CPE Catalog & Events

Employment taxes are often overlooked as an area where more planning may be effective. Payroll taxes have become an increasing burden for the average business, and IRS penalties for noncompliance have risen dramatically in recent years. The Service has announced that uncovering noncompliance by employers ranks high on its audit list. This course presents a comprehensive overview of federal payroll taxes, Form 1099, and related compliance issues.

This year practitioners need to keep abreast of tax changes affecting pass-through entities used by their business clients and employers, and this enlightening course delivers that information. You will learn invaluable strategies, techniques, innovative tax-planning concepts, income-generating ideas, and other planning opportunities available to S corporations, partnerships, LLCs, and LLPs. In addition, this course will discuss current trends and emerging issues, helping practitioners stay informed about relevant and significant topics that may impact their clients. Continually updated to reflect enacted legislation.

Good writing is good business. Studies show that the average business worker receives 121 emails per day. That's a lot of emails. Are your emails effective? Are they being read? Are they professional and tone-smart? In this course, you will learn techniques and skills to get your emails to stand out and improve their effectiveness and professionalism.

What makes a business valuable? Who determines value? What are the key factors that make businesses valuable? In this course, we explore the different ways to value a business. We will apply foundational valuation and corporate finance concepts to real world examples in an effort to see what makes up an investment's price.

Starting and owning a small business remains one of the most powerful ways to build long-term wealth, alongside investing and real estate ownership. But today's business environment is fundamentally different than it was even a few years ago. Entrepreneurs must navigate rapid technological change, artificial intelligence, shifting workforce expectations, evolving regulatory frameworks, fluctuating capital markets, and increased federal and state scrutiny in areas such as non-compete agreements, data privacy, and employment law. Every large business begins as a small business, yet the risks and complexities of launching and scaling a company have increased. Owners and their advisors must address critical issues including selecting the proper entity, liability protection, financing, intellectual property protection, employment contracts, noncompete, insurance coverage, operations, and technology adoption. Decisions made at formation can materially affect a company's long-term value and ability to grow and ultimately sell. This course provides a practical, up-to-date overview of the legal, financial, and strategic considerations that business owners and their professional advisors must evaluate in today's environment. Drawing on current research, regulatory developments, and real-world trends, the program focuses on helping entrepreneurs build resilient, compliant, and scalable businesses in a rapidly changing economy.

In life and in tax practice, often the best way to learn something is to profit from the mistakes of others. In tax practice, mistakes can result in tax liabilities for clients and malpractice lawsuits against the tax professional. Don't let this happen to you. In this program, we attempt to learn from the mistakes of others to avoid making them ourselves. We go through a series of "horror story" case studies that are both entertaining and educational. Practicing tax is a risky, sometimes horrifying business. Take this opportunity to prepare yourself for the risks that come with practicing tax by learning from these sobering, cautionary case studies.

This course uses the lives of the rich and famous as a template to better understand the realm of estate planning. With stories ripped from the headlines, we will examine pitfalls and best practices. Did you know that Prince died without a will, opening the door for 45 people claiming to be his beneficiaries? Or that Michael Jackson was not careful in properly funding his trust, leading to delays and legal battles in the administration of his estate? Even Abraham Lincoln, it turns out, did not have a will. In discussing an array of celebrities, from Jackie Kennedy, Joan Rivers, Jimi Hendrix, and Whitney Houston to Aretha Franklin, Barry White, Leona Helmsley, and Florence Griffith Joyner, the course is designed as an enjoyable learning experience with tips for all levels of expertise. We may not have their fame or fortune, but we can certainly walk the red carpet when it comes to estate planning.

During part 3, of this 4-part series, we'll focus on the accounting and taxation of Complex Trusts. Using a series of calculations, determine whether the fiduciary or the beneficiary bears the burden of taxation and if the trust or estate is treated as a taxpaying entity or a conduit. The requirements and use of a charitable contribution deduction are also reviewed and its relationship with and difference from fiduciary accounting. Be sure to register for all courses in this series: Fiduciary Taxation Part 1: Introduction to Form 1041 Fiduciary Taxation Part 2: Fiduciary Accounting & Simple Trusts Fiduciary Taxation Part 3: Complex Trusts & Charitable Deduction Fiduciary Taxation Part 4: Miscellaneous Topics & AMT

Every month, a new international tax topic. Join the Hodgen Law team live with fresh insights, straight from the source. May 2026 - Planning for an Expatriation Year Tax Return; July 2026 - The Prboblem of Section 2801; September 2026 - Foreign Grantor Trusts: Taxation, Tax Compliance, and Use Cases, November 2026 - Foreign Nongrantor Trusts: Taxation, Tax Compliance, and Use Cases; January 2027 - Form 5471: Reinstatement of Sections 958(b)(4) and 951(b); March 2027 - Form 5471: Net CFC Tested Income, Section 951(A)

This course is designed to introduce the Quality of Earnings report and analysis concept. You'll understand the parties interested in this kind of report, what it is used for, how and when it is prepared, and some of the basic concepts that underlie a Quality of Earnings report. We'll discuss the format and contents of the report, including "as reported" EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, seller add-backs, out of period adjustments and non-recurring income and expense items. The class will include a comprehensive example illustrating these concepts. 

The final webcast in this series focuses on the special rules that apply when a fiduciary entity invests in real estate or other passive activity assets, elects the 65-day rule, makes specific bequests to beneficiaries or incurs alternative minimum tax (AMT). The underlying statute for AMT is written for individual taxpayers and the fiduciary or adviser must apply the statute to the special rules and calculations that determine fiduciary taxation. Be sure to register for all courses in this series: Fiduciary Taxation Part 1: Introduction to Form 1041 Fiduciary Taxation Part 2: Fiduciary Accounting & Simple Trusts Fiduciary Taxation Part 3: Complex Trusts & Charitable Deduction Fiduciary Taxation Part 4: Miscellaneous Topics & AMT

Taking money from ones retirement plan before age 59-1/2 or failing to withdraw funds after age 73 leads to penalties. Plan beneficiaries have a separate set of rules for withdrawals. There are penalty exceptions and waivers, but some issues have no possible resolution. A withdrawal from a retirement plan is taxable unless it's returned to a plan within 60 days. Some withdrawals cannot be returned and there are some ways to make a late rollover tax-free. Early and late distribution penalties and 60-day rollover failures are prevalent issues that tax preparers must handle despite the size of the firm or the wealth of their clients. Learn the rules of the road in this class. Note: This class presents an in-depth discussion of issues presented in the instructor's class Retirement Distributions: Planning Options.

Why do some companies fail while others grow and succeed for generations? Common perceptions often attribute organizational success to great leadership, timing, or unique ideas. Although these traits certainly play a role in helping companies grow, research shows that corporate success often hinges on whether a company is value driven. Such companies have core ideologies that drive almost every major decision. In this course, we look at empirical data on why some companies succeed while others fail. By looking at companies that were created prior to 1950 (e.g., Disney, Marriott, or 3M), we can understand why certain organizations have been able to grow and achieve exceptional success through many different eras in the American economy. The lessons learned from these visionary companies can be broadly applied to organizations of all sizes, including accounting and financial service firms.

A business conducted as a C corporation can be purchased through an asset acquisition or a stock acquisition. In an asset acquisition, the buyer purchases the business by purchasing the assets that make up the C corporation's ongoing business. In a stock acquisition, the buyer purchases the stock of the C corporation that owns all or a majority of the business assets. The seller and the buyer are usually at odds over how to structure the acquisition. Accounting and finance professionals advising their clients should be fully conversant in the tax rules that apply to stock and asset acquisitions. Discussing and explaining those rules is the focus of this course.

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.

The life cycle of the small business can be summed up in three segments: 1) starting the business; 2) operating the business; and 3) getting out of the business. This course focuses on getting out of the business. The most elusive element of owning a small business can be finding the proper exit strategy. This course is designed to provide the business consulting practitioner with tools and concepts to advise the small business owner and assist them in developing the right exit strategy. The course covers exit strategies related to third-party sales and succession planning within a family.

The IRS defines the "gig economy" as people earning income providing on-demand work, services, or goods on either a part-time or full-time basis. The economic times we live in are changing, and accounting and finance professionals must learn how the rules apply in this new gig economy. The tax rules that apply to gig workers challenge traditional ideas of who is an employee and who is an independent contractor, and accounting and finance professionals must have the knowledge to make this determination. This program addresses federal and state tax issues accounting and finance professionals must address with clients and their own workers.

Years of growth in a retirement account can be wiped out by one mistake. As such, retirement account owners and their advisors should take care to ensure that IRAs are operated in compliance with the governing regulations. This includes ensuring that distributions are handled properly, and that movement of retirement assets, including between IRAs and employer plans, does not violate the limitations that apply.

Even though they have been around for several years, the tax laws pertaining to S corporations remain some of the more difficult areas of the Internal Revenue Code. In this course, we will examine how S corporations break away from the normal tax rules for flow-through entities. We will explore which employee benefits are disallowed for S corporation shareholders, as well as which taxes are assessed at the entity level. Finally, we will discuss how state level taxation may have changed permanently with the addition of PTE elections.

In this continually revised course, tax advisors will be fully updated on the most recent enacted legislation and IRS guidance, as well as major trends on the horizon with a view toward planning considerations. This update course is designed for all practitioners, both those working in public accounting as well as those in private industry, who need the latest information on tax changes. Please Note: Due to content overlap, it is recommended that this course NOT be taken together with BITU.