Professional Development and Event Catalog
K2's Advanced Excel New
Monday, January 30th, 10:00am - 5:41pm
Online
8.00 Credits
If you are an experienced Excel user seeking to elevate your skills, join the K2 team for K2’s Advanced Excel.In this laptop-friendly program, you will learn critical advanced Excel skills in six key areas: 1) collaborating with other users and securing workbooks, 2) using tables to analyze and report data, 3) integrating and manipulating data from external sources, 4) creating and auditing complex formulas, 5) advanced data analysis tools, and 6) visualization techniques to analyze and communicate information.The course draws from over twenty-five years of experience in delivering Excel training to accountants and other business professionals. Throughout the program, relevant, real-world examples reinforce the major topics presented.You do not want to miss this opportunity to become more efficient and proficient in Microsoft Office Excel, the tool of choice for accounting and financial professionals. This course covers advanced Excel topics found in Excel 2013 and newer.
K2's Business Continuity - Best Practices for Managing the Risks
Monday, January 30th, 10:00am - 5:43pm
Online
8.00 Credits
Are you and your team members prepared for a business disruption? Natural disasters, technology glitches, human failures, and even sabotage and terrorism threaten businesses of all sizes today. In this course, you will learn how to develop and implement a business continuity plan (BCP) to help manage the risks associated with business interruptions. In addition, you will learn how to address critical issues related to staffing, how virtualization can speed recovery times, and how Cloud-based storage, synchronization, and mirrored databases can help ensure that you always have access to your critical data and applications. Most importantly, you will learn how to identify your organization’s significant risks and create an effective plan to address these contingencies. Today’s technology-dependent organizations must have a plan for how they will operate when facilities, power, communications, or technology fail or become compromised. Unfortunately, many companies learn about critical weaknesses in their infrastructure only after experiencing a critical outage. Participate in this course and learn how to identify, understand, and develop strategies for mitigating business interruption risks.
ACPEN Signature: A CPA's Guide to Living With the New CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification) and Crypto Currency
Monday, January 30th, 10:00am - 6:00pm
Online
8.00 Credits
Note: This 8 Hour course is comprised of 2- 4 Hour sessions, Living With the New CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification) and A CPA’s Guide to Crypto Currency. Living With the New CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification) Cyber threats have impacted every aspect of our corporate and personal lives in the past few years. These threats can cause loss of sensitive information, disruption of operations, and significant—sometimes catastrophic—financial impacts. IBM reported in 2021 that the average cost of each data breach for an organization was over $4 million. In addition to financial gain, malicious cyber actors also seek access to sensitive information to provide to our competitors and our nation’s adversaries. The SolarWinds breach highlighted vulnerabilities in vendor processes that can be used to enter sensitive networks and exfiltrate information. To better address these cyber risks, the Department of Defense (DOD) is establishing the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC). This certification will be required for most DOD vendors as well as their subcontractors. CMMC is also being cited as a model for use by other federal agencies and the private sector to better secure their vendors and supply chains against cyber risks. Our presenters will provide perspectives on issues and challenges related to the CMMC process and provide tools and resources to help you understand how to plan for and respond to CMMC requirements. This information will enable you to improve the cybersecurity of your own organization as well as the cybersecurity of your vendors, customers, and clients. A CPA’s Guide to Crypto Currency Crypto currency is likely here to stay. Businesses and consumers across the globe are quickly adopting cryptocurrencies in day-to-day transactions. And many organizations, and their accountants, are scrambling to catch up with this evolving technological innovation. In this course, we will explore the world of crypto currency from an accountant’s perspective to understand the various forms, risks, accounting treatments and enforcement trends. As adoption continues, it’s critically important that accounting professionals understand this new medium of currency and what responsible adoption looks like for the companies, large and small, that they serve. ACPEN has assembled a panel of expert accounting professionals, regulators and technologists, as well as experienced representatives from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, that will include the perspective of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who can explain what the new currency is and what the accounting, auditing and risk assessments that should be made when dealing with this new form of wealth. The panel will, of course answer your questions as well.
Monthly Federal Tax Update - January 2023
Monday, January 30th, 11:00am - 1:00pm
Online
2.00 Credits
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 spent on business entity taxation, IRS procedure, tax legislation and other issues. This course provides a concise look at the hottest topics affecting every tax practitioner. Due to the changing nature of the topic, learning objectives, course descriptions and program content will vary. 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.
The How's and Why's of Creating User Defined Functions in Excel
Monday, January 30th, 12:00pm - 1:48pm
Online
2.00 Credits
With approximately 500 functions already present, Excel seemingly has a function for every need. But sometimes the function YOU need just simply isn’t available. For example, Excel does not have functions to calculate income tax expense or, in many cases, depreciation expense. To solve these shortcomings, you can create User Defined Functions (UDFs). UDFs provide you with the opportunity to create functions for use in any of your formulas and automate your most complex calculations. Join us to learn how to put the power of UDFs to work to simplify and automate even your most complex calculations.
K2'S The Power Of Array Formulas In Excel
Monday, January 30th, 12:00pm - 1:50pm
Online
2.00 Credits
Array formulas have been available in Excel for decades. But recent enhancements to Excel have breathed new life into this feature. With the new “dynamic array” concept, you can leverage Excel’s array formulas in ways that you may have never imagined possible. In this session, you will learn how you can put the power of array formulas to work for you. This session begins with an overview of Excel’s “legacy” array features and shows you how you can continue to take advantage of these tools. The course then discusses the recent enhancements to Excel that facilitate “dynamic arrays” and why these enhancements are so significant. To wrap up the conversation, you will learn from numerous practical examples of dynamic arrays and how you can put them to work for you.
How to Deduct Travel, Meals, & Entertainment Expenses NOW
Monday, January 30th, 12:00pm - 2:00pm
Online
2.00 Credits
This program will explain the new rules for deducting and reporting travel, meals, and entertainment expenses . Documentation requirements and planning opportunities related to travel, meals, entertainment, and automobile expenses will also be addressed.
Not-for-Profit GAAP Update
Monday, January 30th, 12:00pm - 2:00pm
Online
2.00 Credits
This course covers FASB Accounting Standard Updates (ASUs) that impact not-for-profit entities. It includes a deep dive into the new disclosure requirements for contributed nonfinancial assets in ASU 2020-07. We also review the impact of COVID19 on accounting for various federal funding in response to the global pandemic.
PowerPoint Fundamentals: Create Engaging Presentations
Monday, January 30th, 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Online
2.00 Credits
In this course you will learn how to create presentations that look professional and clearly deliver your message to your audience. You'll benefit from a step-by-step guide for building a presentation, including understanding the PowerPoint interface. We will also dive into topics such as using themes and layouts; adding graphics, photos and other objects to engage the viewer; and tips & tricks for delivering your PowerPoint presentation. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
Secure Act 2.0 – Everything That You Need to Know
Monday, January 30th, 1:00pm - 3:06pm
Online
2.20 Credits
Congress was EXTREMELY busy in late December 2022! During this lame-duck session, Congress was able to pass SECURE 2.0, which is essentially the original SECURE Act that was passed in late 2019. There are over 50 tax-related provisions within SECURE 2.0 which an advisor needs to be able to master. This course will provide the participant with everything that that they need to know about SECURE 2.0 so that they will be able to better serve their clients’ retirement planning needs.**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.
Surgent's Avoiding Deficiencies in Peer Reviews: Focus on Engagement Quality
Monday, January 30th, 1:00pm - 4:30pm
Online
4.00 Credits
With the AICPA's heightened focus on enhancing audit quality, increased oversight of the peer review process and the auditor's overall responsibility to provide high quality services, the focus on compliance with professional standards has never been greater. Recent peer reviews have indicated that auditors are often failing to perform and/or document certain critical components of an audit such as the auditor's assessment of risk and linking the results of the assessment to substantive procedures performed. In addition, auditors are not adequately documenting their consideration of fraud, expectations in analytical procedures and the appropriate level of work needed to understand an entity's internal control. Now is time to revisit the way that auditors are performing and documenting the work performed to meet professional standards since nonconforming engagements can result in an auditor's referral to the AICPA Ethics Committee. This course will focus on the most significant items resulting in deficiencies identified in the peer review process. We will also discuss the applicable audit standards, documentation requirements and best practices. The objective of the course is to provide the insights necessary to help an auditor improve not just the quality of their work but also the perception of the accounting profession as a whole.
K2's Password Management Tools - Why And How You Should Use Them
Monday, January 30th, 2:00pm - 3:48pm
Online
2.00 Credits
Correctly implemented passwords help protect valuable information. Both the complexity and the number of passwords required have multiplied. Further, it has been shown that using the same password for multiple sites or easy to guess passwords enable bad actors. Password management tools have emerged as a leading option for enhancing security to address these challenges. In this session, you will learn how password management tools can help you implement, update, and manage your passwords. You will also learn about the features of leading password management tools and why these tools are necessary to improve security. Finally, if you hope to implement a passwordless approach, we will spend time on the current options. If you are seeking to enhance security, this session is an absolute must!
K2's Understanding Workflow and Automation Essentials
Monday, January 30th, 2:00pm - 3:49pm
Online
2.00 Credits
Proper workflow optimizes a business for profitability. Once your workflow is optimized you can automate it with a variety of software tools. In this session, you will learn how to setup workflow processes properly. You will also learn about a variety of tools that you can use to achieve automated workflow. We’ll review Zoho Flow, Power Automate, XCM, Automation Anywhere, as well as other robotic process automation (RPA) tools. This session will provide a road map on workflow technologies and choices you can implement now.
K2's Amazing Accounting Add-Ons
Monday, January 30th, 2:00pm - 3:50pm
Online
2.00 Credits
A complete accounting software solution almost always includes additional add-on products. For example, it is hard to accurately calculate sales tax, do budgeting, or have adequate reporting without third-party add-ons. This session provides guidance on some of the best add-ons in the market. If you have needs that your current solution does not meet, you may not need to change it. You may just need the right add-on! Attend this session to discover the best of best extensions for accounting software.
QuickBooks at Tax Time: Compliance and Client Onboarding
Monday, January 30th, 2:00pm - 4:00pm
Online
2.00 Credits
Tax season can be the most grueling time of year for practitioners so having the ability to prepare a client tax return efficiently and accurately will help you minimize extra time during the busy season. Many business owners do not understand the impact that their accounting records have on the success of their business as well as your success at tax time. However, the simplicity of QuickBooks can cause their accounting records to be changed, altered, setup incorrectly, mistakes with bank reconciliations, account posting choices, negative accounts receivable, and so much more. We will focus on a proactive approach to working with clients to minimize these mistakes and to allow for a successful and healthy set of financials that will help backup the tax return and any other financial reporting requirements that the business must adhere to. Tax time can also be extra grueling because your firm lacks processes when onboarding new clients. Just as much as your existing clients need you to be proactive, so do any new clients that walk in the door. We will cover how you can onboard new clients and not have it disrupt your busy season but rather make it the most successful season you have ever had. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
S-Corporation Essentials: Stock & Loan Basis Reporting
Monday, January 30th, 2:00pm - 4:00pm
Online
2.00 Credits
This program addresses the critical issues and special opportunities facing S-corporations, with a focus on reporting shareholder basis and distributions. **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.
ACPEN Signature: 2022 A CPA's Guide to Crypto Currency
Monday, January 30th, 2:00pm - 5:35pm
Online
4.00 Credits
Note: This course is part of an 8 Hour course titled, ACPEN Signature: A CPA’s Guide to Living With the New CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification) and Crypto Currency Crypto currency is likely here to stay. Businesses and consumers across the globe are quickly adopting cryptocurrencies in day-to-day transactions. And many organizations, and their accountants, are scrambling to catch up with this evolving technological innovation. In this course, we will explore the world of crypto currency from an accountant’s perspective to understand the various forms, risks, accounting treatments and enforcement trends. As adoption continues, it’s critically important that accounting professionals understand this new medium of currency and what responsible adoption looks like for the companies, large and small, that they serve. ACPEN has assembled a panel of expert accounting professionals, regulators and technologists, as well as experienced representatives from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, that will include the perspective of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who can explain what the new currency is and what the accounting, auditing and risk assessments that should be made when dealing with this new form of wealth. The panel will, of course answer your questions as well.
ACPEN Signature: A CPA's Guide to Living With the New CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification) and Crypto Currency
Monday, January 30th, 2:00pm - 10:00pm
Online
8.00 Credits
Note: This 8 Hour course is comprised of 2- 4 Hour sessions, Living With the New CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification) and A CPA’s Guide to Crypto Currency. Living With the New CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification) Cyber threats have impacted every aspect of our corporate and personal lives in the past few years. These threats can cause loss of sensitive information, disruption of operations, and significant—sometimes catastrophic—financial impacts. IBM reported in 2021 that the average cost of each data breach for an organization was over $4 million. In addition to financial gain, malicious cyber actors also seek access to sensitive information to provide to our competitors and our nation’s adversaries. The SolarWinds breach highlighted vulnerabilities in vendor processes that can be used to enter sensitive networks and exfiltrate information. To better address these cyber risks, the Department of Defense (DOD) is establishing the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC). This certification will be required for most DOD vendors as well as their subcontractors. CMMC is also being cited as a model for use by other federal agencies and the private sector to better secure their vendors and supply chains against cyber risks. Our presenters will provide perspectives on issues and challenges related to the CMMC process and provide tools and resources to help you understand how to plan for and respond to CMMC requirements. This information will enable you to improve the cybersecurity of your own organization as well as the cybersecurity of your vendors, customers, and clients. A CPA’s Guide to Crypto Currency Crypto currency is likely here to stay. Businesses and consumers across the globe are quickly adopting cryptocurrencies in day-to-day transactions. And many organizations, and their accountants, are scrambling to catch up with this evolving technological innovation. In this course, we will explore the world of crypto currency from an accountant’s perspective to understand the various forms, risks, accounting treatments and enforcement trends. As adoption continues, it’s critically important that accounting professionals understand this new medium of currency and what responsible adoption looks like for the companies, large and small, that they serve. ACPEN has assembled a panel of expert accounting professionals, regulators and technologists, as well as experienced representatives from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, that will include the perspective of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who can explain what the new currency is and what the accounting, auditing and risk assessments that should be made when dealing with this new form of wealth. The panel will, of course answer your questions as well.
Internal Control: Testing for Operating Effectiveness
Monday, January 30th, 2:30pm - 4:30pm
Online
2.00 Credits
Properly designed and effectively operating internal control over financial reporting is critical for preventing, or detecting and correcting, material misstatement. This course describes how to satisfy the audit requirements related to taking a control reliance strategy by testing the operating effectiveness of internal controls, while promoting an effective and efficient financial statement audit. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
That'll Leave a Mark: Creating a Personal Brand
Monday, January 30th, 3:00pm - 5:00pm
Online
2.00 Credits
In today's competitive business world, it's more important than ever to set yourself apart, to differentiate yourself, and to have a "hook". Many times, setting out to be the "green apple in a barrel of red" can be the difference between success and failure. The importance of a personal brand can't be overstated. This informative session helps you to create brand equity to become the "green apple". This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.