CPE for the CFO and Internal Controller

This compilation of timely topics has been designed with the CFO, internal controller and in-house accountant in mind. The series includes 8- 2 Hour sessions that include everything your industry accountant needs in Accounting and Tax.

You will have multiple dates and time options to complete each course. 

Courses Include:

Tax Track

• Business Tax Update for Industry
• The AB5s of Employees vs. Independent Contractors
• Depreciating & Expensing Business Assets
• Business Losses: Going Backward and Forward

A&A Track

• Managerial Accounting Refresher for the In-House Accountant
• Is Activity-Based Costing the Right Tool for Your Organization?
• FASB's New Lease Accounting Standard
• Internal Controls That Could Have Prevented Frauds

Welcome to the CPE for the CFO and Internal Controller Micro-Credential. In order to successfully complete this program, there are 8 required sessions and a final exam to test competency. The sessions run from September of 2023 through end of April 2024. The sessions are scheduled with a variety of dates and times, so you can select the days that work with your schedule.

In addition to the microcredential, the successful completion of this program will award 16 hours of CPE in the applicable NASBA field of study.  Course titles will include:  

Tax Track

• Business Tax Update for Industry
• The AB5s of Employees vs. Independent Contractors
• Depreciating & Expensing Business Assets
• Business Losses: Going Backward and Forward

A&A Track

• Managerial Accounting Refresher for the In-House Accountant
• Is Activity-Based Costing the Right Tool for Your Organization?
• FASB's New Lease Accounting Standard
• Internal Controls That Could Have Prevented Frauds

This compilation of timely topics has been designed with the CFO, internal controller and in-house accountant in mind. The series includes 8- 2 Hour sessions that include everything your industry accountant needs in Accounting and Tax.

Welcome to the ACPEN Fraud Micro-Credential. In order to successfully complete this program, there are 6 required sessions and a final exam to test competency. The sessions run from August of 2023 through end of December of 2023. The sessions are scheduled with a variety of dates and times, so you can select the days that work with your schedule.

This group of courses will address the following concepts: 

• Preventing and Detecting Business Fraud
• Managing Risks Associated with Business Fraud
• Types of Business Fraud - Payroll, Embezzlement, Accounting & Auditing
• Interviewing & Interrogation

In addition to the microcredential, the successful completion of this program will award 19.5 hours of CPE in the applicable NASBA field of study.  Course titles will include:  Prevention & Detection of Fraud In Small Businesses, Auditing for Fraud, Expense and Payroll Fraud, ACPEN Signature 2023:  Business Fraud Update and Managing the Risk of Fraud, Accounting Fraud & Embezzlement: Case Studies from the Trenches, Was It Fraud or Just Poor Audit Quality?

ACPEN has joined forces with Practice Protect to present a webinar series, "Mastering Cybersecurity," carefully crafted to empower CPAs with the essential knowledge and tools required for effectively safeguarding their practices and client information.

This classroom comprises of three parts and if you are a member, you'll receive one of them for free. Don't pass up this opportunity. 

Cybercrime is on the rise and CPAs that handle sensitive client data are often the target of cybercrimes.  

In this bundle, you get:

• Eight Biggest Threats to your business and introducing Three Pillars of Cybersecurity
• Mastering The Three Pillars of Cybersecurity: Exploring the Technology Pillar
• Mastering The Three Pillars of Cybersecurity: Team & Compliance

You'll learn what the eight biggest threats are to your business and uncover the three pillars of cybersecurity that you can build your firm's defense around.

Welcome to the ACPEN Employee Relations Micro-Credential. In order to successfully complete this program, there are 6 required sessions and a final exam to test competency. The sessions are scheduled with multiple date/time options that you may choose from. This group of courses will address the following concepts: 

• Maintaining a Harmonious Work Environment 
• Addressing Accomodations in the Workplace
• Coaching and Counseling 
• Balancing Employee and Employer Rights

These sessions will provide you with practical knowledge and critical information that will help your firm or company to thrive in an increasingly complex work environment. This comprehensive program is designed to help practitioners, business owners, managers and leaders create successful, positive work places and avoid litigation.  The sessions included are as follows:  Balancing Employee and Employer Rights, Maintaining a Harmonious Working Environment, Coaching & Counseling - Performance Management,     Coaching & Counseling - Addressing Misconduct, Preparing for & Conducting Discharge Meetings, Accommodation Requests - Substance Abuse - Contagious Infections

In addition to the microcredential, the successful completion of this program will award 7 hours of CPE in the applicable NASBA field of study.

Welcome to DEI: From the Inside Out! Many of you have participated in different versions of DEI programs over the last several years. DEI has been a big buzzword in the workplace over the past four years. Many companies and organizations, large and small, have established DEI initiatives. Based on the research, however, many still need help with successful implementation. From our company's perspective, the primary reason is the approach! Many DEI initiatives are about race and other factors and negate the one aspect with the most remarkable ability to move the needle, the humanistic element of DEI. This approach is about valuing, welcoming, and appreciating the people around us as human beings, regardless of their differences in culture, race, gender, etc. The system of diving into bias training, microaggressions, etc.—has not worked very well. We are not negating their importance, but when we view things from the humanistic side, we begin to see the beauty and benefit of DEI as a growth and benefits tool for your company or organization.

That is what the DEI From the Inside-Out Model is all about.

This 2-session Micro-Credential program, will provide valuable tools to add to or develop your DEI efforts so that all stakeholders will benefit from the investment of money and time. It will also create a safe space for people to learn, grow, and adjust where necessary.

Welcome to the ACPEN Fraud Micro-Credential. In order to successfully complete this program, there are 6 required sessions and a final exam to test competency. The sessions are scheduled with a variety of dates and times, so you can select the days that work with your schedule.

This group of courses will address the following concepts: 

• Preventing and Detecting Business Fraud
• Managing Risks Associated with Business Fraud
• Types of Business Fraud - Payroll, Embezzlement, Accounting & Auditing
• Interviewing & Interrogation

In addition to the microcredential, the successful completion of this program will award 19.5 hours of CPE in the applicable NASBA field of study.  Course titles will include:  Prevention & Detection of Fraud In Small Businesses, Auditing for Fraud, Expense and Payroll Fraud, ACPEN Signature 2023:  Business Fraud Update and Managing the Risk of Fraud, Accounting Fraud & Embezzlement: Case Studies from the Trenches, Was It Fraud or Just Poor Audit Quality?

Welcome to the ACPEN Yellowbook Micro-Credential. This program will award you all 24 hours of Governmental CPE so you can be Yellowbook compliant. 

In order to successfully complete this program, there are 6 required sessions and a final exam to test competency. The sessions are scheduled in order and there are many date/time options that you may choose from for each session. This group of courses will address the following concepts: 

• Learn about the similarities between all three GASB accounting standards that deal with contractual arrangements such as leases, Subscription-Based Information Technology Arrangements (SBITA) and P3s.  Compare and contrast these standards as you prepare for implementation this year of GASB 94 and GASB 96, and review the implementation efforts of Leases in Year 2. 
• Take a whirlwind tour of governmental accounting basics while focusing on wetting the participant’s appetite for more. 
• Stay up-to-date on rapidly changing developments by participating in the 2024 Governmental Accounting and Auditing Update! 
• Learn about Common Audit and Financial Reporting Deficiencies in State and Local Governments.
• Learn how to simplify the requirements using common sense examples and language. 
• Learn what you need to know if you are performing audits under these audit standards and the Uniform Guidance for Federal Awards. 

 The sessions included are as follows:  GASB 96 –SBITA, GASB 94 P3, and GASB 87 Leases (Year 2), Governmental Accounting 101, ACPEN Signature 2024: Governmental Accounting & Auditing Update, Common Audit and Financial Reporting Deficiencies in State and Local Governments, Audit Risk Assessment in Plain English, and ACPEN Signature 2024: Single Audit and Uniform Guidance Issues Update

Welcome to the ACPEN Future Of Work Micro-Credential! 

This 3-session Micro-Credential program, approximately sixty minutes per session, will provide you with 3 hours of CPE, as well as a micro-credential badge. 

In order to successfully complete this program, there are 3 required sessions and a final exam to test competency. The sessions should be taken in order and there are multiple date/time options that you may choose from. These sessions will provide you with practical knowledge and critical information that will help your plan for the future work. 

The Auditing Standards Board (ASB) has completed its update of the three engagement types in the SSAEs. In this course, we will review the changes to the examination, review, and agreed-upon procedures standard to provide you with an understanding of the changes to performance and reporting requirements. 

It's an exciting time to manage a public practice accounting firm! In addition to technical knowledge in tax, auditing, and accounting, we need to understand data analytics and security options in an advisory context. Beyond that, we must manage the practice and people while profitably delivering excellent client service in a competitive environment for the owners. Further, portals, CAS stacks, PBC lists, electronic signatures, Cloud, and robotic process automation are technologies we need to understand beyond our tax, audit, practice management, document management, and workflow systems. This CPA Firm Update session independently covers significant trends and technologies for CPA firms, which will help you understand your current and future choices. With such rapid change, what will your firm do?

• Create a game plan for building a culture of accountability with your team

• Defining three critical elements: responsibility, empowerment and accountability, and how they work together to create results
• Designing and using clear agreements that provide clarity
• Skills for holding yourself and others accountable for results, no matter what
• Knowing where you are in the accountability game... what you do/don’t do well

At some point in his or her career, every financial manager will face a choice of doing the right thing or taking the easy way out. Skillfully handling a conflict, ethical or otherwise, can make a big difference your career's trajectory. Professional standards provide procedures for resolving ethical conflicts. Yet, following these procedures alone will often cause a financial professional to lose their job.  This webcast will show you how to both do the right thing and keep your job.    

Form 1065 is the tax return filed by partnerships, which is one of the most common forms of business organizations in the United States. This course provides an in-depth understanding of the preparation and filing of Form 1065.

The course will cover the basics of partnership taxation, including how partnerships are taxed, the different types of partnerships, and the tax obligations of partners. It will also discuss the importance of keeping accurate financial records, the role of the partnership agreement in tax reporting, and the filing deadlines for Form 1065.

Participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of the various sections of Form 1065, including the Schedule K-1, which reports each partner's share of the partnership's income, deductions, and credits. The course will also cover how to report partnership income, expenses, and deductions, as well as the tax implications of buying and selling partnership interests.

In addition, the course will provide an overview of common errors and omissions made when preparing Form 1065, and how to avoid them. It will also cover recent changes in tax laws that affect partnership taxation.

Overall, this course is designed for tax professionals, accountants, business owners, and individuals who need to understand the intricacies of partnership taxation and the preparation and filing of Form 1065. Upon completion of the course, participants will have a solid understanding of partnership taxation and will be able to prepare and file Form 1065 with confidence.

**Please Note:  If you need credit reported to the IRS for this IRS approved program, please download the IRS CE request form on the Course Materials Tab and submit to kori.herrera@acpen.com.

Suitable for anyone with an interest in understanding the impacts of remote work on diverse people and promoting equitable outcomes that lead to a more inclusive work environment.

What obligations does an employer have when an employee needs to take a leave of absence? This presentation will provide an overview of the complicated, intertwined compliance obligations triggered when an employee requests a medical leave of absence (including for pregnancy, mental health, or addiction).

The well-informed tax practitioner will want to attend this two hour program in order to stay current on recent updates on partnership tax!  Content includes recent court decisions on partnership tax issues as well as current updates to the new Forms K-2 and K-3. 

Who should Attend:  This course is suitable for Corporate tax and finance executives, directors, managers and staff, CPAs, CAs Enrolled Agents, accountants, attorneys and business/financial advisors who work with and advise businesses that have tax implications.  All in-house and public practice tax professionals will benefit from this timely and insightful seminar.

**Please Note:  If you need credit reported to the IRS for this IRS approved program, please download the IRS CE request form on the Course Materials Tab and submit to leighanne.conroy@acpen.com.
 

This is a 2 hour webcast that will focus on the similarities between all three of these GASB accounting standards that deal with contractual arrangements such as leases, Subscription-Based Information Technology Arrangements (SBITA) and P3s.  Compare and contrast these standards as you prepare for implementation this year of GASB 94 and GASB 96, and review the implementation efforts of Leases in Year 2. 

Appreciation affects your bottom line and your workplace culture. Don’t think so? Think again! Your customers, clients, and co-workers want and need to know they are appreciated. How do you show them appreciation? You show them in their preferred appreciation style. 

You have a bias for how you like to receive appreciation, and so do the people with whom you work.

In this program, we will build on the research of Gary Chapman and Paul White on appreciation languages – words, time, service, and gifts. 

Appreciation is a skill and practice that promises to influence your work life positively. You will experience strategies you can employ in your day-to-day lives to improve your team culture and manage work relationships.

Every business needs capital, and capital has a cost. Providers of debt and equity demand a return and the combination is the cost of capital for the business. This session discusses how to calculate the cost of capital, how to use it to make superior business decisions every day and some common ways organizations misuse this number.

Who should understand your organization’s cost of capital? Even if you are not yet the CFO, you need to thoroughly understand the cost of capital and its use. The cost of capital allows managers to, “Get the biggest bang for the buck.” If you want to enhance your corporate finance skills, this session is for you.

• Recall the steps to create a new query
• Identify commands that transform data
• State the process to return the transformed data to Excel

• Automation capabilities of Excel
• The “Get & Transform” Tool
• Using “Get & Transform” for flattening, splitting and combining data, unpivoting summarized data, and combining CSV exports

Does your firm have interest in expanding its’ services beyond traditional CPA services?  Do you have staff with the expertise to compete against non-CPA firms? Welcome to a course that will lead you through the maze of creating a successful Consulting Business Practice for your CPA firm. The course will help you understand: where consulting business opportunities exist, what are the firm’s professional responsibilities and most importantly how to recognize the needs of the client.

Tax return preparation and consulting always involves the accountant's review of – and reliance on – information provided by the client. Not everything can, or need be, verified. This workshop considers the duty of CPA tax return preparers to make further inquiries, from the perspective of Circular 230, preparer penalties and professional ethics.

The Accountant role is evolving from data aggregation to knowledge extraction, with a significant emphasis on understanding and leveraging technological advancements. In this era of rapid digital transformation, it is crucial for accountants to grasp the shift towards more analytical roles, learn the tools, and integrate Business Intelligence (BI) and Data Analytics (DA) in their organization and daily practices. This course will focus on raising the accountant's awareness of BI and DA practices, the impact of AI technologies like ChatGPT, and how these can benefit their organization. By embracing these technologies, accountants can enhance their value proposition by transitioning from traditional accounting roles to becoming strategic advisors and decision-makers.

The course will start off with a look at the Accounting Standard Updates (ASUs) issued by the FASB that will be effective in 2023. We'll also review late breaking changes to the lease standard that may impact common control entities. We'll then turn our attention from accounting to auditing where we will cover the key SASes effective this year including new standards around auditing accounting estimates an risk assessment. This course focuses on what you need to know this year to be ready for 2023 year end financial reporting and audits. 

Arthur Werner will provide financial professionals with the information their teams will need to successfully plan and execute mergers and acquisitions. For major topics covered, see below. This course may be customized or tailored based on the needs of your organization.

Many businesses are being held back by legacy solutions. The old way of doing things doesn't work anymore. Instead, Software as a Service (SaaS) has transformed many mid-market companies. In this new world of cloud-based, workflow-enabled, data-centric, and connected solutions, you can solve existing and future business problems in new ways without being bogged down by paper-centric environments. This session covers integrated and ERP solutions that should work for businesses in the $10 Million to $1 Billion range. If your existing system has been in place for seven or more years, it is time to consider upgrading or replacing it. Leverage your instructor's knowledge of the market to minimize your risk.

Change is all around us and the pace of change is accelerating. Those who can effectively manage change will be the profession's future leaders. As organizations and the CPA profession continue to evolve, CPAs will need to have the ability to be resilient and thrive in an ever-changing world. This course will look at practical ways CPAs can not only accept change but also manage change effectively and efficiently.

Are you running around with a fire extinguisher permanently strapped to your back? Do everyday crises run your life, both at work and at home? Do you find yourself
consistently taking care of everyone else with no time left to take care of you?

In this session, we dive into controlling your chaos and managing your energy. Make no mistake, this isn't your father's time management class. It’s an energy management class developed on behalf of and with tired, frustrated, and burned out HR professionals like yourselves! If you find yourself drained and drinking far too much coffee, this is the session for you!

• Understand the attributes of ethics and professional conduct
• Identify ethical issues that occur every day in the work environment
• Understand those deliberative, emotional, and social skills that enable a CPA to put their knowledge of the rules into practice in ways that are applicable to any situation
• Understand CPA Independence issues and professional conduct

• Examine the CPA's role in today's economy
• Compare similarities and differences between individual and business ethics
• Explore the link between ethics, integrity and scruples
• Discuss the basic attributes of ethics and professional conduct
• Review the history of the CPA profession and the CPA's requirement to adhere to ethics policies and codes of conduct
• Review the AICPA's Code of Professional Conduct and a CPA's responsibilities to the public, clients and colleagues
• Discuss the common rules and statutes faced daily in the CPA profession. Case studies may also be utilized to present potential ethical dilemmas CPAs may face during their careers
• Review CPA Independence violations by current legal case examples

Employee Turnover is at an all-time high, and what use to work isn't working anymore. We explore a call to action with a new way of thinking.

In today’s real estate market, IRC §1031 tax-deferred exchanges can be one of the most important planning tools available to the real estate investor. The use of this technique is filled with pitfalls and traps. This new course will assist the practitioner in understanding the mechanics of a tax-deferred exchange and the value of a tax-deferred exchange in both tax and financial planning.

Updated August 2022

Governmental Accounting 101, is a 2 hour webcast that takes the participant of a whirlwind tour of governmental accounting basics, focusing on wetting the participant’s appetite for more.  This session will be the first of a series of webcasts, with each subsequent webcast delving deeper and deeper into the governmental accounting basics. 

Being consistently ethical is a challenge. Most of us have had to make tough choices.  This session will discuss real world cases involving thorny ethical dilemmas and how to resolve them.

Being ethical is not the same as complying with the law and ethical issues are not always black and white. This session will review different professional ethical standards.  What does integrity mean in the office? If you want to learn lessons from the best in a short time, this session is for you.  Participate in engaging dialogue about how to prepare for the inevitable ethical situations.  These lessons are valuable for every business leader.

How do you raise your skills to the next level to master the Controller or CFO role?  Welcome to a course that provides insights that align the CGMA Competency Framework. The course will examine each of the areas: Technical, Business, Leadership and People to increase your competency. 

• How are your technical skills?  Are you a traditional accountant or have you learned to expand your technical skills to go beyond “what are the financial numbers?” to “why did these financial results occur?”  Are you able to use ratios to understand the business dynamics and the implications to change course or take corrective action?  Are the systems that you implement and operate best practices or merely stop-gap solutions?
• How are your business skills?  Can you set a vision? Can you develop a strategy?  Do you understand the macroeconomic environment of your organization?   Can you lead a major project to a successful conclusion?  This session will explore the role of business as opposed to tracking the results of the business.
• How are your people skills?  How good is your ability to influence others? How are successful are your negotiation skills?   How well can you communicate?  Are you a collaborator or a partner?  This section will help accountants understand that it is people skills that drive the overall success of the accounting operations.
• Finally, how are your Leadership skills?  Do you inspire staff or make them angry?  Do you know why your staff work for your company and you?  Do you understand what employees want from their position?  Do you know how to deal with a difficult staff person?  Can you lead difficult change?  This session will help you recognize what leadership truly is as opposed to what passes for day to day management.

Review of the major employment laws governing the workplace, when they are triggered, and key compliance aspects under each law. This presentation is designed to give viewers enough information to issue spot when matters arise in the workplace. 

Working with a small business, you know that keeping the company's finances in order is critical to success. While numerous software programs and tools are available to help you do this, they vary substantially in many significant aspects. In addition to conventional options like QuickBooks and Sage 50, you can choose from Cloud-based tools such as Zoho Books, QuickBooks Online, Spire Systems, Xero, Accounting Suite, Accounting Power, and many more. In this session, we'll look at the best accounting tools for small businesses and discuss the benefits of each one. This session covers accounting solutions that should work for startups and companies with up to $10 million in annual revenue. We also cover various add-on solutions that can enhance the overall functionality of your accounting platform. Join us to learn your options for achieving your small business management financial goals.

Are you looking to take your PivotTables to the next level? Many experts consider PivotTables to be Excel’s most powerful feature. Yet, most who create and work with them barely scratch the surface of all that PivotTables can do. In this session, you’ll learn eight powerful features you may have missed. From user-defined calculations to consolidating reports and adding KPIs, we’ll show you how to get the most out of your PivotTables. These are just some examples of the great things you can do with PivotTables, and in this session, you will learn these and other techniques to make your PivotTables even more powerful.

• Understand classic motivational theories
• Identify methods to improve employee motivation
• Know how to use observation tools to discover what motivates your employees

• What it means to engage people; discuss the meaning of motivation by getting to the core of what impacts your employees’ productivity
• Get your employees charged; find out what makes them tick through examining and understanding some of the classics in motivational theory
• Learn how to drill down to what truly motivates your employees
• Using the C.A.R.E. model to improve employee motivation through case studies

• Describe the different levels of authority in tax law
• Differentiate between the different types of administrative authority in tax law
• Identify the different courts that hear cases involving tax law
• Illustrate the organization of the Internal Revenue Code, the Treasury Regulations, and Revenue Rulings
• Identify the circumstances when a client may want to consider requesting a private letter ruling
• Differentiate between primary and secondary pieces of authority
• Illustrate the steps to the tax research process and the parts of a tax research memorandum

• Tax code hierarchy
• Organization of an Internal Revenue Code section
• Special rules for IRC citation 
• Citing other primary authority
• Private letter rulings 
• Primary vs. secondary authority 
• Secondary sources of authority
• Steps in the tax research process
• Research memoranda

• Be familiar with the complex issues related to partnership distributions and sales
• Advise individual and business clients regarding these practice issues

• Types of partnership distributions
• Liquidating partnership distributions
• Basis of property distributed by a partnership
• Special basis adjustments under Section 732(d)
• Abandoned and worthless partnership interests
• Section 751(a) exchange
• Transactions between partners and their partnerships
• Disguised sales
• Section 736(a) and (b) payments

This presentation will review what sex harassment is under the law, company compliance obligations, and describe how promoting a positive company culture can prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. 

Government leases are getting an overhaul. GASB Statement 87 was issued in 2017 and provides an update on the proper accounting for leases from both the lessee and lessor points-of-view. 

This course will help attendees understand the nuances of the updated definition of a lease as well as other significant changes to terminology. Attendees will discuss the impact of the changes to financial reporting as well as the key challenges that governments and auditors will need to consider to properly implement the new standard. This interactive course includes the preparation of journal entries to assist in understanding impact.

Performance targets and incentives can drive breathtakingly positive results: the moon landings, the eradication of smallpox, or the repair of the ozone layer, for example. They can also have a dark side that can create stress, overload and anxiety and even drive lawbreaking.

What is the difference between a healthy ‘stretch’ target and one pushes people too far? How can we spot potential problems in advance and systematically design sensible, humane and effective performance targets?

Using practical examples and case studies, Bernie will give you an overview of the essential steps for designing robust, effective, and credible targets for any organization.

Designing effective, practical and realistic performance targets will never be easy, but this session will introduce you to the tools that help make the process clearer, simpler and more consistent.

Audit Risk Assessment in Plain English, is a 2 hour webcast highlighting the AICPA’s clarified risk assessment standards, along with a new Statement on Auditing Standard (SAS 145) related to understanding the entity, the entity’s environment, the entity’s internal controls, and assessing the risks of material misstatement.  This session will attempt to simplify the requirements using common sense examples and language.

Every business has risks, but some myths seem to damage or kill more enterprises than others do. This session will review ten of the most problematic myths that may doom a business and discuss action steps to prevent these myths from holding your business back. This session discusses the common myths, mistakes, risks, and hidden landmines inherent in every business. We will learn from the mistakes of others who often paid a steep price so that we may learn valuable lessons. If you are a leader who wants your business to become even more successful, this session is for you.

Welcome to a course that makes the process of M&A easy to understand and easy to implement within your organization or your clients' organization. The course will provide an intensive overview of the M&A process. Focus will be on practical techniques to guide you through the M&A jungle and avoid the traps that have befallen many organizations.

For an accounting practice or career to thrive, it must grow and develop. But what about the "Catch-22" of practice development: expertise at anything new requires experience, and experience cannot be attained while you are a non-expert! Or can it? This workshop looks at some of the more popular pathways to practice development (e.g., cybersecurity, client advisory services and cannabis) and considers the drawbacks of reaching too far, too fast.

For many small businesses, the standards issued by the FASB may have little to no effect as they impact topics that do not reflect the type of transactions that these entities most frequently experience. This class will focus on the Accounting Standards Updates (ASUs) that are most likely to impact small businesses with a focus on ASUs initiated by the Private Company Council (PCC). We'll then look at alternative reporting options to GAAP including FRF for SMEs and IFRS for SMEs for entities who don't necessarily need to prepare GAAP financial statements but want to use accrual accounting. Finally, we will transition to audit standards that small business auditors will need to implement this year, including changes to auditing accounting estimates and risk assessment. 

Demands for an excellent user experience are at an all-time high. But how do you solve for easy collaboration, compliance, and workflow? What features do you need to be effective? How do you integrate payments, eSignatures, and other technologies to make interaction convenient? This session will explain the necessary features, provide an overview of the best technologies for collaboration, and help you think through how to solve your business problems. You'll learn about the options available from client portals, workflow management, payments, eSignatures, and more. Attend this session and arm yourself with the tools you need to succeed!

Human Resources is a wonderful profession, but finding the right technology is challenging. While you may think you have settled your information technology tools, you might be surprised by what is in the market that can help you do your job in the best way possible. We'll cover select tools to help you every day at work.

Join us for a session to help you find the software tools to streamline your HR process. We'll cover recruitment, onboarding, compliance, and solutions in many other categories. You should leave this session with more than a few software products and approaches that can make your job easier.

• Differentiate between the external accountant’s and management’s responsibility related to identifying, evaluating, presenting, and disclosing going concern uncertainty
• Discuss how to obtain sufficient appropriate evidence to evaluate management’s assertions about an entity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time
• Describe the independent accountant’s reporting options under applicable auditing and other professional services standards when uncertainty associated with going concern exists

• Current FASB accounting standards related to going concern, including the new requirements of ASU 2014-15
• Evaluating risk of material misstatement in financial reports related to improper presentation and disclosure of going concern uncertainty
• The responsibility of an independent accountant for evaluating going concern uncertainty under various levels of engagement to perform attest and nonattest services
• New requirements of SAS No. 132 and SSARS No. 24 related to an auditor’s responsibility for considering going concern uncertainty?

Individuals who work in a governmental environment have many rules of ethics that must be followed. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issues Yellow Book providing rules related to ethics and independence, which received a significant update in 2018. We'll review some of the key elements of ethics relevant to governmental entities and auditors to prevent independence noncompliance.

Common Audit and Financial Reporting Deficiencies in State and Local Governments, is a 2 hour webcast detailing many of the more common mistakes that auditors and accountants are making in either the preparation of their annual financial statements or the audits of such financial statements. Deficiencies in audit standards (AICPA, GAO, Single Audit) and preparation standards (GASB) noted in this webcast are driven by the most recent results found in audit organization peer reviews, workpaper or desk reviews, and various organizations checklists for oversight. 

Most organizations manage their income statement, but many virtually ignore the balance sheet until balance sheet problems create seemingly insurmountable emergencies. This session discusses how to analyze and manage your financial statements more holistically, allowing you to identify and correct balance sheet issues early. How do you choose whether to raise debt or equity? What are the key considerations and the advantages of each? What is the cost of capital? What are the ‘hidden’ balance sheet risks? We will also examine several crucial ideas you can incorporate into your analyses to enhance performance and reduce risk. If you want to enhance your corporate finance skills, this session is for you.

To move beyond the HR realm it is essential for HR professionals to understand planning at the strategic and tactical level. This session is designed to help HR professionals understand the overall strategic planning process so they can contribute at the executive level.

One of the three major forms of occupational fraud, along with corruption and asset misappropriation, is financial statement fraud. 

From improper asset valuation to fictitious revenues, this course will review financial statement fraud red flags and examine real-life examples. 
 

• Understand and apply the professional and ethical conduct requirements specifically applicable to Delaware CPAs, including 2016 amendments to the Delaware Licensure Law
• Review the core principles of professional conduct -- integrity, objectivity, and independence
• Be familiar with the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct
• Be familiar with the principles and concepts which form the foundation of ethical behavior

• Professional and ethical conduct requirements specifically applicable to Delaware CPAs, including 2016 amendments to the Delaware Licensure Law
• The core principles of professional conduct -- integrity, objectivity, and independence
• The AICPA Code of Professional Conduct
• Principles and concepts which form the foundation of ethical behavior

Unlike a traditional financial audit objective (Are the financial statements materially misstated), performance auditing can address a wide variety of objectives.  Is this program working? Can it be improved? Where can we save money? How can we operate more efficiently and effectively? Are management’s assertions supported? And so forth.  This session will explain what a performance audit is, describe the applicable standards, and provide examples that indicate the value of a performance audit.  Performance audits can add value to any entity and practitioners can profit from adding these assurance services to their practices.

Many entities look to their CPA as a trusted advisor when tackling complex accounting topics. This is more relevant now than ever. The FASB's big three accounting pronouncements involving revenue recognition, leasing and credit losses have placed a magnifying glass on this reality. Practitioners need to exercise caution to ensure they maintain independence as they assist their review and audit clients with such matters, as well as with compilation engagements. This course addresses these issues and explores best practices and guidance provided by the AICPA's Code of Professional Conduct.

Have you ever found yourself wondering why people won't just listen to you? Or maybe you have found yourself surrounded by people that make your jaw clench...you know the people...the challenging people. 

HR Professionals walk a tight rope of being strong, but not aggressive, polite, but not a push over. It is exhausting!

In this session, you will uncover the secrets to working with (and overcoming) challenging people derived from the decades of experience Summer brings from her time on the frontlines and as an HR Professional working with companies such as Walt Disney World, H-E-B and even a dude ranch.
 

When we verbally communicate with an individual, we must make a conscious decision as to whether we believe what we have heard.  Little do we realize that we are not making a decision based on what we have heard; rather we make a subconscious decision based primarily on what we have seen, or how the body was behaving when the subject was speaking.  We often walk away from a conversation with a gut feeling that the person was not telling the truth.  That gut feeling is your subconscious.  Yet we often have no idea as to why we have that feeling.

This presentation is designed to provide the participant with the tools to identify those both verbal and nonverbal indicators that we all give off when we are under stress.  Normally, telling the truth does not create stress.  When we lie, we know that we are not supposed to and that creates stress, and it will manifest itself in some manner, and that is what a trained interviewer is looking to observe.

When we observe indicators of deception, how do we deal with it?  How do we get the subject to admit to a wrong-doing when it is not in their best interest to do so?  That is one of the many things that will be addressed in this presentation.  Whether you are a parent dealing with you kids; an employer dealing with employees or and investigation interviewing a suspect, this presentation will provide you with the tools to assist you in finding the truth.

In the course of legal actions, payments may be made pursuant to a final disposition of a court case or a mutually agreed-upon settlement.  This course will cover the tax implications for payments made for personal injury, emotional distress, lost wages, punitive awards, pre- and post-judgement interest, contract claims, among other damages.

**Please Note:  If you need credit reported to the IRS for this IRS approved program, please download the IRS CE request form on the Course Materials Tab and submit to kori.herrera@acpen.com.
 

• Identify signs of difficult behavior before a situation gets out of hand
• Understand why difficult people behave the way they do
• Communicate with the employee to understand the cause of their behavior
• Use a 3- part problem solving model to help diagnose and resolve a situation
• Follow a 5-step process from communication to planned resolution when engaged in a conflict
• Understand and use skills to help control emotions when dealing with difficult people and situations
• Create an action plan to address a situation back at work

• Problem solving step process for handling difficult people
• Effective communication techniques including active listening and phraseology
• Scripting what you say to prepare to engage with a difficult person
• Emotions and their impact: mine and theirs

To make more money in less time, all accountants need to learn to market themselves effectively to their clients or their firm. For better or worse, promotions and more money go to those who are the best marketers, rather than the most competent accountants.  In this fascinating and fun workshop, participants will learn seven key ways to get more clients and/or promotions through the art of marketing.

The Professional Ethics Executive Committee (PEEC) of the AICPA has been very busy issuing new and updated existing ethics rules. This course will provide an overview of recently issued and soon to be effective ethics rules that CPAs in both industry and public accounting need to know to be compliant. 

• Identify the correct forms to use in filing an OIC
• Explain the three main types of OIC
• Understand what information should be gathered and put forth in filing an OIC
• Recognize what aspects of the OIC will increase chances of approval
• Understand what taxpayers shouldn't do regarding OICs

• Legislative history
• American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 and changes to IRC Section 6159
• Comprehensive coverage of the three main types of OIC
• Doubts as to collectability (DATC)
• Doubts as to liability (DATL)
• Effective tax administration (ETA)
• Hybrid of DATC
• Detailed walk-through of the process and key terms
• Practical solutions and success rates
• Various scams

This program will address recent legislation, rulings and developments affecting individual taxpayers and provide practitioners with a comprehensive update for the upcoming tax season.

**Please Note:  If you need credit reported to the IRS for this IRS approved program, please download the IRS CE request form on the Course Materials Tab and submit to leighanne.conroy@acpen.com.

Have you ever met an accountant who exhibits solid technical prowess but possesses lackluster communication skills? It is not unusual to meet a savvy accountant who is a technical expert, but could enhance the delivery of written and spoken words. This course is designed to help CPAs improve their written and verbal communication skills. Participants will learn how to tailor communication to their audience, with particular emphasis on techniques for crafting a message that effectively conveys technical information in an engaging manner. The course’s author will share personal success tips gleaned from more than two decades of experience communicating myriad topics to a variety of audiences.

You often can perform an audit in accordance with all of the standards, and still have a substandard audit IF you did not get out among the clients employees (let them know you are there and where you located), talk to as many people as you can regardless as to whether you may think that they may have any helpful information; constantly observe your surrounding where ever you are at (you never now what you might see) and lastly, listen to not only what people are saying to you but are also saying around you.

This presentation is designed to illustrate the importance of making yourself available to your client’s employees, let them know that you are there and where you can be found. Talk with them because if there is a problem, somebody knows and they will often tell you all about it IF you just ask them.  Look at your surrounding everywhere you go.  What are you looking for?  I don’t know but I’ll know it when I see it. Lastly, listen to what they have to say.  Every word is important because they may say something that you had not asked about. 

Remember, you never want to discover something and go to an individual who you determined knew about it and ask, why didn’t you tell me about this and their response was, you never asked me!

Penalty abatement is a technique that tax practitioners can utilize to help their clients reduce penalties and interest they owe to the IRS if the taxpayer can prove “reasonable cause.”

This informative and insightful webinar will provide you with some insider tips, practical steps and effective strategies to help your client manage IRS tax penalties and interest. Learn about various types of penalties that you may face and the various forms and procedures used for requesting penalty and interest abatement, including First Time and Reasonable Cause abatement. Plus, learn about the procedure to follow when requesting refund of paid penalties.

**Please Note:  If you need credit reported to the IRS for this IRS approved program, please download the IRS CE request form on the Course Materials Tab and submit to kori.herrera@acpen.com.
 

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 was enacted to not only curb inflation, but reduce the deficit, promote clean energy solutions, and much more. This program will examine the key provisions for individual taxpayers and highlight tax saving planning for the upcoming tax season.

*Please Note:  If you need credit reported to the IRS for this IRS approved program, please download the IRS CE request form on the Course Materials Tab and submit to kori.herrera@acpen.com

In the dynamic landscape of modern workplaces, the ability to retain top talent and foster employee engagement is a key determinant of organizational success. "The Education Advantage" is a one-hour program designed to help HR professionals, employers and employees understand:

• Turnover Costs
• Cost of Disengaged Employees
• Professional Development as a Strategic Imperative
• Employer Hesitations
• How to Embrace Professional Development Initiatives
• Types of Educational Opportunities

This one-hour session is ideal for HR professionals, managers, and organizational leaders seeking tangible solutions to elevate employee engagement and retention through strategic professional development. Elevate your workforce and organizational success with "The Education Advantage."

In today's workplace, employees are faced almost daily with customers or teammates that may have needs or concerns that we are forced to handle. Though many of these situations are easily dealt with through simple communication skills, others may become heated and, in some instances, violent. Today we will discuss healthy ways to de-escalate a wide variety of potential issues.

This course is an updated overview of the single audit of state and local governments and not-for-profit organizations under the OMB Unified Circular, as well as the applicable AICPA standards for compliance audits. 

Yellow Book and Single Audit engagements are considered must-select engagements for peer review. This course will review the common deficiencies noted by peer reviewers and federal agencies. We'll focus on the requirements of Yellow Book independence, CPE, and reporting. We will also review deficiencies related to internal controls over compliance, compliance testing, and major program determination for Single Audits. We'll close the course with a look at the deficiencies often identified in COVID-related funds.

Are you running around with a fire extinguisher permanently strapped to your back? Do everyday crises run your life, both at work and at home? Do you find yourself
consistently taking care of everyone else with no time left to take care of you?

In this session, we dive into controlling your chaos and managing your energy. Make no mistake, this isn't your father's time management class. It’s an energy management class developed on behalf of and with tired, frustrated, and burned out HR professionals like yourselves! If you find yourself drained and drinking far too much coffee, this is the session for you!

• Advise owners of C corporations and those wishing to acquire C corporations of the tax consequences associated with an asset or stock acquisition

• Advantages and disadvantages to buyer and seller of an asset acquisition and a stock acquisition
• Tax treatment of consulting agreements and covenants not to compete
• Sale of personal goodwill associated with an asset acquisition
• Tax consequences associated with a stock acquisition and an asset acquisition
• Acquisitive reorganizations
• Non-tax issues that must be considered when a corporation is acquired

• Identify the key provisions of ASC 326
• Recall how to apply these provisions to trade and lease receivables
• Recall the disclosure requirements for CECL
• Identify approaches to audit the transition to and ongoing accounting for CECL

• Overview of ASC 326, Credit Losses
• Application of ASC 326 to non-lending institutions
• CECL transition and disclosures
• Audit considerations related to the adoption and ongoing accounting for CECL

Practitioners and members in industry seeking a general business tax update or wishing to review key business tax topics and staff members desiring a business tax overview.

**Please Note:  If you need credit reported to the IRS for this IRS approved program, please download the IRS CE request form on the Course Materials Tab and submit to leighanne.conroy@acpen.com.

Why can it be hard to automate accounting? Because many accountants don’t know their options and, therefore, fail to reap the rewards of accounting automation.

This session will teach you how easy and profitable accounting automation can be. In it, you will learn how to automate many traditional accounting processes, often with technology you already own. In addition to bank feeds, you will learn about automation options for processing accounts payable and receivable, approving transactions, and linking data from one platform to another. If you are serious about improving efficiency and accuracy, you should make plans to attend this session.

Many entities look to their CPA as a trusted advisor when tackling complex accounting topics. This is more relevant now than ever. The FASB's big three accounting pronouncements involving revenue recognition, leasing and credit losses have placed a magnifying glass on this reality. Practitioners need to exercise caution to ensure they maintain independence as they assist their review and audit clients with such matters, as well as with compilation engagements. This course addresses these issues and explores best practices and guidance provided by the AICPA's Code of Professional Conduct.

How do you keep your team connected with the limitations of virtual meetings? Suddenly, it’s more important than ever for each member to understand and appreciate their differences; to see beyond the screen and see each other’s human-side to maintain trust. In this session, Tina Hallis, Ph.D., will explore the neuroscience of trust and why it’s critical for optimum teamwork. But more importantly, you will leave with specific strategies and tools that you can choose from to use with your people. 

Every presenter has to deal with a difficult audience or audience member at one time or another. Professionals, however, because of topics or situations that are inherently uncomfortable, or because of mandated/resistant audience members, will face these audiences more frequently.

It can be difficult to get a resistant audience/member to resonate with your message, but if they leave angry, uninspired, unmotivated or unlikely to act on your call to action, you don't get the results you need or want.
 

Leaders have the right to exercise customary management functions.  Employees have the right to be kept free from discrimination.  Neither employer rights nor employee rights are absolute.  The courts are equally protective of the rights of employees and employers.  A courtroom is the wrong place for anyone to find this out.  This course provides practical knowledge on how to effectively balancing these two sets of rights, such that employees and leaders stay out of court. Employers avoid lawsuits, rather than win lawsuits.

In order not to perform an excessive number of audit procedures (over audit) auditors must perform procedures in order to determine in what areas are there weak internal controls that could result in a risk that the financial statements would be materially misstated and not be detected.  SAS No. 122, AU 300 – 499, Measuring Audit Risk provides guidance as well as required procedures that must be performed in every audit in order to determine the risk of material misstatement.  No longer can the auditor state that they assess the risk of material misstatement at maximum without having a basis for making such assessment.  As a result, the standards now require that the auditor make such an assessment of a material misstatement of the financial statement on every audit in order to have a basis for such assessment.  This program is an overview of the statement documentation requirements in assessing such a risk.

• Understand the basics of ADA and FMLA
• Know employer rights and responsibilities under ADA and FMLA
• Understand steps employers can take to avoid discrimination, harassment, interference, and retaliation claims

• Definitions of key terms under the FMLA, including covered employer, eligible employee, and serious health condition
• Timing and types of leave under the FMLA
• Calculating leave time under the FMLA
• Employer and employee notice requirements
• The definition of a “disability” under ADA
• An employer’s obligation to provide employees with a reasonable accommodation under the ADA
• Guidance on engaging in the interactive process
• Dos and don’ts of medical certifications
• The interplay between the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act

This program will examine the key business provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 enacted to help curb inflation, reduce the deficit, promote clean energy solutions, and much more.  Learn how this new legislation will impact your business clients.

*Please Note:  If you need credit reported to the IRS for this IRS approved program, please download the IRS CE request form on the Course Materials Tab and submit to kori.herrera@acpen.com

Most small and mid-sized businesses are at least considering cloud-based suites for business management, performance management, and productivity. Unfortunately, many owners and accounting professionals need to learn the difference between using cloud-native tools, employing a managed service provider, and utilizing a desktop hosting provider. This session helps participants understand the differences in the levels of service provided by these offerings and will also highlight some of the regulatory barriers which could create problems for your organization. Attend this session and learn what you need to know before saying “see ya” to your servers.

You don’t need an accounting degree to harness the power of Microsoft Excel. This course shows how Excel makes sense beyond dollars and cents. We will focus on fundamental concepts for creating, editing, and utilizing Excel content. Participants will learn how to use Excel’s menus and other functions to craft Excel workbooks. Because this course is designed for newer users, we intentionally offer a broad overview of Excel’s numerous capabilities with in-depth coverage of selected resources tailored for non-accounting applications.

Tax planning is more than an estimated tax calculation, it's a process.  Where are we now and what can we change?  This timely program will highlight significant 2022-23 tax developments and discuss key tax planning ideas for your clients as you prepare for the upcoming tax season. Don’t wait until late December to start planning for your clients!

**Please Note:  If you need credit reported to the IRS for this IRS approved program, please download the IRS CE request form on the Course Materials Tab and submit to leighanne.conroy@acpen.com.

A harmonious working environment is one in which people feel safe, seen, heard, and respected.  Critical to maintaining it are that employees have high self-esteem, are treated with respect, and work in a safe, non-violent setting.  This course provides practical knowledge and scripts on how to take appropriate action and deal effectively with discriminatory comments, sexual harassment, and threats and acts of violence,such that personal and employer liability is avoided.

As reported in the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Occupational Fraud 2022:  A Report to the Nations, on average, small businesses lose 5% of their revenue due to fraud.  Can the average small business owner afford to lose 5% of their revenue due to fraud?  I think not.  This presentation is designed to illustrate the numerous ways employees commit fraud in small businesses, how to detect it, and most importantly, how to prevent it.  Both auditors and small business owners would both benefit from this presentation.

Governmental entities are the second largest victims of embezzlement.  This seminar examines recent events involving the theft of public money and the circumstances that allowed the fraud to occur.  We will be looking at a variety of case studies to illustrate these points.  

This course helps the practitioner understand not only how to make the portability election, but how it can provide overall tax benefits to surviving spouses and beneficiary of estates that fall below the federal estate exclusion amount.  We will look at who should and can make the election, how the election is made and how to opt out, the requirements for filing Form 706, along with comparing the benefits of electing portability to conventional credit shelter trust planning.

**Please Note:  If you need credit reported to the IRS for this IRS approved program, please download the IRS CE request form on the Course Materials Tab and submit to leighanne.conroy@acpen.com.
 

The Enhancing Audit Quality Initiative has identified inadequate or nonexistent audit documentation as one of the most significant issues facing the profession. Over half of the engagements reviewed by the AICPA did not meet the requirements of AU-C 230. This course will look at common misconceptions related to audit documentation and help attendees address these deficiencies with efficient and effective best practices.

The AICPA's Auditing Standards Board has issued numerous standards that are effective in 2023. We'll review the impact of the changes to auditing estimates, risk assessment, noncompliance with laws and regulations (NOCLAR), as well as the changes coming down the pike for quality management. This course will keep auditors up to date on the work of the ASB.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, telework in state and local government was not often embraced as a form of employment. As the pandemic continues, governments are beginning to experience the benefits of remote work and are reevaluating hiring practices to offer more telework and hybrid work options, not simply as a result of an emergency. 

This course will review various telework options and best practices for success. 

PivotTables are widely considered the most powerful feature in Excel, yet most accounting and financial professionals do not use them in their day-to-day activities. If you are ready to learn how to take advantage of PivotTables or how to extend your existing knowledge of PivotTables, then you should make time to participate in this course. In this program, you will learn how to build PivotTables, how to group data inside PivotTables–including grouping options for fiscal periods–and how to create user-defined calculations in your PivotTables. You will also learn advanced PivotTable techniques, including building PivotTables that consolidate data from multiple data ranges and PivotTables dynamically connected to external databases and financial accounting systems. Additionally, you will learn how to take advantage of other Excel features associated with PivotTables, including Slicers, Power Query, and Power Pivot. At the end of the day, you willbe a master of Excel PivotTables!If you have been leery of working with PivotTables or have struggled to realize their many benefits, this course is for you. With abit of information, guidance, and coaching from your K2 instructor, you will be ready to use PivotTables to analyze and report on extensive data sets in a fraction of the time you are spending presently to complete such tasks.

The term “automate” has been an industry buzzword for at least a decade. Yet, few organizations have embarked on successful automation journeys, leading to greater efficiencies, reduced errors, and happier team members. In this session, you will learn how to crank up your automation projects and see first-hand how easy and effective automation can be. More specifically, this session shows you exactly how you can work with tools from Zoho, Zapier, and Microsoft to enable powerful routines that will allow you and your team to get more done in less time.

Remote work environments have created many new opportunities for cybercriminals and other fraudsters to exploit, and accounting professionals are some of the most commonly targeted individuals. This session is a series of case studies that examine actual criminal filings and news accounts and use them to highlight some of the actions you can take to limit your exposure to similar schemes. Attend this session and learn more about how high-profile control failures occurred so you can be more effective at preventing crimes in your organization.

PivotTables are widely considered the most powerful feature in Excel, yet most accounting and financial professionals do not use them in their daily activities. If you are ready to learn how to take advantage of PivotTables or how to extend your existing knowledge of PivotTables, then make plans to participate in this course. 

In this program, you will learn how to build PivotTables, how to group data inside PivotTables, and how to create user-defined calculations in your PivotTables. You will also learn advanced PivotTable techniques. Some of these techniques will include consolidating data with PivotTables and linking data from external data sources into PivotTables. Additionally, you will learn how to take advantage of many other features associated with PivotTables. Among them are Slicers, Power Query, and Power Pivot. At the end of the day, you will be a master of Excel PivotTables!

If you have been leery of working with PivotTables or have struggled to realize their many benefits, this course is for you. With a little information, guidance, and coaching from your K2 instructor, you will be ready to use PivotTables in no time at all. And with just a little practice, you will be able to analyze and report on very large data sets in a fraction of the time you are spending presently to complete such tasks.

There is always too much to do and too little time to do it all.  Fortunately, if you know the right ways to manage people, projects and your time, you can get on top of everything by working smarter. 

In Part 2 of this seminar we will go into more depth about how to get more done in less time, as well as how to not burnout from all the work you do.  We will discuss additional methods for working smarter through technology, communication, stress reduction, and creating smart and helpful goals.

In this session, participants will delve into the differences and similarities that coexist between the Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z in the workplace. Guided by generational whisperer, Summer Jelinek, this immersive session will equip HR professionals with actionable strategies to foster understanding, drive productivity, and promote a harmonious working environment, irrespective of generational backgrounds.

This session describes a state agency's quality review of a not-for-profit organization's A-133 Single Audit.  The case study describes the organization audited, its federally- and state-funded programs, and the CPA firm retained to do the audit.  Various anomalies in the financial statements alerted state officials to potential problems, and a detailed quality review followed.  Find out how the entity turned hundreds of thousands of dollars in bank overdrafts into hundreds of thousands of dollars of cash on its balance sheet.  Explore other “creative” ways to deal with fixed assets, accounts receivable, and related-party transactions.  Were the auditors just sloppy, ignorant, negligent?  Or were they active participants in producing fraudulent financial statements?  You be the judge.

According to the FBI, “white-collar crime is … synonymous with the full range of frauds committed by business and government professionals … characterized by deceit, concealment, or violation of trust …. The motivation behind these crimes is financial—to obtain or avoid losing money, property, or services or to secure a personal or business advantage.”  CPAs can and should play a crucial role in preventing and detecting white-collar crime, as well as in prosecuting the perpetrators.  This session will explore whether we are up to this challenge, heighten awareness regarding the CPA’s role as a front-line defender of the public interest, and assess whether we are deserving of the public trust we enjoy.

Based on an AICPA Enhancing Audit Quality study, 23% of all single audits subject to enhanced oversight were materially non-conforming with professional standards due to failure to properly test controls over compliance. 

This course will provide an overview of internal controls over compliance specifically related to Single Audits. We will discuss how to apply the concept of internal controls to various compliance requirements. Additionally, a common finding in the audits of governmental entities receiving federal grants is misidentifying controls and mistaking compliance for a control. That's why this course will also focus on identifying compliance versus controls over compliance.

The AICPA has determined that one in ten audit firms are not compliant with the risk assessment standards. This course will discuss how to properly identify risks and assess risk under AU-C 315. We will then review how to respond to identified risks under AU-C 330. The course will focus on the audit risk model and cover both inherent risk and internal controls. We review common deficiencies and how a proper risk assessment drives a more efficient and effective audit. 

Demands for an excellent user experience are at an all-time high. But how do you solve for easy collaboration, compliance, and workflow? What features do you need to be effective? How do you integrate payments, eSignatures, and other technologies to make interaction convenient? This session will explain the necessary features, provide an overview of the best technologies for collaboration, and help you think through how to solve your business problems. You'll learn about the options available from client portals, workflow management, payments, eSignatures, and more. Attend this session and arm yourself with the tools you need to succeed!

• Recognize when and why a lookup function is better than a direct cell reference
• Use three of Excel's many lookup functions
• Gain comfort with the arguments of the functions presented

• Using lookup functions as an alternative to direct cell references
• Understand the limitations of the VLOOKUP function
• Discover ways to move beyond these limitations

Privacy should be everywhere, yet every day seemingly brings a new story about a privacy violation. While it can be frustrating and sometimes scary to think about mishandling our personal information, it’s important to remember that we can take steps to protect our privacy.

This session will teach you where your critical threats are and what information you may already have at risk. More importantly, you will learn how to manage and mitigate privacy risks. In an era of increasing connectivity – and by extension, risk – this session should be high on your list to take as soon as possible.

Automation is a great way to save time and improve accuracy and effectiveness. It also allows you to get more value from your workday. This session will teach you how to automate the tasks that are mundane or take up too much energy, so you complete them automatically instead. One of the best things a person can do is invest time into automating their workday to help them achieve more work, reduce daily stress, and provide better mental clarity.

This session focuses on various tools and services you can use to help promote personal automation. In it, you will learn about technologies such as integration platform tools, Amazon Alexa and Google Home, and the Elgato Stream Deck.

The objective of corrective action is to change conduct through teaching.  Corrective action may be sequential, out of order, repetitive, or not appropriate to take at all.  The action selected should reflect the type, frequency, and severity of the misconduct.  Changing conduct through teaching requires effective employee relations skills. This course provides practical knowledge and scripts for handling a wide array of sensitive misconduct situations with good judgment, such that personal and employer liability is avoided.

Prior to the original SAS No. 82 on Consideration of Fraud In A Financial Statement Audit (now codified as SAS No. 122, AU 240), the word fraud never appeared in a single SAS, nor was it described anywhere.  SAS No. 82 stated that auditors failed to detect fraud for two reasons:  1) They did not know what it looked like and 2) They had not been trained to look for it.  Although the SASs did not provide any guidance, auditors have always been responsible for the detection of anything that would cause a material misstatement of the financial statements whether caused by error or irregularities.  (They would not even say the word fraud until it appeared in SAS No. 82) The standards were replete with guidance on the detection of an error but silent on how to detect irregularities.  Now auditors are required to document in every financial statement audit their process of determining the risk of financial misstatement due to fraud.

This presentation is designed to focus on frauds that were missed by the auditors and, in some cases, why it was missed.  There will also be discussion as to what the auditor must do in order to improve their track record on detecting fraud.  As reported on the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Occupational Fraud 2022: A Report to the Nations, only 4% of frauds were initially discovered by the external auditor.  It was reported that more frauds were discovered by accident, (5%) then was discovered by the external auditor.

If you...
- Produce or revise dashboards and reports
- Find your current reports and dashboards confusing
- Are frustrated by the length, complexity and structure of your existing reports
- Have many different styles of dashboards and reports in use and want to simplify things
- Need to create a consistent “house style” that can be replicated by different teams
- Want to look like a star by creating reports and dashboards that your internal customers love

... this workshop can help. In this session we explore the principles of what makes reports and dashboards easy, or hard, to understand, distil this into a simple set of rules and show you how to apply these rules using Excel.

HR Professionals are business leaders who, regardless of their level of experience, are responsible for maintaining a high level of interpersonal proficiency in their job function. The willingness to gain a genuine understanding and respect for diversity and the incorporation of a safe and inclusive environment of employees in the workplace, is a strong measure of the HR Professionals’ efficacy in this area. This training is geared towards improving and/ or elevating the HR Professionals’ knowledge of cultural competence in the workplace and what it means to truly adopt a culture of diversity and inclusivity. When HR professionals take responsibility for teaching others about the differences and benefits that multiple cultures and diverse backgrounds bring to the organization, research shows that companies are more likely to win top talent and yield improvement in customer orientation, employee satisfaction and decision making, as well as a cycle of increasing returns.

Please join us for a discussion on Treasury Circular 230 and other ethical issues faced by enrolled agents and other tax preparers.  In addition to covering the practice standards espoused by Treasury Circular 230, there will also be an overview of the applicable provisions in the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and common law which will affect tax preparers.  The discussion will conclude with other ethical issues, such as avoiding conflicts of interest, proper fee structure and maintaining competency.  Also included will be case studies illustrating dilemmas faced by tax practitioners.  

**Please Note:  If you need credit reported to the IRS for this IRS approved program, please download the IRS CE request form on the Course Materials Tab and submit to kori.herrera@acpen.com.
 

Cash does not manage itself.  It is up to the CFO to establish practices and procedures for the short-term, mid-term, and long-term management of cash.  Every organization needs to control the availability of the right amount of cash, at the right time, at the right place.   This webcast will help you gain insights in cash management that will allow you to function at the highest level.

Cybercrime is on the rise and CPAs that handle sensitive client data are often the target of cybercrimes.  By attending this session you'll learn what the eight biggest threats are to your business and uncover the three pillars of cybersecurity that you can build your firm's defense around.

• Understand the differences between a Power of Attorney, guardianship, and a will
• Understand the factors to consider in choosing an executor
• Understand why everyone should have a will
• Understand why a trust can be a powerful tool in administering the estate
• Understand how to care for a pet after death
• Review good practices in regards to estate claims and insurance

• Overview of estate planning
• The dangers of a Power of Attorney
• The most important aspect of a will
• Role, scope, rights, and responsibilities of an executor
• Benefits of incorporating a trust
• Bequests
• Caring for a pet
• Claims against the estate
• Insurance
• Consequences of poor estate planning

• Understand the advantages and disadvantages of the major pension-planning options for small- and medium-sized business owners
• Help clients evaluate pension plan options and select the best pension-planning option for them

• Factors business owners should take into account when choosing a retirement plan
• SIMPLE plans
• Simplified employee pension plans
• 401(k) plans
• Defined benefit plans
• Ensuring eligible employees are covered
• Employees’ impact on choice of plan
• Ongoing compliance requirements
• Establishing a plan after the tax year end
• Changes to safe harbor 401(k) plans
• Pooled employer plans

This course presents an overview of tax treaties and how they are used in structuring transactions and determining the tax impact of cross-border transactions.  It discusses the ordering rules for local laws versus treaty laws, and the purpose of the tax treaties in avoiding and eliminating double taxation to promote trade and investment. The participant will learn about  planning opportunities to contemplate when structuring foreign operations. 

**Please Note:  If you need credit reported to the IRS for this IRS approved program, please download the IRS CE request form on the Course Materials Tab and submit to kori.herrera@acpen.com.
 

Trust is essential, because without trust, there can be no teamwork.  Trust is like oxygen, when it is gone - we suffocate.  This session provides a 15-step action plan to gain commitment from your team members, build trust, hold each person accountable and create results for your organization. 

It's an exciting time to manage a public practice accounting firm! In addition to technical knowledge in tax, auditing, and accounting, we need to understand data analytics and security options in an advisory context. Beyond that, we must manage the practice and people while profitably delivering excellent client service in a competitive environment for the owners. Further, portals, CAS stacks, PBC lists, electronic signatures, Cloud, and robotic process automation are technologies we need to understand beyond our tax, audit, practice management, document management, and workflow systems. This CPA Firm Update session independently covers significant trends and technologies for CPA firms, which will help you understand your current and future choices. With such rapid change, what will your firm do?

This course covers the important information needed when performing Yellow Book and Single Audit engagements. Areas of focus include the updated independence requirements in Yellow Book as well as the 2021 Yellow Book Technical correction. We'll also review the AICPA’s reporting standard and its impact on the auditor’s report as well as the Compliance report for Single Audits. We will then switch gears and cover the Uniform Guidance including the most recent changes issued in 2020 as well as the impact of COVID-19 on Single Audits.

• Understand the key factors shaping the accounting profession today
• Analyze the challenges and opportunities arising from technological advancements
• Explore the evolving expectations of clients and stakeholders
• Navigate the regulatory landscape and adapt to ongoing changes
• Develop a well-rounded skillset to thrive as a modern accountant

• Evolving accounting landscape
• Data complexity in accounting and tax
• Value-added billing
• Artificial Intelligence
• Shifting client expectations
• Navigating regulatory uncertainty
• The impact of accountants on society
• Embracing change and innovation
• Pipeline challenges

Excel errors continue to plague organizations of all sizes. As spreadsheets become more common, these errors will continue to impact virtually every Excel user and those who rely on Excel-based data and analyses. Fortunately, that need not be the case because many options exist to prevent, identify, and correct spreadsheet errors before adversely affecting reports and decision-making processes.

In this session, you will learn how to apply best practices to reduce the error rate in workbooks you and others on your team create and edit. Equally important, you will learn how to use add-ins for Excel to programmatically scan and audit your spreadsheets to identify potentially costly errors while there is still time to correct them. Finally, you do not want to miss this opportunity to learn how tools such as PerfectXL, ClusterSeven, and ActiveData can help you and your team identify and correct potentially disastrous spreadsheet errors.

Join us for an in-depth webcast on Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRTs) and the essential aspects of preparing Form 5227.  This course will provide a comprehensive overview of CRTs, including their purpose, benefits, and practical considerations. Moreover, we will delve into the intricacies of Form 5227, the informational return for charitable remainder trusts, ensuring you have the necessary knowledge to accurately complete and file this crucial document.

During this webcast, Art Werner will guide you through the fundamental concepts of Charitable Remainder Trusts, illustrating how they can be utilized as a strategic tool for tax planning. We will explore various types of CRTs, their formation, and the different scenarios in which they are most beneficial.  A significant portion of the webcast will be dedicated to Form 5227, the reporting requirement for charitable remainder trusts. We will provide an in-depth analysis of the form's components, line by line, ensuring you gain a comprehensive understanding of the information it requires. From trust assets and income to distributions and charitable beneficiaries,
we will cover each section, discussing common pitfalls and best practices for accurate reporting. Mr. Werner will address the recent updates and changes to Form 5227, enabling you to stay up to date with the latest compliance requirements.

Over 80% of all employment-related lawsuits relate to termination.  Every termination should be treated as a potential lawsuit.  The facts supporting a leader's recommendation of discharge must be fully investigated. The discharge of an employee  requires prior review and approval.  Narrow self-interest, spite, or personal animosity must not play a part in making termination decisions.  This course provides practical knowledge and scripts for handling discharges with good judgment such that personal and employer liability is avoided.

When the leadership in any organizations carries out their responsibilities of establishing, maintaining and monitoring internal controls, it significantly reduces the possibility of fraud occurring.  When and if it does occur, a good system of internal controls will often detect it early on. 

This presentation is an illustration of what can happen when top management fails to carry out their responsibility of protecting an entity’s assets through a good system of internal controls.

Although organizations are trying to create and manage diverse and inclusive workplaces, many are not aware of some of the best practices and simple strategies they can incorporate to promote such an environment. We are currently living in unprecedented times. Division, bias, and exclusion, based on factors associated with social injustice and a general lack of appreciation for diversity, seems to have become our current societal norm. With the high stress and anxiety created by these current trends in society, it is even more important for organizations to provide a safe space for their employees where there is a genuine sense of belonging and fair access to opportunity. The goal of this course is to outline the relationship between diversity and inclusion, while providing very practical strategies for HR Professionals in their role to promote a culture of diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
 

We know that effective communication is essential to growing a career and a business. But we often don't take time to think through, concsiously, about how we communicate and how small changes could change the trajectory of our messages. This workshop is designed to give you a survey of multiple communication strategies and mistakes to avoid. We start by discussing how people make decisions--which is important to understand in the context of business communication and communication in the workplace. We then transition into common communication mistakes and actionable tools and tactics that you can use to overcome and avoid these mishaps.

In this comprehensive course, practitioners gain a deep understanding of strategic planning considerations and potential hurdles encountered when clients face difficult circumstances. Delving into an array of scenarios often classified as "challenging," the course offers tax insights. From divorce and personal bankruptcy to intricate personal relationship matters, participants will equip themselves to adeptly guide clients through these challenging scenarios by understanding the tax implications.

Financial managers and executives need to create cash projections that are relevant, current, and accurate. Too often cash planning is reactive, leading to inefficient, chaotic, and unreliable forecasts. Organizations never want to find themselves short in the availability or timing of cash.  Proper cash forecasting and planning can avoid such cash shortfalls.  This session will explore proactive approaches to cash forecasting.  

Are you  looking to fortify your practice against the ever-growing threats in the digital landscape? Join us for the second installment of our exclusive webinar series, "Mastering Cybersecurity," brought to you by Practice Protect.

In today's digitally connected world, the need for comprehensive cybersecurity is paramount. With cyberattacks becoming more sophisticated, it's crucial to stay ahead of the curve in protecting your sensitive client data. 

This webinar series is designed to equip CPAs with the knowledge and tools needed to secure their practices and client information effectively.

• Understand how and when to use the Table feature
• Comprehend the function arguments for conditional summing
• Discover how to use the mapping table technique

• Using the Table object to store data
• Using the conditional summing function to aggregate Table data
• Using the Table object to create mapping tables

Many businesses are being held back by legacy solutions. The old way of doing things doesn't work anymore. Instead, Software as a Service (SaaS) has transformed many mid-market companies. In this new world of cloud-based, workflow-enabled, data-centric, and connected solutions, you can solve existing and future business problems in new ways without being bogged down by paper-centric environments. This session covers integrated and ERP solutions that should work for businesses in the $10 Million to $1 Billion range. If your existing system has been in place for seven or more years, it is time to consider upgrading or replacing it. Leverage your instructor's knowledge of the market to minimize your risk.

• Understand how to submit a good whistleblower claim that satisfies IRS criteria
• Understand the process by which the IRS reviews and pursues whistleblower claims
• Learn about large recoveries by IRS whistleblowers
• Understand non-IRS whistleblower claim programs including claims arising under the False Claims Act, Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank

• Overview of the law that authorizes the IRS to reward whistleblowers who submit information leading to recovery
• Review of the whistleblower claim process
• Criteria for eligible claims
• Case studies of significant claim recoveries paid by the IRS to whistleblowers
• Issues underlying whether a practitioner should ever act as the whistleblower
• Addressing delays inherent in the whistleblower claim process
• The structure and role of the Whistleblower Office
• Best practices for the submission of a good whistleblower claim
• Working with other governmental divisions in processing whistleblower claims
• A brief overview of other, non-IRS whistleblower claims

• Comprehend and apply the FASB’s comprehensive new lease accounting guidance found in ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842)
• Recall operational issues in adopting the new lease accounting standard

• ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842)
• Overall lease accounting guidance
• Lessor Accounting 101
• Lessee Accounting 101
• Detailed review of accounting by lessees and lessors
• Sale and leaseback transactions
• Transition guidance
• Other operational issues
• Recently issued updates to the lease accounting guidance
• FASB guidance on accounting for COVID-19-related rent concessions
• Feedback from the public company adoption of Topic 842

• Gain key skills needed to manage effectively

• What it takes to be effective as a manager
• Exploring the challenges that get in the way
• Looking at the driving forces that have evolved how managers engage with employees today
• Motivating employees of multi-generations
• Twelve practices that can be adopted to influence employees to become more engaged
• Identifying what it takes to develop employees
• Delegation and accountability

The audit standards state that one of the reasons auditors fail to detect fraud is that they don’t know what it looks like.  Prior to the original SAS No. 82, Consideration of Fraud In A Financial Statement Audit, nowhere in any SAS was there a description of what fraud looked like.  So, as they say, if you don’t know what you are looking for, you can often look right at it and not recognize it!

This presentation illustrates some of the more common indicators of fraud they most individuals would overlook unless they 1) knew what they were looking for and were 2) actually looking for it.  Contrary to what the standards say about fraud being concealed, I have found that fraud is often laying on the table right in front of you; but no one has discovered it because they have no idea what the indicators of fraud are.

Target setting can drive breathtaking positive results, the moonlandings, the eradication of smallpox or the repair of the ozone layer, for example. 

They can also have a dark side that can put executives in jail, bring global businesses to their knees and even cause wholesale loss of life. 

Using practical examples and case studies, this course walks you through the steps you need to follow to design robust, effective and credible targets for your organization.

No matter what role you play in your professional life, being able to command an audience--whether of one or of thousands--is an important skill. Public speaking, no matter how you slice it, is a practice that is worthy of attention. This workshop teaches you approachable strategies to improve your public speaking and presentation skills, recognizing that everyone comes with different comfort levels and experiences. There is no one-size-fits-all speaking style, and trying to force yourself into a specific presentation persona can be more harmful than helpful. Learn actionable tips to help you be more confident next time you need to take the proverbial (or literal) stage.

This course will examine certain qualities a leader must exhibit to set an ethical tone from the top.

Business ethics is not something “nice to do” but can mean the difference between success, failure and survival in today’s competitive environment.  Being trustworthy, having consistent business principles and an outstanding reputation may provide an organization’s only long-term competitive advantage.  This updated webcast outlines eight steps to create an ethical business environment including specific ways for financial professionals to make better ethical decisions moving forward.

Are you looking to fortify your practice against the ever-growing threats in the digital landscape? Join us for the third installment of our exclusive webinar series, "Mastering Cybersecurity," brought to you by Practice Protect. 

In today's digitally connected world, the need for comprehensive cybersecurity is paramount. With cyberattacks becoming more sophisticated, it's crucial to stay ahead of the curve in protecting your sensitive client data. This webinar series is designed to equip CPAs with the knowledge and tools needed to secure their practices and client information effectively.

Working with a small business, you know that keeping the company's finances in order is critical to success. While numerous software programs and tools are available to help you do this, they vary substantially in many significant aspects. In addition to conventional options like QuickBooks and Sage 50, you can choose from Cloud-based tools such as Zoho Books, QuickBooks Online, Spire Systems, Xero, Accounting Suite, Accounting Power, and many more. In this session, we'll look at the best accounting tools for small businesses and discuss the benefits of each one. This session covers accounting solutions that should work for startups and companies with up to $10 million in annual revenue. We also cover various add-on solutions that can enhance the overall functionality of your accounting platform. Join us to learn your options for achieving your small business management financial goals.

As discussed in the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ Occupational Fraud 2022: A Report to the Nations, 86% of all frauds are misappropriation of assets.  Why is the misappropriation of assets so large?  Because there as so many of them it creates many, many opportunities.  And the asset which is stolen the most?  CASH!  Because it’s easy to conceal and you don’t have to convert it.  During this presentation, the many, many different ways to misappropriate (steal) assets and which assets (besides cash) are most subject to misappropriation are discussed as well as how to recognize such and more importantly, how easy it is to prevent it!

The tools for managing performance and addressing misconduct are not identical. The failure to point this out to leaders has often resulted in the use of the wrong tool. Reinforcing good performance and securing improvements in performance requires skill in coaching employees, making effective requests, and providing effective feedback   This course provides practical knowledge and scripts for setting, communicating, and enforcing performance expectations, such that personal and employer liability is avoided.

Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs), unique, identifiable digital assets based on blockchain technologies, have become a fast-growing industry. This course will provide a background on how NFTs came into the mainstream marketplace.  These materials will assist the practitioner to understand the tax implications of the creation, purchase and sale of these assets. 

**Please Note:  If you need credit reported to the IRS for this IRS approved program, please download the IRS CE request form on the Course Materials Tab and submit to leighanne.conroy@acpen.com.

Are you looking to take your PivotTables to the next level? Many experts consider PivotTables to be Excel’s most powerful feature. Yet, most who create and work with them barely scratch the surface of all that PivotTables can do. In this session, you’ll learn eight powerful features you may have missed. From user-defined calculations to consolidating reports and adding KPIs, we’ll show you how to get the most out of your PivotTables. These are just some examples of the great things you can do with PivotTables, and in this session, you will learn these and other techniques to make your PivotTables even more powerful.

Blockchain is one of the most-watched emerging technologies. Yet, few accountants understand how to use this technology to make existing ledger-based systems more efficient, effective, and tamper-resistant. In this session, you will learn the basics of blockchain-based ledgers. You will also learn about the fundamentals of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ripple. Additionally, you will learn about emerging issues in these fields, such as stablecoins, central bank-issued digital currencies, smart contracts, and sovereign identity management. By attending this session, you will see how blockchain-based technologies will change your work with others.

• Identify common problems involved in marketing CPA services
• State the common elements of a marketing plan for a service organization
• List ethical considerations and common state regulatory requirements CPA firms must abide by in their marketing practices
• Describe what survey data and statistics show about the effectiveness of various marketing channels
• Describe how to develop metrics to measure the success of marketing efforts

• Challenges of marketing CPA firms
• Developing marketing strategy 
• Elements of a marketing plan
• Example: CPA firm marketing plan
• Marketing regulatory/AICPA issues
• Picking the right marketing channels 
• Marketing channel statistical analysis 
• Developing marketing metrics

Auditors are required by Generally Accepted Auditing Standards to perform audit procedures to determine if the financial statements are materially misstated due to error OR FRAUD.  Unfortunately, in the past the profession has focused on misstatements due to errors and largely ignored to possibility of misstatements due to fraud.  While SAS No. 122, AU 240, Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit sets forth the procedures that auditors are required to perform in each audit to determine if the financial statements are materially misstated due to fraud, this program presents a practical approach to making such a determination.  It’s not a substitute for the requirements in SAS 122, AU 240, but rather an informal supplement to the standard with some common-sense procedures which are designed from my over 30 plus years of directing fraud investigations.  After attending this session, you will more than likely never look at a financial statement audit the same way.

In a surprise twist, Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was passed in short order after secret negotiations were revealed in late July, 2022. Seismic changes in tax legislation is currently taking place, and the well-informed tax practitioner will want to attend this two hour program in order to stay abreast of these developments!  This course will provide a concise look at these hot topics. 

Who should Attend:  This course is suitable for Corporate tax and finance executives, directors, managers and staff, CPAs, CAs Enrolled Agents, accountants, attorneys and business/financial advisors who work with and advise businesses that have these tax implications.  All in-house and public practice tax professionals will benefit from this timely and insightful seminar

**Please Note:  If you need credit reported to the IRS for this IRS approved program (2 Hours only), please download the IRS CE request form on the Course Materials Tab and submit to leighanne.conroy@acpen.com.

Due to the constant stress of a fast paced life, overwork, and family demands, it’s easy to feel one’s life is out of balance. When this happens, all areas of your life can suffer. By learning key methods for setting priorities and goals, overcoming stress, and deciding what’s most important to you, you can achieve new levels of balance and greater results. Having more balance in your life will allow you to do less of what you don’t want and more of what is truly important to you.

Most organizations manage their income statement, but many virtually ignore the balance sheet until balance sheet problems create seemingly insurmountable emergencies. This session discusses how to analyze and manage your financial statements more holistically, allowing you to identify and correct balance sheet issues early. How do you choose whether to raise debt or equity? What are the key considerations and the advantages of each? What is the cost of capital? What are the ‘hidden’ balance sheet risks? We will also examine several crucial ideas you can incorporate into your analyses to enhance performance and reduce risk. If you want to enhance your corporate finance skills, this session is for you.

• Avoid common mistakes regarding ransomware events
• Identify and respond to a ransomware incident

• What is ransomware?
• The growing threat of ransomware — statistics
• Remote working and COVID-19
• Ransomware infection process
• Incident response protocol
• Business considerations
• Legal considerations
• Breach notification obligations
• Steps to protect against malware
• Tabletop exercise

The Secure Act 2.0 was passed in a flurry of year-end legislation. This one hour program will cover the important changes that employers need to know about company retirement plans. Employers will also need to consider how Secure Act 2.0 will the administration of existing plans or the creation of new ones.  This course will provide a concise look at these hot topics. 

 **Please Note:  If you need credit reported to the IRS for this IRS approved program, please download the IRS CE request form on the Course Materials Tab and submit to kori.herrera@acpen.com.

Every business needs capital, and capital has a cost. Providers of debt and equity demand a return and the combination is the cost of capital for the business. This session discusses how to calculate the cost of capital, how to use it to make superior business decisions every day and some common ways organizations misuse this number.

Who should understand your organization’s cost of capital? Even if you are not yet the CFO, you need to thoroughly understand the cost of capital and its use. The cost of capital allows managers to, “Get the biggest bang for the buck.” If you want to enhance your corporate finance skills, this session is for you.

Does your firm have interest in expanding its’ services beyond traditional CPA services?  Do you have staff with the expertise to compete against non-CPA firms? Welcome to a course that will lead you through the maze of creating a successful Consulting Business Practice for your CPA firm. The course will help you understand: where consulting business opportunities exist, what are the firm’s professional responsibilities and most importantly how to recognize the needs of the client.

Tax compliance issues in estate and gift taxation are sometimes confusing to practitioners because many lack experiences in this area. This course, the second part of a 2-part series (6 CPE hours in total), provides the practitioner with a “hands-on” understanding as to how to prepare both the Federal Form 706 (Estate Tax return) and the Federal Form 709 (Gift Tax return). The participants will be shown how to properly prepare these returns “line-by-line”.    Mastering this course will allow the practitioner to gain confidence in preparing these difficult tax returns.

**Please Note:  If you need credit reported to the IRS for this IRS approved program, please download the IRS CE request form on the Course Materials Tab and submit to leighanne.conroy@acpen.com.

Tax compliance issues in estate and gift taxation are sometimes confusing to practitioners because many lack experiences in this area. This course, is a the entire 2-part series (6 CPE hours in total).  It provides the practitioner with a practical understanding of Federal estate and gift tax law, as well as provide the practitioner with a “hands-on” understanding as to how to prepare both the Federal Form 706 (Estate Tax return) and the Federal Form 709 (Gift Tax return) line by line.  Emphasis will be given on the various of the Internal Revenue Code Sections that deal with this topic (income taxation of estates and trusts).    Mastering these sections of the Internal Revenue Code areas will allow the practitioner to start their understanding of tax compliance in preparing Federal Forms 706 and 709 and gain confidence in preparing these difficult tax returns.

**Please Note:  If you need credit reported to the IRS for this IRS approved program, please download the IRS CE request form on the Course Materials Tab and submit to leighanne.conroy@acpen.com.

• Determine and expand the current use of data analytics within an organization
• Identify common uses of analytics in organizations today.
• Improve financial staff’s core activities (measuring, reporting, budgeting, and forecasting) through data analytics
• Understand traditional and non-traditional sources of data for analysis
• Explore and isolate applications for numerous statistical and software tools that are readily available
• Recognize specific areas where financial professionals add significant value using data analytics, either now or in the future       

• Definition of Data Analytics
• Assessing your organization’s current status and establishing an environment for success
• Financial staff’s core activities
• Common uses of analytics and current examples
• Behavioral forces that impact decisions
• Examples of inaccurate forecasts
•  Identifying strategic measurements (KPIs)
• Improving budgeting and forecasting and addressing Black Swan events
• Collecting and using data from traditional and non-traditional data sources
• Statistical tools, including Median, Mode, Moving average, Ratio analysis, Pareto analysis, Rolling forecast, Mission-based budgeting, Trend analysis, Regression, Z-Score (public and private organizations), and Simulation
• Analytical techniques, including Brainstorming, Mind mapping, and Delphi technique
• Software tools that are readily available and can assist in visually exploring data; expanding the scope of available data, as well as collecting, analyzing and presenting results (including Dashboards).
• Specific ideas for using Data Analytics, including immediate opportunities and areas for further consideration
• Expanded lists of readings and next level software for a participants’ future reference

• Understand how managing to millennials allows organizations to grow and reduce turnover
• Understand how other organizations are attracting and retaining millennials
• Use research to learn millennials’ expectations, strengths and motivations

• Understanding who millennials are and what distinguishes them from other sectors of the workforce
• Changes millennials seek in the workplace
• Suggestions on engaging and developing millennials
• Best practices by organizations who have successfully integrated millennials
• Expectations as to learning, development and training
• Work environments and schedules
• School to work transitions
• Views on salary, benefits and corporate ethics
• Whether millennials’ expectations are significantly different from any other generation
• Strengths millennials offer which set them apart from others
• Common myths pertaining to millennials
• Definitions of success

• Understand the fundamental legal principles of trust instruments
• Utilize trust instruments to accomplish certain tax results

• Legal definitions & principals involving estates & trusts
• Basic principles regarding property ownership
• Types of trusts commonly used
• Trust accounting fundamentals
• Certain clauses that are important to understand
• Formula valuation clauses
• Requirements for a trust to be a qualified designated beneficiary of an IRA
• Using IRD to fund charitable bequests

• Understand the basics of ADA and FMLA
• Know employer rights and responsibilities under ADA and FMLA
• Understand steps employers can take to avoid discrimination, harassment, interference, and retaliation claims

• Definitions of key terms under the FMLA, including covered employer, eligible employee, and serious health condition
• Timing and types of leave under the FMLA
• Calculating leave time under the FMLA
• Employer and employee notice requirements
• The definition of a “disability” under ADA
• An employer’s obligation to provide employees with a reasonable accommodation under the ADA
• Guidance on engaging in the interactive process
• Dos and don’ts of medical certifications
• The interplay between the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act

• Explain best practices with regard to progressive discipline
• Advise employers regarding steps they can take to reduce litigation risks associated with employee termination
• Understand wrongful termination and discrimination claims, including how to avoid them

• Defining progressive discipline, including typical steps in any progressive discipline process
• The importance of a fair disciplinary process
• When and how progressive discipline should be used, including using progressive discipline in the lead-up to termination
• Documentation best practices
• Limitations on at-will employment, including contracts and laws regarding discrimination and retaliation
• Avoiding key risks in the termination process
• Best practices for legally compliant termination procedures

The number of accounting applications available today can be staggering for businesses with up to $15 million in annual revenue! In addition, cloud-based solutions such as QuickBooks Online, Xero, Accounting Power, and Wave are growing in breadth and depth. At the same time, traditional desktop and client-server applications continue to add more features, including hosted options. On top of all of this, financial reporting and other add-on solutions can further complicate your decision as to which tools you/your clients should use. In this course, we will take a deep look into setting up a Quickbooks Online Accountant (QBOA) account. We will examine all the various firm, staff, and client configuration options for getting this to work inside your organization. This session focuses specifically on the configuration options for the financial professional. QBO is an extensive application, requiring you to ensure you’ve correctly set up your firm and client files. Additionally, we will look at the various import/export functionality for getting your data into or out of QBO and some of the best 3rd party tools in the Intuit App Marketplace. Participants will leave this class supercharged with the knowledge of getting the most out of their QBOA subscription.

Many businesses are being held back by legacy solutions. The old way of doing things just doesn’t work anymore. Instead, Software as a Service (SaaS) has transformed many mid-market companies. In this new world of cloud-based, workflow-enabled, data-centric, and connected solutions, you can solve existing and future business problems in new ways without being bogged down by paper-centric environments.

This session covers integrated and ERP solutions that should work for businesses in the $10 Million to $1 Billion range. If your existing system has been in place for seven or more years, it is time to consider upgrading or replacing it. Leverage your instructor’s knowledge of the market to minimize your risk.

When performing a financial statement audit, auditors have always been responsible for the detection of anything that would cause a material misstatement of the financial statements whether caused by error of fraud.  However, in the past the audit profession focused on material misstatements due to errors and more or less ignored the possibility of misstatements due to fraud.  Now, SAS No. 122, AU 240 requires significant documentation as to what the auditor did in order to determine if there any material risk of a misstatement of the financial statements.  This presentation is an overview of what the auditor is to document in there working papers on every financial audit as to the procedures they performed in order to determine the risk of a material misstatement.  If a material risk is discovered, they are then required to document what they did in order to determine if the financial statements were misstated.

In this course we will look at the highlights of what valuation is doing, how to go about it and what to look for in business valuation reports.  Areas such as types of reports, the standards by which they are prepared and process that is used to go from data to report.  We will also discuss the purposes of reports and how that purpose may impact the value.  Finally, we discuss how to determine the value of minority interests.

Being consistently ethical is a challenge. Most of us have had to make tough choices.  This session will discuss real world cases involving thorny ethical dilemmas and how to resolve them.

Being ethical is not the same as complying with the law and ethical issues are not always black and white. This session will review different professional ethical standards.  What does integrity mean in the office? If you want to learn lessons from the best in a short time, this session is for you.  Participate in engaging dialogue about how to prepare for the inevitable ethical situations.  These lessons are valuable for every business leader.

How do you raise your skills to the next level to master the Controller or CFO role?  Welcome to a course that provides insights that align the CGMA Competency Framework. The course will examine each of the areas: Technical, Business, Leadership and People to increase your competency. 

• How are your technical skills?  Are you a traditional accountant or have you learned to expand your technical skills to go beyond “what are the financial numbers?” to “why did these financial results occur?”  Are you able to use ratios to understand the business dynamics and the implications to change course or take corrective action?  Are the systems that you implement and operate best practices or merely stop-gap solutions?
• How are your business skills?  Can you set a vision? Can you develop a strategy?  Do you understand the macroeconomic environment of your organization?   Can you lead a major project to a successful conclusion?  This session will explore the role of business as opposed to tracking the results of the business.
• How are your people skills?  How good is your ability to influence others? How are successful are your negotiation skills?   How well can you communicate?  Are you a collaborator or a partner?  This section will help accountants understand that it is people skills that drive the overall success of the accounting operations.
• Finally, how are your Leadership skills?  Do you inspire staff or make them angry?  Do you know why your staff work for your company and you?  Do you understand what employees want from their position?  Do you know how to deal with a difficult staff person?  Can you lead difficult change?  This session will help you recognize what leadership truly is as opposed to what passes for day to day management.

"Transforming Strategic & Financial Management with ChatGPT: Insights for CPAs, CFOs, and Controllers" is a comprehensive 2-hour CPE course designed by Jim Lindell of Thorsten Consulting Group, Inc. This course delves into the revolutionary impact of ChatGPT on financial and strategic management, offering a blend of theoretical insights and practical applications tailored for financial professionals. Through an exploration of ChatGPT's capabilities in research, communication enhancement, benchmarking, risk analysis, and more, participants will learn how to leverage this advanced AI technology to streamline operations, enhance decision-making, and foster innovation in their practices. The course not only highlights the current applications but also provides a glimpse into the future of AI in financial management, encouraging professionals to embrace technology for competitive advantage.

• Be well informed on current topics impacting taxes, finance, and industry

• Each week’s topics will change based on the most critical issues affecting financial professionals

Cloud-based options of familiar Microsoft Office applications have been available for over a decade. Moreover, these tools have matured to the point where their functionality rivals desktop-based options. Further, the ease of deploying, accessing, and using these tools is striking.

In this session, you will learn about Cloud-based alternatives to everyday desktop applications and why you should consider adding them to your toolbox. You will also learn about the relative strengths of competitive services available from Zoho and Google and why you should consider these tools. Knowing all your options is imperative in the new cloud-connected world! 

The next five years are going to be eventful for CPA firms. The profession has never seen such rapid change, with new and changing technologies appearing almost daily! So, what will your firm do?

How can you keep up without getting overwhelmed by these fast-paced transformations in the profession and stay profitable during this turmoil? What are the best technologies to handle client interactions, PBC lists, electronic signatures, and Advisory services? How do the cloud, next-generation accounting software, and client demands affect partner profitability? Attend this session to get an independent overview of the state of technology in the profession.

Many organizations struggle to keep budgets current in an ever-changing business climate.  Twenty-first century performance metrics focus on determining what budgets should be rather than what they were in the past.  Using performance metrics effectively reduces work, reduces politics, provides flexibility and substantially improves the performance management process.  This session will show you powerful techniques to drive your organization’s performance.

Every business has risks, but some myths seem to damage or kill more enterprises than others do. This session will review ten of the most problematic myths that may doom a business and discuss action steps to prevent these myths from holding your business back. This session discusses the common myths, mistakes, risks, and hidden landmines inherent in every business. We will learn from the mistakes of others who often paid a steep price so that we may learn valuable lessons. If you are a leader who wants your business to become even more successful, this session is for you.

Welcome to a course that makes the process of M&A easy to understand and easy to implement within your organization or your clients' organization. The course will provide an intensive overview of the M&A process. Focus will be on practical techniques to guide you through the M&A jungle and avoid the traps that have befallen many organizations.

Google is one of the largest, most widely used and vital technology companies on the planet. Their name has become synonymous with search, knowledge, and cutting-edge technology. Google developed and maintains a wide range of products that have changed how we learn, find things in our community, and communicate with the world. Further, Google offers a business-ready cloud productivity suite used by a growing number of businesses worldwide. Google brings together a wide range of communication and business tools under one roof to serve as the backbone of an organization’s technology infrastructure. Most users are familiar with Google’s search service or Gmail but are unaware of the other services they provide. Additionally, most users barely scratch the surface of the functionality of Google’s tools and services. This course looks at the most valuable features, apps, and services of Google that the busy working professional could better utilize. Course participants will learn to find better web results using search operators and tools. Further, they will understand Workspace and use it as an organization’s back office. They will learn to create dynamic, creative, and useful business documents using Google tools. They will learn to back up and sync their electronic documents to the Cloud using Google Drive. Finally, they will learn to grow their business and expand their marketing using Google’s marketing and website tools. This session finishes with a top-five list of Google's best-hidden secrets and functionalities. Beginners to advanced users of Google products will leave this course with a much deeper understanding of the services, time-saving tips to use the products more effectively, and practical advice on how to best leverage their incredible technology.

Inventory is a wonderful place to both hide fraud and commit fraud.  The reasons that inventory is subject to so much fraud is the it is often very large, spread out over a large area, and many people have access to it.  When there are little or no internal controls related to inventory control, you are begging employees to steal it.  No with so many ways to dispose of stolen inventory via the internet, i.e., EBAY, inventory fraud is much more appealing to a lot of individuals.

The more common ways to commit expense fraud and how to cover it up will also be discussed.  Travel and entertainment are some of the favorite areas of committing expense fraud.  In addition, payroll fraud will be discussed.  Although there are many ways to commit payroll fraud, it is very easy to prevent.

This presentation is designed to familiarize the participants with the many ways to commit inventory, expense and payroll fraud, how to detect it, and more importantly, how to prevent it.

In trying to achieve life balance, various internal and external obstacles arise.  In this course we will look at these obstacles and provide specific ways to overcome them.  In addition, we will look at how to excel in every area of your life including your relationships, finances, sense of purpose, level of  happiness, and your physical health and leisure time pursuits.  You will leave this course with powerful methods and a specific plan to move forward in your life in a balanced, healthy, and productive manner.  Don't forget to take Part 1 of this amazing course.

Many organizations struggle to keep budgets current in an ever-changing business climate.  Twenty-first century performance metrics focus on determining what budgets should be rather than what they were in the past.  Using performance metrics effectively reduces work, reduces politics, provides flexibility and substantially improves the performance management process.  This session will show you powerful techniques to drive your organization’s performance.

Two seemingly similar products can have very different costs, yet many companies are completely oblivious to these differences causing them to lose money or competitive bids.  When companies compete, those with good information win the “gravy” contracts and those with bad information lose money on “dog” jobs. 

Attend this session to gain insights on how to win bids for the best opportunities and give the money-losers to your competitors.  Achieve your target profitability in the process.  

To move beyond the HR realm it is essential for HR professionals to understand planning at the strategic and tactical level. This session is designed to help HR professionals understand the overall strategic planning process so they can contribute at the executive level.

If you do not understand the entity that you are auditing, you won’t know what type of transactions they should be entering into.  As a result, you won’t recognize those transactions they should not be there.  In other words, you will be performing the audit without having any idea of what you should be looking at.  This statement requires that the auditor document their understanding of the entity and its environment that it operates in as well as assessing the risks of material misstatement.

Prior to this statement, auditors often assessed risk at maximum and did not evaluate internal controls.  A big change made by this statement is that, while it allowed the auditor to continue to assess risk at maximum, they now must first evaluate internal controls in order to have a basis for making such an assumption.  As a result, auditors are now required to document their evaluation of internal controls on every financial statement audit.

This presentation is an overview of the many procedures auditors are now required to perform and document on every audit related to their understanding of the entity and its environment and the basis for assessing the risk of material misstatement.

The Secure Act 2.0 was passed in a flurry of year-end legislation. This one hour program will cover the important changes that individuals need to know about contributions to accounts and new ways of accessing these funds.  This course will provide a concise look at these hot topics.  

**Please Note:  If you need credit reported to the IRS for this IRS approved program, please download the IRS CE request form on the Course Materials Tab and submit to kori.herrera@acpen.com.

How good are you with the technology you use daily?  What new technology tools are available that could save you time and make you more effective?  Technology continues to accelerate rapidly, and the need to keep pace is essential. If you are not an information technology (IT) expert but need a technology update to maintain and improve your skills to serve your companies or clients more efficiently and effectively, this course is for you!

In this fast-paced, update-style course, you will survey today’s IT environment, learning about computer hardware, software (including Microsoft Office), operating systems (including Windows 10), and what they mean for you, and peripheral devices. You will also learn about significant trends in information technology and how to take advantage of the opportunities presented by these trends.  Examples include the latest Excel features, working with PDF files, and security and privacy issues. Additionally, you will learn how to improve the overall performance of your IT investment, thereby increasing your return on investment.

Throughout this program, you will learn from real-time demonstrations of practical applications of the latest tools, which can provide you with the knowledge you need to harness the power of technology, both now and in the future. Register now for this “don’t miss” opportunity to get the skills required to enhance the value of your IT investment.

• Identify key provisions of recently issued SASs
• Identify the current year changes to the rules and regulations affecting 401(k) plans
• Understand the most common compliance issues encountered in 401(k) plan audits, pitfalls to watch out for, and strategies to ensure compliance
• Perform efficient and effective procedures associated with planning, internal controls, risk assessments, and detailed audits
• Explain the documentation and procedures related to plan mergers and acquisitions
• Discuss the best practices associated with advanced audit areas, including participant loans, payroll, compensation, and investments
• Understand the risks associated with a benefit plan audit engagement

• Audit requirements for ERISA §103(a)(3)(C) audits
• An annual update of the changes affecting 401(k) plans
• Compliance issues associated with eligibility and enrollments, remittances, lack of oversight, compensation, vesting, and other topics
• Best practices for engagement planning, internal controls, risk assessment, and detailed testing
• Avoiding common mistakes while performing audit procedures
• Plan mergers and acquisitions
• Common audit reporting and disclosure issues

Emotions get us every time. We all feel emotion. It’s what we do after we experience them that defines us. Emotional intelligence is critical in moving you, your teams, and your life forward. It’s all about your awareness and relationships with people. 

In this course, you will learn what emotional intelligence is and why it is one of the essential factors in determining your success in your career and your life. You will apply the four key areas of emotional intelligence and strategies you can immediately use to increase your emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence is a skill and practice that promises to influence your life positively. You will learn the value it brings to how you approach your work and your relationships with co-workers, clients, and customers.

The well-informed tax practitioner will want to attend this two hour program in order to stay current on recent updates on partnership tax!  Content includes recent court decisions on partnership tax issues as well as current updates to the new Forms K-2 and K-3. 

Who should Attend:  This course is suitable for Corporate tax and finance executives, directors, managers and staff, CPAs, CAs Enrolled Agents, accountants, attorneys and business/financial advisors who work with and advise businesses that have tax implications.  All in-house and public practice tax professionals will benefit from this timely and insightful seminar.

**Please Note:  If you need credit reported to the IRS for this IRS approved program, please download the IRS CE request form on the Course Materials Tab and submit to leighanne.conroy@acpen.com.
 

Human Resources is a wonderful profession, but finding the right technology is challenging. While you may think you have settled your information technology tools, you might be surprised by what is in the market that can help you do your job in the best way possible. We'll cover select tools to help you every day at work.

Join us for a session to help you find the software tools to streamline your HR process. We'll cover recruitment, onboarding, compliance, and solutions in many other categories. You should leave this session with more than a few software products and approaches that can make your job easier.

Excel is the accountant’s tool of choice for analyzing and reporting financial data, yet many use time-consuming and error-prone processes to complete everyday tasks. Regardless of your level of experience, if you use Excel, you need this course to learn more efficient and effective ways to work with Excel. In this course, you will discover countless tips, tricks, and techniques to improve your general level of productivity, reduce the amount of time you spend on mundane tasks, such as formatting, and customize Excel for greater accuracy and efficiency. You will also learn valuable formula-building skills, best practices for linking Excel data from other worksheets and workbooks, and how to streamline report generation and printing processes.

Your K2 instructor will reinforce key learning points throughout the program with practical, real-world examples that will improve your understanding and comprehension of the topics presented. This highly acclaimed course draws on over twenty-five years of experience in delivering spreadsheet training to accounting and financial professionals, which assures you of the relevance and usefulness of the information and guidance provided during the program.

When asked the question, “What would you like to improve about your leadership and communication style?” more than 65% of leaders say they want to be more confident and assertive in their communication. Confidence and clarity communicate leadership. If you are responsible for growing a profitable company or a productive team, you want team members who have the ability to reach goals, make sales, finish projects, and serve customers. Being a confident, compelling leader helps to inspire better relationships, promotes trust, and reduces stress in the workplace.
Lack of confidence and assertiveness can lead to resentment, depression, low self-esteem, and loss of respect from colleagues and employers. Confident communication cultivates cooperation, goal achievement, and a more respectful work environment. Clear and compelling leaders are better equipped to move projects forward and make things happen while improving cooperation and respect from partners and subordinates.
 

The COVID pandemic changed the way many people worked, yet others have had remote teams for decades and little changed.  Many organizations trying to bring people back to the office have experienced significant turnover.  Some practices have changed forever while some principles will always remain the same.  Keeping your people happy equals keeping your best people.  Learn the changes you should make now and the things you should do forever!

How well do you understand your organization’s cash flow? Good cash management techniques can provide a competitive advantage! This session shows you how to effectively measure and manage your cash conversion cycle. With a more complete understanding of how cash flows through your organization, you can eliminate impediments. Better cash management lowers your borrowing costs, reduces financing needs, and creates financial flexibility in your organization.

You may have read all sorts of stories in books about how bad people steal and make their coworkers and organizations miserable.  Come hear veteran Internal Auditor Rob Berry and veteran CFO John L. Daly discuss situations they have seen in the real world.  

This course is an updated overview of the single audit of state and local governments and not-for-profit organizations under the OMB Unified Circular, as well as the applicable AICPA standards for compliance audits. 

• Understand what differentiates highly successful organizations from their less successful peers, according to research
• Recognize the myths regarding organizational success
• Implement strategies to improve corporate culture and effectiveness

• Creating a visionary company
• Traits of successful, visionary companies
• Goal setting to create a successful organization
• The role of experimentation and failure in achieving success
• How successful organizations emphasize learning new skills
• The role of effective communication in achieving corporate success
• The importance of emotional intelligence in building corporate culture
• How leadership can direct a company toward success

• Understand how a partner determines and reports his or her tax basis capital account 

• How a partner’s outside basis and capital account differ
• Reconciling Schedule M-2 Form 1065 with Partnership K-1 Schedule L
• IRS requirement to report partner tax basis on the transactional approach
• Implications if a capital account is negative
• Deficit restoration accounts and qualified income offsets
• Modified outside basis method and modified previously taxed capital method
• Determining a partner’s beginning capital account 
• Beginning capital account for partnerships and partners consistently reporting on the tax basis
• The two types of adjustments under 754 and how 743 and 734 require different capital account presentations

This course is based on the premise that one typically hires for competence but fires for character.This course focuses on the character and trustworthiness of the individual.  The course takes you through critical attributes of character and provides for gaining self-awareness of where one stands in their character through a key exercise.  The emphasis is also on trust, a critical ingredient to successful relationship management.  Several  tools and approaches are discussed in the course that will assist and guide the individual in effectively evaluating the trustworthiness of themselves or others, including bosses, direct reports, peers.

Suitable for anyone with an interest in understanding the impacts of remote work on diverse people and promoting equitable outcomes that lead to a more inclusive work environment.

Although Windows incorporates the OneDrive app, you may not have configured it correctly for your specific needs. Using the OneDrive app and the related Cloud storage service to their fullest potential means you can access your files when and where you need them. Further, sharing your files and collaborating with others is easy when using OneDrive correctly. In this session, you will learn best practices for taking full advantage of OneDrive.

Microsoft 365/Office 365 continues to grow and evolve, yet most utilize only a fraction of the tools available in their subscription. For example, powerful resources such as SharePoint Online and audio and video conferencing can change how your organization communicates and collaborates. In contrast, more personal apps such as Teams, Planner, Flow, and Sway allow individuals to work more efficiently and effectively in virtually all facets of their jobs. Further, security enhancements to Office 365 mean that your organization can take advantage of all these features in a highly secure environment. 

Isn’t it time you learned how to move beyond the traditional Microsoft 365/Office 365 applications such as Excel, Word, and Outlook and unleash all your subscription offers? Join us in this fast-paced and highly interactive seminar where you will learn what you need to know to succeed with Microsoft 365/Office 365.

Good judgment works well in handling most employee relations matters.  However, there are special situations where legal requirements dictate specific handling to avoid significant personal and employer liability.   This course provides practical knowledge and scripts for responding to requests for accommodations regarding religious practices or disabilities, confronting employees in substance abuse situations, and handling disclosures of contagious infections so that individual is properly helped, and the health of your workforce is protected.

Unhealthy behavior in the workplace can create a drama-laden, hostile work environment, negatively impact productivity and increase turnover. When team members are focused on how they can one-up their counterparts or are fearful of their co-workers/leaders actions towards them – they are NOT focused on reaching your company’s goals. 
 

Internal controls are more important than ever, and their importance increases daily. However, internal controls present a challenge for many smaller organizations. This program will teach you how to evaluate, develop, and implement an effective internal control structure in a small business environment. You will identify how to assess risk in smaller organizations and implement preventive, detective, deterrent, and compensating controls to mitigate these risks, even without proper segregation of duties. Additionally, participating in this program will teach you technology-focused techniques for preventing and detecting fraud and securing information systems and sensitive data. For small organizations, maintaining an effective system of internal controls presents a significant challenge. Realistically, implementing many theoretical concepts surrounding internal controls may not be possible in some cases. Consequently, many internal control structures foster an environment where too much risk exists. This factor and uncontrolled information systems can often lead to disastrous results. Participate in this program to learn the necessary insights and tools to design, implement, and monitor effective internal controls, security, and anti-fraud measures in small organizations.

Are you running around with a fire extinguisher permanently strapped to your back? Do everyday crises run your life, both at work and at home? Do you find yourself
consistently taking care of everyone else with no time left to take care of you?

In this session, we dive into controlling your chaos and managing your energy. Make no mistake, this isn't your father's time management class. It’s an energy management class developed on behalf of and with tired, frustrated, and burned out HR professionals like yourselves! If you find yourself drained and drinking far too much coffee, this is the session for you!

The QuickBooks platform is a robust environment with features and capabilities that many users are unaware of or do not know how to utilize effectively.  This course helps you get more out of QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online and resolve the issues that even experienced QuickBooks users struggle with, such as locking down prior periods.  This program starts fast with a chapter covering the top issues accountants face with QuickBooks.  The day continues with practical guidance and solutions designed to help accountants get the most out of QuickBooks for themselves or their clients. You will learn about issues, such as setting up a new company, configuring and customizing QuickBooks preferences, and enabling system security and password protection features.  Also, you will learn how to lock down transactions in prior periods, the audit trail, customizing reports, exporting reports to Excel, and extending QuickBooks’ usefulness with tools such as the Fixed Asset Manager and Loan Manager.  

Leaders naturally wield power and influence. But, to avoid the temptation of abusing power, leaders must apply ethical behaviors for themselves and others. Words,
actions and deeds which demonstrate integrity and trust yield the credibility that make others want to follow ethical leaders. Betraying trust can destroy careers, whole
organizations, and lives. This is why trust is a top prerequisite for principled and ethical leadership. Positive (and negative) influence is derived from the credibility trust brings.

Ethical leaders who continually work to earn and keep trust reap enormous payback in all aspects of business including superior economic, competitive, and strategic performance.

Financial Acumen for the HR Professional is a part of the series "The HR Professional's Guide to Evolving Business Strategy, Finance and Development." This course identifies how HR Professionals can increase their financial understanding to participate more effectively with management as well as understand the financial results and implications for the business.

Our guidance on ethics comes from the AICPA and other groups, but it does not fully address the “why” behind ethics. Understanding what motivates people and understanding those people are key to both solving ethical dilemmas and workplace issues that can lead to greater job satisfaction and efficiency. To correct an issue, you need to delve into the root cause – the why?

We encounter pressure from many varied sources every day. We will focus on one of the more overlooked areas where fraud can be found.  Employees respond to pressure, and sometime the pressure leads to unethical actions. Where should you look and what should you look for? Risk assessment is not something ‘nice to do’, but it is required for internal audits, external audits, and every leader. If you are in a leadership position, learn where to look?

All business professionals need access to the necessary technology to help them perform their jobs efficiently and effectively. Yet, no one should overpay for their tech stack. Unfortunately, though, many are overpaying and have yet to realize it. In this session, you will learn valuable tips to help you simplify and economize your technology stack. Participate in this session to avoid the risk of overpaying for your tech tools.

• Understand how to navigate and successfully complete a simple federal estate tax return

• Changes to the IRS Form 706
• How to successfully navigate the form
• The ins and outs of the “portability” rules, including how the rules actually work using common examples
• Income tax consequences
• How to avoid malpractice traps
• Overlooked GST issues

• Understand how a client determines his or her at-risk basis in his or her pass through entity
• Understand how the at-risk basis calculation differs from a regular basis calculation
• Calculate the amount of an investor's annual at-risk basis
• Understand the structure of IRS Form 6198 and how it relates to calculating a taxpayer's at-risk basis

• Basis and at-risk basis
• How to calculate the amount of annual at-risk basis
• Forms 6198 and 7203
• When activities may be aggregated for at-risk purposes
• Qualified nonrecourse financing