CPE Catalog & Events

This program addresses the most recent developments impacting taxpayers incurring research and experimentation costs.  Emphasis will be placed on compliance with the 2022 change in Section 174 Amortization of research and experimental expenditures. **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.

Social media has become a ubiquitous phenomenon in our business world. However, just because it exists is not a good reason to use it. This workshop is designed to give you an overview of the social media landscape to help you decide if you want to engage with and on social media and, if so, what channel(s) are most strategic for you and your business. The workshop ends with a simple framework to help you use social media as a credibility strategy for your business, giving you a strategy for creating a year's worth of social media content in a single day.

Many people, when they hear about feedbcak in organizations and the workplace, think immediately of performance reviews. But feedback should not be isolated to these formal structures. This workshop is about the more informal methods of feedback that managers and coworkers can use to have more productive conversations that drive behavioral change. Through understanding the importance of dialogue, strategic questions to drive conversation, and mistakes to avoid, you'll be able to have more productive feedback conversations in your workplace (and maybe even at home, too).

This is a 2 hour webcast that will focus on the similarities between all three of these GASB accounting standards that deal with contractual arrangements such as leases, Subscription-Based Information Technology Arrangements (SBITA) and P3s.  Compare and contrast these standards as you prepare for implementation this year of GASB 94 and GASB 96, and review the implementation efforts of Leases in Year 2. 

This session will identify the progress of the AICPA Enhancing Audit Quality Initiative and evaluate whether audit quality is improving. Analyze the trends that are contributing to audit quality and recall the major issues identified and the related resources issued by the AICPA to improve practice quality. This session will also analyze the AICPA's new Statements on Quality Management Standards (SQMS). It will identify the related implementation challenges and timing and evaluate the potential impact on peer review. Learn about AICPA resources for SQMS implementation. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

If you use Outlook to process your email, you are likely spending a substantial part of your day processing incoming email messages. This course is designed to show you a multitude of tips and tricks to reduce time spent processing emails. We will cover every feature available in Outlook to streamline and automate your email processing. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Excel is the accountant’s tool of choice for analyzing and reporting financial data, yet many use time-consuming and error-prone processes to complete everyday tasks. Regardless of your level of experience, if you use Excel, you need this course to learn more efficient and effective ways to work with Excel. In this course, you will discover countless tips, tricks, and techniques to improve your general level of productivity, reduce the amount of time you spend on mundane tasks, such as formatting, and customize Excel for greater accuracy and efficiency. You will also learn valuable formula-building skills, best practices for linking Excel data from other worksheets and workbooks, and how to streamline report generation and printing processes. Your K2 instructor will reinforce key learning points throughout the program with practical, real-world examples that will improve your understanding and comprehension of the topics presented. This highly acclaimed course draws on over twenty-five years of experience in delivering spreadsheet training to accounting and financial professionals, which assures you of the relevance and usefulness of the information and guidance provided during the program.

The course provides a concise overview of how accountants can instantly and dramatically improve their Google search skills. Discover how to use the search service to spot opportunities and threats in your enterprise landscape earlier and faster, improve your research tactics as a trusted business advisor, slice through the endless online static and distractions, and interpret search results related to accounting in their proper context. You'll walk away with scores of practical and proven online discovery lessons that can be immediately applied, deliver instant results and serve you forever in both your professional and personal life. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

One of the biggest challenges, if not the most critical challenge in business, is attracting and keeping an engaged and productive workforce. Navigating the world of engagement and retention requires an understanding of human needs as well as deliberate and intentional actions to strengthen an employee's investment and connection to their place of work. For all the HGTV lovers out there, this session mirrors a television show where an individual/family must decide if they want to stay in their current home (after renovations and home improvements) or move to a new space. This webinar title seems apt in describing the current issues around engagement and retention. When an employee chooses to "love it" or stay with their current employer, it typically means they are engaged in their work and they feel seen, heard and valued- they are content. Conversely, the notion of "leaving it" typically symbolizes an employee who cannot wait to get out of their current job. These employees often have negative attitudes and/or behaviors at work. The purpose of this webinar is to recognize the significance of attracting and retaining employees, building your brand as an employer of choice and developing a culture where individual employees feel valued, cared for and ultimately engaged, all though an ethical lens. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Professional Skepticism - Creating a Mindset for Finding Fraud and Error is a critical skill for audit and other attest services. The public places a high value on assurance services provided by an external public accountant, as the CPA's involvement directly enhances the degree of confidence intended users can place on the financial statements to make economic decisions. A proper mindset, including professional skepticism, is a critical feature of a high-quality audit or other attest service. Professional skepticism is an essential attitude that enhances the ability to identify and respond to conditions that may indicate possible material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

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.

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.

Isn’t it time you learned how to take advantage of critical features available in your Microsoft 365/Office 365 subscription? In this session, you will learn to use tools such as Teams, Planner, Power Automate, and others to enhance productivity and efficiency.

Cybersecurity protection is one of the most important responsibilities of every CPA professional to protect the confidentiality of sensitive client information. While there are many aspects of cybersecurity that need to be addressed, the biggest vulnerability to protect against is unauthorized access to your application login credentials. Once your login credentials are breached, the cybercriminal essentially has the keys to your data kingdom. John Higgins, a national leader in the CPA technology, will demonstrate the ease with which you can protect all of your login credentials with maximum security with minimal expense. You will leave this course prepared to deploy this state of the art security tool in your organization. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Governmental Accounting 101, is a 2 hour webcast that takes the participant of a whirlwind tour of governmental accounting basics, focusing on wetting the participant’s appetite for more.  This session will be the first of a series of webcasts, with each subsequent webcast delving deeper and deeper into the governmental accounting basics. 

Did you know that simply by utilizing the built-in headings found under Styles in Microsoft Word you can create an automatic table of contents that can be updated in a matter of seconds if the body of the document changes? Did you know that Word can be used to open, edit, and re-save PDF documents? How about the fact that by using the Insert Caption tool in conjunction with the Cross-Reference feature, users can rid themselves of the need to manually renumber figures, tables or illustrations and will not even need to update references to these in the document text? This material shows tools and features that are easy to understand and use, will save time, and add consistency to documents. Participants in this session will come away knowing the power of Microsoft Word; this knowledge will benefit them greatly! This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

You have used Excel for years and perhaps Lotus 123 before that. And through all that time, you have repeatedly said, “One day, I’ll learn how to write macros.” Finally, that time has arrived because this four-hour program will introduce you to the wide world of Excel macros and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). This course teaches the fundamentals of creating and working with macros in Excel and is designed specifically for those with little experience working with macros. More specifically, taking this course will teach you how to use Excel’s Macro Recorder to write simple yet effective macros. You will also learn how to secure and share macros with other Excel users and create user-defined functions to solve specific accountant-centric problems in Excel. Further, you will learn how to create macros that run when a user opens a workbook and VBA basics. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to learn how to begin working with macros – one of Excel’s most powerful tools.

Introductory Session of Borenstein's Form 990 Foundational Series: This "initiation and introduction to" the Form 990's mechanics and importance will prevent you from drowning in the Form 990's force-field! More than 80% of the Form's inputs and relevant definitions are NOT found in the statutes and Regulations that apply to the exempt sector, a reality that can be overwhelming for both novices and more advanced preparers. This session provides an easy-to-digest synopsis of the entirety of the Form's key definitions as well as the mechanics that preparers need embrace from the moment they first approach preparing a 990. Packed with practical tips and perspectives on data gathering, this class is a "must" gateway for beginning (and even more experienced) preparers to learn "how to befriend Form 990 preparation." This webinar will vault preparers past all the initially confounding problems of the Form 990, providing baseline info on the critical nuances the form uses. 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 a comprehensive overview of the ELI5 (Explain Like I'm 5) approach and its application in the accounting profession using ChatGPT, an advanced language model. Discover how to simplify complex financial information and tax regulations using this innovative approach. Explore how practitioners can effectively communicate intricate topics to their clients to add value and build trust. You'll walk away with a foundational understanding of the ELI5 approach and how to use ChatGPT to improve your communication strategies. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

This hands-on workshop offers an analytical approach for designing, executing, and communicating results of a comprehensive financial statement analysis. We will explore numerous techniques and approaches that facilitate in-depth financial statement analysis. Accountants in public practice will obtain insight regarding analytical procedures, additional client services, and enhanced compliance with professional standards. Accountants in private enterprises will develop more robust techniques for understanding their organization’s financial statements to facilitate forward-thinking decisions and communication to internal and external stakeholders.