CPE Catalog & Events

One of the important roles of any member of the financial team. Including the controller, may be involvement in the preparation of the company’s financial statements. Even if that responsibility falls within the office of the CFO, the controller and other finance personnel must understand how their transitions recorded impact the financial statements. Financial statements (or financial reports) are formal records of the financial activities and position of a business, person, or other entity. Relevant financial information is presented in a structured manner and in a form which is easy to understand. They typically include four basic financial statements accompanied by a management discussion and analysis: A balance sheet or statement of financial position reports on a company's assets, liabilities and owners’ equity at a given point in time. An income statement may have varying names including profit and loss report (P&L report), statement of comprehensive income, or statement of revenue & expenses. These report on a company's income, expenses, and profits over a stated period. A profit and loss statement provides information on the operation of the enterprise. These include sales and the various expenses incurred during the stated period. A statement of changes in equity or “statement of equity” also called “statement of retained earnings” reports on the changes in equity of the company over a stated period. A cash flow statement reports on a company's cash flow, particularly its operating, investing and financing activities over a stated period. A balance sheet represents a single point in time, where the income statement, the statement of changes in equity, and the cash flow statement each represent activities over a stated period. For large corporations, these statements may be complex and may include an extensive set of footnotes to the financial statements, management discussion and analysis and supplementary information. The notes typically describe each item on the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement in further detail. Notes to financial statements are considered an integral part of the financial statements.  

QuickBooks remains one of the leading accounting solutions for small and growing businesses and Intuit has added numerous advanced features to the application over the past few releases. In this seminar, you will learn how to take advantage of many of QuickBooks’ new and advanced features to solve important issues. For example, you will learn advanced inventory management techniques, including the ability to change the default costing methodology in QuickBooks, and implementing lot and serial number tracking. You will also learn how to build complete sets of financial statements in Excel that link in real-time to underlying QuickBooks data files and how to create multi-company financial statements. Additionally, you will learn how to put the Client Data Review feature to work to streamline the process of identifying and correcting errors and closing accounting periods in QuickBooks. Knowing how to take advantage of the advanced tools and features available can determine your level of success when working with QuickBooks. Take advantage of this opportunity to learn about QuickBooks’ “deep” features so that you maximize your effectiveness with the application.

Gain an understanding of the concept of fraud, the Fraud Triangle theory, fraud risk, fraud detection and prevention. Learn about best practices in fraud detection and fraud deterrence. This course includes real-world cases of fraud, how they were perpetrated, and how they were detected.

Cybersecurity protection is one of the most important responsibilities of every CPA professional to protect the confidentiality of sensitive client information. While there are many aspects of cybersecurity that need to be addressed, the biggest vulnerability to protect against is unauthorized access to your application login credentials. Once your login credentials are breached, the cybercriminal essentially has the keys to your data kingdom. John Higgins, a national leader in the CPA technology, will demonstrate the ease with which you can protect all of your login credentials with maximum security with minimal expense. You will leave this course prepared to deploy this state of the art security tool in your organization. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Microsoft 365/Office 365 continues to grow and evolve, yet most utilize only a fraction of the tools available in their subscription. For example, powerful resources such as SharePoint Online and audio and video conferencing can change how your organization communicates and collaborates. In contrast, more personal apps such as Teams, Planner, Flow, and Sway allow individuals to work more efficiently and effectively in virtually all facets of their jobs. Further, security enhancements to Office 365 mean that your organization can take advantage of all these features in a highly secure environment.  Isn’t it time you learned how to move beyond the traditional Microsoft 365/Office 365 applications such as Excel, Word, and Outlook and unleash all your subscription offers? Join us in this fast-paced and highly interactive seminar where you will learn what you need to know to succeed with Microsoft 365/Office 365.

While outsourcing and automation have been used in multinational corporations, the decline in accounting program enrollment at many universities has made finding qualified entry-level staff more challenging and forced a new conversation about these tools in small and mid-sized businesses. This session will discuss the business environment for outsourcing and review the ethical, regulatory, and practical considerations associated with revealing data and relying on the work of others in your organization.

Security and privacy issues must be top-of-mind concerns for business professionals using AI. Yet, for far too many of these K2’s AI – Security And Privacy Issues professionals, no concern is given for the potential security and privacy risks associated with AI, setting the stage for potentially disastrous results! In this session, you will learn about AI security and privacy risks and how to manage them. This session includes discussions of the major AI companies’ security and privacy policies, how AI platforms might use your data, and how you can stay in control. Given how quickly AI is spreading, this is one session you simply cannot afford to miss.

As the managers' role continue to evolve, it is crucial for us to understand the strategic aspects of managing a diverse workforce, beginning with understanding the big trends in employee demographics. We begin with a rhetorical question - asking if employees are assets? GAAP tells us they are not, so discussion will revolve around whether this treatment delivers an unhealthy bias on our view of the people in our organization. What do the most successful organizations believe and why? If you have an opinion as to whether employees are an asset or not, this is a fun session intended to be interactive with participation either live, virtual or both.

What can we learn from one of the largest municipal frauds in U.S. history? Rita Crundwell stole nearly $54 million from the citizens of Dixon, Illinois over the course of two decades. This course examines circumstances that allowed this landmark fraud to occur. We will explore internal control deficiencies and other circumstances that hindered prevention or timely detection of Rita's scheme.

We mostly focus on the income statement, but what about other financial statements and countless other accounting concerns?  This seminar is dedicated to breaking down common balance sheet issues, both on-the-books and off, that have an impact on our stakeholders and the value of the organization.  Using practical analysis, we highlight several key tools in understanding and communicating the importance of the forgotten cornerstone of accounting: the balance sheet. Most notably, we dedicate time to the pressing issue of “unrecorded assets”.  This session is designed to also be fun and entertaining. This seminar stands on its own but is also part of the Common Sense CFO series.

Do you ever get blank looks when you present your company's financial statements?  Does your board nod knowingly, during your presentation, but never seem to have any meaningful questions?  It could be that they have no idea what you are talking about and are just pretending to understand!  Learn how to connect with your CEO, board, fellow managers, and ordinary employees so they understand your message.

Mergers, acquisitions and alliances have been and continue to be major avenues to organizational growth and increased competitive advantage. Despite the great initial promise of many mergers and alliances, few seem to yield the anticipated results. Numerous studies indicate that between 55% and 77% of mergers fail to accomplish their intended purpose. This course helps financial professionals, and their advisors identify, execute, and consummate mergers and acquisitions that create shareholder value while avoiding the many traps that can cause post-acquisition failure.

Fraud continues to plague businesses at epidemic levels, and technology control failures are a significant reason fraud occurs. Using a case study approach, in this session, you will learn about the pervasiveness of fraud, the control failures that contribute to fraud, and what you can do to mitigate fraud risk. A specific focus of this course is the application of information technology general controls and information technology application controls. In this course, you will examine numerous reported fraud cases and identify the general control and application control failures that contributed to each of these frauds. By learning through these real-world case studies, you will be positioned better to reduce fraud risk.  

Attracting and retaining staff is critical to an organization's success, especially in the age of the millennial worker who will change jobs multiple times in the course of a career. This course will focus on best practices for nurturing the human element of your organization, especially millennial workers who comprise a growing percentage or the workforce. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

The procurement function is a critical area of organizations where spend is a top priority. The Controllership function is involved in spend management. It is logical that the Controller should take a role in working with the procurement function. The procurement function may report to various areas within an organization including the Chief Operating Officer (COO), Chief Procurement Officer (CPO), Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the Chief Financial (CFO) or Accounting Officer (CAO). Regardless of the reporting line of the function, the accounting and controllership functions must have an integral understanding of all processes involved within procurement. This understanding assists the controller and accounting area in properly optimizing and controlling costs associated with the process.  

This session is the beginning in a series on the new revenue recognition standard. The standard outlines five steps for proper compliance. At the surface, these steps seem simplistic. However, there are many considerations that should be considered within each step based on your process and industry. This course is designed to provide an overview of the technical guidance and outline the five steps involved in the revenue recognition model. We also explore some concepts to consider within each step and then evaluate some challenges that specific industry's may have when complying with the standard. Future courses will further delve into each step and provide example and scenarios that should be considered to properly apply the step.

Please join us for a discussion on like-kind exchanges (LKE), known as one of the last great tax legal “shelters” available to those buying and selling real property.  We will be covering the basic structure of a LKE, and ways a taxpayer can utilize qualified third party intermediaries (QI), tenancy-in-common structures including Delaware Statutory Trusts (DST).   We will also explore creative solutions to sticky situations a taxpayer may find itself in obtaining replacement property. **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  

Part 2 of a 2-part series is an overview of GAAP requirements for nonprofit organizations and will help you become proficient in nonprofit financial reporting. This session focuses on revenue recognition. Be sure to register for part 1 in the series: Nonprofit A&A Series Part 1: Financial Statement Presentation & Disclosure

Taking money from ones retirement plan before age 59-1/2 or failing to withdraw funds after age 73 leads to penalties. Plan beneficiaries have a separate set of rules for withdrawals. There are penalty exceptions and waivers, but some issues have no possible resolution. A withdrawal from a retirement plan is taxable unless it's returned to a plan within 60 days. Some withdrawals cannot be returned and there are some ways to make a late rollover tax-free. Early and late distribution penalties and 60-day rollover failures are prevalent issues that tax preparers must handle despite the size of the firm or the wealth of their clients. Learn the rules of the road in this class. Note: This class presents an in-depth discussion of issues presented in the instructor?s class Retirement Distributions: Planning Options .

In today's fast-paced world, maintaining a healthy work-life balance is essential for mental wellness. This course is designed to provide practical tools and strategies to help you create a balanced, fulfilling life. You'll learn actionable techniques for improving sleep hygiene, incorporating proper nutrition, fostering open communication, and managing stress. Whether you're struggling with burnout, seeking better work-life harmony, or simply looking to improve your overall well-being, this course offers valuable insights and tools to help you thrive. Designed to fit into your busy schedule, it delivers the guidance you need to make practical, sustainable changes in your life, starting today. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.