CPE Catalog & Events

Automation options abound, and in this session, you will learn how to take advantage of many personal automation tools and services. You will learn about various automation platforms, creating automation workflows, and automation tools to become more efficient.

With many technologies now ready for “prime time,” it’s exciting to see some of the options for improved productivity in CPA firms. Learn more about these new tools in this session.

Tax planning for 2024 is largely based upon legislation contained within the Inflation Reduction Act and the SECURE Act 2.0, both enacted in 2022, that offer new planning options and challenges for businesses in 2024. There are, however, other business tax changes in 2024 that result from different pieces of tax legislation, IRS pronouncements, and court cases that need to be taken into account from a planning perspective. This program analyzes the new opportunities and challenges that these tax changes offer to businesses and their owners that impact 2024 and sometimes later years.

This program explores the role of client internal controls for balancing efficiency and effectiveness in a risk-based audit. We offer practical insights regarding an auditor's assessment of the risk of material misstatement when auditing financial statements of non-issuers, with particular emphasis on internal controls of small-to-medium clients.

Being consistently ethical is a challenge. Most of us have had to make tough choices.  This session will discuss real world cases involving thorny ethical dilemmas and how to resolve them. Being ethical is not the same as complying with the law and ethical issues are not always black and white. This session will review different professional ethical standards.  What does integrity mean in the office? If you want to learn lessons from the best in a short time, this session is for you.  Participate in engaging dialogue about how to prepare for the inevitable ethical situations.  These lessons are valuable for every business leader.

This course focuses on the key federal tax issues affecting business from the internal accountant's point of view, with a focus on the major ramifications of the TCJA and other recent tax legislation and developments.  Planning alternatives and the potential risks associated with those strategies will also be discussed.    **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.

Stay at the forefront of business income taxation with this essential course tailored for tax practitioners seeking to enhance their expertise. This course offers an in-depth review of the intricacies surrounding business income taxation, focusing on the latest developments for the current tax year. Dive into recent changes and updates within the tax code, providing you with a comprehensive understanding of the evolving tax landscape. Equip yourself to effectively navigate new regulations, guidelines, and strategies while assisting clients in optimizing their business income tax planning. 

Award winning discussion leader Mark Hugh discusses how to create and capture value with consulting services. Whether you want to consult a little or full time, this valuable course reviews identifying a specialty, growing a practice, capturing value, creating deliverables, and effective marketplace marketing strategies.  

Signed by President Biden on December 29, 2022, as part of the Consolidation Appropriations Act, this program provides an explanation of the Secure Act 2.0 provisions impacting individuals and business taxpayers.  Learn what you need to know for this filing season and how to plan for future years for your clients. **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.

Managerial accounting provides economic and financial information for managers and other internal users. Managerial and Financial Accounting have similarities and differences. Each field of accounting deals with the economic events of a business. Both managerial and financial accounting require that a company’s economic events be quantified and communicated to interested parties. This another course in our series on the controller’s role. The controller’s role encompasses many traditional functions. Within this segment of our controllership series, we discuss the area of managerial accounting and the basic concepts that surround this discipline as it primarily relates to cost accounting issues.  

This session provides insight on the realities of internal audit management roles, and the elements needed to build a strong internal audit department to provide the most value for your company.   The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) has done a tremendous job raising the profile of the auditing profession. As auditors, we strive to abide by the standards and guidelines. But have you ever asked management within your company if they knew such standards existed? Do they truly understand the concepts of risk-based auditing, independence and obligations to the board or charter requirements? It is surprising how so many of these basic concepts are taken for granted by auditors and that we assume management is aware. Individuals considering an internal audit management role should understand the challenges as well as benefits that may be presented to them within this role. It is critical that certain elements of the job be well understood by those holding the positions. This session is designed to step into the reality of the internal audit management role and discuss some of the concepts that aren’t always openly discussed within organizations…but are important concepts the internal audit manager should ensure they can clarify with management and be prepared to address on the job.

Using Outlook for email management is routine for most business professionals these days. But unfortunately, using this tool for so long may cause some to perpetuate bad practices and habits when working in Outlook and exploring new options Outlook offers. In this session, you will discover ten valuable tips to take you to the next level of your email and work management.

Between 2010 and 2020 a parade of Court Cases, IRS Factsheets, Job Aids and Internal Memos, plus Heightened IRS scrutiny and Preparer Penalties has brought the issue of 'Reasonable Compensation for S Corp's out of the shadows and placed it forefront as a priority issue for CPA's, EA's, Tax and Financial advisors to cover with their clients. We will explore key court cases, IRS guidelines, preparer penalties and some of the obscure tools the IRS has put in place. We debunk common myths and fiction on how reasonable compensation should be calculated and replace it with facts and methodologies that the IRS relies on. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

FASB has proposed changes to the principal financial statements. This course presents examples of each new statement and discusses the changes-existing and proposed-in disclosure. Stay at the cutting edge of change in the financial reporting environment in this lively session as we also consider the business issues associated with these changes. Walk away with Ten Action Items for you to consider implementing immediately. You can find a summary of relevant background information to these changes in the course New Way to Look at Financial Reporting.

Unlock the full potential of your data with our cutting-edge course, "Create Visuals in Power BI to Successfully Analyze Data." Designed to span a focused, four-hour session, this course is your gateway to mastering the art of data visualization using the powerful tools of Microsoft Power BI Desktop and PowerBI.com. Whether you're a business professional, a budding data analyst, or simply someone interested in the world of data science, this course is tailored to enhance your skills in transforming raw data into visually stunning and insightful reports. Dive into the intuitive interfaces of Power BI Desktop and PowerBI.com, and learn to navigate these platforms with ease and confidence. The course is meticulously structured to provide you with demonstrations and practical knowledge. Starting with a comprehensive tour of the Power BI Desktop and PowerBI.com interfaces, you'll quickly move to the core of creating impactful visuals. Explore a wide array of available visuals and learn how to select the most effective ones for your data stories. Through detailed sessions on building interactivity into your visuals, you will discover how to create dynamic reports that not only captivate but also communicate effectively. This course will also guide you through the process of publishing your reports on PowerBI.com, ensuring that your insights reach their intended audience with the right impact. By the end of this transformative journey, you will be adept at leveraging the full capabilities of Power BI. Your newfound ability to create interactive, engaging, and informative visual reports will make you an indispensable asset in any data-driven decision-making process. Embrace this opportunity to elevate your professional profile, enhance your analytical capabilities, and become a sought-after expert in the field of data visualization. Join us for "Create Visuals in Power BI to Successfully Analyze Data" and step into the future of data analysis with confidence and skill. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

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.

Critical Traits of a Thinking Auditor - Stretching Experienced Auditors Beyond the Basics will provide tips and best practices for stretching experienced auditor past the basics in each of the three pillars of success. Those in charge of the day-to-day supervision of engagements need to consciously embrace and demonstrate characteristics that will enable him/her to transition to a firm leader. This includes a focus on three key pillars: financial success, retaining clients through superior client service, and developing other professionals. Note: This course is recommended as a part of a 16-hour audit skills curriculum for supervisory and managerial auditors, while it is also appropriate for anyone who has responsibilities by finding creative audit solutions. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

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. 

A common challenge for the controller role is in closing the month-end and period-end books in preparation to issue financial statements. This duty requires precision, timing and efficiency. In today’s digital world, many organizations have access to financial accounting software that will assist with the steps in the financial close. However, even with this aid it is critical the accountant understand the various steps for the close process and how they inter-relate to other accounting processes. This course gives you an insight into the inter-relationships between many processes that impact the financial close. The closing process has traditionally been a slow one with many companies taking two weeks to close its subsidiary’s books and another two to three weeks to roll up and consolidated the results. With the introduction of technology much has been done to help accelerate that process with integrated enterprise resource planning systems and general ledger and consolidate software. Within this segment we will discuss the elements of the financial close and also important concepts to assist the controller in accelerating their close timeline. This includes addressing all functional areas of the close including payroll, invoicing, payables, inventory, cash, and the general ledger. We will also discuss important concepts of ensuring your financial close is accurate by discussing bank reconciliations, overhead allocations, bad debt reserves, unpaid wages and accruals for vacation time, account reconciliations, deprecation and overall financial statement review. Note: This course does not address utilizing technology in the financial close. Its focus is to understand the varied procedures involved in the financial close whether or not technology is utilized.  

Forensic accounting, forensic accountancy or financial forensics is the specialty practice area of accounting that investigates whether firms engage in financial reporting misconduct. Forensic accountants apply a range of skills and methods to determine whether there has been financial reporting misconduct. Financial forensic engagements may fall into several categories. For example: Economic damages calculations, whether suffered through tort or breach of contract. Post-acquisition disputes such as earnouts or breaches of warranties Bankruptcy, insolvency and reorganization Securities and tax fraud Money laundering Business valuation Computer forensics/e-discovery This session is designed to delve into further investigative procedures used including digital forensics. Future sessions will focus on computer forensics, network forensics and mobile forensics.