CPE Catalog & Events

The path from CPA to CFO has evolved dramatically in recent years, with only 43% of S&P 1000 CFOs holding CPA licenses in 2022, down from 55% a decade earlier. This comprehensive course, based on groundbreaking research from the Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs surveying over 320 CEOs and hiring executives, reveals what today's leaders truly seek in CFO candidates and provides a roadmap for CPAs to secure their seat at the executive table. Participants will discover the five critical competencies that distinguish successful CFO candidates: forward-looking financial acumen that goes beyond traditional reporting, strategic leadership skills including critical thinking and strategy creation, the evolving role of emotional intelligence, industry-specific expertise requirements, and the balance between technical proficiency and visionary leadership. Through practical frameworks, real-world examples, and actionable strategies, attendees will learn how to transform their CPA foundation into a comprehensive skill set that meets the dynamic demands of modern CFO roles, whether in high-growth companies, nonprofits, or traditional corporations. 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 provides an in-depth exploration of AU-C 240, Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statements Audit. Participants will gain practical insights into identifying, assessing, and responding to fraud risks within the context of financial statement audits. Through engaging lectures, real-world examples, and case studies, the course examines the nature and characteristics of fraud, including fraudulent financial reporting and misappropriation of assets. It also delves into the auditor's responsibilities under AU-C 240 for planning and performing audits with fraud considerations, techniques for identifying fraud risk factors and assessing risks of material misstatement, and methods for designing and implementing effective audit procedures. Additionally, participants will explore best practices for communicating and documenting findings related to potential or identified fraud. Ideal for auditors at all experience levels, this course equips attendees with the knowledge and tools necessary to navigate fraud-related complexities and maintain audit integrity.

Develop financial reporting expertise to conduct an accounting analysis and detect distortions in financial statements. Accounting savvy permits the business analyst to leverage financial information to manage and implement business plans. Gain the tools necessary to become skilled at such analyses. Review the impact of financial and accounting data on the function of capital markets in relation to the changing economic landscape and globalization.

Enhance your career with an invaluable skill set in this two-part series, where you'll explore the cost system of a real company from the ground up. Learn how to link variable and base costs, identify fluctuating and semi-fixed direct costs, and accurately trace direct materials, labor, and labor burden to products. Gain practical tools for budgeting, setting standard costs, and seamlessly embedding Activity-Based Costing (ABC) into a comprehensive cost system. Be sure to also register for Part 2: World Class Cost Accounting: A Practical Application - Part 2

Targets can be a powerful catalyst for remarkable achievements - from landing humans on the moon to eradicating smallpox and repairing the ozone layer. However, poorly designed targets can have severe consequences, potentially leading to executive imprisonment, corporate collapse, or even loss of life. This course uses real-world examples and case studies to guide you through a practical, step-by-step process for crafting robust, effective, and credible targets for your organization. You'll learn how to harness the positive potential of targets whilst avoiding the pitfalls that can derail even the most well-intentioned performance initiatives.

Strategic Planning for SMEs

We all make predictions in our personal and professional lives. We base our decisions to marry, buy a house, launch a new product or hire staff on expectations about the future. How can we use best practices and current research to improve our ability to predict the future" We will examine current best practices in forecasting to help us prepare better budgets and projections. We will also examine budgeting pitfalls and ways to avoid budget traps. We will discuss the risks that cause actual results to vary from our predictions and discuss methods to deal with both known and unknown risks.

This case-driven training is designed to get the inexperienced accountant up to speed quickly in the most common areas of S-corporation taxation. The cornerstone of this course is the preparation of the Form 1120S using a fairly complex trial balance common to most S corporation income tax returns.   *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 terri.storer@acpen.com  

In this innovative course, participants will learn to combine the power of artificial intelligence with the functionality of Microsoft Excel. You will learn how to leverage ChatGPT, OpenAI's powerful language model, to improve your Excel skills and decrease the time it takes to build spreadsheets. The course will include a quick introduction to ChatGPT but the majority of the time will be spent using ChatGPT to create an Excel spreadsheet. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

This highly informative course comprehensively covers all the latest tax law developments. The focus is on individual taxation and discussion of the planning opportunities practitioners need to understand to help clients respond effectively. You will come away from the course with the up-to-date knowledge to educate your individual tax clients and implement tax-saving ideas that will serve their ever-evolving needs. This course is continually updated to reflect enacted legislation. Please Note: Due to content overlap, it is recommended that this course NOT be taken together with BFTU.

Do you understand the root cause for many professional and personal goals not being achieved? The SMART acronym is valuable in setting goals but insufficient for achieving them. You need two types of goals to boost your chances of success. Outcome goals focus on the results you want to attain. Process goals identify the action steps required to accomplish those desired outcomes. This session explores the essence of both types of goals, and practical examples and tips for the execution of your goals.

If you have been a practitioner for any length of time, you know that there is often a difference between what clients should do and what they actually do. Have you ever wondered why that is? In this course, we will explore how we make decisions with less-than-perfect information. Through real-life examples and case studies, we will examine common behavioral biases and how to deal with them. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Join us for a dynamic training session tailored for leaders seeking to cultivate a culture of accountability while fostering respect and trust within their teams. High morale is intrinsically linked to high accountability in today’s fast-paced work environment. Through this session, leaders will explore the intersection of accountability, psychological safety, boundaries, and trust, gaining practical insights and actionable strategies to effectively hold their employees accountable while maintaining a positive and supportive work environment.

The world of work today has never before faced so many simultaneous changes. From rising turnover and rising employee disengagement to the changing psychology of the workforce, the world of work is changing fast. In order to understand how to thrive in this complex landscape - we must begin by understanding the key drivers of change. What is changing in the world of work, why are these changes happening, and what can we expect will continue to change and what may not change. These are the elements we will explore in this class. 

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 program addresses the most recent developments impacting partnerships operating as LLCs, with a focus on legislative, administrative, and tax form changes. Emphasis will be placed on partners "tax basis" capital accounts - now required for tax form reporting.  *Please Note:  If you need credit reported to the IRS for this IRS approved program, please download the IRS CE request form on the Coursw Materials Tab and submit to kori.herrera@acpen.com

Penalty abatement is a technique that tax practitioners can utilize to help their clients reduce penalties and interest they owe to the IRS if the taxpayer can prove "reasonable cause". This informative and insightful webinar will provide you with some insider tips, practical steps and effective strategies to help your client manage IRS tax penalties and interest. Learn about various types of penalties that you may face, and the various forms and procedures used for requesting penalty and interest abatement, including First Time and Reasonable Cause abatement. Plus, learn about the procedure to follow when requesting refund of paid penalties. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Microsoft Teams is designed to be the foundation of your Microsoft 365 ecosystem deployment. When deployed effectively, Teams can serve as a powerful platform for communication, collaboration, and knowledge sharing across your firm or business. Unfortunately, most organizations are substantially underutilizing the capabilities of Teams. This course provides a review and demonstration of the key features of Microsoft Teams that you can harness to optimize the return on your Microsoft 365 investment. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

This is not your average CPE course! In this fun and practical course, you'll learn how to remember names, where you put things, what you read, or anything else 300% (or more) effectively than before. You will also learn how to prevent dementia, and halve your stress by using exercises that take under two minutes a day to do. Additionally, you'll receive information on ways to improve your memory by improving your overall health and wellness. This course will give you an overview of natural supplements to enhance your memory as well as share tips to improve your sleep. This course will change your life both now and in the future by making sure you know the best ways to remember information, handle stress and keep your mind sharp until the day you die. The information in this course to help increase your professional efficiency and improve your overall quality of life.

Almost every business and individual has to file tax returns, which can be a great treasure trove of information for forensic accountants. Whether in a divorce, partnership dispute, recreating books and records, or bankruptcy proceeding, analyzing tax return information should be an initial step in uncovering income and assets. The IRS retains a large amount of information, both from taxpayers and 3rd parties who report financial transactions. This course will be your guide in gathering, analyzing, and evaluating tax return information, so that you have a full picture of the financial investigation. Your presenter is a 20 year veteran with IRS-Criminal Investigation, who used this information as a basis for his federal criminal investigations. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.