CPE & Event Calendar

Discuss trends and changes impacting the American workforce. Discover "why" culture matters, the "benefits" of great cultures, and the workforce challenges created both before and after the pandemic. Once the audience has clarity on these items, the presentation shifts to "how" to create a great culture in our post-pandemic environment. Jim provides practical tools that can be implemented at any organization. Some of the tools are directly related to the new challenges resulting from the COVID-driven pandemic. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Prior to the original SAS No. 82 on Consideration of Fraud In A Financial Statement Audit (now codified as SAS No. 122, AU 240), the word fraud never appeared in a single SAS, nor was it described anywhere.  SAS No. 82 stated that auditors failed to detect fraud for two reasons:  1) They did not know what it looked like and 2) They had not been trained to look for it.  Although the SASs did not provide any guidance, auditors have always been responsible for the detection of anything that would cause a material misstatement of the financial statements whether caused by error or irregularities.  (They would not even say the word fraud until it appeared in SAS No. 82) The standards were replete with guidance on the detection of an error but silent on how to detect irregularities.  Now auditors are required to document in every financial statement audit their process of determining the risk of financial misstatement due to fraud. This presentation is designed to focus on frauds that were missed by the auditors and, in some cases, why it was missed.  There will also be discussion as to what the auditor must do in order to improve their track record on detecting fraud.  As reported on the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Occupational Fraud 2022: A Report to the Nations, only 4% of frauds were initially discovered by the external auditor.  It was reported that more frauds were discovered by accident, (5%) then was discovered by the external auditor.

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.  

Technology has created numerous ways for us to communicate with each other - but it's also increased the number of ways in which the message can get garbled. Effective communications skills are crucial to successful management. Learn how to control your message with clear communications strategies. You'll learn to recognize communication barriers, assess styles and behaviors, and learn how to listen more effectively as well.

A well-designed internal controls system can and will drive all entity objectives. Too many times control creators focus too much on security. It is important to properly balance protection-based measures with those designed to enhance efficiency. This session works to illustrate the power of a strong and well supported control system. It also discusses steps to take in order to establish such a system. This material is becoming more and more beneficial as companies strive to address many new business challenges such as evolving markets, the rapid rate of change in the business world and the notable increase in governmental and industry-based regulation. Those that desire a balanced and workplace enhancing control system should strongly consider this session. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Our financial and economic series is designed to take key topics for financial executives and explore them in detail such that the CFO/controller/financial executive can take away useful and practical recommendations dealing with the topic at hand. The program explores the current economic trends and analyze their impact on you as the financial executive in areas professional skepticism, medical care costs, social security viability, the dollar as a world currency, the national infrastructure and the "fate of the states" as well as the AICPA's top 10 trends and technologies. Specific recommendations and insights will be offered to you to deal with the challenges.

Cover the basic requirements for performing preparation, compilation, and review engagements under Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services (SSARS), including the new SSARS No. 25, Materiality in a Review of Financial Statements and Adverse Conclusions. Review common issues found on SSARS engagements in connection with peer reviews and the impact of various findings on the results of a peer review. Identify key issues to consider during SSARS engagements, and determine how to incorporate quality control recommendations and tips for performing high-quality SSARS engagements. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event

This course corresponds to our Controllership series. Within this course, we specifically address the Controllers role and pro-active potentials in organization Strategic and Annual Planning. 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 add strategic value to their organizations. Controllers are essential to the day-to-day accounting for organizations. Yet, the role is not often readily understood. In today’s world of acronyms such as CFO, CEO, COO, CAO, etc. the Controller function may get lost in the shuffle. However, they are a critical group of professionals who ensure the adequacy and transparency of accounting and financial reporting information. When it comes to the task of strategic planning, many feel this role is primarily the responsibility of the executive team and board. However, in this course, we delve into the various steps of the strategic plan and explore where the Controller can add strategic value through providing functional input and insight. Strategic planning is a process used to identify goals, the strategies necessary to accomplish those goals, and the internal performance management system that will be used to monitor and evaluate progress.  

When a new employee is hired, there are a lot of things the employer needs to take care of. Aside from getting employment contracts signed, training lined up, and the new hire breakfast planned, employers are tasked with making sure all of the payroll forms are filled out. For many small business owners, this can be a source of anxiety. They often wonder if they have everything they need. They also hear horror stories about potential IRS penalties for not having all of the boxes checked. In this course, we will explore the payroll compliance side of hiring new employees. From the alphabet soup of forms that need to be filled out to the initial payroll tax forms, we have you covered if you are a new practitioner or new business owner. We will even discuss the surprisingly difficult-to-navigate world of unemployment insurance.

This webinar will show you how to use Excel's charting and formatting features to present financial data to a non-financial audience. As the saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words." People tend to better understand your point when visuals are used. We will explore the many capabilities of presenting your data without showing rows and rows or columns and columns of data. Help your audience visualize the meaning of the data, whether it is a trend, an exception, a distribution or a good vs. bad relationship. This session is presented using Excel 2013. Regardless of the version you are using, ALL concepts covered in this course apply to ALL versions of Excel. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Are you  looking to fortify your practice against the ever-growing threats in the digital landscape? Join us for the second installment of our exclusive webinar series, "Mastering Cybersecurity," brought to you by Practice Protect. In today's digitally connected world, the need for comprehensive cybersecurity is paramount. With cyberattacks becoming more sophisticated, it's crucial to stay ahead of the curve in protecting your sensitive client data.  This webinar series is designed to equip CPAs with the knowledge and tools needed to secure their practices and client information effectively.

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. 

Do you want to master the challenges of developing a prototype program similar to the work programs we used as CPAs? Attend this course and you'll learn the key issues and uncomfortable decisions you must confront for your clients and how to arrange logical and practical solutions in an environment like no other. You'll also learn to develop a turnkey approach to identify, analyze and recommend what you need to do for yourself and your clients and discover how to successfully provide PFP services in a rapidly changing economy for major accounting disciplines and the most common client groups. We'll explore planning for insurance, investments, education, income tax, employee benefits, retirement and estate planning. You'll consider specific planning implications for various specialty groups, such as closely-held business owners, highly compensated employees, Baby Boomers, newly retired individuals and those who are suddenly single due to divorce or being widowed. Participating in this program gives you a "ready-to-use approach" to working through these critical financial planning issues in an orderly fashion.

Are you aware there are 470+ formula functions in Excel? Do you realize that they add new functions in every major version of Excel? Did you know that Microsoft adds new functions throughout the year in the Office 365 version of Excel? Are you stuck using old or simple functions like SUM or ROUND? Do you want to expand your knowledge of the extensive function library in Excel? If these questions peak your interest in becoming an Excel function expert, this course is right up your alley. This past-paced course digs into some of the most powerful functions in Excel. Although we cannot cover 470 functions, we will look at over 20 functions that will allow you to create advanced calculations in your spreadsheets. Some examples are: VLOOKUP, IF, IFS, FORECAST, RAND, SWITCH, TEXTJOIN, UNIQUE, SUBTOTAL, IS, TEXT and more! We will also provide example files that will include all the functions used during the class. It's time to take your Excel spreadsheets to the next level. This session is presented using Excel 2019/Office 365. Most concepts covered in this course apply to all versions of Excel. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Recent legislation in Congress has provided the IRS with substantially increased funding to bolster its human staff and purchase software that will allow the IRS to audit many more taxpayers in a more effective way. The IRS believes it can target the right kinds of taxpayers for audits so that it will not waste its time on audits that produce little, if any, revenue. The purpose of this program is to discuss the current state of IRS audits and the anticipated increases in the IRS's ability to audit wealthier taxpayers in an efficient way. Panelists will discuss the state of the IRS's current audits and where the IRS is headed with audits in the coming years. Tax practitioners should also be aware of the state of the IRS's efforts to target efficiencies so as to produce the most revenue.

There is always too much to do and too little time to do it all.  Fortunately, if you know the right ways to manage people, projects and your time, you can get on top of everything by working smarter.  In this seminar you'll learn the best ways to get more done in less time, how to stay sane with all you have to do, and how to get other people to do some of "your" work by building great relationships.

The Accountant role is evolving from data aggregation to knowledge extraction, with a significant emphasis on understanding and leveraging technological advancements. In this era of rapid digital transformation, it is crucial for accountants to grasp the shift towards more analytical roles, learn the tools, and integrate Business Intelligence (BI) and Data Analytics (DA) in their organization and daily practices. This course will focus on raising the accountant's awareness of BI and DA practices, the impact of AI technologies like ChatGPT, and how these can benefit their organization. By embracing these technologies, accountants can enhance their value proposition by transitioning from traditional accounting roles to becoming strategic advisors and decision-makers.

Many CPAs are becoming full-time or fractional CFOs for small businesses. In that position, they are the resident expert in finances, cash flow planning, and budgeting. But what about dealing with the IRS? The IRS has broad powers to administer the assessment and collection of taxes. From removing penalties to criminal prosecutions, this presentation focuses on how CFOs can prevent problems with the IRS and how to develop winning strategies if the IRS knocks on the door. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

From understanding fraud requirements to improving risk assessment procedures and from testing to meeting auditing standards, discover ways to audit more effectively and efficiently. Engage in discussions that cover reducing risk and effective planning, research and documentation. We'll review case studies, real-life examples and sample documentation to reinforce ideas. This course meets the specific California Board of Accountancy requirements that CPAs are required to meet for re-issuance of their license. This course is one of two parts of Auditing Standards: A Comprehensive Review 2024. Please be sure to also register for Part 1.

Sampling - Avoiding Common Mistakes on Financial Statement and Compliance Audits will describe the proper process for both attribute testing and variable sampling in financial statement and compliance audits. Sampling is an important method for determining the extent of testing controls, testing compliance, and tests of substantive details. It allows the auditor to apply procedures to less than 100% of the population yet extend results to project likely conclusions about the entire population. Note: This course is recommended as a part of a 16-hour audit skills curriculum for experienced staff auditors, while it is also appropriate for anyone who has sampling responsibilities. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.