CPE + Events Catalog

AI is an extremely popular topic these days, and for good reason! However, does AI present yet another threat to your privacy? Get answers to this question and more in this session.

The AICPA issued new Quality Management Standards that require all accounting firms that perform audit, review, compilation, attestation, and agreed-upon procedures engagements to comply with the enhanced Quality Management Standards by December 15, 2025. The most significant change in the new Quality Management Standards is the requirement that firms identify and assess quality risks specific to their practices and then design and implement responses to each identified quality risk. This program will help you understand the new Quality Management Standards, provide practical guidance for adoption, and respond to the requirements of the new Quality Management Standards.

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.

Understanding the dynamics of family interaction is one of the most important skills in helping a family business succeed. This course takes a candid look inside the family business, and will help the participant navigate delicate issues while learning to provide counsel that will grow - or protect - the family business and non-family staff.

Elevate your data reporting skills to new heights with our cutting-edge course, "Create Paginated Reports with Power BI Report Builder." This two-hour, expertly crafted training is designed to transform the way you visualize and present data, leveraging the powerful capabilities of Microsoft Power BI Report Builder. Ideal for professionals who aspire to turn complex data into compelling, print-ready reports, this course is a game-changer in the realm of data visualization and business intelligence. Delve into the world of paginated reporting with a curriculum that balances theoretical knowledge with practical examples and demonstrations. You'll learn how to navigate the Power BI Report Builder interface with ease, design intricate report layouts, and connect to diverse data sources for comprehensive reporting. The course covers a spectrum of skills, from creating eye-catching visualizations to utilizing advanced features like sub-reports and drill-through capabilities. By the end of this session, you'll be adept at publishing and sharing professional-grade, paginated reports that can inform and persuade your audience. Enroll now and take the first step towards mastering the art of paginated reporting with Power BI Report Builder. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Conflict is often avoided, or dealt with in a passive manner. When ignored, conflict often escalates and can become polarizing. In this session, participants will gain insights for enhancing their natural responses to conflict, learn healthy communication styles, and build constructive behaviors to manage conflict. 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 will expand on methodologies to employ when owner-employee compensation is at issue. The session will focus on determinations of reasonable replacement compensation for individuals who both provide services to a closely held business or professional practice and also have an ownership stake in the enterprise. Executive Compensation in the form of options and restricted stock will also be covered in the context of marital dissolution proceedings. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

There are great opportunities in advance tax planning, particularly in retirement plan selection, which can significantly impact an organization's tax strategy. A business can optimize tax savings for significant income years if proper planning occurs on the front end with the appropriate management of its retirement plans. This class will look at retirement plans as traditional tax planning tools and unique opportunities that can be managed with proper timing and coordination.

AI is an extremely popular topic these days, and for good reason! However, does AI present yet another threat to your privacy? Get answers to this question and more in this session.

Small businesses have better options now than ever before in the market of accounting solutions. Participate in this session to learn more about these options and which might be best for you or your clients.

Are you ready to maximize the utility of ChatGPT? If so, participate in this session so you can learn the best ways to leverage this tool.

Sampling is often identified as a common audit deficiency in peer review. This course will review when is sampling applicable and basics of planning a sample. We'll then focus on the application of sampling in financial statement audits with a look at sampling for substantive procedures. We'll look at the use of monetary unit sampling and tools that can be leveraged to reduce bias in sampling.

This course will serve as an introduction to conducting effective walkthroughs to gain an understanding of the client's transaction processes as well as identify internal controls within each process. This course will review the procedures, questions to ask, and documentation requirements of walkthroughs. It will also include real-world examples of the red flags that may arise while executing a walkthrough. 

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 kori.herrera@acpen.com.

Storytelling makes wisdom stick.

This course will help you develop a strategic marketing and business development plan for your firm using 7 key principles to help maximize lead generation. You will learn how to establish and grow your B2B business in any niche using time-tested strategies, proven processes for attracting and retaining customers, and how to measure your results so you can spend your money and time effectively to own your market and attract higher ROI clients. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

With new accounting standards, the economic landscape and evolving technology, accounting, financial reporting and finance continue to grow in complexity. FASB has tried to address the growing complexity, by working towards making GAAP less convoluted.  The struggle to stay on top of accounting financial reporting requirements and finance changes due to the economy continues for several reasons. Lack of in-house SMEs, managing high volumes of transactions, and data and evolving information technology systems. In the future, executives must consider the challenges they will face in future years that will bring their own nuances and complexities. Budgeting is certainly one of those processes that must be evaluated and re-evaluated for efficiency. This session delves into the corporate budgeting process and discusses methods used and which methods may or may not allow for the organization’s to properly plan for a volatile future.

This is the beginning of a series that will cover major aspects of the Controllership function. Controllers are essential to the day-to-day accounting for organizations. Yet, the role is not often readily understood. In today’s world of acronyms such as CFO, CEO, COO, CAO, etc., the Controller function may get lost in the shuffle. However, they are a critical group of professionals who ensure the adequacy and transparency of accounting and financial reporting information. A Controller is an individual who has responsibility for all accounting-related activities including high-level accounting, managerial counting, and finance activities within a company. The duties of a Controller include assisting with the preparation of the operating budgets, overseeing financial reporting, and performing essential duties relating to payroll. However, in today’s evolving world, the Controller function can provide much more in-depth value to their organizations. This series is dedicated to exploring the traditional Controller role and stepping out of the box to identify areas where the Controller can add strategic value to their organizations. In this first course we focus on the typical Controller function and begin to identify ways to elevate the function.  

A detailed analysis of the calculations related to determining a shareholder's tax basis for S corporation shares and loans. How to use the Form 1120S, Schedule K-1 information for basis determination. An illustrative example demonstrates how the process works, as well as the many potential pitfalls. **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 topic of ethics has seemed to permeate every aspect of today’s business including occupying a significant spot in today’s business, educational and professional curriculum. Yet with all the discussion and awareness on the topic, why is it that significant ethical dilemmas and incidents continue to impact our daily lives? The concept of ethics is based in moral philosophy. In part, that is why it is such a difficult issue to “manage”. We often get caught between our independent moral ethical duty, the legal or compliance viewpoint of an issue and management concerns around reputation and ramifications. This course is dedicated to examining a time-line of historical ethical issues that have plagued the business world, evaluating the moral and perceived concepts around ethics, and taking a practical look at how moral and ethical concepts impact the creation of an ethical culture.