CPA Services for Those Affected by Disaster 

CPAs can provide a wide range of services to help people manage their finances during the traumatic aftermath of a disaster. A sampling of possible CPA services is listed below.

Insurance Assistance:

• How to file claims (documenting losses, developing inventories, reporting requirements, working with agents and adjustors, etc.)
• Understanding policy provisions (deductibles, exclusions, co-pays, limits, etc.)
• Creating an inventory of damaged or destroyed property
• Understanding or evaluating property or life settlements
• Assistance in filing appeals for denied claims
• Managing insurance proceeds and expenses
• Planning for uninsured and underinsured (where to get financial assistance)

Tax Return Filings and Other Tax Issues:

• How to file a casualty loss on an individual tax return
• Documenting and reporting unreimbursed medical expenditures
• Tax preparation services
• Understanding the taxation of insurance proceeds and expense reimbursements.
• Understanding the taxation of unemployment income due to job loss.
• Recreating tax records lost in the fire.
• Managing retirement plan distributions and loans (Understanding tax implications of tapping into retirement savings for cash needs or withdrawal/rollover options for a deceased individual)

Debt Management and Expenses:

• Cash flow planning
• Managing debt and expense payments through insurance settlements
• Prioritizing expenses and strategies to manage late or partial payments

Financial Planning:

• Assessing future insurance needs and alternatives
• Education funding for retraining due to injury (client cannot continue in current job position) or death of working spouse
• Planning financially for unexpected future disasters
• Strategies to recover financially in the event a primary wage earner is deceased
• Referring clients to estate attorneys for legal document drafting or amendments (updating wills, trusts, powers of attorney, etc.)