CPE Catalog & Events

Obligating Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) by December 31, 2024 is essential to ensure a recipient does not have to return funds to the Treasury. There are a number of requirements to properly obligate SLFRF funds and opportunities to make changes to projects after the obligation deadline. In this course, we will define what an obligation is under SLFRF, review guidance from the Treasury, learn how to meet the SLFRF obligation deadline in multiple areas, and identify when changes can be made to estimates, contracts, and subawards after the obligation deadline.

Documenting internal controls Familiarize yourself with commonly used documentation tools, such as narratives, flowcharts, internal control questionnaires and control matrixes. Walk through COSO's internal control template used to document an assessment of a system on internal control.

Unlock the power of multigenerational teams to future-proof your firm. Today’s workplace is more generationally diverse than ever—spanning five, soon to be six, distinct generations. And while this mix can create miscommunication and friction, it also holds untapped potential for innovation, connection, and resilience. This dynamic course helps professionals in accounting, law, banking, insurance, and financial services understand and harness generational dynamics. You'll explore how shared formative experiences shape values, communication styles, and expectations at work—from the frugality of the World War II generation to the digital fluency of Gen Z and the up-and-coming Generation Alpha. Rather than getting stuck in generational stereotypes, you’ll learn to lead, collaborate, and connect more effectively across ages. With insights drawn from workplace psychology, sociological research, and real-world examples, this course equips you with practical tools to bridge the gap—so you can build stronger client relationships, more collaborative teams, and a culture people want to stay in.  

Manage distractions, decrease stress and improve productivity. This training is designed to help business professionals improve their productivity and work performance by learning how to prioritize time, decrease distractions and lower stress. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Since its inception nearly 30 years ago, many have continued to struggle with applying the current model for accounting for income taxes, ASC 740. But this does not have to be you. This course will provide you with the basic knowledge necessary to understand the complexities of this challenging topic. Through discussions and use of exercises, this course will analyze the authoritative literature to provide a thorough understanding of such topics as deferred taxes, income tax expense, uncertain tax positions and other classification and disclosure requirements related to income taxes. We will also explore some specialized areas of income tax accounting, such as intra-period allocations of income tax expense and accounting for changes in tax laws and rates, and we will review proposed updates to ASC 740 disclosures on which the FASB is contemplating. In summary, this course is the place to be to enhance your accounting for income taxes IQ.

People skills are the most significant skills that professionals need to develop and yet are often the last skills perfected. This course will help participants understand personality types and the successful interactions with clients, peers and family. In addition, participants will learn Neuro-linguistic programming and develop the ability to better understand nonverbal language, which is key to communication. Participants will also learn techniques to enhance memory and to improve the ability to recall key facts.

Join us for an insightful presentation featuring John Higgins, a renowned technology advisor to the CPA profession, who has assisted many firms with Microsoft 365 deployment. Discover how to leverage the Microsoft 365 suite of applications to unlock new efficiencies and opportunities within your business organization or CPA firm. Don't miss this chance to supercharge your operations with cutting-edge tools! Whether you are working in public practice or business and industry, this event will provide you with a return on investment many times greater than your investment to attend. 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 is an overview of control creation methods and strategies to implement policies and procedures successfully. Many organizations successfully create internal control systems. However, some need to implement established measures correctly. Moreover, entities need to pay more attention to the critical process of testing, monitoring and updating control procedures, weakening the internal control structure. Receive an array of control maintenance checklists adaptable to your organization to improve policies and procedures. Grasp the need for dynamic, fluid controls that adapt to business tools and methods changes. Gain a strengthened ability to implement and maintain an internal control system.

The QuickBooks platform is a robust environment with features and capabilities that many users are unaware of or do not know how to utilize effectively.  This course helps you get more out of QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online and resolve the issues that even experienced QuickBooks users struggle with, such as locking down prior periods.  This program starts fast with a chapter covering the top issues accountants face with QuickBooks.  The day continues with practical guidance and solutions designed to help accountants get the most out of QuickBooks for themselves or their clients. You will learn about issues, such as setting up a new company, configuring and customizing QuickBooks preferences, and enabling system security and password protection features.  Also, you will learn how to lock down transactions in prior periods, the audit trail, customizing reports, exporting reports to Excel, and extending QuickBooks’ usefulness with tools such as the Fixed Asset Manager and Loan Manager.    

Join our course on Multistate Taxation – Issues and Planning Opportunities designed for financial professionals. Learn about crucial topics like nexus implications, state taxable income calculations, and audit defense strategies. Gain practical insights to integrate these considerations into client financial plans effectively. From deciphering complex formulas to understanding state-specific regulations, this course equips you with actionable knowledge to excel in finance. Explore multistate business activities, choice of business entity, and interstate commerce clauses. By course completion, you'll be ready to identify common pitfalls, mitigate risks, and ensure compliance with multistate taxation. Join us and navigate the complexities of finance confidently. **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.

You can learn to understand, assess and test internal control over compliance as you apply the Uniform Guidance in your single audits.

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners says that there is fraud lurking in all businesses, including not-for-profit organizations. It often goes undetected for years and when uncovered, management and the board may question why an auditor did not identify it. The auditor's responsibility in a financial statement audit is to assess risk and perform sufficient procedures to obtain reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material misstatement due to fraud or error. However, failure to perform an adequate fraud risk assessment and report deficiencies in internal control, such as a lack of segregation of duties, can leave a firm vulnerable. This course will discuss the audit procedures that should be performed in accordance with AU-C 240 as recently amended, best practices in performing fraud risk assessment procedures, when and how to report control deficiencies noted in an audit, and the most frequent types of fraud found in small to mid-sized entities along with internal controls that could be implemented to help prevent and detect them. We will look at various cyber fraud schemes and how they might be prevented or detected, the use of analytics as fraud risk procedures, and assessments of fraud risk in a Single Audit. This course features case studies.

This course gives CPAs the knowledge to help their clients plan for retirement by evaluating how much retirement income will be required and strategizing about how to reach retirement goals.

This course includes an analysis of all of the relevant authoritative pronouncements that a CPA must have an understanding of in order to properly perform preparation, compilation and review engagements. Troublesome areas as identified in peer reviews and litigation will be addressed. This course is loaded with practical aids to enable CPAs to comply with the standards! Participants who take this course will enjoy a smooth sailing in their peer reviews...guaranteed! 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. Review various case studies, real-life examples and sample documentation will 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 explores the increasingly complex features of Excel that facilitate efficient data analysis.  We will introduce numerous analytical methods and techniques by using practical examples to illustrate how to unleash the power of Excel when manipulating, analyzing and reporting information and dive into the powerful, but potentially under-utilized, capabilities of Microsoft Excel.  Designed for sophisticated users willing to approach spreadsheets from a unique perspective, this program encourages users to challenge the status quo by considering opportunities to take acceptable spreadsheets to a new level.

Would you like to find important documents in 10 seconds or less? Would you like to ensure your digital information is safe and secure? Would you like to improve workflow efficiency? Of course, you would, and with some planning and guidance, you will realize these and other benefits of a paperless office. Naturally, no one expects a fully “paperless” office, but reducing the amount of paper we shuffle can offer tremendous rewards. This course will teach you the best practices and proven processes for effective document management. Participating in this program will teach you how to implement simple, inexpensive document management systems at an individual, workgroup, or small business level. You will also learn about sophisticated and comprehensive document management systems appropriate for larger offices and organizations, including systems with automated workflow processing. Your instructor will guide you through issues such as digitizing paper files, exporting and importing data from specialized applications into a document management system, essential hardware and software considerations, and the policies necessary to facilitate a successful office. Upon completing this course, you will have a comprehensive understanding of your options and a clear direction for implementing your version of a Paperless Office.

In this comprehensive course, practitioners gain a deep understanding of strategic planning considerations and potential hurdles encountered when clients face difficult circumstances. Delving into an array of scenarios often classified as "challenging," the course offers tax insights. From divorce and personal bankruptcy to intricate personal relationship matters, participants will equip themselves to adeptly guide clients through these challenging scenarios by understanding the tax implications. **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.

This session will teach leadership principles to transform a workplace into a healthy & supportive environment. By improving organizational culture, mental health conditions will improve, & burnout potential is minimized. An unhealthy workplace results in failure to attract and retain top talent. Leaders can be instruments of change. The C.A.R.E.S. approach offers leadership principles that will improve your workplace. Symptoms are hidden at work. Your employees are hurting, and you can help. If you care for your people from the bottom of your heart, you will be amazed at what it does to your bottom line.

Appreciation isn’t a soft skill—it’s a strategic advantage. In today's competitive professional landscape, your ability to express appreciation effectively can be the difference between retaining top talent, building strong client relationships, and creating a thriving team culture—or not. This course introduces a powerful, research-backed framework for understanding how appreciation works—and how to use it to fuel performance, loyalty, and engagement across your firm, practice, or department. Based on the work of Dr. Gary Chapman and Dr. Paul White, you’ll explore the four core "languages of appreciation" and learn how to recognize and use them in a way that resonates with clients, colleagues, and team members. The truth is, everyone wants to feel valued—but not everyone receives appreciation the same way. In this hands-on session, you’ll discover your own appreciation style, learn to spot others’, and develop practical tools to build a more energized, connected, and committed workplace.