CPE Catalog & Events

The annual budgeting process is often criticized as an accounting exercise that is obsolete soon after it is published, prone to gamesmanship, cumbersome, not volume sensitive, and disconnected from the organization's strategy and risk management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.

The budgeting process can be a time consuming and frustrating process for accountants.  The constraints and pressures can lead to poor decisions in both the technical and human components.  This session will cover: Building Flexible Budgeting Models: Walking Through and Crunching The Numbers •    We can all learn from others and improve our budgeting process by listening to our colleagues’ wisdom and experience.  This session takes a unique review of the fundamental budget issues faced by all and walks through a detailed modeling process intended to generate discussion and best practices to improve your organization’s financial planning. 

Two seemingly similar products can have very different costs, yet many companies are completely oblivious to these differences causing them to lose money or competitive bids.  When companies compete, those with good information win the “gravy” contracts and those with bad information lose money on “dog” jobs.  Attend this session to gain insights on how to win bids for the best opportunities and give the money-losers to your competitors.  Achieve your target profitability in the process.  

In February 2016, FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases, which provides new guidelines that change the accounting for leasing arrangements. To be able to properly account for leases, financial professionals must understand ASU 2016-02 (also referred to as Topic 842). This guidance covers information on how leases should be accounted for. The previous leasing standard (ASC 840) had been in existence for almost 40 years. Under ASC Topic 842, lessors continue to classify leases as operating, direct financing, or sales-type. While lessees now classify leases as operating or financing leases. Previous guidance only required capital leases to be reflected on the BS. The new guidance requires all leases to be reflected on the BS. This is a major change for organizations and will cause their balance sheets to swell as leases must now be disclosed on the balance sheet. The standards original effective dates were prior to 2019. In April 2020, due to COVID-19, FASB voted to defer the effective date for ASC 842 for private companies and certain not-for-profit's for one year. For private companies and private not-for-profits, the leasing standard will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022. For public companies the leasing standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The course covers elements of lease classification for both lessees and lessors. Also, numerous examples are incorporated as reference.  

Discover the real-world power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and equip yourself with the skills to conquer modern challenges in accounting and finance. In this engaging course, we demystify AI and unveil its practical applications, transforming it from theory into a hands-on tool. Learn the essential AI fundamentals and unlock its remarkable potential to boost your productivity and effectiveness alongside your team. Explore the specific problem-solving capabilities of AI, tailored to address the unique challenges faced by accounting and financial professionals. Gain expertise in leveraging AI features integrated into everyday applications, including the ubiquitous Excel. Uncover how these features enable you to effortlessly detect fraud, identify potential transaction errors, and elevate your financial operations to new heights. Witness firsthand how AI is reshaping the present and future of your profession, positioning you at the forefront of this revolutionary wave.

This course is one of the courses dedicated to our Controllership series. This series of courses is dedicated to exploring the traditional controller role and stepping out of the box to identify areas where the controller can continue to add strategic value to their organizations. Within this segment of our controllership series, we will discuss the area of inventory. This specific segment in the first part of a two-part series on inventory. We explore how the controller can move these responsibilities into more of a strategic role. This course takes a look at some of the typical concepts and duties involved in the inventory function that is sometimes viewed as operational roles. We explore how these areas are strongly tied to the importance of the controllership role and how the controller can add value in each area.    

Award winning discussion leader Mark Hugh discusses both nexus basics and new developments in the dynamic, ever changing world of state income and sales tax nexus. This valuable course answers your frequently asked questions, reviews key factors in examining potential nexus consequences, takes a tour through the rules in states comprising 50% of the US, and identifies free, online multistate resources. 

AU-C Section 315 requires the auditor to gain an understanding of the entity and its environment and the entity's internal controls in order to design appropriate audit procedures. This course will review  the key requirements of COSO which is one of the most widely used internal control frameworks. We'll also review the limitations of internal controls. Additionally, this course will introduce the risk assessment process and the various audit procedures to evaluate controls and to determine whether to test the operating effectiveness of controls. 

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.

Collaboration is more important now than ever. In this session, you will learn how to take advantage of today’s collaboration tools to improve accuracy, customer/client service, and organizational efficiency.

Protecting yourself from ransomware requires more than just anti-virus software. Additional technology protections are necessary. Further, business continuity, legal and regulatory, and cybersecurity insurance considerations should all be a part of your risk abatement strategy. Attend this session to determine if your current level of ransomware protection reduces your risk to an acceptable and identify ways to ensure that you are protected.

Most business professionals have used Excel for years, often without the benefit of any formal training. Thus, they don't know about key features in the application and, therefore, don't use them. Of course, this leads to inefficiencies and errors. Isn't it time to stop this madness? This session is for you if you're ready to become more efficient and effective with Excel! You will learn ten critical features that can help you get more work done in less time and improve your accuracy. We encourage you to make plans to join us for this session to learn the best ways of working with Excel!

This course is designed to equip CPAs, EAs, attorneys, and tax professionals with the essential knowledge and strategies needed to navigate the latest developments. Explore innovative approaches to maximize retirement savings, discuss tax- efficient retirement plan options, and align estate planning techniques with current trends. Gain a thorough understanding of altered rules for Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) and discover how to optimize estate plans in response to changing regulations. This update is tailored for professionals seeking practical insights in the realm of contemporary retirement planning. **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.

Seismic changes in tax legislation is currently taking place, and the well-informed tax practitioner will want to attend this four hour program in order to stay abreast of these developments.  This program will cover new court decisions, recent IRS publications, and the latest tax legislation that will impact businesses and individuals.  The remaining time will be spent on IRS procedure and other issues. This course will provide a concise look at the hottest topics affecting every tax practitioner.  **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.

The Uniform Guidance identifies COSO and Green Book as best practices in internal control. This course will cover the background on COSO and its 2013 update. We’ll also review the application of COSO to Green Book. Attendees will learn how to leverage Part 6 of the Compliance Supplement for documentation of internal controls.

Your home is now the digital center of your world, and even if you go to an office every day, you have more options to help you manage everything from shopping lists to email accounts. Unfortunately, many new devices your family connects to your WiFi can create security risks and may make remote work and school less secure. For example, tracking devices and services can help parents monitor children and seniors, but outsiders can use the same tools to stalk their loved ones digitally. This session will help you learn about devices, services, and app suites for families, share files, organize photos, manage passwords, and keep your home secure. Attend this breakout and learn about innovative new tools to help you stay safe and make the most of your time away from the office.

Using Outlook for email management is routine for most business professionals these days. But unfortunately, using this tool for so long may cause some to perpetuate bad practices and habits when working in Outlook and exploring new options Outlook offers. In this session, you will discover ten valuable tips to take you to the next level of your email and work management.

Volatility and complexity are the new normal. Most organizations are drowning in data, but starving for information. The finance and accounting function has the opportunity to leverage Big Data and the continuum of analytics – descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive. All are useful for better decision making. Collecting, validating, and reporting data is not the same thing as analyzing information where we can glean valuable, actionable insights. In some ways the finance function is many years behind other disciplines such as marketing, sales, and supply chain managers, in applying analytics. How can the CFO’s function catch up?

This course will serve as an introduction to conducting effective walkthroughs to gain an understanding of the client's transaction processes as well as identify internal controls within each process. This course will review the procedures, questions to ask, and documentation requirements of walkthroughs. It will also include real-world examples of the red flags that may arise while executing a walkthrough. 

With many technologies now ready for “prime time,” it’s exciting to see some of the options for improved productivity in CPA firms. Learn more about these new tools in this session.