CPE Catalog & Events

Staff accountants have specific needs when working with Excel – needs that are often not met by their existing Excel knowledge. Chief among these are the needs to quickly summarize data, prepare accurate and aesthetically pleasing reports, and create accounting-centric calculations for elements such as depreciation, amortization, and interest. By participating in this eight-hour session, staff accountants will gain the essential skills they need to maximize their efficiency and accuracy when working with Excel. This session begins with a quick overview of Excel best practices. It then progresses rapidly into discussions that address PivotTables, sophisticated formulas, Tables, formatting, and working with dates in Excel. Throughout the session, you will learn from accounting-centric examples to reinforce key learning points. In this session, you will learn in a “laptop-friendly” environment, and participants will have access to all the demonstration files used in the session. In sum, this seminar is a “must” for all staff accountants seeking to improve their efficiency and accuracy when working with Excel.  

Many business professionals consider PivotTables the most powerful feature in Excel, yet most accounting and financial professionals do not use them in their day-to-day activities. If you are ready to learn how to take advantage of PivotTables or extend your existing knowledge of PivotTables, then plan to participate in this course. You will learn how to build PivotTables, group data inside PivotTables – including grouping options for fiscal periods – and create user-defined calculations in your PivotTables. You will also learn advanced PivotTable techniques, including building PivotTables that consolidate data from multiple data ranges and PivotTables that connect dynamically to external databases and financial accounting systems. Additionally, you will learn to take advantage of other Excel features associated with PivotTables, including Slicers, Power Query, and Power Pivot. You will be a master of Excel PivotTables at the end of the day! This course is for you if you have been leery of working with PivotTables or have struggled to realize their many benefits. With some information, guidance, and coaching from your K2 instructor, you will be ready to use PivotTables to analyze and report on extensive data sets in a fraction of the time you spend completing such tasks.

If there is a potential error, the IRS will assess a tax and add a hefty penalty, without even knowing the facts. As a tax professional, you will be exposed to the IRS and their methods of penalizing taxpayers for the smallest of violations. This presentation will focus on the rules and regulations that create the penalty, and the reasons that exist that the IRS will consider to remove those penalties. 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 tailored for business leaders and HR professionals who want to enhance their strategic management skills and create actionable plans for success. You’ll learn the overall strategic management process, how to develop both simplified and detailed business and strategic plans, and the crucial role of corporate culture, leadership, and staff development in driving or hindering strategic outcomes. Additionally, you’ll explore how to leverage ChatGPT (Generative AI) as a powerful tool to improve your performance as a key business partner to the management team, helping you make data-driven decisions and enhance organizational effectiveness.

This course is a continuation of our series on preparing to become a forensic accountant. Within this segment we focus on elements of computer forensics. This session is designed to delve into further investigative procedures used in computer forensics.  

We all know that Fraud Happens. But, why? Why do people we think we can trust let us down? This session will explore the minds of white-collar criminals and examine some recent high-profile fraud cases. Why did they do it? How did they do it? What were the warning signs? If you think that fraud cannot happen to your organization, this session might give you pause.

This course is an introduction to preparation, compilation, & review engagements. During this course, we will compare and contrast these different engagements by reviewing the procedures that should be performed, different reports, as well as the level of assurance specific to each type of engagement. 

We mostly focus on the income statement, but what about other accounting concerns? This seminar discusses multiple 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 and case discussions, we highlight several key tools in understanding and communicating the importance of the cornerstone of accounting: the balance sheet. We must understand the real drivers of accounting issues to ensure that the balance sheet will be exemplary.

What were they thinking?  Why do some people make horrible decisions that severely damage themselves and their organizations?  It is tempting to assume that a poor choice must be due to a leader’s incompetence, inexperience, bad character, or low intelligence – but such easily attributed factors generally aren’t the true cause when leaders blunder.  In such situations, many turn to finance and accounting professionals for evaluation, answers, remedies, and solutions for improved decision-making.

How can you solidify an appropriate investment strategy based on risk, help clients stay on top of potentially life-altering situations and help them understand the intricacies of investment planning? Gain a better understanding of investment markets and the effects of world events, assess client risk and matching to expected return, deal with increasing client concerns, and develop better investment solutions in a rapidly changing environment. Attendees will consider the following questions during this course: How should you adjust your investment philosophy based on a world that is not secure? With new market heights attained often and unexpected events occurring regularly, how does one feel comfortable with an investment strategy? Where are investments headed in an economy?to some?on borrowed time? Be sure to register for all of our PFP updates: PFP Update: Income Tax, Retirement, and Estate Planning PFP Update: Issues, Exposures, and Developing Client Strategy PFP Update: Investment Planning in This New Era

Proven communication techniques (bold) In this webcast, you will learn how to: Create a simple checklist to improve your writing and presenting skills Harness The Four Pillars of Confidence Make your presentation more engaging Incorporate non-verbal tools to present powerfully "If I were to summarize in one sentence the single most important principle I have learned in the field of interpersonal relations, it would be this: Seek first to understand, then to be understood." - Dr. Stephen R. Covey, *Seven Habits of Highly Effective People* Note: You will gain more from this course if you first take "Part One: Questioning and Listening to Discover Client Needs."

Please join us for a discussion on Treasury Circular 230 and other ethical issues faced by enrolled agents and other tax preparers.  In addition to covering the practice standards espoused by Treasury Circular 230, there will also be an overview of the applicable provisions in the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and common law which will affect tax preparers.  The discussion will conclude with other ethical issues, such as avoiding conflicts of interest, proper fee structure and maintaining competency.  Also included will be case studies illustrating dilemmas faced by tax practitioners.   **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.  

Seismic changes in tax legislation is currently taking place, and the well-informed tax practitioner will want to attend this four hour program in order to stay abreast of these developments.  This program will cover new court decisions, recent IRS publications, and the latest tax legislation that will impact businesses and individuals.  The remaining time will be spent on IRS procedure and other issues. This course will provide a concise look at the hottest topics affecting every tax practitioner.  **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.

Enterprise Risk Management for SMEs

Unlock the full potential of Microsoft Excel PivotTables with this comprehensive course. This training is designed to equip participants with the skills to effectively analyze and summarize data, transforming raw numbers into actionable insights. Whether you're a seasoned professional or new to data analysis, this course provides an in-depth understanding of PivotTables and their capabilities, helping you uncover patterns, compare data, and make informed decisions. The program includes a step-by-step approach to creating and customizing PivotTables, focusing on how to use them to analyze data efficiently. Participants will learn how to group and filter data, identify trends, and apply advanced features to solve real-world business challenges. Beyond technical knowledge, this course introduces data visualization through PivotCharts, teaching participants how to present their analysis effectively to stakeholders. By the end of the course, you'll not only master PivotTable fundamentals but also gain advanced techniques to streamline data analysis and support strategic decision-making in any context. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Business Intelligence (BI) is perhaps the hottest topic in most professional circles in today’s business climate. Increasingly, organizations of all sizes seek to take advantage of the data available to them to identify previously undiscovered insights and gain competitive advantages thought to be out of reach just a few short years ago. A growing array of tools – from Excel add-ins to dedicated solutions such as Power BI – now allow you to leverage your existing knowledge and skills to create powerful, interactive dashboards and analyzes unthinkable until recently. This program will teach you to implement “do-it-yourself business intelligence” using various techniques and tools. First, you will learn to use advanced Excel data query and summarization features to create Excel-based dashboards. You will then learn how to leverage that knowledge to build even more powerful BI objects using Microsoft’s Power BI tools. If gaining better insights into your data to make better decisions interests you, then join us for a fast-paced look at how you can take advantage of these fantastic tools. 

This intensive 2-hour course is designed to unlock the potential of array formulas in Microsoft Excel. Array formulas are a vital tool in Excel for their unique ability to perform multiple calculations on one or more items within an array, making them indispensable for complex data analysis and calculations. They enable users to write fewer, more powerful formulas, leading to cleaner and more efficient spreadsheets. This course is tailored to enhance your data analysis and spreadsheet management skills by delving into the advanced aspects of array functions. Through a combination of theoretical knowledge and practical exercises, you will learn to streamline your work and improve efficiency in Excel. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

As cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others become more popular, tax authorities around the world are working to create regulations for their use and transactions. This session will address cryptocurrency tax issues and their complexities and challenges that individuals and businesses face when dealing with the taxation of digital currencies. *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

ProActive Response Group's Active Shooter Response Training course educates participants in current trends of active shooter incidents, how to recognize early warning signs of violence, appropriate actions to increase chances of survival in an active shooter event, and how to use basic medical equipment to save the lives of victims.   *****(Warning: This video contains simulated graphic scenes that some viewers may find disturbing)*****

You often can perform an audit in accordance with all of the standards, and still have a substandard audit IF you did not get out among the clients employees (let them know you are there and where you located), talk to as many people as you can regardless as to whether you may think that they may have any helpful information; constantly observe your surrounding where ever you are at (you never now what you might see) and lastly, listen to not only what people are saying to you but are also saying around you. This presentation is designed to illustrate the importance of making yourself available to your client’s employees, let them know that you are there and where you can be found. Talk with them because if there is a problem, somebody knows and they will often tell you all about it IF you just ask them.  Look at your surrounding everywhere you go.  What are you looking for?  I don’t know but I’ll know it when I see it. Lastly, listen to what they have to say.  Every word is important because they may say something that you had not asked about.  Remember, you never want to discover something and go to an individual who you determined knew about it and ask, why didn’t you tell me about this and their response was, you never asked me!