The One Big Beautiful Bill and Its Operational Implications for CPA Firms

On July 4, 2025, U.S. tax policy changed in a significant way with the enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill. While the broader conversation centers on national economic impact, CPA firms contend with a separate reality: managing mid-year policy changes within existing client workflows. These updates are not marking the start of a new planning cycle but are layered over ongoing extension season operations and Q3 advisory activities. 

Several provisions of the bill affect clients immediately.  

• Bonus depreciation returns to 100 percent with retroactive effect from January 1, 2025.  
• Section 179 deduction limits have increased substantially. Domestic R&D expensing is reinstated for 2025.  
• State and local tax (SALT) deduction rules have shifted once again.  
• Some credits related to clean energy have changed or expired.  

All of these updates have implications for client tax filings, advisory strategies, cash flow planning, and estimated tax payments. 

CPA firms built internal processes assuming legislative stability through year-end. This law upends that assumption and creates immediate operational demands. Clerks and associates working on extension returns must revisit asset schedules and depreciation timing. 

 Advisory teams who prepare Q3 forecasts and cashflow models must factor in the new policy. Partner-level review teams must reengage clients in solutions that may already be in motion. Meanwhile, internal systems for estimated payments, tax modeling, and scenario analysis require updates across hundreds or thousands of client portfolios. 

At QX Accounting Services, our work with mid-market and enterprise CPA firms has surfaced three categories of impact: technical complexity, capacity strain, and client relationship pressure. Firms that respond with disciplined coordination among those three areas strengthen client confidence and protect margins under pressure. 

Seven Core Operational Impacts for CPA Firms

1. Bonus Depreciation Is Back, and It Reaches Backward

Clients who placed qualifying assets in service anytime in 2025 are now eligible for full 100% bonus depreciation. This changes the math, fast. Some firms assumed the phasedown schedule would hold, and many extension returns were filed under that assumption. Those assumptions are now outdated.

What this means:

• Reopen asset schedules
• Flag returns for possible amendments
• Run diagnostics for manufacturing, healthcare, and capital-intensive clients
• Re-educate client managers on updated eligibility triggers

This is not a theoretical policy shift but rather actual dollars on actual files that may need to be pulled back into active review.

2. Section 179 Just Got Louder

Although it did not make headlines, the Section 179 limit was increased substantially. This puts smaller-ticket capex items like workstations, software, and leased equipment into immediate play. This is an ideal opportunity to reconnect with clients who made minor purchases they assumed would be depreciated over time. Now, they may be fully deductible.

Questions for the advisory team to ask:

• Did the client lease or finance new hardware in Q1?
• Is there an opportunity to bring forward the 2026 planned investments?
• Have capex policies been updated internally for asset classification?

This is advisory work disguised as compliance cleanup. Smart firms will use it to create client touchpoints.

3. R&D Expensing Is Partially Restored. But Only If It Stayed Home.

Domestic R&D expenses return to immediate deductibility in 2025. That’s a win for software companies, early-stage manufacturers, and tech-focused businesses. But here’s the catch: this only applies to U.S.-based research. Offshore development, outsourced engineering, and international prototypes still fall under amortization rules.

CPA firms need to:

• Split R&D costs by geography
• Update GL codes or the chart of accounts, where possible
• Adjust engagement terms if scoping was built under the old rules
• Prioritize advisory sessions with CTOs, not just CFOs

There’s nuance here. Firms that understand the details will deliver value. Firms that generalize will leave deductions unclaimed.

4. SALT Deduction Caps Shift, Again

High earners in states like New York, California, Illinois, and New Jersey are already calling. The new SALT deduction changes are temporary and complicated. For pass-through clients, especially S corps and LLCs, these updates affect more than Schedule A. They touch entity structure, estimated payments, and PTE tax elections made months ago.

This is not one-size-fits-all. It’s state-specific, income-specific, and client-specific.

Firms should:

• Update projections for Q3 and Q4 payments
• Reassess whether the 2024 planning elections still hold
• Revisit entity-level strategies crafted under prior SALT assumptions
• Communicate clearly to avoid refund expectation mismatches in 2026

5. Energy Credit Phaseouts Are Quiet but Costly

Many CPA firms built long-term models based on the availability of clean energy credits under the Inflation Reduction Act. Those credits are now shrinking or disappearing. Solar installation incentives, EV tax credits, and high-efficiency home upgrade benefits are tightening. Some clients have already committed to projects based on outdated expectations.

Priority actions:

• Audit in-progress clean energy installations
• Contact commercial real estate and high-net-worth individuals with green investments
• Align energy-related capex with sunset timelines
• Coordinate with financial advisors or lenders to reassess ROI assumptions

The credit window is closing. The advisory window is still open for now.

6. Tip Reporting Is Becoming a Compliance Minefield

The service industry will feel the weight of new tip and wage reporting regulations before tax season arrives. Employers are now responsible for expanded tracking, exemption classifications, and recordkeeping. Restaurants, cafes, hotels, salons, and gig platforms are already short-staffed. They won’t have the capacity to interpret new wage code requirements independently.

CPA firms offering payroll or bookkeeping services should:

• Begin client education immediately
• Review the POS and payroll software compatibility
• Conduct compliance health checks before Q4

This is a chance to lead, not react. Firms that support operational alignment now will win loyalty well beyond the tax return.

7. IRS Guidance Will Be Slow. That cannot be the Firm’s Pace.

With nearly a quarter of the IRS workforce exiting through buyouts or restructuring, formal guidance will be delayed. Most clarification will arrive through FAQs and informal channels. Firms waiting for a complete playbook will create unnecessary bottlenecks. Clients need directional answers today, not finalized citations three months from now.

Leadership should:

• Establish internal interpretation frameworks
• Document assumptions clearly in file notes
• Communicate decisions to teams consistently
• Be transparent with clients about what is known and what is pending

Acting with confidence does not require having every answer. It requires alignment, documentation, and clarity.

Seven Strategic Action Items for CPA Firms 

1. Build a Prioritized Impact Map, Not Just a List

Not every client needs the same level of intervention. Start by mapping your client base into tiers, but go deeper than industry or revenue. 

Use real exposure data: 

• Who bought qualifying assets this year? 
• Who has domestic R&D spend? 
• Who filed extensions in March, assuming old depreciation limits? 

Review your staffing bandwidth realistically, then assign ownership at the file level. Most returns can wait, and some planning conversations can be scheduled later. But the top 10 to 15 percent of client files carry most of the financial exposure from this bill. Those need to move to the front of the line. Work from a live document that your whole team can see and update in real time. Skip the theoretical matrix. Secure alignment early from partners, managers, and operations, so everyone knows who’s doing what, and by when.

2. Recalculate 2025 Projections with New Law Assumptions

For high-impact clients, update models with revised tax calculations: 

• 100% bonus depreciation 
• Adjusted Section 179 thresholds 
• Domestic R&D expensing 
• New SALT limits 

Estimated payment schedules need to reflect this immediately. Clients will either overpay and lock up cash or underpay and face penalties. Neither outcome builds trust.  This does not need to be perfect forecasting. Directionally correct models, reviewed by managers, and paired with a one-page summary will protect clients and show proactive leadership. 

3. Reopen Only the Extension Files That Require It

Do not trigger full return rewrites unless there’s a material tax impact. Focus on: 

• Extension returns filed using pre-OBBBA assumptions 
• Asset-intensive businesses with equipment placed in service in Q1 or Q2 
• Clients with R&D capitalization that now qualify for immediate expensing 

Build a shortlist of returns that may need revision. Then run quick impact diagnostics. Where changes move the dial, brief the client and amend. Where they do not, document and move on. 

Outsource prep where possible to maintain flow. 

4. Proactive Communication Beats Technical Precision

Clients care that you are paying attention. They care that you reached out early and explained what is being reviewed. They do not expect final numbers on the first call. Here is a working approach: 

• High-revenue or complex clients: Brief strategy call with a manager or partner 
• Owner-managed businesses: Personalized update with call offer 
• Everyone else: Email with a summary of what’s changed, what the firm is reviewing, and what to expect next 
• Keep it short. Keep it clear. If you wait until they ask, you are already late. 

5. Align the Team Before You Touch Another Return

Hold one internal huddle. Walk through: 

• What changed 
• What the firm’s stance is on interpretation 
• How are you communicating it 
• What counts as material enough to trigger a review 

Then document it. Distribute a firm-wide Q&A, no matter how informal. Even a Google Doc with five bullet points beats silence. Delivery teams should not improvise tax law applications. Inconsistency breaks trust.

6. Offload What You Can, While You Can

This is not about hiring. It is about protecting your top 20% of staff from getting buried in Tier 3 work. Move what you can: 

• Push routine bookkeeping and payroll clean-up to offshore or outsourced teams 
• Use internal juniors or interns for depreciation recaps and document requests 
• Reserve your licensed staff for tax review and client conversation 

The work expanded overnight. Your team size did not. Make tradeoffs now, before service quality drops.

7. Capture Assumptions in Writing, File by File

A year from now, you may not remember which version of the R&D expensing rule applied when. Or why bonus depreciation was applied differently on a file submitted in August versus October. 

Capture everything: 

• The interpretation used 
• The rationale for applying or skipping provisions 
• The timing of any client communication 
• What was documented in writing, and what was verbal              

Do this at the file level. System notes. CRM logs. Shared docs. It will save hours of reverse-engineering later. 

 Will clients need amended returns due to the bonus depreciation retroactive application?

Some clients who already filed extension returns or final returns will require amended filings if bonus depreciation results in material changes to taxable income or asset values. CPA firms will need to recalculate depreciation schedules and assess amendment thresholds under IRS rules.

How should firms treat R&D expenses for clients with international development?

Immediate expensing only applies to domestic R&D beginning in 2025. Firms must separate domestic from offshore R&D expenses in client accounting records. U.S.-only research qualifies for deduction; international R&D remains subject to amortization.

When should firms prioritize SALT rules with clients?

Clients in states with higher income and property taxes (such as New York, New Jersey, and California) should be prioritized. Entities with passthrough structures and high itemized deductions are most affected. Q4 filings and estimated payments may need recalibration.

How will the rebate expiration on clean-energy credits affect advisory engagements?

Many clients may lose eligibility due to deadlines attached to solar incentives, EV purchase credits, and energy-efficient upgrades. Firms must identify clients with projects in the pipeline and guide them toward completion timelines that capture available incentives.

What should firms do if IRS guidance is delayed?

Firms must act based on current law, using technical memos to record logic and client communication records. Clear documentation that reflects a firm understanding will ensure defensibility even when formal guidance is delayed.

Should firms absorb this additional workload or outsource?

This law creates operational demands that may exceed internal capacity. Firms should assess whether existing staff can manage the work. If not, consider outsourcing bookkeeping, modeling, or non-core tax work to partnered service providers.

How can firms measure whether implementation is effective?

Track KPIs across several dimensions: the number of updated client files, the percentage of clients contacted, the estimated payment adjustments made, and the internal turnaround time for client deliverables. Use this data to adjust processes and improve responsiveness.

Final Observations 

The passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill presents a raw policy change. For many CPA firms, the real pressure point is operational implementation. Fixing asset schedules, communicating with clients, reforecasting payments, adapting internal systems, and documenting decisions will determine whether firms preserve trust and margin under mid-year stress. 

At QX Accounting Services, we have seen firsthand how firms that coordinate technical interpretation with delivery execution continue to build market differentiation. By focusing on early segmentation, process realignment, and client-facing readiness, firms will emerge stronger than before this law took effect. 

If you lead a CPA firm facing the operational ripple effects of this tax legislation, QXAS is ready to share playbooks, automation tools, and implementation models that have supported hundreds of peer firms. Reach out to start your internal readiness stress test.