Generally Accepted Accounting Podcast

019 - Profit is a Good Thing

For a lot of ag producers, the end of the year means it’s time to find ways to lower their tax burden by spending and deferring. But shareholder and CPA Leah Heidler argues that a profitability mindset is a better way to approach this time of year. She outlines her argument, provides some practical applications, and — like any good rancher — talks about the weather. Oh, and also cheese making. We cover a lot of ground (land?), so listen in to learn more!
Blog post: A reminder for ag producers: Making a profit is a good thing
Meet Leah Heidler, CPA and Shareholder
Services for ag producers

018 - Accounting: But Y Tho?

If accounting makes you picture some grumpy old dude hunched over a spreadsheet, we’ve got good news (unless you like grumpy old dudes hunched over spreadsheets). Despite what TV and the movies have told us, the profession has a lot more nuances. Two of our team members — Cady Erb and Tyler McCarthy — talk about what drew them to the profession and what makes them stick around. So, if you want to learn what the profession’s really like, listen in to learn more!
Intrigued by what you hear? Apply today!

017 - Meet the Hosts

Have you ever wondered about the two yahoos behind the mic? No? Well, that’s a shame because they’re as interesting as they are hilarious … mostly. Also, they realized that after almost 20 podcast episodes, they’ve never actually said who they are or why they’re doing what they’re doing. And so, this podcast was born. Even if you don’t want to learn about two random podcast hosts you’ll probably never meet in real life, you should definitely tune in for the “would you rather” segment. Thought-provoking hilarity abounds! So, listen in to learn more!
 
Meet The Team | Evan Ludes
Meet The Team | Hillary Dobbs-Davis

016 - The Basics of AI - Part II

In case you couldn’t get enough of the robots the first time around (no, we don’t mean our AI experts Mark Erickson and Ryan Nankivel), we’re back with part two of the basics of AI! You’ll get more ethical and business discussions and some bonus anecdotes. And it’s all original content not generated by ChatGPT or anything! Probably! Embrace the future, and listen in to learn more.
Resources
AI ethical considerations you might not have considered
Advantages and Disadvantages of Artificial Intelligence
3 funny stories written by AI (“funny” as defined by the AI that wrote them, apparently)

015 - The Basics of AI - Part I

If terms like “artificial intelligence” or ChatGPT fill you with dread, uncertainty, or confusion, this episode is for you. Two of our resident AI experts sat down with us to define a lot of terms and talked about what different types of AI do. We also discussed business — and ethical — considerations and kicked around some anecdotes to try to make the topic a little more concrete.
Resources
The WIRED Guide to Artificial Intelligence
How AI is changing the workplace
15 top applications of artificial intelligence in business

014 - The Basics of Capital Gains

We get a lot of questions about capital gains. Are they good? Bad? Does it just depend? In this episode, our resident tax experts — Shareholder and Tax Vice President Kayce Gerlach and Senior Associate Garth Sandberg — give you just enough details without bogging you down with too much information. So, you’ll learn about what capital gains are, what they mean for stocks, how they affect the sale of your home or rental property, what a “wash sale” is (spoiler: not money laundering), and a whole lot more. Listen in to get them gainz!
 
We talked about step-up in basis back in our end-of-life planning podcast
Short-term vs. long-term gains, according to the IRS
What the IRS has to say about capital gains when you sell your home
What about dividends?
How do realized vs. unrealized gains work?
Ooo! Remember NIIT? No? Well, here’s some details, straight from the IRS

013 - Nursing Home Star Ratings

GAAP Episode 013 – Nursing Home Star Ratings
Whether you manage a nursing home, work in one, or are considering one for a loved one, this episode is for you. Our resident nursing home experts, Charles Frizzell and Jackie Jermolenko, discuss the three main criteria for determining a nursing home’s star rating. There’s also the obligatory joke about PBJ not relating to a sandwich. And some bonus material about reimbursements for nursing homes increasing in South Dakota starting in July (it’s a good thing). You know the drill: Listen in to learn more.
History of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Five-Star Rating System
Care Compare
South Dakota nursing home reimbursements get a boost
Grant money available to help alleviate S.D. nursing home staffing challenges

012 - Mental Health & the Future of Accounting

Today we're talking with our Firm Administrator, Vanessa Kaiser. Vanessa is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, which means her background isn't in spreadsheets and numbers *gasp* but instead, she's worked with people and feelings! We talk about Vanessa's unique perspective as a non-traditional hire working for an accounting firm, mental health in the accounting industry, and what the future holds as younger generations advance in their careers. Listen in to learn more!
Show Notes:
Meet the Team | Vanessa Kaiser
The 4 Disciplines of Execution
Most accountants suffer burnout: study
Accountant Burnout is Way Up
Battling burnout
Hope Storm: Healing Coaching & Trauma Consulting
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
 
0:00 Intro
1:30 Vanessa as a non-traditional hire
7:54 Highlighting mental health in our industry
9:16 What is burnout?
15:04 How will the accounting industry address burnout?
18:54 New generations coming to accounting
21:15 Will automation help reduce burnout?
25:00 Deadline-driven industries
29:45 Outro and joke

011 - Healthcare Allocation Statistics

This week, we sit down with managing shareholder Mark Lyons to discuss the ins-and-outs of allocation statistics and how they can impact healthcare cost reports. Listen in to learn more!
0:00 Intro
1:45 What are cost reports?
2:24 What are allocation statistics?
3:23 How often do statistics and requirements change?
4:52 Equipment depreciation
8:00 Requesting changes in allocation
10:49 Affected facilities
11:45 Cost report averages and best practices
14:17 Responsibilities and communication
15:47 Worksheet B-1
19:55 Cafeteria costs
22:47 Typical tricky statistics
26:38 Maximizing reimbursements and patient care
29:04 Outro
30:00 Joke
Cost reports are an important piece of reimbursements for Medicare-certified healthcare facilities.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, those facilities have to submit an annual cost report to a Medicare Administrative Contractor. MACs work as a kind of intermediary between healthcare facilities and CMS.
Cost reports contain provider information such as:
Facility characteristics
Utilization data
Cost and charges by cost center
Medicare settlement data
Financial statement data
CMS maintains the cost report data in the Healthcare Provider Cost Reporting Information System.
Below are some high-level questions you can ask yourself when you’re gathering allocation statistics and filing out a cost report.
Questions when filing out Worksheet B-1:
Does housekeeping clean all the areas with a stat?
Are offsite locations (potential examples: Therapy, RHC, HHA, etc.) receiving an allocation from the cafeteria, housekeeping, or another supporting area they don’t use?
Are there better ways to allocate A&G costs (i.e., segmentation)?
Does central supply/purchasing order for all departments, or do some departments do their own ordering (e.g., lab, pharmacy, etc.)?
Does maintenance provide services to leased buildings?
Why are the non-reimbursable areas receiving allocations? Are those correct? If so, is there a way to limit the allocations?
Is there a way to deflect costs from non-cost based/nonallowable cost centers?
Can you direct cost certain costs for specific areas versus using allocation statistics?
When was the last time you updated your square-footage statistics? If it’s been more than a year, it’s a good idea to make sure the square-footage stats are up to date.

010 - Dashboards and Data Visualization

Our in-house data visualization experts, Mark Erickson, Neil Frizzell, and Devon Hochstetter, answer some helpful questions during this podcast. Questions like “data visual-what now?” What’s Jirav? Is that like a giraffe?” (It’s close!) “Is Power BI some kind of weight-lifting move?”
But seriously, you’ll get the lowdown on these and other tools that can help you grow and monitor your business. Listen in now!
Resources:
Microsoft Power BI
What is a KPI?
Data Analytics Podcast with Mark Erickson
0:00 Intro1:45 What are data visualization tools?7:45 Limitations of enterprise software10:06 Advantages of dynamic data visualization16:32 What value can this data provide for non-financial folks?22:42 What businesses can benefit from data visualization tools?28:26 Can data visualizations help with staffing issues?32:00 Where to start?35:40 Outro and joke