CPE Catalog & Events

The accounting profession faces unprecedented workforce challenges that demand a fundamental rethinking of traditional firm structures. This course examines why the century-old pyramid practice model is becoming obsolete and presents the inverted pentagon framework as a sustainable alternative. Based on comprehensive research showing that 52% of firms expect to shrink by 20% or more in the next five years, participants will learn how to restructure their firms to thrive with fewer entry-level staff while expanding specialized expertise. The course explores the "6 Ps of Business Model Transformation" - Precision Hiring, Proactive Retention, Practical Technology Implementation, Pricing Expertise, Practice Area Expansion/Focus, and People Acceleration. Drawing from success stories in manufacturing, healthcare, and technology industries, attendees will discover proven strategies for accelerating staff development, implementing effective knowledge transfer programs, and building sustainable talent pipelines in an era of technological disruption and demographic shifts. 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 Part 3 of 5 in our Emerging Risk and Resilience Series for Accountants and Finance The rapid evolution of technology, globalization, and regulatory frameworks has introduced a range of emerging risks that are transforming the fields of accounting, finance, and auditing. Innovations such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and big data analytics are redefining traditional business models while creating new challenges related to data integrity, cybersecurity, and ethical decision-making. In accounting and finance, the growing reliance on automated systems raises concerns about vulnerabilities, algorithmic bias, and the potential for misinformation. Auditors face heightened expectations for real-time assurance, transparency, and adaptability to new reporting standards, including sustainability and ESG disclosures. Geopolitical instability, economic volatility, and evolving regulatory pressures add layers of uncertainty to financial reporting and audit quality. This four-part seminar series explores these emerging risks, analyzes their implications for professionals and organizations, and highlights proactive strategies for risk management, continuous learning, and technological competency.  

This course focuses on the key federal tax issues affecting businesses from the internal accountant's point of view, with a focus on 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 terri.storer@acpen.com  

Form 1065 is the tax return filed by partnerships, which is one of the most common forms of business organizations in the United States. This course provides an in-depth understanding of the preparation and filing of Form 1065. The course will cover the basics of partnership taxation, including how partnerships are taxed, the different types of partnerships, and the tax obligations of partners. It will also discuss the importance of keeping accurate financial records, the role of the partnership agreement in tax reporting, and the filing deadlines for Form 1065. Participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of the various sections of Form 1065, including the Schedule K-1, which reports each partner's share of the partnership's income, deductions, and credits. The course will also cover how to report partnership income, expenses, and deductions, as well as the tax implications of buying and selling partnership interests. In addition, the course will provide an overview of common errors and omissions made when preparing Form 1065, and how to avoid them. It will also cover recent changes in tax laws that affect partnership taxation. Overall, this course is designed for tax professionals, accountants, business owners, and individuals who need to understand the intricacies of partnership taxation and the preparation and filing of Form 1065. Upon completion of the course, participants will have a solid understanding of partnership taxation and will be able to prepare and file Form 1065 with confidence. **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 new Standards emphasize that quality performance requires conformance to the Standards. Each standard within Domain III specifically identifies the responsibilities of the CAE and the board, as well as joint responsibilities. The new Global Internal Audit Standards were released on January 9, 2024, and will become effective January 9, 2025. The previous version, the International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing, released in 2017, remains approved for use during a one-year transition period. The Global Internal Audit Standards guide the worldwide professional practice of internal audit. They serve as a basis for evaluating and elevating the quality of the internal audit function. The Standards use 15 guiding principles with five separate domains that enable effective internal audit implementation and examples of evidence of conformance. The Global Standards are organized into five domains. Domain I: Purpose of Internal Auditing Domain II: Ethics and Professionalism Domain III: Governing the Internal Audit Function Domain IV: Managing the Internal Audit Function Domain V: Performing Internal Audit Service

This course provides a concise overview of Gemini AI, Google's advanced multimodal artificial intelligence model. It explains how Gemini is integrated into different Google products, including Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and as a stand-alone chatbot. Participants will learn how Gemini enhances productivity by summarizing email threads, suggesting responses, drafting emails, generating formulas, creating tables, and more. By the end of the course, students will have a solid foundation in understanding Gemini AI's role in the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Communication is the glue that connects people, but it doesn’t come easy for many of us. If you want to quickly and effectively handle problems with co-workers or clients, and you want people to do what you want without a lot of hassle, this seminar is for you. The bottom line will be better client and co-worker relationships, leading to increased enjoyment and productivity at work.

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 terri.storer@acpen.com  

With the increasing complexity and ever-changing nature of tax laws and issues, today’s accountant needs a one-day fast-paced update course focusing on the hottest Federal income tax topics affecting individuals, businesses and their owners with an emphasis of newly enacted income tax legislation.   *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    

Navigating the complexities of estate and trust administration is a vital skill for professionals, who play an integral role in the administration team. This comprehensive course is designed to equip professionals with a thorough understanding of their responsibilities and the processes involved in estate administration, enhancing their ability to address estate settlement issues effectively. Participants will be provided with a detailed overview of the professional’s role in estate and trust administration, emphasizing practical insights and strategies for managing assets, addressing the legitimacy of debts and creditors, and ensuring the proper distribution of 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.

Many business professionals consider PivotTables the most powerful feature in Excel, yet most accounting and financial professionals do not use them in their day-to-day activities. If you are ready to learn how to take advantage of PivotTables or extend your existing knowledge, then this course is for you! In this dynamic and engaging session, you'll master how to: •    Build PivotTables from scratch •    Group data inside PivotTables, including options for fiscal periods •    Create user-defined calculations in your PivotTables We start with the fundamentals and quickly move to advanced techniques, including: •    Building PivotTables that consolidate data from multiple ranges •    Connecting PivotTables dynamically to external databases and financial accounting systems •    Leveraging other Excel features associated with PivotTables, such as Slicers, Power Query, and Power Pivot This seminar is a must for anyone eager to enhance their Excel skills and transform their workflow. With guidance and coaching from your K2 instructor, you'll be ready to use PivotTables to analyze and report on extensive data sets in a fraction of the time you spend completing such tasks.

Advanced Excel for Staff - Build Reports and Analyze Data is a comprehensive, 2-hour course tailored for professionals looking to enhance their Microsoft Excel skills in creating reports and performing data analysis. This course bridges the gap between basic Excel functionality and the advanced techniques required for effective data-driven reports. Participants will learn to efficiently gather, organize, and structure data, apply calculations to derive key metrics, and create professional-grade reports that are both visually appealing and actionable. The course emphasizes practical application, providing participants with guidance on Excel's advanced tools and functions. By mastering workflows and best practices, learners will gain the confidence to tackle complex data challenges and streamline reporting processes. Additionally, participants will explore methods to validate and share their work, ensuring that reports are accurate, insightful, and easily communicated across teams. Whether you are tasked with preparing financial summaries, tracking performance metrics, or generating operational insights, this course will equip you with the tools to maximize Excel's potential, saving time and improving the quality of your outputs. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Trust is essential, because without trust, there can be no teamwork.  Trust is like oxygen, when it is gone - we suffocate.  This session provides a 15-step action plan to gain commitment from your team members, build trust, hold each person accountable and create results for your organization. 

This session will address the complex rules of retirement distributions, review key provisions of the SECURE Act 2.0, and provide practical strategies of maximizing tax benefits for your client. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Learn the history of medical plans and how the American health insurance system developed into it's current state. This section will help HR and Finance professionals actually understand the mechanisms behind traditional fully insured plans and their self funded plan counterparts. It will also introduce some key concepts around Stop Loss, Third Party Administration, and Medical Plan Underwriting

Managing and auditing employee spending on personal and corporate credit cards is a challenge everywhere. Legacy manual expense reporting preparation and approval processes are tedious and repetitive and are an excellent place to start your company's use of business process automation solutions. This session will cover a variety of expense workflow tools which use technologies and features like bank feeds, mobile receipt capture, OCR data extraction/filling, automated policy enforcement, and artificial intelligence-based validation to automate and eliminate the tedium. Attend this session and learn how to use automation and cure the expense reporting blues for you and your employees.

This session explores the nature of analytical procedures, with significant emphasis placed upon professional standards involving the use of analytical procedures in audit and review engagements. Practical examples to illustrate the application process will also be given.

This is Part 4 in our 5 part series on Emerging Risk and Resilience - How Accounting and Finance is Leading the Way The rapid evolution of technology, globalization, and regulatory frameworks has introduced a range of emerging risks that are transforming the fields of accounting, finance, and auditing. Innovations such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and big data analytics are redefining traditional business models while creating new challenges related to data integrity, cybersecurity, and ethical decision-making. In accounting and finance, the growing reliance on automated systems raises concerns about vulnerabilities, algorithmic bias, and the potential for misinformation. Auditors face heightened expectations for real-time assurance, transparency, and adaptability to new reporting standards, including sustainability and ESG disclosures. Geopolitical instability, economic volatility, and evolving regulatory pressures add layers of uncertainty to financial reporting and audit quality. This four-part seminar series explores these emerging risks, analyzes their implications for professionals and organizations, and highlights proactive strategies for risk management, continuous learning, and technological competency.  

Do you get bored with similar rubrics’ cube COSO risk model courses?  They are important and great, but this course is intended to offer a fresh approach on the view of risk using the dynamic landscape of modern business; CFOs are charged with navigating an array of external and internal risks that can impact organizational performance and sustainability. This seminar will empower finance professionals with the foresight and practical tools needed to understand, anticipate, and mitigate both external and internal risks. We must be aware and anticipate. If we do not adequately prepare, we will be exposed to avoidable and onerous risk. Essential for leaders and organizations that want to survive and thrive. This seminar stands on its own but is also part of the Common Sense CFO series.

Freelance work and other non-permanent employment arrangements are becoming increasingly popular ways for people to earn a living. Although these non-traditional activities offer novel, flexible ways to earn income from diverse sources, they also introduce nuanced recordkeeping, reporting, and attestation issues. We investigate characteristics of the gig economy, employee-versus-contractor considerations, bookkeeping, regulatory compliance, and external reporting considerations. We also explore best practices for CPAs who fulfill the role of trusted advisor for gig economy clients.