CPE Catalog & Events

OneNote is a fantastic application included in your Microsoft 365 subscription. Yet, it is underutilized and misunderstood most of the time. If you genuinely want to change how you work, embrace OneNote. Stop using Outlook as a filing cabinet for essential emails and move them to OneNote instead. If you share a OneNote notebook with others, you can stop emailing altogether within your group and use OneNote as your collaboration and reference platform.

The ACFE/COSO Fraud Risk Management Guide (FRMG) was published in 2016 (and updated in 2023).  It has quickly gained acceptance as the set of best practices for preventing, detecting, and thus deterring fraud. The fraud landscape is constantly changing and evolving. The FRMG sets out a rigorous set of principles and leading practices for managing fraud risk for forward-thinking organizations to follow.  It covers: How to establish fraud risk management governance. How to conduct rigorous fraud risk assessments. How to design and implement fraud control activities. How to establish reporting mechanisms and investigative procedures. How to monitor the overall fraud risk management program. Fraud risk can be managed.  All anti-fraud and accountability professionals will benefit from this session's focus on effective fraud risk management.

Much has been written and said about Artificial Intelligence (AI). But for many professionals, AI remains an enigma because they do not know how to get started using tools such as Bard, ChatGPT, and Copilot. If that describes your situation, relax because help is here! Participate in K2’s Getting Started With Artificial Intelligence to learn to use today’s AI tools. This session will teach you how to access and use multiple popular AI tools to improve efficiency and productivity. If you are starting with AI, this is one session you cannot miss!

Client interactions and professionalism are at the core of what we do as accountants. However, communication with clients is not always as straightforward as it may seem. Sometimes there will be difficult conversations and disagreements that can be tough to navigate. During this course, we will discuss best practices when communicating with the client, and also walk through complicated scenarios to practice what we learn.

This course will serve as an introduction to conducting effective walkthroughs to gain an understanding of the client's transaction processes as well as identifying internal controls within each process. This course will review the procedures, questions to ask, and documentation requirements of walkthroughs. It will also include real-world examples of the red flags that may arise while executing a walkthrough. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Customers demand quality. We expect quality in what we do and in what we consume. In 1985, Philip Crosby told us that quality is free. We will examine Crosby's statement and look at the four aspects of the cost of quality - prevention, appraisal, internal failure, and external failure. What are the true costs associated with each of these elements? How can we determine how each aspect can be measured? We will test the adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure to see if this 16:1 relationship holds true. Quality matters, and we need to know how to evaluate the true cost of quality and what the value is.

Just because Microsoft Teams is no longer a new tool doesn't mean it hasn't evolved & it certainly has! Since its introduction in 2016, Teams has become the de facto business productivity platform for organizations worldwide. Yet, many users barely scratch the surface of all that Teams offers. Participate in this session to learn how to get more from Teams and enhance your ROI on the platform. In this session, you will learn about the core options available in Teams and how to leverage them. You will also learn about new enhancements in Teams, including threaded conversations, enhanced meeting features, and integration with Microsoft's Copilot platform. If you use Teams and want a deeper understanding of the platform, don't miss your opportunity to participate in this session.

This course addresses the most recent legislative developments impacting individual taxpayers, with a focus on important provisions, rules and concepts to apply when preparing client returns.  **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 presentation highlights the latest legislative changes affecting depreciation and capitalization rules, including inflation increases and Section 179 and 168(k) deductions. Planning and potential pitfalls will also be presented.  **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.

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.

The construction industry stands out in its need to adhere to a diverse range of accounting standards. This course explores the essential knowledge required for success in construction accounting, as well as the key issues influencing this field. Discover the implications of recent developments for yourself, your business, or your clients. In addition, we will examine the relationship between contractors and sureties. Given the construction industry's significant and ever-expanding share of the economy, staying up to date with the latest accounting updates in this sector is critical. Note: This course does not address FASB ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, or FASB ASC 842, Leases. The AICPA offers a companion course which focuses on revenue and lease accounting for construction contractors. See Contract Accounting and Lease Accounting and Their Impact on Construction Contractors (CCREVL).

Elevate your data reporting skills to new heights with our cutting-edge course, "Create Paginated Reports with Power BI Report Builder." This two-hour, expertly crafted training is designed to transform the way you visualize and present data, leveraging the powerful capabilities of Microsoft Power BI Report Builder. Ideal for professionals who aspire to turn complex data into compelling, print-ready reports, this course is a game-changer in the realm of data visualization and business intelligence. Delve into the world of paginated reporting with a curriculum that balances theoretical knowledge with practical examples and demonstrations. You'll learn how to navigate the Power BI Report Builder interface with ease, design intricate report layouts, and connect to diverse data sources for comprehensive reporting. The course covers a spectrum of skills, from creating eye-catching visualizations to utilizing advanced features like sub-reports and drill-through capabilities. By the end of this session, you'll be adept at publishing and sharing professional-grade, paginated reports that can inform and persuade your audience. Enroll now and take the first step towards mastering the art of paginated reporting with Power BI Report Builder. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Since 1919, the Internal Revenue Service had a civil and criminal function in the United States tax system. Little do people know, the IRS has an elite criminal function that started with five United States Postal Inspectors. From its early days in taking down Al Capone to now solving cybercrimes, the IRS special agents are tasked with investigating tax fraud, money laundering, and other white collar crimes. This presentation will show you the importance of this law enforcement function, the training, techniques, expertise, and actions that cause them to be known as the "world's finest financial investigators." This presentation has been prepared by a 20 year veteran with the IRS-Criminal Investigation. The presenter investigated crimes, and trained and mentored other special agents. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

You have more to do than time to do it. When you finally find the time, distractions steal it away again. As a leader with multiple layers of demands on your time, how can you possibly get it all done? In this course, I will help you learn practical productivity strategies so you can tame your to do list and multiply your time. It’s just wrong for a to-do list to rule your life. Learn how to take back your time…and your life.

Various legal tests are used to evaluate whether a worker should be classified as an employee or an independent contractor. There is no uniform standard or bright-line rule for determining whether an individual is properly classified as an independent contractor. Instead, the inquiry is always fact-intensive, and the analysis can vary based what body is performing it, i.e. the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), Department of Labor (“DOL”), various state agencies, or the courts. This presentation will review the various tests and highlight some of the common, most important factors for consideration.   

The role of today's financial leader, including CFO, transcends traditional financial stewardship; it demands agility, innovation, crisis management, and strategic foresight. This seminar will discuss the new, multifaceted skills and insights needed to excel in the dynamic role of modern finance. Through a blend of theory, research, and practical exercises, participants will explore the diverse roles of a CFO as innovation champions, technology evangelists, crisis managers, and change agents - leveraging practical principles to drive organizational success. Financial leaders can adapt or be left behind. Whether you are a seasoned CFO or aspiring to step into a leadership position, this seminar will discuss the essential tools and insights to navigate the newer demands of financial managers with confidence and competence.

QuickBooks Online’s (QBO) market share continues to expand, and the Cloud-based accounting platform now dominates the small business market. Yet, most accounting and financial professionals have not participated in any formal training on the Cloud-based accounting service. Thus, they are unaware of many of the tool’s available features and do not work with QuickBooks Online as efficiently and effectively as they should. This course teaches you how to set up QBO and convert QuickBooks Desktop files into a QBO instance. You will learn how to process all types of transactions, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, bank feeds, inventory, and payroll. Further, you will learn how to implement appropriate internal controls and how to capitalize on advanced features such as workflow management and management reports. Join us in this session to learn how to set up QBO properly and take full advantage of all it offers while avoiding common errors and mistakes.

If you are an experienced Excel user seeking to elevate your skills, join the K2 team for K2’s Advanced Excel. In this laptop-friendly program, you will learn critical advanced Excel skills in six key areas: 1) collaborating with other users and securing workbooks, 2) using tables to analyze and report data, 3) integrating and manipulating data from external sources, 4) creating and auditing complex formulas, 5) advanced data analysis tools, and 6) visualization techniques to analyze and communicate information. The course draws from over twenty-five years of experience delivering Excel training to accountants and other business professionals. Throughout the program, relevant, real-world examples reinforce the topics presented. Take advantage of this opportunity to become more efficient and proficient in Microsoft Office Excel, the tool of choice for accounting and financial professionals. This course covers advanced Excel topics found in Excel 2019 and newer.

As the digital asset market continues to mature, more taxpayers may be contemplating blessing their favorite charitable organizations with gifts of cryptocurrency. Beneficiaries unfamiliar with digital assets may find it challenging to properly report any of these types of donations. Likewise, taxpayers will need to ensure that they properly value and substantiate any contributions or potentially risk their charitable deductions being denied. This course will provide a brief overview of digital assets. This will be followed by a discussion of the rules regarding the documentation required when claiming a charitable contribution of digital assets. This course will also cover recent IRS publications and cases discussing taxpayers whose deductions of digital assets charitable gifts was scrutinized. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Are you a new advisor handling S Corp clients, or perhaps a seasoned professional facing this common scenario: "My S Corp client didn't take reasonable compensation last year. Now what?" Knowing that reasonable compensation isn't just a tax obligation, but a strategic financial decision, you need to be armed with expert knowledge to help your client navigate this situation. Join us to discuss IRS regulations, understand preventive measures, and address challenges within the year. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.