Users of CCH Answer Connect can now access a Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness estimator developed by Paychex. The connection was announced this week by Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting, which owns the CCH line.

The coronavirus has helped make the argument for the use of online payroll systems. With the cloud, you can still run payroll and issue checks, even if no one is in the office. But it has also put accountants on the hook for being able to answer an increasing number of client questions about human resources issues, including furloughing and recalling staff, especially with the Paycheck Protection Programs Loans, which are based on payroll.  At once, it has provided the tools for producing paychecks even when practitioners are out of the office and has also given them a new set of problems and new opportunities. In this special report, Payroll and Beyond, The Progressive Accountant looks at the impact of the response to COVID-19 on payroll and HR services.

A former tax return preparer, who was based in Gulfport, Miss., has been sentenced to 46 months in prison. Alvin Mays, who was convicted of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false returns,, trained his employees in how to preparer phony returns.