CPE Catalog & Events

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.  

Fraud is constantly in the news. Whether its employee retention credit mills, FTX, the City of Dixon, it appears like fraud is everywhere. We'll start this session with a review of the common fraud schemes as identified in the 2024 Report to the Nations. We'll also review the commonalities of fraudsters. We'll then look at methods of prevention. We'll close with a look at the auditor's responsibility for the consideration of fraud in AU-C 240.

This course is designed to equip CPAs, EAs, attorneys, and tax professionals with the essential knowledge and strategies needed to navigate the latest developments. Explore innovative approaches to maximize retirement savings, discuss tax- efficient retirement plan options, and align estate planning techniques with current trends. Gain a thorough understanding of altered rules for Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) and discover how to optimize estate plans in response to changing regulations. This update is tailored for professionals seeking practical insights in the realm of contemporary retirement planning. **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.

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.

Tax Season can be a daunting time for tax preparers, but it doesn’t have to be with the help of tax automation software tools and other innovative technology. This session will provide an overview of the latest technologies and tools that can help automate your workflow and make the entire tax return preparation process smoother and more efficient. From client portals, workflow management, and e-signatures to robotic process automation, you’ll learn about all the options available to help streamline your tax preparation process. So don’t dread Tax Season - attend this session and arm yourself with the tools you need to succeed!

Breaking the Wall of blind acceptance; avoiding habitual complacency and Yoking the dots between cause and effect.

Automating the tax practice is – or should be – a major initiative of almost all public accounting firms today. From ingesting data, processing returns, distributing draft and final copies, and billing and collecting fees, practitioners have outstanding opportunities to automate their tax practice. Those that choose to automate will experience the benefits of reduced staff turnover, increased productivity and efficiency, fewer errors, and improved cash flow. Participate in this session to learn the “how’s and why’s” of automating your tax practice. This session includes critical topics such as hardware and software options, workflows, and security and privacy issues. Plan to join us in this session to position your tax practice for greater success! 

With increasing competition for finding the best qualified candidates and retaining today’s workforce, it’s more important than ever to consider flexible work options in the workplace. We will review the most popular flexible work options your company could consider implementing: telecommuting, compressed work weeks, flexible hours, phased return from leave of absence, job sharing, early release days, and more! We’ll discuss the benefits of this talent management strategy, including increased productivity, decreased costs, better work-life “integration”, and increased employee engagement and satisfaction. You’ll learn how to propose flexible scheduling to your executive team, including how to logistically roll out this program. Whether you’re in a manufacturing plant, corporate headquarters, or retail industry, you can apply any of these flexible work options to your organization. 

For accounting and tax professionals, understanding the inner workings of blockchain and cryptocurrency is no longer just an advantage—it’s a necessity. This course provides an in-depth look into the mechanics of digital currencies and revolutionary blockchain technology, equipping attendees with the knowledge to navigate benefits and risks effectively. Special emphasis is placed on the tax implications for both individuals and estates, ensuring that attendees can confidently advise on these issues, which are becoming increasingly relevant in financial planning and asset management. This offering is more than just a learning experience; it’s an investment in one’s professional growth. By understanding the tax complexities and estate planning challenges posed by digital assets, participants will be able to offer valuable insights and strategic solutions. They will emerge from this course not just with theoretical knowledge but with actionable skills that can be applied immediately. In a landscape where digital assets are becoming commonplace, this is the education that will differentiate the exceptional from the average. Join today and step into a role as a leader in finance for the digital age. **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.

This updated course offers an in-depth look at the FASB leases standard (ASC 842), which requires organizations to recognize lease assets and liabilities on the balance sheet. This comprehensive course will cover recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure requirements, while also focusing on a critical area of change which is the proper identification of a lease using a principles-based approach. We will discuss implementation requirements from both the lessee and lessor accounting models.  In addition, we explore a variety of scenarios, including short-term leases, purchase options, variable lease payments, and remeasurement. This course offers practical journal entry examples, lessons learned from implementation, and explores recently issued amendments to the lease accounting guidance.

How good are you with the technology you use daily?  What new technology tools are available that could save you time and make you more effective?  Technology continues to accelerate rapidly, and the need to keep pace is essential. If you are not an information technology (IT) expert but need a technology update to maintain and improve your skills to serve your companies or clients more efficiently and effectively, this course is for you! In this fast-paced, update-style course, you will survey today’s IT environment, learning about computer hardware, software (including Microsoft Office), operating systems (including Windows 10), and what they mean for you, and peripheral devices. You will also learn about significant trends in information technology and how to take advantage of the opportunities presented by these trends.  Examples include the latest Excel features, working with PDF files, and security and privacy issues. Additionally, you will learn how to improve the overall performance of your IT investment, thereby increasing your return on investment. Throughout this program, you will learn from real-time demonstrations of practical applications of the latest tools, which can provide you with the knowledge you need to harness the power of technology, both now and in the future. Register now for this “don’t miss” opportunity to get the skills required to enhance the value of your IT investment.  

Unlike a traditional financial audit objective (Are the financial statements materially misstated), performance auditing can address a wide variety of objectives.  Is this program working? Can it be improved? Where can we save money? How can we operate more efficiently and effectively? Are management’s assertions supported? And so forth.  This session will explain what a performance audit is, describe the applicable standards, and provide examples that indicate the value of a performance audit.  Performance audits can add value to any entity and practitioners can profit from adding these assurance services to their practices.

Blockchain technology offers the promise of digital truth. It provides a transparent, permanent, immutable, and high-speed record-keeping system when appropriately implemented. The possibilities are endless, from managing the logistics of supply chain networks to facilitating international commerce. The adoption of this technology is growing, with millions of new users every year. Organizations adopt this technology every day to help improve their existing operations through its ledger capabilities or executing smart contracts. Cryptocurrency is one example of blockchain technology. Its growth and value have exploded to over $2 trillion in the last few years. This growth has helped to fuel widespread adoption amongst Wall Street and regular investors alike. While more popular than ever, few business professionals understand these technologies, their capabilities, risks, and potential impacts on business operations and processes, such as contract execution, recording and maintaining real estate ownership records, and supply chains. In fact, this incredible technology is a mystery for most accounting professionals. This course will provide a detailed and in-depth look at this technology, including a detailed overview of the underlying technology, the benefits, the risks, the major players, and many practical applications. By participating in this session, you will gain a deeper understanding of the inner workings of this technology and recommendations on getting started.  

Now more than ever, navigating loss, grief and crisis in the workplace is a skillset that leaders must possess. Keeping the heart in human resources is so important, especially in this post-pandemic state we are living in. We will explore ways that you can show empathy to your employees while also balancing your business needs. 

Building on Part 1, this course will review the application of sampling in financial statement audits with a focus on sampling for tests of controls. We'll also review the requirements for sampling in Single Audits with a focus on tests of controls and tests of compliance. 

Stop struggling with PDFs! Adobe Acrobat and other PDF tools provide access to features that make working with PDF files a breeze. In this course, you will learn how to use tools and features such as PDF forms, redaction, converting PDFs to Word and Excel files, and electronic signatures. You will also learn how to create and apply tick marks, build indices, catalogs, and portfolios, and secure PDF documents to their fullest. The popularity and usefulness of PDFs increase daily, but most PDF users have not learned how to manipulate PDF documents effectively. Accordingly, they struggle and strain with these standard files. You do not need to let this be the case. Join us in this very timely session where you will learn the top features necessary to optimize your work with PDF documents.

The Not-for-Profit Advisory Committee (NAC) has been meeting with FASB to discuss the impact of various standards on the nonprofit community. In this course, we will explore the work of the NAC and the impact they've had. We then transition to the Accounting Standards Updates (ASUs) issued by the FASB that are impacting nonprofit entities, including a review of year 2 issues with respect to the leases standard including modification accounting. We will close with a look at common deficiencies found in nonprofit financials.

In the course of legal actions, payments may be made pursuant to a final disposition of a court case or a mutually agreed-upon settlement.  This course will cover the tax implications for payments made for personal injury, emotional distress, lost wages, punitive awards, pre- and post-judgement interest, contract claims, among other damages. **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.  

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer just a theoretical concept! Instead, AI is a practical tool available today to help you address and solve real-world problems. In this course, you will learn about the fundamentals of AI and how you can put this amazing technology to work today to help you and your team work more efficiently and effectively. Participate in this course to learn about the fundamentals of AI and specific types of problems AI can help you address. You will learn about AI features available in everyday applications – including Excel – and how you can use these features in situations such as detecting fraud and identifying potential errors in transactions. You will also learn how AI is changing how accounting and financial professionals work, both today and in the future.  

Unless you expect your organization to be stable in the short, medium and long term, you need to understand how to create long-term balance sheet and cash flow projections. Growing organizations must know whether they will have the resources to execute their business plan. Struggling organizations need to know if they will have the cash to survive. This session will increase your organization's ability to see its future and increase the confidence that your CEO, Board and bank have in you. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.