quarter. Internally, evaluate whether your firm's own ERP and practice management stack is cloud-native — if not, the 7% annual adoption growth means your competitors are likely already there.

Avalara research finds that six in 10 organizations spend between 81 and 160 hours per month on property tax compliance — the equivalent of two to four full-time workweeks. Most large enterprises spend over $100,000 annually on property tax compliance. (Source: CPA Practice Advisor, April 28, 2026)

Impact · This quantifies a massive advisory and automation opportunity for CPA firms serving mid-market and enterprise clients. Property tax compliance is labor-intensive, expensive, and ripe for technology-assisted optimization. Firms that can offer managed property tax services or technology-enabled compliance solutions have a clear value proposition backed by hard cost data.

Action · Use Avalara's data points — 81-160 hours monthly, six-figure annual costs — in business development conversations with enterprise prospects this month. If your firm doesn't currently offer property tax advisory services, evaluate partnership or build opportunities before competitors capture this niche.

Five Massachusetts residents have been indicted on money laundering and fraud charges in connection with a tax preparation scheme based in Chelsea, Massachusetts. The preparers allegedly used fraudulent returns to purchase real estate. (Source: CPA Practice Advisor, April 28, 2026)

Impact · Combined with the Exxon orphan well fraud allegations and the IRS Form 990 overhaul announced the same day, this indictment reinforces that enforcement agencies are actively prosecuting tax preparers. The reputational risk for the profession is real. Firms need robust anti-fraud controls and should be documenting due diligence on all engagements, particularly those involving refund-dependent clients.

Action · Review your firm's engagement acceptance and continuity procedures this week. Ensure red-flag protocols — especially for unusually large refund claims or clients with patterns of amended returns — are documented and followed. This is also a good moment to reinforce ethical standards with all staff involved in tax preparation.