CPE + Events Catalog

Ethics and professional skepticism are a cornerstone of public accounting. This course will review the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants that practitioners must adhere to. This course will outline the pressures, opportunities, and rationalizations that lead to instances of fraud. In addition, this class will walk through some interactive examples to illustrate various scenarios of noncompliance during engagements. 

The course provides general information on how to identify money laundering activities during the conduct of normal tax audits. Discover key resources and tools available for effective detection and deterrence. Explore the impact of money laundering on ethical decision-making, and how examiners and auditors can assist criminal investigators in countering money laundering. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Fraud continues to be a pervasive problem for organizations of all sizes and in all industries. And it can happen to your organization. Accountability professionals are the first line of defense against fraud. Accordingly, accountants, internal auditors, external auditors, and risk management professionals need to develop the skills needed to prevent, detect, and deter fraud. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ (ACFE) 2022 Report to the Nations: Certified Fraud Examiners estimate that the typical organization loses about 5% of its revenues each year due to fraud.  The median loss per fraud case is $117,000; the average loss per fraud case is $1,783,000. 42% of frauds are discovered by tips, usually from employees. Asset misappropriation schemes are the most common (86%) but least costly ($100,000 median loss). Financial statement fraud schemes are the least common (9%) but most costly ($593,000 median loss). Corruption is the most common scheme in all global regions. These statistics are alarming and should be a wake-up call for all business and government professionals. The impact of fraud is almost always devastating and can be catastrophic. The 2023 Business Fraud Update is another fast-moving seminar that will provide a comprehensive look at the latest developments about fraud from the technical, legal, and operational perspectives and update participants on the most recent legal and regulatory developments in this important area of professional responsibility.   In addition, attendees will watch a unique and specially designed simulated case of fraud in a corporate setting and watch as the panelists, in their roles as characters in the simulation, respond to the emerging situation and deal with it as a corporate and legal matter to determine the fraud, identify the perpetrators, respond as an organization and deal with criminal and corporate fallout. Following each stage of the fact situation the entire panel will discuss the developments and consider how damage to the company could have been avoided and how it can be mitigated! **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.

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.

This course focuses on concluding a fraud examination and participating in court activity. You will learn how to draft an effective written report on a fraud investigation, including exhibits and visual aids that will help make your case. We will discuss common questions asked of financial experts and techniques for successfully testifying at deposition and trial. This is the most practical fraud investigation course you will ever take. Rather than learning only the theory of fraud, you will learn how a forensic accountant actually investigates fraud from the beginning to the end. We focus on forensic accounting techniques used in the field to prove what happened, who was involved, how much money was stolen, and where the money went. Reporting the Results of a Fraud Investigation is Part 4 of a series of four courses on fraud investigations. Each course is a stand-alone class that may be taken individually. For comprehensive instruction on completing a fraud investigation from start to finish, take all four. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Fraud activities can be executed from within an organization, by parties outside an entity, or by both. Importantly, as the business world becomes more technological, the way fraud is carried out is changing. There must be an increased focus on understanding where new fraud vulnerabilities exist. In this session, we delve into the reasons that both internal and external intentional defalcations take place. The material discusses the new ways fraud is being actuated and looks at the factors driving those that undertake fraud. We spend time examining measures that can be implemented in order to stop fraud via the deployment of added security across the enterprise. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Employee benefit plan audits are examined to help you understand the intricacies of EBP planning, reporting, compliance with applicable auditing standards.

Designed for accounting and attestation practitioners at all levels in both public accounting and business and industry, this course provides a comprehensive review of recent standard-setting activities of the FASB and AICPA. In addition to providing a detailed review of SAS No. 145, this course will bring you up to date on FASB and AICPA standards issued over the past few years. The course also provides many hands-on examples and illustrations to help you apply the guidance in practice. In addition to a financial accounting update, the course will discuss what you will need to do differently as you adopt new audit standards 142-149 over the next few years, including a detailed review of the new audit requirements under SAS 142. The course will also cover the key changes related to SSARS No. 25. Finally, the course reviews the AICPA's quality management project. In summary, the course is your go-to source for all things A&A and will prepare you for your upcoming engagements throughout the rest of the year.

Our guidance on ethics comes from the AICPA and other groups, but it does not fully address the “why” behind ethics. This session will examine and define what ethics is and what it means to varying people in the workplace. 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?

Master the critical tax accounting method rules and concepts. Timing rules are crucial knowledge for computing taxable income, tax planning and accounting for income tax. Discover favorable methods for small businesses. Learn how to select and adopt a method of accounting. Plus, review method versus error, timing rules for income and expenses, and inventory accounting. Examples and exercises are used throughout the course to illustrate relevant Internal Revenue Code, regulations, IRS rulings and court cases. Tax planning ideas and the relevance of tax timing rules to the income tax provision for financial accounting are covered. Formerly titled: Tax Accounting Methods. Be sure to register for both courses in this series: Timing Rules for Income Tax Compliance and Planning-Part 1 Timing Rules for Income Tax Compliance and Planning-Part 2

In recent history, even the most prestigious CPA firms have had ethical lapses and oversights that have cost them both financially and, at that moment, clouded their brand. This course will review the AICPA code of ethics for both accounting and tax practitioners and encourage you to examine your firm's policies and choices relative to those standards and common sense through thought-provoking and sometimes humorous Q&A and case studies. This course fulfills the four-hour ethics education requirement.

Though many clients see Social Security as a government benefit, it is a covered worker's investment asset to be managed like any other asset. Examine issues like how Social Security benefits are calculated, identifying benefit-claiming strategies, and what spouses can do now to maximize benefits at retirement. You'll learn how Social Security works and explore common planning situations-including workers with and without spouses, sandwich-generation families with dependent parents and minor children, and surviving and/or divorced spouses-and techniques to maximize your clients' benefits.

What exactly is cryptocurrency and its cousin named blockchain? Are they here to stay? This session will provide a big picture examination of the technologies and currencies by explaining how we got here. We discuss the systems and technical aspects of cryptocurrencies and blockchain. What is the broad view of the technologies that currently do, and will continue to, impact our workplace and lives?

Team development and performance are critical to leadership success. In this session, participants will examine team formation, learn about the balance between team performance and team health, develop team agreements, and understand the latest tips from Google's Perfect Team research to strengthen team experience. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Budget methods are the key to allowing department managers to efficiently prepare their budget in Excel. For example, a budget method may be to spread prior year actuals or match prior year actuals, or match prior year actuals less 10%. In this webinar, we will explore how to allow users to pick a budget method from a drop-down list for each account and then have Excel perform different calculations depending on the budget method selected. We use several features and functions at the same time to pull this off. Even if you are not involved in the budgeting process, the underlying features and functions discussed have a wide range of uses.

Nonprofit entities have a high degree of public accountability. This course will examine the most common fraud schemes and provide multiple examples of how to prevent or detect these schemes. Nonprofit entities have a high degree of public accountability. This course will examine the most common fraud schemes and provide multiple examples of how to prevent or detect these schemes. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Positive client relationships require work. Miscommunication, unrealistic expectations, and differing personality styles may strain a client's relationship with professional advisors. Fortunately, there are tested strategies that foster and strengthen client relationships. Creating appropriate boundaries early on is one of many effective strategies that can help. This course explores actions accounting and finance professionals can take to create and grow their client relationships. This webinar provides actionable insights on how to engage new and old clients alike. Strained client relationships can harm both the client and the firm's profitability. Yet automation, for example, allows some firms to remain more engaged while others miss the mark. There is a science underlying client retention that involves understanding the client journey, ensuring consistent client interactions, and equipping employees with the tools needed to satisfy client needs. Understanding these skills should help you protect the relationships that sustain your business.

It is easy for us to get caught up in our work, but it is better to examine the ‘big picture’ by studying the outside factors that impact our business beyond our internal processes and day to day responsibilities. We are sometimes so busy with our tasks that we miss new developments until the developments have a profound impact on us and the organization. This session is designed to review many of these current trends, while thinking and discussing how these trends can impact our organizations and us. This is a fun and lively session that is intended to be interactive with participants either live, virtual or both. Our ever-changing world is evolving more than many realize.

This session explores tools and techniques that can enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of client engagements and business processes using data analysis tools. We will introduce some of today's popular and software tools and examine the AICPA's Five-step approach to incorporating data analytics into public accounting engagements. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

The business structure a client chooses influences virtually every tax and financial issue associated with the business, including the business's day-to-day operations, its tax liability, how much of the owners' personal assets are at risk, and much more. For this and many other reasons, it is critical that a client choose a business structure that gives the right balance of legal protections and tax benefits. From a tax perspective, in terms of selecting an entity to do business in, the universe shifted with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacted at the end of 2017. The tax rate for C corporations was lowered to 21% and the 199A deduction offered pass-through entities the chance to significantly lower the rate at which they are taxed. But how do all these options work and which option is best for which business? Those questions are at the heart of this webinar. In this program, we discuss whether there is a "best entity" for our clients. Tax practitioners know that re-examining choice of entity determination is at the top of the agenda for client meetings because clients continue to want reassurance that they have the most tax-efficient entity structure. This program will equip you with the knowledge and insights you need to lead those discussions.