CPE Catalog & Events

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.

What's new in Peer Review? During this quarterly webcast, we will update peer reviewers on key recent developments in the AICPA Peer Review program. Please be sure to submit your questions and suggested topics to Peer Review staff so it can be addressed during the presentation!

Peer review deficiencies and professional liability claims result from both audit and nonaudit services. This course will provide best practices for avoiding legal liability and quality control concerns for a wide variety of professional services offered by public accountants.

What you document matters Understand different parts of the employee benefit plan (EBP) audit process, and learn to think holistically about your level of audit documentation. Understand the appropriate level of documentation in the performance of audit procedures of employee benefit plans, which will involve testing items that are not typically tested in audits of other types of entities. Real-life examples Learn from real-life examples and solutions, guided by a former employee benefit plan expert panel member and someone who performs peer reviews. Work in templates to truly understand documentation in an EBP audit, and learn best practices for documentation to incorporate into your audits.

The AICPA has identified risk assessment as an area of focus for its Enhancing Audit Quality Initiative as deficiencies in auditor's risk assessment procedures continue to be a common issue identified in peer review. SAS No. 145, Understanding the Entity and Its Environment and Assessing the Risks of Material Misstatement, was written to improve the quality of risk-based audits. While key concepts do not fundamentally change, the standard works to clarify and enhance certain aspects of the identification and assessment of the risks of material misstatement to drive better risk assessments and hopefully overall enhance audit quality. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Peer review deficiencies commonly relate to the design, documentation, and evaluation of the results of analytical procedures.  This course will provide examples of how to strengthen evidence resulting from preliminary, substantive, and final analytics. It will reinforce the elements of strong analytical procedures that may enhance the quality of audits.

This course is designed to refresh your understanding of the critical importance of risk assessment in the audit practice. We'll briefly discuss the impact of AICPA's Clarity Project for audits and the need to update firm processes to incorporate the risk assessment standards. Participants may alternatively need to fine-tune an implementation of the risk assessment standards. These standards are designed to eliminate the connect-the-dots methodology of checklist auditing and add critical thinking back into the audit process. They remain a problem area for many firms, resulting in engagement and peer review deficiencies. This course has been updated to include a more in-depth discussion of SAS No. 145, Understanding the Entity and Its Environment and Assessing the Risks of Material Misstatement. We will break down this complex and misunderstood subject with an easy-to-understand approach.

Accurately identifying and testing controls over compliance is critical, yet it remains a common deficiency highlighted in peer reviews. This course offers a comprehensive overview of internal controls over compliance, with a focus on their application to Single Audits. Participants will learn how to effectively align internal controls with specific compliance requirements. Additionally, we will address one of the most frequent findings in audits of governmental entities receiving federal grants: the misidentification of controls and the confusion between compliance and control processes. This course will help clarify the distinction, equipping you with the tools to enhance audit quality and ensure compliance effectiveness.

Preparation, compilation and review engagements continue to be a hot topic for peer review despite SSARS 21 having been around for nearly a decade. This course will concentrate on the most common peer review findings with a focus on how to comply in an efficient but practical perspective. This course will discuss the root cause of noncompliance so that overall engagement quality increases.

Yellow Book and Single Audit engagements are considered must-select engagements for peer review. This course will review the common deficiencies noted by peer reviewers and federal agencies. We'll focus on the requirements of Yellow Book independence, CPE, and reporting. We will also review deficiencies related to internal controls over compliance, compliance testing, and major program determination for Single Audits. We'll close the course with a look at the deficiencies often identified in COVID-related funds.

The majority of peer review deficiencies and malpractice claims result from nonaudit services. This course will provide best practices for avoiding legal liability and quality control concerns.

This course will focus on preparing financial statement audit documentation critical for high quality audits that can pass peer review.

Required Peer Reviews are an important element for ensuring high quality audit and attest services are being offered by CPAs. This course will explore the most common deficiencies identified through the Peer Review program, so that CPAs know what potential problems to avoid.

Specifically designed for preparation, compilation, and review practitioners, this course provides 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 additional guidance related to SSARS engagements through the issuance of SSARS Nos. 22-27 by the AICPA's Accounting and Review Services Committee (ARSC). The course also reviews 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.

This course covers recently issued standards from the AICPA Auditing Standards Board and AICPA Accounting and Review Services Committee including the new Quality Management Standards. The session will highlight projects in progress at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, and International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board. The course will also recap recent changes and present common peer review findings and best practices to improve practice quality. 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 provide a general understanding of the new reporting and disclosure requirements for employee benefit plans under the now effective SAS 136, the AICPA's new employee benefit plan auditing standard. Participants will be provided with an insight into the common errors and mistakes made by auditors and plan administrators, as well as the new requirements of both groups under the new SAS. The course will discuss the results from the Department of Labor's ("DOL") Criminal Enforcement initiative and audit quality study, and focus on the causes of the recent increase in the number of deficient engagements identified by the peer review process. This course will provide auditors and plan administrators with up-to-date information regarding defined contribution plans auditing, reporting and disclosure requirements, including those related to the new ERISA Section 103(A)(3)(c) audits under SAS 136.

Preparation, compilation and review engagements continue to be a hot topic for peer review despite SSARS 21 having been around for nearly a decade. This course will concentrate on the most common peer review findings with a focus on how to comply in an efficient but practical perspective. This course will discuss the root cause of noncompliance so that overall engagement quality increases.

If you perform Yellow Book audits and/or single audits, it is a given that a peer reviewer will be looking at your work on those engagements! Why fret and sweat about what peer reviewers are going to be looking for? In this course, we will explore the key audit requirements that peer reviewers focus on, how the auditor complies with those requirements, and common pitfalls seen in Yellow Book and single audits. This course will help you proceed and succeed in your Yellow Book and single audits!

Common Audit and Financial Reporting Deficiencies in State and Local Governments, is a 2 hour webcast detailing many of the more common mistakes that auditors and accountants are making in either the preparation of their annual financial statements or the audits of such financial statements. Deficiencies in audit standards (AICPA, GAO, Single Audit) and preparation standards (GASB) noted in this webcast are driven by the most recent results found in audit organization peer reviews, workpaper or desk reviews, and various organizations checklists for oversight. 

Specifically designed for preparation, compilation, and review practitioners, this course provides 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 additional guidance related to SSARS engagements through the issuance of SSARS Nos. 22-27 by the AICPA's Accounting and Review Services Committee (ARSC). The course also reviews 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.