CPE + Events Catalog

What would you do if you only had one workday to complete a financial statement audit? How would you optimize just a handful of hours? What would you test? More importantly, what would you minimize or eliminate? Although one day is unrealistically short, it illustrates how risk-based auditing can help auditors optimize professional effort. This course emphasizes the importance of risk assessment for enhancing both the effectiveness and efficiency of audit procedures.

Following the ever-changing tax deprecation rules is not a game for the faint hearted!  This course analyzes the current landscape of depreciating, capitalizing and disposing of business assets, with examples and illustrated case studies to enhance the CPAs understanding of the most current tax depreciation provisions.  **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 course provides a concise overview of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting -- an emerging system of non-financial record-keeping and governance. Around the world, organizations of all sizes and kinds are under increasing pressure from regulators, consumers, employees, and other stakeholders to provide a fuller and more integrated picture of the way in which entities operate, invest, and create value. This includes taking into account how their operations impact financial, manufactured, intellectual, human, social, relationship, and natural capital. Participants will walk away with an increased situational awareness of ESG reporting, and an ESG starter strategy. This can be used immediately to position themselves for ESG success in an era of growing expectations for conscious capitalism, ethical investing, and moral leadership. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

This course dives into the powerful, but potentially under-utilized, capabilities of Microsoft Excel. Designed for sophisticated users willing to approach spreadsheets from a unique perspective, this program encourages users to challenge the status quo by considering opportunities to take acceptable spreadsheets to a new level. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Review options for structuring the sale of a C corporation business from both buyer's and seller's perspectives to minimize tax costs. This course covers topics not routinely considered in a tax compliance practice but essential to the sale of a C corporation business.

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.

It is now common for those who live to the age of 65 to expect to live at least another 20 years. With increased length of life comes the need to understand that certain necessities must be considered for elderly/disabled clients. We walk you through issue spotting, including senior housing and care giving options, guardianships, conservatorships, financial and health care powers of attorney, Medicaid qualification and asset protection planning. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

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.

You love movies. You enjoy TV. You read books. That's why this is the webinar for you. The best works in popular culture provide valuable lessons in how to live your life well. Sometimes they show what *not* to do, which is just as important. A good story well told is the best way to learn what it means to be both a successful CPA and an honorable human being. This dynamic one-hour presentation will provide you with a list of recommended movies, TV shows and books that are enjoyable, provocative (in the best way), and guaranteed to yield rich dividends. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Both businesses and individual clients face major changes as a result of new legislation, and tax professionals face the considerable challenge of delivering effective planning advice and services to address this myriad of recent developments. This course addresses this challenge and also encompasses the latest cases and rulings applicable to individual and business clients. Continually updated to reflect enacted legislation. Please Note: Due to content overlap, it is recommended that this course NOT be taken together with BIT4.

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.

Each year brings its own set of tax planning challenges, and this year is no exception. This course aims to arm tax planners with planning strategies and ideas that all clients, but in particular, wealthy clients, middle-income clients, and closely held business owners need to consider right now to take advantage of present opportunities and plan for future tax advantages. Learn strategies that can really have an impact on client lives, while also bringing value to you and your firm. This material is continuously updated for recent legislation impacting individual taxpayers.

A beginner's guide or a refresher on the essential elements of partnership and LLC taxation.

Cover the basic requirements for performing preparation, compilation, and review engagements under Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services (SSARS), including the new SSARS No. 25, Materiality in a Review of Financial Statements and Adverse Conclusions. Review common issues found on SSARS engagements in connection with peer reviews and the impact of various findings on the results of a peer review. Identify key issues to consider during SSARS engagements, and determine how to incorporate quality control recommendations and tips for performing high-quality SSARS engagements. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event

Do you dread that annoying ERROR! message popping up on your spreadsheets? Tired of using the same long, elaborate formulas when you could be using Excel's built-in formulas? Then this webcast is for you!

A business conducted as a C corporation can be purchased through an asset acquisition or a stock acquisition. In an asset acquisition, the buyer purchases the business by purchasing the assets that make up the C corporation's ongoing business. In a stock acquisition, the buyer purchases the stock of the C corporation that owns all or a majority of the business assets. The seller and the buyer are usually at odds over how to structure the acquisition. Tax practitioners advising their business clients should be fully conversant in the tax rules that apply to stock and asset acquisitions. Discussing and explaining those rules is the focus of this course.

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.

Many self-employed or sole proprietors find themselves having to navigate Schedule C in reporting business income. While this attachment to Form 1040 seems straightforward on the surface, there are many traps for the unwary. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

This course will allow you to get reacquainted with the statement of cash flows. We will refresh your skills regarding both the preparation and utilization of the statement of cash flows. Significant emphasis will be placed on the informational role of the statement of cash flows and insights that can be obtained using the statement of cash flows in concert with the other elements of a company’s accrual-basis financial statements.

Auditing Contingencies and Going Concern Uncertainty - Testing for Completeness and Proper Disclosure will provide tips and techniques for obtaining sufficient appropriate audit evidence to support conclusions related to contingencies and going concern uncertainty. Financial statements may contain significant uncertainties requiring special audit consideration for evaluating proper accounting and financial reporting treatment. Note: This course is recommended as a part of a 16-hour audit skills curriculum for supervisory or managerial auditors, while it is also appropriate for anyone who has responsibilities for evaluating loss contingencies and substantial doubt about going concern. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.