CPE + Events Catalog

In this unprecedented time, conventional investment wisdom won't work. This past year has demonstrated some of the most significant market movements and fears we have seen in years and our clients are becoming more skeptical than ever. Join Jeffrey H. Rattiner as he leads a comprehensive discussion on developing an investment plan in these unchartered times to weather the many storms that are pounding individuals and businesses. You'll learn how to understand the marketplace, prioritize your objectives, determine which investments work best in a volatile market, and then how to combine investments for the best results. This dynamic program will help you increase your client base and fees by incorporating a proven and practical approach to creating client investment portfolios into your practice and how to keep score to help you measure success. You'll leave with a clear understanding of how to build, sustain and evaluate investment portfolios for clients in these turbulent times. Attendees will consider the following questions during this course: How should you adjust your investment philosophy based on a world that is not secure? With new market heights often attained, potential market swings occurring more rapidly than ever, losses becoming commonplace, and unexpected events happening regularly, how does one feel comfortable with an investment strategy? Where are investments headed in an economy-to some-on borrowed time?

The merger and acquisition market remains healthy. An oft-overlooked step in the business combination is the examination of expenses to make sure expense ratios are optimized. Explore the current M & A environment for dealers and the growing need to take a keen eye to major expenses prior to any transaction, regardless of whether you are on the buy or sell side.

The course provides a concise overview of how accountants can use ChatGPT to assist with communications involving intricate and often sensitive topics that require a deep understanding of both financial principles and human resource policies. These conversations can range from budgeting and compensation to ethical considerations and regulatory compliance. The course also explores the use of ChatGPT in crafting clear, accurate, and empathetic responses to complex queries related to financial audits, tax planning, and employee benefits. It emphasizes the importance of balancing technical financial knowledge with effective communication skills to address diverse stakeholders' needs in various scenarios, from internal team discussions to client consultations. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

This session will highlight recent cases of ethical failures and fraud and will highlight concepts of trust, personal accountability, responding to fraud, and the conduct expected of CPAs outlined in the Code of Professional Conduct. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

PowerPoint has become a ubiquitous tool in virtual and in-person meeting rooms around the world. However, it's a tool that is often misused, leading to boredom and frustration for audiences. A bored and frustrated audience will not receive your message, and you - the presenter - will not achieve your desired results. Many speakers know their slides are ineffective but don't know a better way. Well, here it is! This workshop is interactive, incorporating activities and exercises in order for participants to be able to apply the principles of effective communication of their ideas to real life situations. The workshop is based on current research and covers the basics of effective PowerPoint design that works for you, not against you.

This course provides an in-depth exploration of Form 1120S, the tax return form used by S corporations. Students will learn the intricacies of preparing and analyzing this form, including how to determine the taxable income of the S corporation, how to properly report and allocate income, deductions, and credits, and how to calculate the shareholder's basis in the S corporation. **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.

Maximizing Analytic Procedure Evidence - Adding Value Through Useful Financial Statement Analysis will enhance an ability to read and interpret financial information as a critical audit skill. Financial statement auditors need to be able to analyze financial results to not only enhance audit quality, but to also improve client service through being a better business advisor. Note: This course is recommended as a part of a 16-hour audit skills curriculum for supervisory or managerial auditors, while it is also appropriate for anyone who has responsibilities for analyzing and interpreting financial statements. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

We see change every day, but we ignore it as a key risk. Even though change is natural, it is also natural for humans to fight it. Why do humans think we can control everything? What are the steps we can take to adapt to change? Learn more about how we can become better at recognizing change and how we can embrace and adapt to the many changes we see every day. Change is inevitable. We can adapt to it or be replaced. We will discuss practical insights that will help you be even more successful in the office and in life. Effective leaders should not miss this course. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Two college graduates built impressive careers: One worked in sales, the other in technology and investing. Both of those people made decisions in the course of their business that led to government investigations. They had to hire attorneys, go through judicial processes, face charges, and plead guilty. Each of those people are on their way to prison. Learn from the lessons they offer. We interview both financial professionals, and they tell us more about how their decisions influenced the consequences that followed. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Microsoft Teams is one of the most widely used applications for communications, collaboration and knowledge sharing in business today. Most users are unaware of many time saving features available to help you manage your conversations, files and related content on a daily basis. John Higgins, a strategic advisor to the profession on Microsoft 365, will teach you how to leverage all the functionality Teams has to offer to compose, organize and retrieve your conversations, files and related content for maximum effectiveness. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Accountants in business and industry face ethical conflicts almost daily. This workshop (re-)introduces the revised AICPA Code of Professional Conduct and walks through the five basic rules of conduct and the related professional ethical principles applicable to accountants in business and industry. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Individuals who work in a governmental environment have many rules of ethics that must be followed. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issues Yellow Book providing rules related to ethics and independence, which received a significant update in 2018. We'll review some of the key elements of ethics relevant to governmental entities and auditors to prevent independence noncompliance. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Part 1 of a 2-part series is an Update of GAAP requirements for nonprofit organizations and will help you become proficient in nonprofit financial reporting. This webcast focuses on presentation and disclosure unique to nonprofit organizations. Be sure to register for the next in the series: Nonprofit A&A Series Part 2: Revenue Recognition.

The Corporate Transparency Act requires mandatory disclosure of the beneficial owners of existing and newly formed entities. This legislation imposes new compliance requirements for existing business entities. Knowledge of this legislation and the new reporting requirements is critical for any person involved in the creation of a new business entity or advising existing business entities. More importantly, advisors must be aware of the new reporting requirements to prevent the imposition of harsh penalties. This course will provide the attendee with both knowledge of the legislation and knowledge of the exceptions to the legislation.

Critics have claimed that traditional managerial accounting is at best useless and at worst dysfunctional and misleading. Most line managers do not trust their management accounting data. 21st Century management accounting develops cost/unit metrics that are useful for budgeting, cost analysis and control. Activity-based costing (ABC) brings truly accurate fact-based costing visibility. ABC does not broadly allocate overhead, but traces costs by identifying cause-and-effect relationships. Such information can provide the ability to reveal true profit margins for products, service-lines, specific sales channels and customers. The same information also helps reduce costs and improve productivity by reporting unit costs that you can use to monitor cost trends and benchmark against your competition. Removing the barriers caused by your current management accounting techniques can provide huge rewards.

Imagine being able to see into the future with confidence. The ability to be a great forecaster is not innate but learned. By examining great forecasters, we can learn to improve our ability to predict the future. We will examine best practices and current research to improve our ability to predict events that will affect our business.

In a surprise twist, Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was passed in short order after secret negotiations were revealed in late July, 2022. Seismic changes in tax legislation is 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. Who should Attend: This course is suitable for Corporate tax and finance executives, directors, managers and staff, CPAs, CAs Enrolled Agents, accountants, attorneys and business/financial advisors who work with and advise businesses that have these tax implications. All in-house and public practice tax professionals will benefit from this timely and insightful seminar **Please Note: If you need credit reported to the IRS for this IRS approved program (2 Hours only), please download the IRS CE request form on the Course Materials Tab and submit to leighanne.conroy@acpen.com.

Powerful people can choose to undermine or elevate morality in their sphere of influence and authority. Why do some succumb to the dark side of power? This updated course explores the complex relationship between power and morality in our own times. It illustrates enduring ethical principles through recent examples of prominent leaders who rationalized or ignored their abuses of power and disrespected fundamental ethics. This session uses findings from modern science to explain why and how power heightens self-focus and indulges unethical tendencies. It also demonstrates how the universal law of reciprocity guarantees a countering desire and effort to exact consequences from offenders. Whether you aspire to be influential or already possess authority, understanding the insidious side of power and influence can help you walk the tightrope of leadership accountability without falling into an abyss of consequences.

The annual budgeting process is often criticized as an accounting exercise that is obsolete soon after it is published, prone to gamesmanship, cumbersome, not volume sensitive, and disconnected from the organization's strategy and risk management processes. You can resolve these deficiencies using capacity-sensitive driver-based projections. Driver-based budgeting allows for quick scenario planning and far easier analysis of a growing organization whose future may look nothing like today. The driver-based budgets can be periodically refreshed to create rolling financial forecasts extending well beyond the fiscal year end. Learn how managerial accounting can become managerial economics.

We all make predictions in our personal and professional lives. We base our decisions to marry, buy a house, launch a new product or hire staff on expectations about the future. In the past few years, research into improving predictions has advanced. We will look at this research and current best practices in forecasting to help us prepare better budgets and projections.