CPE Catalog & Events

Whether a financial statement preparer or user is more familiar with IFRS or U.S. GAAP, it is important to be familiar with the important differences between the two financial reporting frameworks. This course will highlight some of the more significant differences between the standards.

In this course, participants will gain a broad understanding of the various anti-fraud preventive and detective tests available to practitioners and take initial steps in building their own library of tests unique to their business or industry risks. Specific discussions and examples will include vendor analysis to look for potentially improper payments around conflicts of interests, fake vendor schemes, bribery & corruption, sanctions and trade compliance, anomalous payments, segregation of duties, among other risk categories.  Participants will also explore tests around customers or distributors that include margin analysis, free goods, discounts and revenue recognition. Further, we will explore employee related test to mitigate travel & entertainment expense abuses. We will also point out various online and public resources for participants to start building their own library of tests to support both reactive investigations as well as proactive prevention and detection.

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. 

It is the role of a leader to build and maintain a great culture in the organization. The culture is the driving force that shapes the attitudes and behaviors of everyone in the organization. A relationship driven organization is built on trust and is the most effective way to improve productivity, engagement, and the bottom line. Understand the components that enable trust to be created and maintained throughout teams and organizations.

Why do for profit organizations exist??? To make money!!!!! What a great concept. But if the organization does not have the proper collections and credit procedures in place, they may not be able to access that money. Hence the importance of the credit and collection process. Credit and collections are critical areas for the financial statement controllers. Customer credit is a form of payment that allows small business customers to purchase a product or service before paying for it in full. The process works similarly to the way a credit card does - you procure something and pay it back later. Collections is a term used by a business when referring to money owed to that business by a customer. When a customer does not pay within the terms specified, the amount of the bill becomes past due and is sometimes submitted to a collection agency. The sales and collection process includes business activities related to selling products and services, maintaining customer records, billing customers, and recording payments from customers. It also includes activities necessary to manage accounts receivable, such as aging accounts and authorizing credit.  This course delves into the topics that impact the sales, credit and collections process for management. We discuss strategic steps management can take to ensure their processes are efficient and that they are able to actually collect their revenue.  

Most leadership training focuses on leading downstream, with the goal of eventually advancing to an executive role. Few people get to be “top dog” in their organization. So, nearly every worker will spend their entire career leading up, even while serving in a leadership role. Learn the skills and tactics needed to develop an effective working relationship with your boss and other superiors. Gain the credibility and support necessary to get things done and advance professionally.

Since 2017, employees have not been eligible to take an itemized deduction for a home office. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended all miscellaneous itemized deductions for tax years 2018 through 2025. That deduction is scheduled to go into effect in 2026. Self-employed individuals can deduct office expenses on Schedule C, Form 1040. The home office deduction includes typical office-connected expenditures such as supplies, postage, computers, printers, and all the other ordinary and necessary expenses a person would have in connection with running a home office. The home office tax deduction for the self-employed would cover expenses for the business use of a home, which includes mortgage interest, rent, insurance, utilities, repairs, and depreciation. This program discusses many of the most important issues relating to the deductibility of home office-related expenses.

When clients ask questions about the impact of new tax legislation embodied in OBBBA, it is important that accounting and finance practitioners can reply with accurate and relevant planning strategies. This program prepares accounting and finance practitioners with the knowledge and insights to help their clients apply the new law to their advantage. This program is an introduction and review of some of these critical changes and their impact on individual and business taxpayers. By taking this program, accounting and finance practitioners will have a broader, deeper understanding of many of the OBBBA changes that impact their clients. This course is a two-hour review and analysis of what we consider some of the most important changes from the OBBBA impacting clients and perhaps their businesses.

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 the key components of IT governance and risk management through interactive discussions and hands-on activities. By the end of the course, participants will have a thorough understanding of the function of IT governance within an organization, including roles and responsibilities and key frameworks. In addition, participants will learn about IT risk identification and assessment methods and IT general and application controls. Business process management and change management will also be discussed.

Do you want to build stronger relationships with your clients, improve client retention, and drive growth in your practice? This course delves into the essential strategies for effective client management in today's competitive landscape. Client relationships, like any relationship, can be challenging to manage. Miscommunication, differing work styles, and unrealistic expectations are some of the challenges accounting and finance professionals routinely encounter. However, when accounting clients and members of your team are on the same page, client loyalty and profitability improve while conflict is minimized. This webinar explores proven strategies to improve relationships between accounting and finance professionals and their clients.

Pro forma statements are used by businesses to make decisions on planning and control, as well as for external reporting to owners, investors, and creditors. For example, giving financial estimates for a given period in a standardized manner is known as “presenting pro forma,” a Latin phrase that means “as a matter of form.” Pro forma statements can be helpful tools for business owners, investors, creditors, or decision-makers to analyze various scenarios of future events based on certain financial assumptions. It might aid in making predictions performance of the company. A pro forma income statement displays a firm’s anticipated sales and revenue. It also highlights anticipated fixed or variable operational expenses and, in the end, displays the potential profits and retained earnings for a future financial quarter. There are various types of pro-forma statements and methods to develop them. The responsibilities/competencies of the Financial Controller position (FC) has changed in recent years. However, the creation of pro forma financial statements is still a core part of their responsibility.  

Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs), unique, identifiable digital assets based on blockchain technologies, have become a fast-growing industry. This course will provide a background on how NFTs came into the mainstream marketplace.  These materials will assist the practitioner to understand the tax implications of the creation, purchase and sale of these assets.  **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.

The difference between star performers and average ones in leadership roles is attributable largely to emotional intelligence (EQ). It’s surprising, then, that EQ is underrated as an essential ingredient for success in life and leadership. This presentation highlights the importance of EQ and provides participants with actionable tools to develop better relationships within and outside of the workplace, build healthy teams, and navigate constant change.

Today's workforce looks a lot different than it used to. With more people working from home and across state lines, employers must examine withholding and unemployment laws in a new light. In this course, we will examine tried and true rules in this area and examine statutes that are still developing. Using real-life examples and discussion, we will examine state laws on reciprocity and residency requirements. We will also look at what to do when state laws are silent or conflict on a particular issue so you can keep your clients in compliance and be well-prepared for the questions that will come your way in these ever-changing times.

Nonprofit entities and governmental entities have a high degree of public accountability. This course will examine the most common fraud schemes and provide multiple examples of how to prevent or detect these schemes.

In this course, you'll learn why being able to do public speaking well is a major advantage in becoming successful in your career.  You'll learn how to write a good talk, how to present it well, and how to use your new found ability to get more clients and/or a promotion. In addition, you'll learn how to overcome your nervousness, and how to overcome stress in less than a minute.

In this five part master series, class participants will gain a comprehensive view into the world of forensic data analytics (FDA). From understanding practical use cases of FDA in the audit, internal audit, investigations and proactive monitoring to understanding necessary data sources, validation proceudres, success factors and pitfalls to avoid. We will also explore hundreds of leading anti-fraud tests around corruption, conflicts of interest, fake vendor schemes, segregation of duties, revenue recognition and sales abuse, among dozens of other schemes.  Participants will develop their own library of anti-fraud tests from various open source locations and apply them in relevant contexts such as the COSO Fraud Risk Management Guide. Finally, participants will also peek into future innovations in FDA and how technologies such as ChatGPT, data visualization, machine learning, AI and cryptocurrencies are all impacting the discipline.  We can't promise you'll be a programmer after this course, but you will certainly be armed with the information needed to project manage an FDA project and "direct" the programmers to accomplish your fraud risk / FDA objectives.  

You only have one chance to make a good first impression.  In the fast paced world we live in, being able to create immediate rapport and a sense of trust with people is more important than ever.  Fortunately, this is an easily learnable skill that can serve you in both business and in life.  People who can master the one minute relationship end up making more money, being better liked, and enjoying their clients more.  

This session reviews the three elements of fraud, how fraudsters think, how proper internal controls can prevent and detect fraud, and the red flags to look for to identify fraud. It looks at Radar O'Reilly, one of the most beloved characters of the TV show M*A*S*H. He was trusted by his boss to run the administrative side of the US Army medical unit. Were there red flags all around Radar? Did he have the opportunity to steal? Was he a fraudster? We'll find out? Attendees learn to recognize the traits of this type fraudster that are present in many organization. Case studies of various Radars are included.