Professional Development and Event Catalog

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 leighanne.conroy@acpen.com.

This course examines 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’ ability to accomplish their nefarious acts.

This program addresses the recent changes imposed by recent tax legislation that real estate owners and investors need to know, including Section 199A, the new Section 163(j) interest expense limits and the opportunity to elect out.  An introduction to opportunity zones and other important issues will also be addressed. **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 leighanne.conroy@acpen.com.

The Auditing Standards Board (ASB) has completed its update of the three engagement types in the SSAEs. In this course, we will review the changes to the examination, review, and agreed-upon procedures standard to provide you with an understanding of the changes to performance and reporting requirements. 

It's an exciting time to manage a public practice accounting firm! In addition to technical knowledge in tax, auditing, and accounting, we need to understand data analytics and security options in an advisory context. Beyond that, we must manage the practice and people while profitably delivering excellent client service in a competitive environment for the owners. Further, portals, CAS stacks, PBC lists, electronic signatures, Cloud, and robotic process automation are technologies we need to understand beyond our tax, audit, practice management, document management, and workflow systems. This CPA Firm Update session independently covers significant trends and technologies for CPA firms, which will help you understand your current and future choices. With such rapid change, what will your firm do?

Are you getting the most from your staff? Are you paying top-dollar and still not getting high performance? New research gives us the insights to effectively motivate your people. This session discusses proven people motivation tactics. Many `old' methods really did not motivate in the past and certainly do not work today. Getting the most from your people requires new, very learnable, leadership techniques. Whether your business is large or a start-up, getting people to move forward as one is a challenge. This session will show you how to create an environment where your talented employees can excel. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

The work for clients is not as linear as it used to be with the inclusion of more advisory services, more cross functional teams, and due dates moving. Quality client engagements are not just about a solid workflow, we need project management skills. In this session we will discuss how to apply project management techniques to designing a one firm, team approach to serving clients. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Your documentation matters Understanding different parts of the employee benefit plan (EBP) audit process and knowing how to think holistically about your audit documentation are essential to successful EBP audits. Learn the appropriate level of documentation while auditing employee benefit plans in this all-new webcast. Join us to gain valuable knowledge specific to EBP audits, including necessary testing that is not typically performed in other audits. Real-life examples Augment your understanding through real-life examples and solutions, as a former employee benefit plan expert panel member and peer reviewer guides you through the webcast. Apply your new knowledge by working in templates to truly understand EBP audit documentation while learning best practices to incorporate into your audits.

This session will explore key aspects of getting more satisfaction out of the work you choose to do and how to find greater balance between the demands of work and other lifestyle choices in an ever more complex and changing world. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Management Skills - Exhibiting Traits of a Balanced Leader-Manager provides tips and techniques for striking the right balance between managing individuals and engagement teams and leading the overall strategic direction of a firm. Short-term profitability and long-term viability are important objectives of any successful organization. Note: This course is recommended as a part of a 16-hour audit skills curriculum for managers, while it is also appropriate for anyone who has responsibilities for leading or managing others. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

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.

Those late-night commercials make it sound just so easy, but how do you get rid of tax penalties? This program covers the various penalties applied by the IRS, and the various ways practitioners can seek to have them removed. Additionally, First Time Penalty Abatement, abatement for reasonable cause, and how to lay the groundwork for avoiding penalties during the audit is covered. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

In a surprise twist, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was passed in short order after secret negotiations were revealed in late July 2022. Seismic changes in tax legislation are currently taking place, and the well-informed tax practitioner will want to attend this two-hour program in order to stay abreast of these developments! This course will provide a concise look at these hot topics. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

The course will start off with a look at the Accounting Standard Updates (ASUs) issued by the FASB that will be effective in 2023. We'll also review late breaking changes to the lease standard that may impact common control entities. We'll then turn our attention from accounting to auditing where we will cover the key SASes effective this year including new standards around auditing accounting estimates an risk assessment. This course focuses on what you need to know this year to be ready for 2023 year end financial reporting and audits. 

Many businesses are being held back by legacy solutions. The old way of doing things doesn't work anymore. Instead, Software as a Service (SaaS) has transformed many mid-market companies. In this new world of cloud-based, workflow-enabled, data-centric, and connected solutions, you can solve existing and future business problems in new ways without being bogged down by paper-centric environments. This session covers integrated and ERP solutions that should work for businesses in the $10 Million to $1 Billion range. If your existing system has been in place for seven or more years, it is time to consider upgrading or replacing it. Leverage your instructor's knowledge of the market to minimize your risk.

Change is all around us and the pace of change is accelerating. Those who can effectively manage change will be the profession's future leaders. As organizations and the CPA profession continue to evolve, CPAs will need to have the ability to be resilient and thrive in an ever-changing world. This course will look at practical ways CPAs can not only accept change but also manage change effectively and efficiently.

Arthur Werner will provide financial professionals with the information their teams will need to successfully plan and execute mergers and acquisitions. For major topics covered, see below. This course may be customized or tailored based on the needs of your organization.

This two-hour course will cover the GASB standards that are effective this year with a deeper dive into GASB 94, Public Private Partnerships and GASB 96, Subscription Based IT Arrangements. We'll also look at smaller standards that are effective for 2023 year ends. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Seismic changes in tax legislation is currently taking place, and the well-informed tax practitioner will want to attend this two hour monthly program in order to stay abreast of these developments! Approximately one-half of the program is devoted to individual tax issues, and the remaining time is spend on business entity taxation, IRS procedure, tax legislation and other issues. Due to the changing nature of the topic, learning objectives, course descriptions and program content will vary and will be provided in more specificity closer to presentation time. This course provides a concise look at the hottest topics affecting every tax practitioner. The first presentation of this course each month will be delivered live. Subsequent presentations during the month will be a rebroadcast of the live presentation.

One of the most cost-effective methods for storing your files safely and economically in the cloud is with the Microsoft 365 OneDrive and SharePoint apps. If you use either or both of these cloud storage apps, this course is a "must take." There are often times when you want or need cloud-based files to be stored on your local laptop or desktop PC for application compatibility purposes. With the OneDrive Sync app, you can have the best of both worlds. You can have copies of a file stored locally and, in the cloud, simultaneously. The Sync app will update both copies of the file in real time for any changes that are made in the local or cloud copy of the file. A classic example is if you have a QuickBooks Desktop data file that you need to store locally to work with the files in QuickBooks. However, you also want the file stored in the cloud for anytime, anywhere access and enhanced security. The Sync app facilitates this scenario effortlessly. Nationally recognized accounting technology advisor and thought leader John Higgins will take you through the step-by-step process of setting up and using the Sync app. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.