CPE + Events Catalog

As the population of the United States ages, tax practitioners will be asked to advise their individual clients with respect to when they should begin to take Social Security benefits. This program will provide you with the background to knowledgeably discuss the benefit options available to Social Security beneficiaries and the alternative payment options available to married couples, dependents, a surviving spouse, and a divorced individual.

The QuickBooks ecosystem of accounting tools remains the most widely-used set of accounting applications used by small businesses. Yet, many of these organizations struggle because of inadequate internal controls. In this seminar, you will learn options for improving internal controls in small businesses running QuickBooks Pro, Premier, Enterprise, or Online. Participate in this program to understand how you can create a robust system of internal controls in a small business environment, including businesses using QuickBooks accounting solutions. In this session, you will also learn about the four common types of internal controls and how to assess the relative condition of the internal control structure of a small business. With this background in place, the focus then shifts to discovering the opportunities to enhance internal controls in QuickBooks-based environments using features found in the application. In addition, you will learn about additional internal control procedures for situations where you cannot establish adequate controls in QuickBooks. In sum, while many believe that QuickBooks-based organizations will forever face weak internal control structures, by participating in this session, you will learn how QuickBooks-based businesses can benefit from strong internal controls.

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.    

A discussion of the latest 2021/222 tax developments impacting individual taxpayers, with a focus on important provisions, rules and concepts. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Accountants are expected to demonstrate a questioning mindset. While such professional skepticism is an obvious requirement for assurance engagements, it is applicable elsewhere in the practice of public accounting. In fact, a skeptical mindset offers benefits to both public accountants and those who work in industry. This course provides specific examples of professional skepticism while suggesting best practices.

Tax rates, personal liability, operations – these are all factors to be weighed when advising clients about their choice of entity decision.  This session provides a comparison of the multiple entity choices to start the discussion with clients and selecting the best tax efficient option for them. **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.

Management Skills - Exhibiting Traits of a Balanced Leader-Manager provides tips and techniques for striking the right balance between managing individuals and engagement teams and leading the overall strategic direction of a firm. Short-term profitability and long-term viability are important objectives of any successful organization. Note: This course is recommended as a part of a 16-hour audit skills curriculum for managers, while it is also appropriate for anyone who has responsibilities for leading or managing others. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Valuation techniques and cash management activities are two other tool categories that can round out your analytical toolbox. This course will initially discuss how to turn your financial plan into a powerful valuation engine. We then will discuss the formation of an efficient cash management program based on solid banker relationships. Finally, we will review the ten steps for keeping your financial toolbox full and effective. Companion course: Corporate Finance Competency: Three Basic Tool Categories

The course will start with the Accounting Standard Updates effective in 2024 for public entities, private entities, and nonprofits. We will also review year 2 implications of the leases standard including modification accounting. We will then switch our attention to the items coming down the pike, including a look at the projects identified by the FASB's Invitation to Comment: Agenda Consultation. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Would you like to find important documents in 10 seconds or less? Would you like to ensure your digital information is safe and secure? Would you like to improve workflow efficiency? Of course, you would, and with some planning and guidance, you will realize these and other benefits of a paperless office. Naturally, no one expects a fully "paperless" office, but reducing the amount of paper we shuffle can offer tremendous rewards. This course will teach you the best practices and proven processes for effective document management. Participating in this program will teach you how to implement simple, inexpensive document management systems at an individual, workgroup, or small business level. You will also learn about sophisticated and comprehensive document management systems appropriate for larger offices and organizations, including systems with automated workflow processing. Your instructor will guide you through issues such as digitizing paper files, exporting and importing data from specialized applications into a document management system, essential hardware and software considerations, and the policies necessary to facilitate a successful office. Upon completing this course, you will have a comprehensive understanding of your options and a clear direction for implementing your version of the Paperless Office.

The War for Talent is bad, and it's getting worse. In their efforts to win the war for talent, smart organizations have recognized the importance of fostering a great work culture. Many of these organizations are implementing Servant Leadership as their desired leadership style. In this session, learn what servant leadership is, as well as what it is not. Also, learn the benefits of having a great culture, the basics for assessing your culture, as well as how to coach your employees using a servant leadership style. 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.

Each year, more states legalize cannabis (i.e., marijuana) for medical or recreational purposes. As legalization grows, so too does the cannabis industry. While some financial professionals have stayed away from this growing sector of the economy, others have embraced the opportunities the cannabis industry has to offer. The legalization of cannabis brings with it a complex regulatory landscape, which includes strict compliance with federal and state regulations. However, the complexity of this emerging market provides opportunities for accountants and other financial professionals. Behind the cannabis dispensaries are scores of related business sectors including food production, retail, farming, and chemical production, as well as facilities, design, and construction. Simply stated, the commercialization of marijuana offers financial professionals an opportunity to participate in an industry expected to reach $73 billion worldwide within six years.

Everyone knows that Excel is the most widely used spreadsheet application in the world today. However, because it is ever-changing, many users are unable to keep up with the latest features and capabilities of this ubiquitous application. In this session, we look at some of the most helpful new features and tools that have been added to both the Desktop version of Excel and the Web version. Content like this is valuable to anyone that regularly works with Excel - We hope you will attend! This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Security is not optional, and yesterday’s security techniques do not minimize today’s security threats. Therefore, now is the time for you to tune up what you know about protecting sensitive data. This program will teach you the latest tools and techniques for securing your data, including encryption, virus protection, safe communications, electronic signatures, secure authentication, and more. You will also learn how to implement a practical, five-step approach to securing your PC and the questions you should ask your staff to ensure server-based information remains protected. Security failures, such as a breach of client or customer data, are costly – they can even drive your company out of business. So, what security tools do you need, and how should you use them to secure your sensitive data and systems? Can you afford to risk attempting to manage today’s threats using yesterday’s techniques? Participate in this program to learn how to identify viable and practical solutions to mitigating today’s security threats.  

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.

The course explains why you need more than Google to search the Internet and highlights a rich constellation of alternative search engine applications. The session also explains how to set up your own customized online research management platform, and discusses dynamic search strategies (two-step, vertical and lateral searching) that can be used to gain an extra edge when using any search engine. Participants will walk away with scores of new knowledge sources and streams that will complement their use of Google and improve their online research power. 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 explores the importance of internal controls with an emphasis on best practices for small- and medium-sized entities.  We will examine the roles of both preventive and detective controls and practical, cost-effective suggestions for implementing effective internal controls will be addressed.

This program will examine the key provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 that was enacted to not only curb inflation, but reduce the deficit, promote clean energy solutions, and much more.  Learn how this new legislation can provide tax savings for both your individual and 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.

A discussion of the latest 2021/222 tax developments impacting business taxpayers, with a focus on important provisions, rules and concepts. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.