CPE + Events Catalog

New personal financial planning strategies are emerging due to evolving personal goals in rough economic and legal environments. Drawn from recent publications and government directives, this course reviews the latest financial strategies and planning changes from the past year in insurance, investments, tax, estate and retirement, including Social Security and Medicare. Additionally, Randy covers estate and tax planning strategies that enable practitioners to better serve clients by allowing them to take advantage of new opportunities.

Staff accountants have specific needs when working with Excel – needs that are often not met by their existing Excel knowledge. Chief among these are the needs to quickly summarize data, prepare accurate and aesthetically pleasing reports, and create accounting-centric calculations for elements such as depreciation, amortization, and interest. By participating in this eight-hour session, staff accountants will gain the essential skills they need to maximize their efficiency and accuracy when working with Excel. This session begins with a quick overview of Excel best practices. It then progresses rapidly into discussions that address PivotTables, sophisticated formulas, Tables, formatting, and working with dates in Excel. Throughout the session, you will learn from accounting-centric examples to reinforce key learning points. In this session, you will learn in a “laptop-friendly” environment, and participants will have access to all the demonstration files used in the session. In sum, this seminar is a “must” for all staff accountants seeking to improve their efficiency and accuracy when working with Excel.  

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.

This advanced course is designed to complement the 4-part 706 Preparation Series and will discuss various aspects of the Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax.

This course provides a concise overview of how to utilize ChatGPT for advanced financial analysis in accounting. The session reveals how to combine sophisticated evaluation and interpretation of financial data with the cutting-edge AI capabilities of ChatGPT. Aimed at enhancing the understanding of an entity's performance, predicting future financial health, and aiding in informed business decision-making, this course goes beyond basic financial statement analysis to include a wide array of techniques and tools. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

This program provides an update to the latest tax developments, rules and regulations affecting individual taxpayers, including a review and integration of late 2023 -24 legislation.   **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.

Fraud continues to plague businesses at epidemic levels, and technology control failures are a significant reason fraud occurs. Using a case study approach, in this session, you will learn about the pervasiveness of fraud, the control failures that contribute to fraud, and what you can do to mitigate fraud risk. A specific focus of this course is the application of information technology general controls and information technology application controls. In this course, you will examine numerous reported fraud cases and identify the general control and application control failures that contributed to each of these frauds. By learning through these real-world case studies, you will be positioned better to reduce fraud risk.  

The Paperless Office is not a myth! With today’s technology, you have many fantastic options for “going paperless,” In this session, you will learn how to leverage these technologies for better document management and storage practices.

In tax practice, CPAs have significant duties to protect client-taxpayer information under professional standards, California and other states' rules about the practice of accountancy, under provisions in the Internal Revenue Code and other federal or state laws. This course will address those requirements in the AICPA professional standards and Section 7216 of the Internal Revenue Code. Companion course: Foreign Information Returns: Key Forms 2024

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.

Many business owner clients wish to minimize their Social Security and self-employment tax liabilities. This course provides tax practitioners with the background to understand what kinds of income constitute self-employment income and earned income. It covers strategies that can be used to reduce clients' exposure to the self-employment tax and Social Security tax.

This is a survey course on the intergenerational transfer of property -- focusing on what the CPA should know about trust instruments. It will cover a broad number of topics ranging from the fundamental legal principals necessary for the trust and estate practitioner to understand, to the ability of language in the trust instrument to accomplish a certain tax result.

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.

Technology has created numerous ways for us to communicate with each other - but it's also increased the number of ways in which the message can get garbled. Effective communications skills are crucial to successful management. Learn how to control your message with clear communications strategies. You'll learn to recognize communication barriers, assess styles and behaviors, and learn how to listen more effectively as well.

Fraud continues to plague businesses at epidemic levels, and technology control failures are a big reason fraud occurs. Using a case study approach, in this session, you will learn about the pervasiveness of fraud, the control failures that contribute to fraud, and what you can do to mitigate fraud risk. A specific focus of this course is the application of information technology general controls and information technology application controls. In this course, you will examine numerous reported fraud cases and identify the general control and application control failures that contributed to each of these frauds. By learning through these real-world case studies, you will be better positioned to reduce fraud risk.  

This course explores the FASB codification provisions and AICPA financial reporting framework for transaction with related parties, including business owners and special purpose entities. Real-life examples are used to illustrate the various authoritative standards and discuss the consequences of failing to comply. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

QuickBooks Desktop has been the go-to solution for companies since 1984 (Intuit originally created Quicken for bank reconciliations) and has grown into a powerful tool to track business finances. QuickBooks Online is one of the fastest growing applications in the accounting market today. With its ability to be an "on-the-go" solution, many service providers, entrepreneurs, and other industries prefer to keep it simple and use QuickBooks Online. Understanding the pros and cons of QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online will help you advise your client on the best solution for their business. 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 provides a detailed discussion on the key topics related to financial reporting, though in a summarized format. The course will focus on recent ASUs issued by the FASB with a concentration on issues of greatest significance to most accounting practitioners. Specifically, the course will review recently issued FASB standards on leases and provide an update on the status of ASC 842 implementation and other hot button accounting issues, such as what is on the FASB's technical agenda. This course is the place to go for a succinct but thorough update on the big topics impacting financial accounting and reporting.

Clients think that estate planning only applies to the very rich. In truth, there are many issues of critical concern for which the middle-income client needs to plan. This course is a must-attend for all Accounting and Financial Professionals who work with middle-income clients and are looking for ways to provide additional quality services. Updated for developments relative to estate tax changes.

This program addresses the critical issues and special opportunities facing S-corporations, with a focus on reporting shareholder basis and distributions.  **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.