CPE Catalog & Events

There has never been a greater opportunity to leverage technology tools to automate various aspects of 1040 tax preparation. This course will provide specific examples of how you can use AI (artificial intelligence) based tools to complement your core 1040 tax prep software. You will learn how to leverage AI to automate the collection and organization of client source documents, enhance the engagement management process and add value to your 1040 service through AI enhanced 1040 advisory services. This course will separate the hype from reality about AI and how it can be used in 1040 tax preparation. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Schedules K-2 and K-3 are promulgated by the IRS in order to standardize the reporting of foreign-related tax information for pass-through entities. Even pass-through entities that have no foreign activities, investments, or partners may have a reporting requirement. Schedules K-2 and K-3 for reporting partners' income, deductions, and credits from foreign activity are now required for passthrough returns (Form 1065, 1120-S and 8858). This requirement starts with returns with a tax year that ends in 2021. This course discusses each part of these schedules and explain these new reporting obligations in detail. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

In this continually revised course, tax advisors will be fully updated on the most recent enacted legislation and IRS guidance, as well as major trends on the horizon with a view toward planning considerations. This update course is designed for all practitioners, both those working in public accounting as well as those in private industry, who need the latest information on tax changes. Please Note: Due to content overlap, it is recommended that this course NOT be taken together with BITU.

Presently, over seven million businesses use QuickBooks Online. However, these businesses often struggle to get the reports they need. In some cases, they are limited because of their chosen subscription. However, necessary reports are available in other cases, yet users do not know how to access them. Join us in this session to learn about better reporting options in QuickBooks Online. In this session, you will learn how to create and customize your reports in QuickBooks Online. You will learn about Standard, Custom, and Management reports. You will also learn about the new Spreadsheet Sync tool that allows you to create customized reports, including multi-company reports in Excel. If you use QuickBooks Online and want to improve reporting, this session is for you!

The field of accounting is undergoing rapid evolution in response to a complex interplay of technological advancements, regulatory reforms, economic fluctuations, and shifting societal dynamics. In this course, we will explore the major challenges and opportunities currently facing accountants, and we will equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to excel in this dynamic environment.

Companies reporting under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) continue to face a steady flow of new standards and interpretations. The resulting changes range from significant amendments of fundamental principles to some minor changes from the annual improvements process. The changes will affect different areas of accounting, such as recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure.  It can be time-consuming and confusing to keep up-to-date on the resulting impact on financial statements and disclosures. This course will provide an executive summary of recent IFRS updates with current and upcoming effective dates.  

Unlock the full potential of Excel with our comprehensive training on shortcuts and formulas. This course is designed for CPAs and financial professionals who want to enhance their efficiency and accuracy in Excel. Learn how to navigate and utilize different versions of Excel, discover powerful new functions, and master the art of creating effective tables and automations. With practical examples and hands-on exercises, you'll transform your Excel skills, making your daily tasks quicker and more precise. Plus, benefit from insider tips and tricks drawn from the instructor's extensive real-world experience. Whether it's mastering keyboard shortcuts that save you time or applying formulas that simplify complex calculations, you'll gain practical knowledge that you can immediately apply in your work. This course isn't just about learning Excel; it's about learning to excel at Excel.

Discover critical insights from the latest Department of Labor studies on employee benefit plan audits and tackle the pressing issue of audit deficiencies head-on. This course dives deep into the most common errors undermining audit quality and explores the underlying causes of these issues. Through practical strategies, engaging case studies, and regulatory guidance, participants will learn how to close gaps in compliance, enhance audit execution, and protect plan participants and beneficiaries. Whether you're an experienced auditor or new to benefit plan audits, this course will equip you with the tools needed to elevate audit quality and ensure regulatory compliance.  

Unlock the secrets to understanding a company's financial health and management performance through comprehensive financial analysis. This seminar will guide you through essential tools such as vertical analysis, horizontal analysis, and ratio analysis to gain deep insights into business performance. - Vertical Analysis: Learn how to express each line item of financial statements as a percentage, making it easier to compare companies of different sizes and identify key trends. - Horizontal Analysis: Discover how to compare financial information over multiple periods to spot significant changes and trends, providing a clearer picture of a company's growth and performance. - Ratio Analysis: Dive into calculating and interpreting financial ratios to assess profitability, liquidity, and solvency. Understand how these ratios reveal the effectiveness of management and the potential of the business. This seminar goes beyond just teaching terms and formulas. We will apply these analytical tools to real-world financial data, demonstrating how to derive meaningful insights and make informed decisions. Join us to enhance your financial analysis skills and gain a competitive edge in evaluating business performance. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

The amount of electronic content that business organizations contend with is growing at incredible rates. Terms like "Big Data" and "Information Overload", are being used by overwhelmed information workers on a daily basis. Additionally, because of the move to a much larger telecommuter footprint, electronic data is now even more prevalently utilized. This session discusses the places that businesses keep digital information and addresses the importance of securing corporate electronic data. The material effectively shows ways to achieve high security standards for content stored in fixed locations, on mobile devices and in the cloud. Participants in this session will gain an understanding of the concepts needed to improve the way they, and their companies secure digital information. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

This program provides a detailed analysis of the calculations related to determining tax basis for a partnership interest. Illustrated examples with filled in forms will demonstrate how the processes works and their many potential pitfalls.  *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 final segment of our four-part Form 1041 series addresses the special income tax issues that arise on the grantor's death or the first spouse. The once docile revocable living trust ignored for income tax purposes now comes to life and requires attention. Trust administration is just as rigorous as probate administration, if not more rigorous. We will review the importance of an approach to Trust Administration and the important income tax tools available to the fiduciary. Be sure to register for all courses in this series: Form 1041 Advanced Series Part 1: Why Complex Trusts are Complicated Form 1041 Advanced Series Part 2: Cash & Property Distribution Issues Form 1041 Advanced Series Part 3: Sec. 199. Sec. 67(g) & Charitable Deductions Form 1041 Advanced Series Part 4: Post Mortem Considerations

For the past two decades the trend has been to move away from brick and mortar offices and have a greater number of people work or telecommute from home. Because of the upheaval caused by recent events, the rate of this move has been accelerated. This has and will continue to create control challenges and organizations must work to address these. Such things as moving from time based employee value to task completion based measurement and the ability to drive needed inter-company communication are just a sample of the issues with which entities must contend. This session looks at the benefits and pitfalls of workers that telecommute. It then discusses important risks and controls to consider as this trend continues and evolves in the business world. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Since 2017, employees have not been eligible to take an itemized deduction for a home office. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended all miscellaneous itemized deductions for tax years 2018 through 2025. That deduction is scheduled to go into effect in 2026. Self-employed individuals can deduct office expenses on Schedule C, Form 1040. The home office deduction includes typical office-connected expenditures such as supplies, postage, computers, printers, and all the other ordinary and necessary expenses a person would have in connection with running a home office. The home office tax deduction for the self-employed would cover expenses for the business use of a home, which includes mortgage interest, rent, insurance, utilities, repairs, and depreciation. This program discusses many of the most important issues relating to the deductibility of home office-related expenses.

Required minimum distributions (RMDs) must be taken from certain tax-deferred retirement accounts, starting when the account owner reaches their applicable age. The RMD rules are complex and must be simplified to help ensure clients understand them. Accounting and finance professionals must understand the basics of RMDs for IRAs and employer plan accounts so as to help IRA owners, plan participants, and beneficiaries meet their RMD obligations and avoid penalties that apply to RMDs not taken by their applicable deadline. Accounting and finance professionals should also be able to demonstrate tax-efficient solutions for RMDs. This course will walk accounting and finance professionals through the fundamental concepts and rules that apply to RMDs, demonstrate how to calculate RMDs, and explain how to correct RMD errors. It can be taken by anyone, including those without any experience working with RMDs. The course will include cases to promote understanding of the rules.

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.

Every organization in the world will fall victim to fraud. This course will cover the means and methods available to reduce the prevalence of fraud. We will also discuss the controls that victim organizations employ in order to seek improvements for our own organizations.

A detailed analysis of the calculations related to determining a shareholder's tax basis for S corporation shares and loans. How to use the Form 1120S, Schedule K-1 information for basis determination. An illustrative example demonstrates how the process works, as well as the many potential pitfalls. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

ChatGPT is the fastest growing application in the history of technology with over 100 million users adopting it in within two months. It is a revolutionary technology that boosts the quality and efficiency of business processes in every industry. As "knowledge workers", CPAs and CFOs are positioned to be prime beneficiaries of this technology. This half day hands-on course will get you well on your way to becoming a ChatGPT expert. John Higgins, a nationally recognized advisor and educator on CPA technology, will guide you through the process of accessing ChatGPT and applying it to a variety of practical accounting, finance and tax scenarios. This course will catapult you to the top of the pyramid of CPAs who are knowledgeable in ChatGPT and you will be ready to put it to use in your day-to-day tasks. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

As financial and tax professionals well know, information overload is a constant struggle we face because things change quickly, and the sheer number of changes being made on a daily basis is enormous. Of great importance to small and medium tax and advisory firms is differentiating between changes that are relevant to our practice and our clients and changes that are new but totally irrelevant. Distinguishing between the two is difficult and time-consuming. Mike Tucker and a team of experts are pleased to present a weekly series designed to eliminate the clutter and get you what you need to stay up-to-date and perform for your clients. Mike and his co-presenters will dispense news on current events impacting taxes, finance, and industry. The subject matter will differ each week and intermittently include topics such as Social Security and Medicare. The panelists will discuss personal and corporate tax matters as well as other late-breaking news related to practitioners' personal finances and those of their clients. Every financial professional will benefit from this series. This is a cost-effective way for accountants to fulfill their compulsory continuing education because this weekly series will include almost 40 one-hour presentations. Sign up today - your clients and your bottom line will thank you.