CPE Catalog & Events

Arguably the most discussed topics to come out of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) are the taxation of tips and overtime. Practitioners need to understand these provisions now, as they are effective for 2025 tax returns. This program provides practitioners with the background currently available to advise clients regarding these two important tax developments. Both employers and employees need to understand these timely changes to taxation.

Answering clients' tax questions accurately and on time is a key challenge for tax practitioners. Through simple, plain language explanations and examples, this course will help practitioners perform tax research more efficiently by describing the structure of the primary sources, highlighting the differences between primary and secondary sources, and detailing the steps in the tax research process.

This interactive professional development course explores the concept of unconscious bias and its impact on workplace dynamics, decision-making, and organizational culture. Through engaging exercises, real-world case studies, and reflective activities, participants will gain a deeper understanding of how implicit attitudes shape perceptions and behaviors — often without conscious awareness. The course empowers learners to recognize their own biases, understand their origins, and develop strategies to mitigate their effects in professional settings. Participants will leave with actionable tools to foster a more inclusive, equitable, and respectful workplace.

This course provides a thorough examination of qualified tuition programs (Section 529 plans), focusing on their tax treatment, planning applications, and recent legislative changes. Participants will learn how 529 plans operate, what qualifies as education expenses, and how contributions, distributions, and beneficiary changes are treated under federal law. The course explores practical planning strategies, including 529-to-Roth IRA rollovers, multigenerational "dynasty" 529 planning, grandparent-owned account considerations, and interplay with financial aid. It also addresses state-level variations, compliance issues, and common pitfalls. Using real-world scenarios, the course evaluates when 529 plans are advantageous, the limitations families may encounter, and alternative approaches to education and long-term savings. Participants will gain a clear understanding of tax benefits, penalties, strategic funding approaches, and planning opportunities for high-net-worth families as well as typical households.

When a purchaser buys an existing partner's partnership interest or the interest of a member of a limited liability corporation (LLC) taxed as a partnership, the amount paid becomes the basis for the purchaser's partnership interest (outside basis). If the partnership's assets have appreciated sufficiently, the difference between the new partner's inside and outside basis can be substantial. This disparity can deprive the new partner of depreciation deductions and inflate his or her share of the gain from subsequent property dispositions unless a Section 754 election is in effect. The Section 754 election can also apply when a partnership makes a distribution of property and the basis of the distributed property to the partnership and the basis the partner/distributee will take in the distributed property are not equal. In this case, a partnership can recover basis it would otherwise lose if the 754 election were not in effect.

As Americans live longer and increasingly move away from traditional pensions, Social Security has become the main source of retirement income for many clients. Meanwhile, concerns about solvency and a lack of understanding of key rules have led to confusion and sometimes misguided decisions. This program offers tax practitioners the knowledge they need to help clients make informed choices about Social Security and retirement income.

The newest evolution of AI technology is Agentic AI. This technology enables you to deploy AI agents to take action on your behalf and execute tasks. Agentic AI is the key enabler to using AI technology to automate your workflows. Learning how to take advantage of AI agents provides a substantial competitive advantage. This course will teach you the fundamentals of agentic AI and how you can put them to work in your firm or business.

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.

Do you ever import data into Excel, and then spend a bunch of time manually preparing it for use? Perhaps you delete extra columns or rows. Maybe you need to split a single column into multiple columns, or, combine multiple columns into a single column. The good news is that many of these transformations can be fully automated with Excel! The Get & Transform tools built-in to Excel 2016 for Windows, formerly available as the Power Query add-in, are incredibly powerful. At a high level, they enable us to retrieve data from a variety of sources and prepare it for use as needed. In this session, we'll use Get & Transform queries to help with several common tasks, including flattening data, splitting and combining columns, formatting data, unpivoting summarized data, and combining several csv exports. If you frequently export/import data from one system to another, you will want to understand how to use a Get & Transform query to streamline your work.

This course examines how agentic AI is revolutionizing tax compliance, planning, and advisory services. Participants will explore real-world deployments by leading firms such as EY, which has developed agents that handle millions of global tax transactions. The course also delves into cross-border compliance issues, transfer pricing automation, and emerging advisory models powered by agent-led simulations. Risks related to bias, unauthorized practice, and data privacy will be addressed, with guidance on aligning autonomous operations with professional and regulatory standards. CPAs must understand these advancements to ensure tax compliance, manage client expectations, and mitigate professional liability risks when providing agent-assisted advisory services.

In today's interconnected world, safeguarding information systems is crucial. This course will provide a comprehensive understanding of SOC engagements, exploring the types of reports (SOC 1®, SOC 2®, and SOC 3®) and the related management assertions. The use of the reports for internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR) and operations and compliance will be analyzed. This course equips accounting professionals with the knowledge to effectively lead in compliance reporting.

From Enron and WorldCom in the early 2000s to Wirecard and FTX in recent years, the risk of fraud in an audit remains high, and the potential loss to the public has only increased. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) annual reports find that fraud is potentially lurking in all businesses, including not-for-profit organizations. It often goes undetected for years, and, when uncovered, management and the board may question why an auditor did not identify it - even though most corporate frauds are identified by internal personnel. Still, the auditor's responsibility in a financial statement audit is to assess risk and perform sufficient procedures to obtain reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material misstatement due to fraud (or error). However, failure to perform an adequate fraud risk assessment and report deficiencies in internal control, such as a lack of segregation of duties, can leave a firm vulnerable. This course will discuss the audit procedures that should be performed in accordance with AU-C §240, Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit, as recently amended; best practices in performing fraud risk assessment procedures; when and how to report control deficiencies noted in an audit; and the most frequent types of fraud found in small to mid-sized entities along with internal controls that could be implemented to help prevent and detect them. We will also look at various cyber fraud schemes and how they might be prevented or detected, the use of analytics as fraud risk procedures, and assessments of fraud risk in a Single Audit. Fraud is now more complicated than ever. From deepfakes to complex denial-of-service attacks, auditors have more to consider in their risk assessment than they did even five years ago. This course features case studies and detailed illustrations to help auditors know what to look for and how to respond to potential fraud in their audits.

Specifically designed for preparation, compilation, and review practitioners, this course will provide you with 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 the additional guidance related to SSARS engagements through the issuance of SSARS Nos. 22-26 by the ARSC. In addition to SSARS 26, the entire suite of quality management standards is discussed. However, knowing the standards is not enough. You need to be able to effectively apply them. To support this, the course will review 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 SSARS requirements and guidance, but more importantly, it will provide you with practical examples and illustrations to help you effectively and efficiently perform these types of engagements. This course is intended to be your go-to reference for training your staff and managing your SSARS No. 21-26 services in compliance with professional, ethical, and technical requirements.

To many clients, CPA firms all look the same. While services and specialties may vary significantly from one firm to another, it is hard for the average person to see this by simply looking at the sign outside our office door. Is there any way to make us stand out more to the outside world? Through surveys, statistics, and examples, this course looks at how CPA firms can develop a marketing plan beyond just relying on referrals. We look at the pluses and minuses of various marketing channels, regulatory constraints, and how to measure success in the competitive financial services space.

This course introduces the foundational concepts of artificial intelligence (AI) and AI's relevance to accounting. Participants will explore various AI applications and understand the benefits, challenges, and future trends associated with AI integration in accounting. Case studies of successful AI implementation in accounting firms are included to enhance learning.

Accounting and finance practitioners are still grappling with the many changes OBBBA has made to the tax laws, many of which will impact tax filings. This program is an introduction to and review of some of these critical changes and their impact on taxpayers. Accounting and finance practitioners will gain a better understanding of this very complex set of new tax rules. Practitioners will grasp what is new and what is a continuance of prior rules to develop deeper insights into the many changes that the OBBBA made to the law. If you still feel you need to learn more about how OBBBA works, this program is for you. We have assembled a two-hour review and analysis of what we consider the most important changes from OBBBA that impact client transactions. To the extent that Treasury has provided guidance relating to these new OBBBA changes, we will discuss that guidance. Where guidance is lacking, we will point out areas that require future attention from Treasury.

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, including the 12 ASUs issued in 2025, with a concentration on issues of greatest significance to most accounting practitioners. The greatest emphasis on the ASUs will focus on those effective in 2025 and 2026. Specifically, the course will review ASUs addressing financial instruments, disaggregated expenses, government grants, credit losses under ASC 326, and the final stages of the ASC 842 post-implementation review (PIR) report findings. Other hot-button accounting issues, such as what is on the FASB's technical agenda, are also discussed. This course is the place to go for a succinct but thorough update on the big topics impacting financial accounting and reporting.

One of the most intimidating aspects of going into business for yourself is compliance. Tax, employment, and regulatory laws are difficult to navigate, so it often falls on the CPA to know the basics in these areas to help their clients avoid costly litigation. In this course, we will cover basic compliance areas for small business owners. We will look at the main elements of a contract, taxation of entity types, worker classification, property law, and many of the other areas that are often overwhelming for small business owners. By being able to speak to these issues, practitioners will be able to add value and help their small business owner clients grow and thrive.

The statement of cash flows is a critical component of a company's set of financial statements. Cover the proper preparation of the statement, including analysis techniques. Learn how financial statements enable CPAs and financial professionals to see a business's cash inflows and outflows relating to operating, investing and financing activities and evaluation of liquidity and quality of earnings. Case studies and sample documentation reinforce significant concepts and help participants apply the analysis techniques discussed.

One of the most favored employee benefit plans, the 401(k) plan, provides unique challenges for auditors. Through this course, auditors will obtain an understanding of the rules and regulations unique to employee benefit plans and obtain practical guidance on applying them. Auditors will enhance their knowledge of the performance and reporting requirements through real-world examples, best practices, and efficient audit techniques that can be utilized in various audit engagements. Make sure your audits don't trigger a DOL inspection by conforming to all applicable rules and regulations.