CPE Catalog & Events

Most Accounting and Financial Professionals have been preparing individual income tax returns for years, and while many of the returns are easy, there are always a number of issues that come up in busy season of which experienced practitioners wish they had more knowledge. This course is designed to explore the tough tax issues for experienced practitioners and help them provide better planning strategies and results for their higher income clients.

This course explores the practical issues in the many instances in which a step-up in basis can create tax advantages for partners and members. This course includes case studies to illustrate the critical points.

Trusts are not cookie-cutter documents. In fact, they can be rather unwieldy, especially in explaining the functions to a client and then having the client comply with the trust terms. This course delves into best practices. Given common scenarios, what are the best trusts to use? And how can the client be best protected?

The past two years have ushered in an explosion of ransomware attacks affecting businesses and individuals. Many of us read or hear about these attacks, but there is little understanding of how they occur, how a response is undertaken, and how the chances of experiencing one can be reduced. Join us to learn about these topics so you can be prepared with the best response and the knowledge to avoid common mistakes in a ransomware event.

Designed for accounting and auditing practitioners at all levels in both public accounting and business and industry, this course provides an overview of recent accounting matters including private company standard setting activities; a review of ASU No. 2016-02, the FASB's new lease accounting standard; hot topics related to ASC 606; and a review of ASC 326, the soon-to-be-effective guidance on credit losses.

Designed for accounting and attestation practitioners at all levels in both public accounting and business and industry, this course provides a comprehensive review of recent standard-setting activities of the FASB and AICPA. In addition to providing a detailed review of SAS No. 145, this course will bring you up to date on FASB and AICPA standards issued over the past few years, including the 16 SASs effective since 2021 and beyond. The course also provides many hands-on examples and illustrations to help you apply the guidance in practice. On the financial front, the course covers the 9 ASUs issued in 2023, including ASUs covering crypto assets and leases for common control entities. In addition to a financial accounting update, the course will discuss what you will need to do differently as you adopt new audit standards 142-149 over the next few years, including a detailed review of the audit requirements under SAS 142. The course will also cover the key changes related to SSARS No. 25. Finally, the course reviews the AICPA's quality management project. In summary, the course is your go-to source for all things A&A and will prepare you for your upcoming engagements throughout the rest of the year.

Designed for accounting and attestation practitioners at all levels in both public accounting and business and industry, this course provides a comprehensive review of recent standard-setting activities of the FASB and AICPA. In addition to providing a detailed review of SAS No. 145, this course will bring you up to date on FASB and AICPA standards issued over the past few years. The course also provides many hands-on examples and illustrations to help you apply the guidance in practice. In addition to a financial accounting update, the course will discuss what you will need to do differently as you adopt new audit standards 142-149 over the next few years, including a detailed review of the new audit requirements under SAS 142. The course will also cover the key changes related to SSARS No. 25. Finally, the course reviews the AICPA's quality management project. In summary, the course is your go-to source for all things A&A and will prepare you for your upcoming engagements throughout the rest of the year.

Designed for accounting, audit, and attestation practitioners at all levels in both public accounting and business and industry, this course provides an overview of the recent pronouncements and guidance issued by the AICPA related to audit and attest standards, including a discussion of SAS 142, effective for 2022 audits, and SASs 143-145, effective for 2023 audits. The course also covers recent activity by the AICPA's Professional Ethics Executive Committee related to the AICPA's Code of Professional Conduct, as well as proposed updates to the AICPA's quality management standards. Lastly, the course will provide an update on the status of the AICPA's enhancing engagement quality initiatives. The course is a one-stop shop to get you up to speed on recently issued AICPA guidance.

This course provides a detailed discussion on the key topics related to financial reporting, though in a summarized format. The course will focus on recent ASUs issued by the FASB with a concentration on issues of greatest significance to most accounting practitioners, including recently released 2024 ASUs. Specifically, the course will review recently issued FASB standards on leases and provide an update on ASC 842 and ASC 326 post-implementation items and other hot button accounting issues, such as what is on the FASB's technical agenda. This course is the place to go for a succinct but thorough update on the big topics impacting financial accounting and reporting.

This course provides a detailed discussion on the key topics related to financial reporting, though in a summarized format. The course will focus on recent ASUs issued by the FASB with a concentration on issues of greatest significance to most accounting practitioners. Specifically, the course will review recently issued FASB standards on leases and provide an update on the status of ASC 842 implementation and other hot button accounting issues, such as what is on the FASB's technical agenda. This course is the place to go for a succinct but thorough update on the big topics impacting financial accounting and reporting.

With the effective date of ASC 842, Leases, imminent, it's time to get tactical with your implementation plan. In this webinar, Ane Ohm, the co-founder and CEO of leading lease accounting software provider LeaseCrunch, joins Surgent to discuss lessons learned and best practices from those who have already completed ASC 842 adoption to help assure a successful implementation of this complex accounting standard. Ane will discuss her experiences in assisting companies through the nuances of ASC 842, from navigating its complex guidance on such topics as lease term, lease payments, and discount rates to providing a road map for performing transition accounting. Plus, she'll demonstrate the value of using lease accounting software to assist in these activities. With time at a premium, this webinar will allow you to focus on the important activities that you should be doing now to complete your ASC 842 implementation.

Knowing just a little about the Yellow Book can hurt you! It is important to have a thorough understanding of the standards. This course covers the Yellow Book financial auditing requirements and prepares you to excel in applying the standards. You will learn precisely what the Yellow Book does and does not require auditors to do. The course materials utilize a highly illustrative and innovative format. Over 15 focused exercises are included to provide an enhanced knowledge of the Yellow Book.

Knowing just a little about the Yellow Book can hurt you! It is important to have a thorough understanding of the standards. This course covers the Yellow Book financial auditing requirements and prepares you to excel in applying the standards. You will learn precisely what the Yellow Book does and does not require auditors to do. The course materials utilize a highly illustrative and innovative format. Over 15 focused exercises are included to provide an enhanced knowledge of the Yellow Book.

Accounting and finance professionals have used different forms of automation over the years to improve the efficiency and accuracy of their work. So far, technology has not been able to replace the knowledge, experience, and decision-making of seasoned professionals. Times are rapidly changing. Today, systems easily exceed humans in accuracy and consistency. Artificial intelligence (AI) brings opportunities for accountants and finance professionals in the short term to improve efficiency and accuracy, while providing more value for businesses and customers alike. In the long term, AI will offer profound changes to how professionals work and process data. This course is designed to review where we are and where we are headed in the world of AI.

Audit documentation provides evidence that the audit was planned and performed in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS) as well as applicable legal and regulatory requirements. It also serves a number of other purposes such as assisting the engagement team to plan and perform the audit, assisting members of the engagement team responsible for supervision to direct and supervise the audit work and to discharge their review responsibilities. Audit documentation enables the engagement team to demonstrate that it is accountable for its work by documenting the procedures performed, the audit evidence examined, and the conclusions reached. As noted in the auditor's opinion "The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control. Audit documentation also supports the judgments of the auditor should a lawsuit arise where the auditor is called on to support that professional standards were followed. (Please Note: This module is part of Surgent's Audit Skills Training: Level 1.)

Engagement quality is the ultimate benchmark that auditors should be judged against. As a senior associate, you have primary responsibility for ensuring that all engagement work is performed on time, within budget, and in accordance with professional standards. Unfortunately, recent peer review results have shown us that our engagement quality is not always what it should be. In this session, we will review the current status of the AICPA's Enhancing Audit Quality initiative by reviewing recent results from peer reviews and points of focus for upcoming peer reviews. The session will review common sources of identified peer review deficiencies, relevant guidance related to these deficiencies and suggestions for how to improve engagement quality. (Please Note: This module is part of Surgent's Audit Skills Training: Level 4.)

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.

As you advance in your audit careers, your responsibilities include auditing more subjective areas, such as accounting estimate. These estimates are pervasive across a set of financial statements and are often very sensitive to relatively small changes in assumptions, which can have a significant impact on the amount of the estimate that is recorded, or not recorded, in the financial statements. In this session, we will review the relevant auditing guidance related to auditing estimates. We will focus on the three key ways in which auditors can audit accounting estimates: waiting for the contingency to resolve itself, auditing the client's estimation process, and developing the auditor's point or range of estimate. Then we'll review what will be changing, and what will be staying the same, when SAS 143 becomes effective for 2023 audits. (Please Note: This module is part of Surgent's Audit Skills Training: Level 4.)

This module will discuss the audit of accounts payable, accrued liabilities and typical debt arrangements found in nonpublic entities. Contingencies, income taxes and more complex debt arrangements are covered in other modules. The audit of liabilities normally focuses on the timing of a purchase of an asset, recognition of expense or recording of a deposit to recognize accounts-accounts payable and accrued liabilities, GAAP requires that liabilities be recorded at the point of the passage of title to the goods or with the receipt of benefit from the performance of services. In the case of debt when the entity signs a loan or similar agreement and draws down funding a liability exists. In some cases, the entity may be obligated for fees and such even when funds have not been drawn. (Please Note: This module is part of Surgent's Audit Skills Training: Level 1.)

Accounts receivable tends to carry higher risk of material misstatement due to the complexity and subjectivity involved with recognition, measure, and valuation. In addition, revenue recognition is presumed to be a significant fraud risk. This module will discuss the risks associated with accounts receivable and the allowance for doubtful accounts as well as techniques for auditing those areas. (Please Note: This module is part of Surgent's Audit Skills Training: Level 2.)