The Wednesday Lowdown ⬇️

If you're new around here, every day or so I share the 4-5 best accounting insights I saw in the past 24 hours.

I scroll. so you don't have to.

🤯 WTF of the Day

Accounting body scraps remote exams to combat cheating

The world’s biggest accounting body (ACCA) is ending remote exams.

During Covid, ACCA let students take exams from home. That worked for a while. But now AI tools have made it almost impossible to police. Some students were literally taking photos of exam questions and feeding them into AI chatbots for answers.

ACCA says the cheating tech is moving faster than their ability to stop it. So they’re pulling the plug. Starting March, most exams must be taken in person again. Remote exams will only be allowed in rare cases.

This comes after years of exam cheating scandals across the accounting world, including Big Four firms getting fined millions.

 🤝 Partner Spotlight

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🍿 What’s poppin in accounting

IRS quietly changed how the Premium Tax Credit works

If you buy health insurance through Healthcare.gov, the government helps cover part of your monthly bill. That help is based on what you think you’ll earn this year.

Until now, if you made more than expected, there was a cap on how much of that help you had to pay back at tax time.

That cap is gone after 2025.

Now, if your income ends up higher than you estimated, you may have to repay the entire subsidy. No limit.

Why it matters, raises, side income, or bonuses can now turn into a surprise tax bill. Clients using Marketplace insurance need to update income estimates fast or risk owing thousands later.

Source: One, Big, Beautiful Bill Provisions

🕵️‍♂️ The Audit

Are you an outlier or the industry standard? Vote in our new weekly pulse check, and we’ll share the results next issue.

Last poll results:

Most people didn’t blow it on crypto or meme stocks. They just spent too much and didn’t save enough.

Boring. Predictable. Painful. Next year’s regret is already loading… unless you change your habits.

New Poll ⬇️

 📊 Weekly Trend Chart

Why 2025 Has So Few New Hit Songs

Only 6 of the top 20 songs this year were actually released in 2025.
Even worse: just 3 of the top 10 are from this year.

Some of the biggest hits right now came out in 2023 or late 2024.
Example: “Lose Control” by Teddy Swims dropped two years ago and is still charting.

Why this is happening:

• Streaming keeps old songs alive forever

• Playlists resurface hits instead of pushing new ones

• Fewer megastar album drops this year

• 2024 was just a really strong year for pop

Music doesn’t move in clean yearly cycles anymore. Hits now have long shelf lives, and “new” matters less than “familiar.”

#😂 Meme of the Day

😂 I feel this guys pain