August 2021
Employee Retention Credit Update
In 2020, when Congress passed the CARES Act, they provided a refundable payroll tax credit for 50% of qualified wages and allocable health plan costs called the Employee Retention Credit (ERC). For 2020 the maximum credit was $5,000 per employee. Unfortunately, when originally passed, the ERC was not initially available to employers receiving Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.
However, with passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CAA) and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), Congress extended the ERC until December 31, 2021. In addition, the maximum credit is now more generous at $7,000 for each employee per calendar quarter in 2021 (for a maximum total of $28,000 per employee). In addition, the CAA retroactively amended the law to permit an employer that received a PPP loan to be eligible to claim an ERC.

Qualification for the 2021 ERC is determined on a quarterly basis. If your business had a reduction in gross receipts of 20% or more, compared to the same quarter in 2019, you may qualify for the ERC. Or, if your business was partially or completely shut down by the government, you may qualify for the ERC. Only one of these two thresholds needs to be met for qualification.   

If you believe you may qualify for this valuable credit, please contact Becky Howell in our Client Accounting Services Department for additional assistance. Becky can be reached at 630-653-1616, ext. 481 or by email at rhowell@mmaadvisors.com.
Welcoming New Faces
Ryan Sneed, CPA, CFP®, MAS
Ryan started as a Tax Manager on Monday, August 9. Ryan previously worked for a wealth management company in St. Charles where he supervised the Tax and Business Services team.

Ryan lives in Geneva with his wife and two sons and is working on obtaining his pilot's license.
We are happy to have him join our team!
Promotion Announcements
We here at MMA are happy to announce the promotions from Staff Accountant to Senior Accountant for three of its staff members.
Karen Oetjens
Karen Oetjens joined MMA on July 1, 2020, mid-pandemic. Most recently Karen has worked in industry and made the switch to public accounting. Karen works on our Client Accounting Services Team, working directly with some of our larger clients. Karen is a graduate of Illinois State University.
Nataliya McDonald, CPA
Nataliya McDonald, CPA joined MMA in August 2018, after working for a Big 4 accounting firm. Nataliya is on our tax team, working on more complex clients. She also has a role in training staff as part of our Onboarding Team. Nataliya is a graduate of University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Zaid Siddiqui
Zaid Siddiqui joined MMA in December 2019. He works on both tax and audit and is a resource to entry level staff in both areas. Zaid is a graduate of Benedictine University.
We congratulate all three on their promotions and thank them for their hard work and dedication to Mathieson, Moyski, Austin & Co.
Out and About
The MMA team celebrated our annual summer outing this weekend! We had a great time enjoying the races at the Arlington Racecourse and spending time with our families.
Brett Mathieson, Ron Austin, & Brian Hagene had a chance to enjoy a Boston Red Sox game while in Boston for CPAmerica’s Northwest/Midwest Regional meeting. The conference provides a forum for discussing timely practice management ideas with partners from other firms in the association.
Ron Austin, CPA
Brian Eisenmenger, CPA
Brian Hagene, CPA
Brett Mathieson, CPA
John Straus, CPA