Professional Development and Event Catalog
CFO Solutions to IRS Problems
9:00am - 1:00pm
Online
4.00 Credits
Member Price: $149
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Many CPAs are becoming full-time or fractional CFOs for small businesses. In that position, they are the resident expert in finances, cash flow planning, and budgeting. But what about dealing with the IRS? The IRS has broad powers to administer the assessment and collection of taxes. From removing penalties to criminal prosecutions, this presentation focuses on how CFOs can prevent problems with the IRS and how to develop winning strategies if the IRS knocks on the door. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
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Surgent's Advanced Audits of 401(k) Plans: Best Practices and Current Developments
9:00am - 5:00pm
Online
8.00 Credits
Member Price: $299
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Looking to improve the quality of your 401(k) benefit plan audits? This is the course for you. Based on recent data from the U.S. Department of Labor and peer reviews on employee benefit plan audits, we know auditors need to up their game to meet stakeholder demands and provide the best possible audit services. In this advanced course, we will discuss the audit and reporting requirements in accordance with SAS 136 and other recently issued SASs. We will also discuss laws and regulations (such as ERISA) that are unique to employee benefit plans and provide practical guidance on their application. Course topics will focus on the most common compliance issues identified in 401(k) audits by the Department of Labor and peer reviews, as well as recommended corrections. Auditors will identify best practices for auditing areas such as payroll and compensation, participant loans, hardship distributions, investments, and plan mergers and acquisitions.
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Walter Haig's AICPA Auditing Standards Update
9:00am - 5:00pm
Online
8.00 Credits
Member Price: $239
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This course will enable practitioners to understand and apply the AICPA "clarification" auditing standards to audits of Small- and Medium-Sized Entities (SMEs). Further, this course will provide guidance on how to perform an effective, efficient and profitable audit engagement. The course is loaded with practical practice aids to help enable participants to comply with the standards. Troublesome areas as identified in peer reviews and litigation will be covered. Participants who take this course will enjoy smooth sailing in their peer reviews, guaranteed! This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
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How to Audit Cash
9:30am - 11:30am
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $89
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Cash is essential to every business, and is often one of the first accounts audit staff are exposed to. This course will cover the basics of auditing cash, including the related audit assertions, risks, & threats to the cash balance. During this course, we will also highlight the various substantive auditing procedures that staff should perform, and also walk through some real-world examples. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
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Productivity Hacks for Working Remote
10:00am - 11:06am
Online
1.20 Credits
Member Price: $39
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In this course, we will share tips and tricks for working remotely. You will learn what to do/what not to do in a virtual working environment, strategies for leading teams remotely, employee engagement ideas, and techniques and tools for teleworking.
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Tax Practice Standards
10:00am - 11:57am
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $79
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Please join us for a comprehensive discussion on standards that professionals must adhere to as tax practitioners. We will be covering the major governing rules, such as Treasury Circular 230, the AICPA Statements on Standards for Tax Services (SSTS), the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and common law. Also included will be case studies illustrating dilemmas faced by tax practitioners. **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
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Advanced Cost Accounting: Eliminate Calculation Distortions
10:00am - 12:00pm
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $79
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Organizations that use primitive costing methods make predictable mistakes, allocating too much cost to easy, high-volume "gravy" products and too little cost to difficult, low-volume "dog" jobs, putting an organization with inferior information at a significant competitive disadvantage. The secret to being the “smart competitor” is learning how to deal with overhead. This session will show you how to assign 16 key overhead categories. Whether you work in a wholesale, retail, healthcare, service or manufacturing business, you will find this session invaluable. Get your cost right, and you will be able to give the "dogs" to your competitors and keep the "gravy" for yourself.
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Drive Results with Metrics
10:00am - 12:00pm
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $79
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Many organizations struggle to keep budgets current in an ever-changing business climate. Twenty-first century performance metrics focus on determining what budgets should be rather than what they were in the past. Using performance metrics effectively reduces work, reduces politics, provides flexibility and substantially improves the performance management process. This session will show you powerful techniques to drive your organization’s performance.
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Surgent's Food, Beverage, and Entertainment Expensing
10:00am - 12:00pm
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $99
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The IRS has issued final regulations regarding the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's (TCJA) elimination of the deduction for expenditures related to entertainment, amusement, or recreational activities and provided guidance to determine whether an activity is considered to be entertainment. The final regulations also address the 50% limitation on the deduction of food and beverage expenses and when the 50% limitation does not apply. Due to the pandemic, Congress changed the rules for 2021 and 2022 to allow for 100% deductibility for meals. These temporary rules no longer applied starting in 2023. To effectively advise clients, it is imperative for tax practitioners to understand these rules and be updated on the latest IRS guidance related to meals and entertainment.
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Surgent's Introduction to Required Minimum Distributions
10:00am - 12:00pm
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $99
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Required minimum distributions (RMDs) must be taken from certain tax-deferred retirement accounts, starting when the account owner reaches their applicable age. The RMD rules are complex and must be simplified to help ensure clients understand them. Accounting and finance professionals must understand the basics of RMDs for IRAs and employer plan accounts so as to help IRA owners, plan participants, and beneficiaries meet their RMD obligations and avoid penalties that apply to RMDs not taken by their applicable deadline. Accounting and finance professionals should also be able to demonstrate tax-efficient solutions for RMDs. This course will walk accounting and finance professionals through the fundamental concepts and rules that apply to RMDs, demonstrate how to calculate RMDs, and explain how to correct RMD errors. It can be taken by anyone, including those without any experience working with RMDs. The course will include cases to promote understanding of the rules.
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Surgent's Use the Data Model to Build More Powerful PivotTables
10:00am - 12:00pm
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $99
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Do you love PivotTables? Of course, we all do! Traditional PivotTables are incredible, but they do have limitations. If you have ever encountered one of these limitations, you'll be excited to learn that by using the Data Model as the source for PivotTables, you'll be able to bypass many of the restrictions that exist with traditional PivotTables. The data model (also referred to as Power Pivot) is included in Excel 2016+ for Windows and available as a free download for previous versions (excluding Excel for Mac). Using the data model enables you to build PivotTables that were previously not practical. If you frequently build PivotTables and would like to do more with them, you'll want to understand how to use the data model (Power Pivot) to enhance your reports. Note about Excel versions: Power Pivot is not available in all versions of Excel, including Excel for Mac. If you would like to see if Power Pivot is available in your version of Excel, visit the Microsoft site.
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Yellow Book Ethics
10:00am - 12:00pm
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $89
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Government Auditing Standards (or Yellow Book) has a unique perspective on ethics and transparency due to accountability owed to taxpayers, oversight bodies, and others. This course will discuss the foundational principles in the Yellow Book relevant to professional conduct on related engagements. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
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K2's Case Studies in Fraud and Technology Controls - 4 Hours
10:00am - 1:36pm
Online
4.00 Credits
Member Price: $129
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Fraud continues to plague businesses at epidemic levels, and technology control failures are a big reason fraud occurs. Using a case study approach, in this session, you will learn about the pervasiveness of fraud, the control failures that contribute to fraud, and what you can do to mitigate fraud risk. A specific focus of this course is the application of information technology general controls and information technology application controls. In this course, you will examine numerous reported fraud cases and identify the general control and application control failures that contributed to each of these frauds. By learning through these real-world case studies, you will be better positioned to reduce fraud risk.
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Audit Skills for Beginners
10:00am - 1:38pm
Online
4.00 Credits
Member Price: $129
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Learn the basic skills new staff need to hit the ground running and efficiently complete assigned tasks, including what new auditors are expected to know and do, including the nature, timing, and extent of common audit procedures. Focus on why certain procedures are performed and perform typical procedures.
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Fraud, Controls and Ethics: Best Practices and Case Studies
10:00am - 2:00pm
Online
4.00 Credits
Member Price: $149
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This course explores actual fraud circumstances through the lens of potential prevention. We will examine how selected frauds were accomplished and consider what internal controls may have prevented fraudsters from achieving their nefarious acts. Then we will switch gears to an interactive, case-based discussion that asks participants to reach their own conclusions by analyzing facts in concert with the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct and other sources of ethical guidance. This course ultimately provides practical, action-oriented insight that can be implemented by accounting professionals in both public practice and industry. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available for questions during the event.
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Guide to Preparing Form 1041 for Estates and Trusts
10:00am - 2:00pm
Online
4.00 Credits
Member Price: $129
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This program examines the critical issues, rules, and special opportunities when preparing your clients' Form 1041 US Income Tax Return for Estates and Trusts. Learn what is considered taxable income; filing requirements and deadlines; impact of the 3.8 percent Medicare surtax on net investment income; and the 10 principles of tax accounting for trust income. **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.
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2025 Annual Update for Not-for-Profit Accountants & Auditors
10:00am - 4:00pm
Online
6.00 Credits
Member Price: $189
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Stay ahead of the curve with this essential training designed for not-for-profit accountants and auditors. This course provides a comprehensive update on the latest developments impacting nonprofit financial reporting and auditing. On the accounting side, we will review the latest FASB standard-setting activities affecting NFPs, including programmatic investments and their interplay with the CECL standard. Additionally, we will explore the IFR4NPO project, a global initiative aimed at establishing universal financial reporting standards for nonprofits. Transitioning to auditing, this course covers the 2024 Yellow Book updates, the shift from quality control to quality management, and key audit matters with early adoption options. We'll also address Single Audit updates, GAO reports on improper payments and fraud, the Financial Data Transparency Act (FDTA), and recent Department of Education guidance on related parties.
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ChatGPT Vision for Financial Analysis
10:30am - 12:30pm
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $89
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This course offers an in-depth exploration of the "vision" capabilities of ChatGPT specifically tailored for accountants. The session demonstrates how artificial intelligence can interpret and analyze visual content to revolutionize financial management. The curriculum covers a wide range of applications, from understanding GPT Vision and its unique benefits to leveraging aerial and street view imagery for comprehensive financial analysis. Through detailed case studies, participants will learn how to access and utilize GPT Vision effectively, incorporating it into tasks like data visualization, text and object recognition from images, and the use of descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive (DDPP) analysis methods to enhance decision-making processes. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
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K2's QuickBooks for Accountants
10:30am - 6:07pm
Online
8.00 Credits
Member Price: $225
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The QuickBooks platform is a robust environment with features and capabilities that many users are unaware of or do not know how to utilize effectively. This course helps you get more out of QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online and resolve the issues that even experienced QuickBooks users struggle with, such as locking down prior periods. This program starts fast with a chapter covering the top issues accountants face with QuickBooks. The day continues with practical guidance and solutions designed to help accountants get the most out of QuickBooks for themselves or their clients. You will learn about issues, such as setting up a new company, configuring and customizing QuickBooks preferences, and enabling system security and password protection features. Also, you will learn how to lock down transactions in prior periods, the audit trail, customizing reports, exporting reports to Excel, and extending QuickBooks’ usefulness with tools such as the Fixed Asset Manager and Loan Manager.
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Revenue Recognition Topic 606 - Identify the Contract Part 1
11:00am - 12:14pm
Online
1.20 Credits
Member Price: $39
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On May 28, 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issued converged guidance on recognizing revenue in contracts with customers (ASC 606). The objective of the guidance is to establish principles to report useful information to users of financial statements about the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue from contracts with customers. The new guidance provides several benefits to financial statement users. This is one in a series of courses that outline the updated revenue recognition standard.