Scheffel Boyle CPAs Welcomes 6 Staff Accountants & 5 Interns

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scheffel Boyle CPAs is pleased to announce the recent addition of six Staff Accountants and five Summer Interns to their growing team. The local public accounting firm welcomed their newest full-time Staff Accountants to its Alton, Edwardsville, and Belleville offices, with plans for more growth later this year.

The additions include Southern Illinois University Edwardsville graduates Brendan Smith, Reilly Weaver, Cailee Schmidt and Tawney Colombo; Elliott Prott from McKendree University; and Alex Birchler from Drake University. Brendan, Reilly, Cailee, Tawney, and Elliott all completed Scheffel Boyle’s FOCUS Internship program this past Spring and will now continue their careers as the newest Staff Accountants of the 100+ employee public accounting firm.

The firm also welcomed 5 interns for the Summer Semester. They include Southern Illinois University Edwardsville students John Wyatt and Trey Meyer; Megan Higgins from Eastern Illinois University; Brooke Wilson from the University of Mississippi; and Kendra Goldschmidt from Central Methodist University.

With seven offices throughout Southern Illinois, Scheffel Boyle is recognized as one of the largest CPA firms in the entire St. Louis region. The firm has career opportunities available to accounting students currently enrolled in school, recent college graduates, and experienced accounting professionals. To learn more about available opportunities and the benefits of joining the Scheffel Boyle team, please visit the Careers section of their website, www.scheffelboyle.com.

After filing your taxes, what records can you toss?

If you’ve filed your 2021 tax return, you may want to do some spring cleaning, starting with tax related paper clutter. Paring down is good. Just be careful to hold onto essential records that may be needed in the event of an IRS audit. Some documents may be needed to help you collect a future refund or assist with filing your return next year. Before you start tossing or shredding documents, read the rules to learn what must be kept — for how long — and what can be safely discarded.

The General Rules

At a minimum, you should keep tax records for as long as the IRS can audit your tax return or assess additional taxes. That’s usually three years after you file your return. This means you potentially can get rid of most records related to tax returns for 2018 and earlier years. However, the statute of limitations extends to six years for taxpayers who understate their adjusted gross income by more than 25%. What constitutes an understatement may go beyond simply not reporting items of income. So, to be safe, a general rule of thumb is to save tax records for six years from filing.

Keep Some Records Longer

You need to hang onto some tax-related records beyond the statute of limitations. For example:

  • Keep the tax returns themselves indefinitely, so you can prove to the IRS that you did file a legitimate return. (If you didn’t file a return or if you filed a fraudulent return, there’s no statute of limitations.)
  • Retain W-2 forms until you begin receiving Social Security benefits. That may seem long, but if questions arise regarding your work record or earnings for a particular year, you’ll need your W-2 forms to help provide the documentation needed.
  • Keep records related to real estate or investments for as long as you own the assets, plus at least three years after you sell them and report the sales on your tax return (or six years if you want extra protection).
  • Hang onto records associated with retirement accounts until you’ve depleted the accounts and reported the last withdrawal on your tax return, plus three (or six) years.
  • Retain records that support figures affecting multiple years, such as carryovers of charitable deductions or casualty losses. These need to be saved until they no longer have effect, plus seven years.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your trusted Scheffel Boyle team member. We are always here to help!