CPE & Event Calendar

Specifically designed for preparation, compilation, and review practitioners, this course will provide you with a comprehensive review and hands-on application for performing financial statement preparation, compilation, and review engagements. You will learn the ins and outs of applying SSARS No. 21, Clarification and Recodification, as well as the additional guidance related to SSARS engagements through the issuance of SSARS Nos. 22-26 by the ARSC. In addition to SSARS 26, the entire suite of quality management standards is discussed. However, knowing the standards is not enough. You need to be able to effectively apply them. To support this, the course will review recent peer review feedback on SSARS engagements, providing insights on how to successfully apply this guidance. Not only will this course bring you up to date on SSARS requirements and guidance, but more importantly, it will provide you with practical examples and illustrations to help you effectively and efficiently perform these types of engagements. This course is intended to be your go-to reference for training your staff and managing your SSARS No. 21-26 services in compliance with professional, ethical, and technical requirements.

Successful organizations, both large and small, must understand the importance of effective internal controls and be able to develop a system of controls that will keep the entity on its intended course. Moreover, those that design policies and procedures benefit by knowing why control measures are necessary. This session sets forth internal control concepts and explains the importance of strong internal control policies. The material highlights some of the reasons that measures are needed and it also provides an overview of control creation methods. Finally, it discusses ways to successfully implement the developed policies and procedures. Participants that take this course will gain a well-rounded understanding of internal control procedures of all types. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Excel can do so many things but what are some of the features that can really help accountants take their Excel skills to the next level? This course is designed to do just that. To learn ALL the capabilities of Excel would take hundreds of hours of training, so this two-hour course is designed to give you a jump start on the most important features that you can immediately begin implementing in your spreadsheets. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Unhealthy behavior in the workplace can create a drama-laden, hostile work environment, negatively impact productivity and increase turnover. When team members are focused on how they can one-up their counterparts or are fearful of their co-workers/leaders actions towards them – they are NOT focused on reaching your company’s goals.   

It's a whole new world for lessees under ASC topic 842. This program will dive into the new standard on leases and its impact on every size entity, review effective dates, and address what you need to know now. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Governmental entities are the second largest victims of embezzlement. This seminar examines recent events involving theft of public money and circumstances that allowed the fraud to occur. Case studies we examine include the 2012 $54 million embezzlement from the City of Dixon by Rita Crundwell. The events that impacted the small Illinois town of 16,000 residents was the largest governmental fraud case to date, and spanned an astonishing 20 years. This remarkable story inspired an award-winning documentary, "All the Queen's Horses." We will also examine factors that led to scandals involving the Baptist Foundation of Arizona, World Com, Collin Street Bakery and the Ohio American Cancer Society, among others. This course is ideal for CPAs, government finance personnel, all Internal Auditors, lawyers, governance professionals, accountants and human resource personnel. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

For roughly 90% of American retirees, Social Security income will be the foundation of their retirement income. Yet, many are ill-prepared and lack understanding of the critical aspects of making an informed claiming decision. Further challenged to separate fact from fiction, consumers crave accurate information from knowledgeable professionals to make the most out of these coveted monthly benefits. This course dispels common myths about Social Security that lead to confusion and replaces them with the truth to an empowered retirement. Help your clients navigate their claiming age decisions with greater confidence, equipped with the essential truths they should consider before pushing the Social Security "on" button.

Auditors are required by Generally Accepted Auditing Standards to perform audit procedures to determine if the financial statements are materially misstated due to error OR FRAUD.  Unfortunately, in the past the profession has focused on misstatements due to errors and largely ignored to possibility of misstatements due to fraud.  While SAS No. 122, AU 240, Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit sets forth the procedures that auditors are required to perform in each audit to determine if the financial statements are materially misstated due to fraud, this program presents a practical approach to making such a determination.  It’s not a substitute for the requirements in SAS 122, AU 240, but rather an informal supplement to the standard with some common-sense procedures which are designed from my over 30 plus years of directing fraud investigations.  After attending this session, you will more than likely never look at a financial statement audit the same way.

Most financial leaders would agree that budgeting is easy when business and the economy are stable. When revenues and expenses are expected to remain the same, the process becomes merely an exercise in carrying over what was done before to the current year. However, what happens when we are not sure about how the market will react to our product? What happens when the competitive landscape changes? In this course, we will discuss budgeting techniques and considerations when business lacks stability. Through a combination of theory and real-world examples, we will explore how to build flexibility into our budget - so that it can inform and drive decision-making when we don't quite know what is ahead. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Critical Traits of a Thinking Auditor - Stretching Experienced Auditors Beyond the Basics will provide tips and best practices for stretching experienced auditor past the basics in each of the three pillars of success. Those in charge of the day-to-day supervision of engagements need to consciously embrace and demonstrate characteristics that will enable him/her to transition to a firm leader. This includes a focus on three key pillars: financial success, retaining clients through superior client service, and developing other professionals. Note: This course is recommended as a part of a 16-hour audit skills curriculum for supervisory and managerial auditors, while it is also appropriate for anyone who has responsibilities by finding creative audit solutions. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Learn how to investigate an asset misappropriate scheme. We will dig into asset misappropriation by learning some of the most common schemes and red flags. Learn data analysis techniques used in the early stages of a fraud investigation. You will be guided through a detailed case study to see forensic accounting techniques in action. This is the most practical fraud investigation course you will ever take. Rather than learning only the theory of fraud, you will learn how a forensic accountant actually investigates fraud from the beginning to the end. We focus on forensic accounting techniques used in the field to prove what happened, who was involved, how much money was stolen, and where the money went. How-To Guide to Fraud Investigations is Part 3 of a series of four courses on fraud investigations. Each course is a stand-alone class that may be taken individually. For comprehensive instruction on completing a fraud investigation from start to finish, take all four. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Inventory is a wonderful place to both hide fraud and commit fraud.  The reasons that inventory is subject to so much fraud is the it is often very large, spread out over a large area, and many people have access to it.  When there are little or no internal controls related to inventory control, you are begging employees to steal it.  No with so many ways to dispose of stolen inventory via the internet, i.e., EBAY, inventory fraud is much more appealing to a lot of individuals. The more common ways to commit expense fraud and how to cover it up will also be discussed.  Travel and entertainment are some of the favorite areas of committing expense fraud.  In addition, payroll fraud will be discussed.  Although there are many ways to commit payroll fraud, it is very easy to prevent. This presentation is designed to familiarize the participants with the many ways to commit inventory, expense and payroll fraud, how to detect it, and more importantly, how to prevent it.

Mergers, acquisitions, and partnering have long been strategic vehicles to grow or change an existing organization. Corporate America has extensive experience in merging with or acquiring firms. However, its track record of being able to unify an acquired firm with the acquirer and provide a single organization with increased growth potential has been somewhat shaky. This session provides a roadmap including specific actions for financial professionals focused on improving the results of an acquisition, sale, formation of an alliance, and/or outsourced activities. This program continues to be updated based upon trends and recent events. In addition to traditional topics, it includes discussions on the impact of taxes, corporate structures to manage M&A and internal venture capital, strategic spin-offs/splits, issues concerning goodwill, and managing outsourced activities. The program expands the topics covered in the Controllership Skills Update Series. As with the other programs, this brief session is aimed at renewing and expanding participants' existing skills, by providing specific actions to improve an organization's results. Real-world examples are used throughout the session.

Joshua, a CFO from Chicago, did not go to prison for stealing the $2 million in liquid cash he had access to on a daily basis. Instead, Joshua ended up in prison by rationalizing that he was entitled to a few small perks of the profession. This course explores Joshua's story and covers how and why executives with high annual incomes make short-sighted decisions that can cost them their job and freedom. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Blockchain technology offers the promise of digital truth. When appropriately implemented, it provides a transparent, permanent, immutable, and high-speed record-keeping system. The possibilities are endless, from managing the logistics of supply chain networks to facilitating international commerce. The adoption of this technology is growing, with millions of new users every year. Organizations adopt this technology daily to help improve their existing operations through its ledger capabilities or by executing smart contracts. Cryptocurrency is one example of blockchain technology, and its growth and value have exploded to over $2 trillion in the last few years. This growth has helped fuel the adoption of Wall Street traders and traditional investors. While more popular than ever, few business professionals understand these technologies and their capabilities, risks, and potential impacts on business operations and processes, such as contract execution, recording and maintaining real estate ownership records, and supply chains. Unfortunately, this incredible technology is a mystery for most accounting professionals. This course will provide an in-depth look at this technology, including a detailed overview of the underlying technology, the benefits, the risks, the major players, and many practical applications. By participating in this session, you will gain a deeper understanding of the inner workings of this technology and recommendations for getting started.

The AICPA issued new Quality Management Standards that require all accounting firms that perform audit, review, compilation, attestation, and agreed-upon procedures engagements to comply with the enhanced Quality Management Standards by December 15, 2025. The most significant change in the new Quality Management Standards is the requirement that firms identify and assess quality risks specific to their practices and then design and implement responses to each identified quality risk. This program will help you understand the new Quality Management Standards, provide practical guidance for adoption, and respond to the requirements of the new Quality Management Standards.

If you use Outlook on a daily basis to process your email, chances are pretty good that you are missing out on a lot of opportunities to improve your efficiency in composing, processing and organizing your messages. There are many different features in Outlook that often get overlooked, even though we are working in the app all day, every day. John Higgins, a strategic advisor to the profession on Microsoft 365 deployment, will review numerous tips and features to improve your productivity in Outlook. You will learn many time-saving, practical ways to improve the quality of your email message. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Audit Quality Control - Avoiding Peer Review Deficiencies highlights the most important considerations for those at all levels of the engagement team with quality control responsibilities on audit engagements. Upper-level reviewers have significant responsibilities for ensuring high-quality audit engagements. Unfortunately, deficient audits have serious negative consequences for both the CPA firm and the profession as a whole. 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 quality control responsibilities. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Spear phishing. Ransomware. Malware. Like the threats your business faces, the cybersecurity lexicon is constantly evolving. This comprehensive presentation imparts practical privacy and data security know-how and creates fluency with the latest terminology. Learn best practices for cybersecurity safety, as well as tailored training for those in positions responsible for implementing security policies. It is just as important to be diligent, safe, and well-versed in the attacks that we face in our personal lives.

Are you comfortable giving presentations and feel good about your performance, or does the experience make you anxious and leave you feeling dissatisfied? In this session, learn how to let your best self shine during interactions with your staff, the auditee, and the governing board. Jim Comer is an accomplished speechwriter and presentations skill coach for executives. Leita Fanta has led over 1500 full-day seminars. Let Jim and Leita help you establish genuine and comfortable professional relationships and avoid mistakes that will detract from your message. *Qualifies for Yellowbook credit This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.