CPE + Events Catalog

This course provides a high-level overview and introduction into the world of the forensic accountant. Most accountants have an understanding of the concept of fraud and how it impacts companies, but many individuals do not have a full comprehension of the variance in the work performed by a forensic accountant versus a typical management accountant.   This course is meant for those individuals interested in understanding the variances in the job tasks and responsibilities of forensic accountants versus typical financial or management accountants. Forensic accountants or auditors take a unique focus on performing their work.  Typically, when a person with forensic experience is called in to examine financial records, it is due to suspicion of fraud, evaluation of assets, or even to track down fundamentally incorrect accounting – intentional or not. As fraud continues to raise its head in business processes, forensic accountants are discovering new and unique ways to identify, examine, and support their hypotheses and investigative techniques.  The work performed by a forensic specialist can be interesting and full of potential potholes if evidence isn’t examined according to proper protocols and standards.  

What can we learn from one of the largest municipal frauds in U.S. history? Rita Crundwell stole nearly $54 million from the citizens of Dixon, Illinois over the course of two decades. This course examines circumstances that allowed this landmark fraud to occur. We will explore internal control deficiencies and other circumstances that hindered prevention or timely detection of Rita's scheme. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Fraud is constantly in the news. Whether its employee retention credit mills, FTX, the City of Dixon, it appears like fraud is everywhere. We'll start this session with a review of the common fraud schemes as identified in the 2024 Report to the Nations. We'll also review the commonalities of fraudsters. We'll then look at methods of prevention. We'll close with a look at the auditor's responsibility for the consideration of fraud in AU-C 240.

New features in Excel provide tremendous opportunities to improve Excel-based operational and financial reports. For example, Data Models, Power Query, Data Analysis Expressions, Power Pivot, and many others can help you create more powerful summaries and schedules in less time than ever. Bundle these tools with some of Excel’s “legacy” features, and you have significant new opportunities to improve your Excel-based reporting environments. In this fast-paced seminar, you will learn about the importance of using Power Query to link data into Excel data models and how you can manage these data models to facilitate better and more efficient reporting. Additionally, you will learn how to incorporate Key Performance Indicators, Slicers, and Timelines into your reports to enhance the analytics and understandability of the data. Further, you will learn best practices to quickly and easily format your spreadsheets to give them a polished and professional appearance. This course should be at the top of your professional development list if you use Excel for any reporting process.

This updated course offers an in-depth look at the FASB leases standard (ASC 842), which requires organizations to recognize lease assets and liabilities on the balance sheet. This comprehensive course will cover recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure requirements, while also focusing on a critical area of change which is the proper identification of a lease using a principles-based approach. We will discuss implementation requirements from both the lessee and lessor accounting models.  In addition, we explore a variety of scenarios, including short-term leases, purchase options, variable lease payments, and remeasurement. This course offers practical journal entry examples, lessons learned from implementation, and explores recently issued amendments to the lease accounting guidance.

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.  

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.  

Implementing ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) is sure to have a major impact on your balance sheet and potentially on your business as well. This course is a one-stop shop for what you need to know about the now-effective changes to the lease accounting guidance. In this course, we will review how to measure the lease liability and right-of-use asset that will now be recorded on the balance sheet for all leases. We will also tackle the tricky issues of accounting for lease modifications and other lease remeasurement events as well as address the other major provisions of ASC 842, such as disclosures and transition. We will also review the income statement treatment of lease expense for all leases for both lessees and lessors and discuss recent FASB implementation guidance. Lastly, the course will cover all recent updates to the originally issued guidance in Topic 842, including that related to discount rates. With Topic 842's effective date here, now is the time to get up to speed on this complex new standard.

Specifically designed for preparation, compilation, and review practitioners, this course will provide you with a comprehensive review and hands-on application for performing financial statement preparation, compilation, and review engagements. You will learn the ins and outs of applying SSARS No. 21, Clarification and Recodification, as well as the additional guidance related to SSARS engagements through the issuance of SSARS Nos. 22-25 by the ARSC. The course will also review recent peer review feedback on SSARS engagements, providing insights on how to successfully apply this guidance. Not only will this course bring you up to date on SSARSs requirements and guidance, but more importantly, it will provide you with practical examples and illustrations to help you effectively and efficiently perform compilation, preparation, and review engagements.

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.

Award winning discussion leader Mark Hugh discusses both nexus basics and new developments in the dynamic, ever changing world of state income and sales tax nexus. This valuable course answers your frequently asked questions, reviews key factors in examining potential nexus consequences, takes a tour through the rules in states comprising 50% of the US, and identifies free, online multistate resources. 

Add an invaluable skill set to your career. Showcasing a comprehensive cost accounting system of an actual company. Precisely identify direct costs for individual products and services. How to link direct costs with other direct costs. Identify certain fluctuating variable and semi-fixed costs that are, in fact, direct costs. Budgeting techniques for setting accurate standard costs and guidelines for revising standards during the year. Manufacturing overhead costs - how to identify, classify, and trace products. How to handle Phantom sub-assembly costing issues. How to account for costs when manufacturing deviates from normal operations - outside temporary contractors. Applying costing principles to a process cost system and a project cost system. Example of a best-in-class chart of accounts for management reporting.

Financial skills needed in many situations are constantly changing.  It is prudent to routinely look into your toolbox to restock or revise your tool set.  In this course we will examine three tool categories that form the foundation for many analytical processes.

Do you find yourself challenged to achieve the results you want? While leading employees can be one of the most challenging activities, it is also one of the most impactful leadership skills few seem to master. Inspirational leadership looks like lifelong employees reaching their full potential AND impactful business results that are repeated year after year. Striking the balance between these two critical aspects does not have to be rocket science. In this power-packed course, the formula to be an Inspirational leader has been masterfully developed and covers the soft skills of Inspirational leadership and the Results Model: Goal Setting + Coaching + Follow Up with proven results from dozens of both large and small companies. These cornerstones are simple but can be hard to execute because it is HOW you do it first, then WHAT you do second. This exciting course is designed to ignite your leadership skills by putting theory into practice; drilling into real live examples and experiencing first-hand what excellence sounds like through role-playing and building your action plan. Get ready to become an inspirational leader and learn the steps required to get the results you really want. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

This session provides a refresher regarding the fundamentals of activity-based costing (ABC). We will examine theoretical concepts before exploring practical possibilities for implementing ABC. A major focus of the course will be factors to consider when determining whether this managerial accounting tool is an appropriate resource for an organization. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Award winning discussion leader, former AICPA Council Member, and former state accountancy board member Mark Hugh will review the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct and its interpretations; discuss new developments in regulation at the national and state level; and discuss examples of best practices, case studies, and disciplinary actions.

Even though they have been around for several years, the tax laws pertaining to S corporations remain some of the more difficult areas of the Internal Revenue Code. Given the rising popularity of S corporations, understanding how shareholder basis and the equity section of the balance sheet work together for tax purposes is imperative for nearly any tax practitioner. In this course, we will discuss this relationship. Using examples and illustrations, we will show how contributions, operating transactions, and distributions affect shareholder basis as well as equity.

Be the go-to person on financial statement compilation and preparation engagements. Specifically designed for those performing preparation and compilation engagements, this course will provide you with a hands-on application for performing preparation and compilation engagements under AR-C Section 70 and 80, respectively. You will learn the ins and outs of relevant sections of the SSARS related to preparation and compilation engagements with a focus on how recently issued updates to SSARS No. 21 impact these engagements. More importantly, you will be provided practical examples and illustrations to help you effectively and efficiently perform those engagements, including a detailed discussion of the reporting requirements under AR-C 80 related to compilation engagement. Lastly, the course will review recent peer review feedback on these types of engagements, highlighting areas where you can improve engagement quality.

Payroll is among the most common tasks an employer undertakes in the course of running their business. At its most basic level, payroll consists of an agreement between an employer and employee related to compensation for services. Once you look under the hood, there is so much more to payroll, including various kinds of compensation, payroll taxes and required reporting on government forms. This course will provide a general introduction to the inner workings of payroll and payroll taxes. We will introduce you to the various types of payroll statutory and withholding taxes, under what conditions and which employees these various types of taxes apply, how to calculate, withhold and deposit those taxes and the related due dates requirements that apply to payroll taxes. This course will include real-life examples of how to process payroll, the withholding and payroll tax deposit regime, familiar payroll forms, and tips and tricks for tying it all together. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

In February 2016, FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases, which provides new guidelines that change the accounting for leasing arrangements. To be able to properly account for leases, financial professionals must understand ASU 2016-02 (also referred to as Topic 842). This guidance covers information on how leases should be accounted for. The previous leasing standard (ASC 840) had been in existence for almost 40 years. Under ASC Topic 842, lessors continue to classify leases as operating, direct financing, or sales-type. While lessees now classify leases as operating or financing leases. Previous guidance only required capital leases to be reflected on the BS. The new guidance requires all leases to be reflected on the BS. This is a major change for organizations and will cause their balance sheets to swell as leases must now be disclosed on the balance sheet. The standards original effective dates were prior to 2019. In April 2020, due to COVID-19, FASB voted to defer the effective date for ASC 842 for private companies and certain not-for-profit's for one year. For private companies and private not-for-profits, the leasing standard will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022. For public companies the leasing standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The course covers elements of lease classification for both lessees and lessors. Also, numerous examples are incorporated as reference.