CPE Catalog & Events

This course provides a high-level overview and introduction into the world of the forensic accountant. Most accountants have an understanding of the concept of fraud and how it impacts companies, but many individuals do not have a full comprehension of the variance in the work performed by a forensic accountant versus a typical management accountant.   This course is meant for those individuals interested in understanding the variances in the job tasks and responsibilities of forensic accountants versus typical financial or management accountants. Forensic accountants or auditors take a unique focus on performing their work.  Typically, when a person with forensic experience is called in to examine financial records, it is due to suspicion of fraud, evaluation of assets, or even to track down fundamentally incorrect accounting – intentional or not. As fraud continues to raise its head in business processes, forensic accountants are discovering new and unique ways to identify, examine, and support their hypotheses and investigative techniques.  The work performed by a forensic specialist can be interesting and full of potential potholes if evidence isn’t examined according to proper protocols and standards.  

Common Audit and Financial Reporting Deficiencies in State and Local Governments, is a 2 hour webcast detailing many of the more common mistakes that auditors and accountants are making in either the preparation of their annual financial statements or the audits of such financial statements. Deficiencies in audit standards (AICPA, GAO, Single Audit) and preparation standards (GASB) noted in this webcast are driven by the most recent results found in audit organization peer reviews, workpaper or desk reviews, and various organizations checklists for oversight. 

Both IFRS and IFRS for SMEs are self-contained standards designed to meet the needs of specific financial statement users. This course is designed to explain the differences between the two standards, including disclosure requirements and recognition and measurement principles.

GAAP is changing at an increasing rate. Every successful organization has a sound strategy. Financial leaders are faced with the dual challenge of navigating evolving accounting standards while strategically guiding their organizations toward sustainable growth and profitability. What are the newer accounting changes that will impact professional accounting? This seminar will equip finance professionals with the critical skills and practical insights needed to effectively manage the complexities of ever-changing accounting standards and upgrade your essential strategic planning skills. Strategic skills are mandatory today. Strategies that do not keep pace with the market are doomed to fail. If we do not keep up, our successor will.

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.

Cloud computing has become a source of cyber-crime. “Cloud forensics is the application of digital forensics in cloud computing as a subset of network forensics to gather and preserve evidence in a way that is suitable for presentation in a court of law.” Cloud forensics is a combination of the varied types of accounting forensics including: •    Digital forensics •    Network forensics. •    Hardware forensics In cloud crime, the cloud is considered the object when the target of the crime is the cloud service provider they are directly affected by the act. It is considered the subject of the crime when the criminal act is committed within the cloud environment. It is considered the tool when it is used to plan or conduct a crime. This course will delve into the many concepts involved in cloud forensics. The course complements other courses in the series of Becoming a Forensic Accountant.  

Audit Risk Assessment in Plain English, is a 2 hour webcast highlighting the AICPA’s clarified risk assessment standards, along with a new Statement on Auditing Standard (SAS 145) related to understanding the entity, the entity’s environment, the entity’s internal controls, and assessing the risks of material misstatement.  This session will attempt to simplify the requirements using common sense examples and language.

Frequently, third parties may request certain financial and nonfinancial information to be verified by the external accountant (often referred to as ";comfort letters"). This course will provide insight into how to respond to requests for comfort in a way that will minimize professional liability risk. 

This session will focus on the most common types of fraud in the procurement and contracting arena, with a focus on fraud in construction.  The session will examine fraud vulnerabilities in the four key phases of the procurement process: Presolicitation. Negotiation. Performance. Closeout and Claims.  Within each phase, “red flags” will be discussed.  These are the indicia of possible fraud that managers should be alert for.  Also, within each phase, the most common fraud schemes will be highlighted and discussed.  Finally, the session will describe the generally accepted safeguards or controls that should be established to prevent the various fraud schemes that can occur.  This part of the program will make extensive use of actual fraud case studies designed to demonstrate fraud risks and fraud detection strategies.

With new accounting standards, the economic landscape and evolving technology, accounting, financial reporting and finance continue to grow in complexity. FASB has tried to address the growing complexity, by working towards making GAAP less convoluted.  The struggle to stay on top of accounting financial reporting requirements and finance changes due to the economy continues for several reasons. Lack of in-house SMEs, managing high volumes of transactions, and data and evolving information technology systems. In the future, executives must consider the challenges they will face in future years that will bring their own nuances and complexities. Budgeting is certainly one of those processes that must be evaluated and re-evaluated for efficiency. This session delves into the corporate budgeting process and discusses methods used and which methods may or may not allow for the organization’s to properly plan for a volatile future.

These are uncertain times. With constant economic fluctuation, geopolitical uncertainty and inflation pressures, corporations and their professionals are facing challenges at every turn. The Controllership function is accustomed to dealing with changing variables but when the change is constant and every evolving, even the simplest of tasks like cash flow and cash forecasting can become difficult.  This webinar is to focus on what methods the controller can elicit to attempt to address the current uncertainty when working with their cash flow issues and forecasting. Of course, there are basic measures that can be employed such as: Proactively managing receivables and payables Automate your accounts payable and receivables process Keep business expenses at a minimum Work with digital methods of payment from vendors Use credit wisely However, this webinar will explore methods used to create and manage your cash flow and forecasting processes. These methods go one-step past your typical forecasting to enable management to explore various alternatives and scenarios for the business.

Numbers and especially the digits within those numbers can conceal a lot of information.  Benford's Law and other digital analysis techniques can be the keys to unlocking that information.  This session will explain what Benford's Law is, how it works, and how it can be used to reveal bogus information and made-up data.  Accountants and auditors should understand how to use this valuable audit tool as well as other digital analysis techniques.  But, if you attend this session, you must promise not to reveal the secret behind these techniques to any fraud perpetrators.

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.  The same theory applies to departmental performance—the overall result is only as strong as its weakest contributor.  Leave our interactive and entertaining session with insight for developing and sustaining the best team you can possibly assemble.  The four elements in this process are (1) development, (2) leadership, (3) hiring and (4) environment.  Discuss how to effectively use these elements in your creation of an outstanding organization. Discover the power of the 10 Attributes for Leadership Success and the negative impact of Leadership’s Fatal 13. Above all, learn how to combine these four elements as a successful catalyst for sustained high-quality output and results.  

Governmental Accounting 101, is a 2 hour webcast that takes the participant of a whirlwind tour of governmental accounting basics, focusing on wetting the participant’s appetite for more.  This session will be the first of a series of webcasts, with each subsequent webcast delving deeper and deeper into the governmental accounting basics. 

An operational audit is a method of examining how an organization conducts business. It identifies areas where an entity can improve to be more effective and efficient. This course will focus on how to plan and perform operational audits, as well as delivering value-added recommendations as a result.

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. 

Financial Acumen for the HR Professional is a part of the series "The HR Professional's Guide to Evolving Business Strategy, Finance and Development." This course identifies how HR Professionals can increase their financial understanding to participate more effectively with management as well as understand the financial results and implications for the business.

Network forensics - defined as the investigation of network traffic patterns and data captured in transit between computing devices - can provide insight into the source and extent of an attack. It is used in forensic accounting and with the expansion of information technology it has become a growing field. Network forensics is a relatively new field of forensic science. Computing has become network centric. Data is now available outside of disk-based digital evidence. Network forensics can be performed as a standalone investigation or alongside a computer forensics analysis. When used alongside a computer forensic analysis it is used to reveal links between digital devices or reconstruct how a crime was committed. Network investigations deal with volatile and dynamic information and is a sub-branch of digital forensics. It relates to the monitoring and analysis of computer network traffic for information gathering, legal evidence, or intrusion detection. This course is a complement to our other courses in the series on becoming a forensic accountant.  

This course explores the best practices for hiring remotely while leveraging personality assessments to make more informed decisions. Learn how to effectively integrate personality testing into your recruitment process to identify candidates who are the right fit for your team, even from a distance.

LinkedIn is considered by many to be one of the most impressive growth stories in the history of technology companies in Silicon Valley. In just 16 years it grew from nothing into a game changing company in a new industry and the performance of the company and the stock broke all kinds of records. The untold story of LinkeIn's success is that they grew a world class company and a world class team in the midst of a massive war for talent where their competitors for talent (Google, Facebook, Apple and more) could out pay and out perk and out benefit them. They grew a company when all the leaders had never built a company before. Despite the odds the leadership team succeeded and built a company and a culture that many still consider the gold standard. Steve Cadigan was at the epicenter of this growth as the first Chief HR Officer of LinkeIn and he delivers a front row seat to the wild and crazy and amazing ride that took LinkedIn from an unknown career destination into one of the top places to work in the world! Steve delivers a first hand account of lessons learned, mistakes made and what it was like to be facing a situation he had never faced before - hypergrowth. Wherever you are in your learning journey you will enjoy this class.