CPE Catalog & Events

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, telework in state and local government was not often embraced as a form of employment. As the pandemic continues, governments are beginning to experience the benefits of remote work and are reevaluating hiring practices to offer more telework and hybrid work options, not simply as a result of an emergency. This course will review various telework options and best practices for success. 

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.

This session will expand on methodologies to employ when owner-employee compensation is at issue. The session will focus on determinations of reasonable replacement compensation for individuals who both provide services to a closely held business or professional practice and also have an ownership stake in the enterprise. Executive Compensation in the form of options and restricted stock will also be covered in the context of marital dissolution proceedings. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

A solid understanding of the laws governing estate and gift taxation is essential for tax professionals handling Forms 706 and 709. This course provides an in-depth analysis of the legal framework surrounding estate and gift taxes, including key regulations, IRS guidance, and court rulings. Participants will explore how estate and gift tax rules interact, learn strategies for minimizing tax liabilities, and gain insight into compliance challenges. The course will also provide a thorough review of any new legislative changes introduced by the current administration and their implications for estate and gift tax 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

Those charged with governance, with the assistance of internal audit,  are responsible for overseeing the strategic direction of the organization, and ensuring value is delivered to the entity's stakeholders. This course will provide guidance on fulfilling the responsibility for challenging how much risk and uncertainty to accept through the application of COSO's Enterprise Risk Management Framework.

This course covers recently issued accounting and financial statement reporting standards from the Financial Accounting Standards Board. Key implementation challenges and experiences from public company filings will be identified. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

This year practitioners need to keep abreast of tax changes affecting pass-through entities used by their business clients and employers, and this enlightening course delivers that information. You will learn invaluable strategies, techniques, innovative tax-planning concepts, income-generating ideas, and other planning opportunities available to S corporations, partnerships, LLCs, and LLPs. In addition, this course will discuss current trends and emerging issues, helping practitioners stay informed about relevant and significant topics that may impact their clients. Continually updated to reflect enacted legislation.

Don't look now, but ChatGPT is taking the business world, including the accounting profession, by storm. Every CPA, whether in public accounting or working in corporate, should have a fundamental understanding of ChatGPT and generative AI applications more broadly. This course will provide you with a foundation of knowledge about ChatGPT technology that will prepare you to have conversations with clients, customers, colleagues and service providers. More importantly, you will learn how to leverage ChatGPT to increase your personal productivity. If you feel your ChatGPT knowledge is lacking, that will not be the case after you attend this course, taught by John Higgins, one of the leading technology strategists and thought leaders for the accounting profession. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

When asked the question, “What would you like to improve about your leadership and communication style?” more than 65% of leaders say they want to be more confident and assertive in their communication. Confidence and clarity communicate leadership. If you are responsible for growing a profitable company or a productive team, you want team members who have the ability to reach goals, make sales, finish projects, and serve customers. Being a confident, compelling leader helps to inspire better relationships, promotes trust, and reduces stress in the workplace. Lack of confidence and assertiveness can lead to resentment, depression, low self-esteem, and loss of respect from colleagues and employers. Confident communication cultivates cooperation, goal achievement, and a more respectful work environment. Clear and compelling leaders are better equipped to move projects forward and make things happen while improving cooperation and respect from partners and subordinates.  

Accounting and finance managers and executives must demonstrate sound soft skills necessary for personal growth and organizational success.  This course will provide insights into the most crtical  personal skills critical for CFOs and Controllers - or those that want to be!

In an era defined by rapid change and uncertainty, effective leadership requires more than just managing teams; it demands the courage to disrupt and innovate. This course is your blueprint for transforming potential chaos into a strategic advantage and is designed for leaders at all levels-whether you're a seasoned CEO, an ambitious small business owner, or an individual contributor aspiring to influence greater change. You'll gain the insights and tools needed to not only adapt to change but to lead it effectively and confidently. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Fraud continues to plague businesses at epidemic levels, and technology control failures are a significant reason fraud occurs. Using a case study approach, in this session, you will learn about the pervasiveness of fraud, the control failures that contribute to fraud, and what you can do to mitigate fraud risk. A specific focus of this course is the application of information technology general controls and information technology application controls. In this course, you will examine numerous reported fraud cases and identify the general control and application control failures that contributed to each of these frauds. By learning through these real-world case studies, you will be positioned better to reduce fraud risk.  

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.

A comprehensive review of the newest version of the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s Government Auditing Standards, otherwise known as “the Yellow Book.”  The standard will affect all auditors who perform audits of government and nonprofit organizations who receive federal funds, or where application of GAO standards is required by law, regulation or contract.  It does not address the standards applicable to performance audits.

Transform your Excel skills with our comprehensive training program, designed for users at all levels seeking to master the full suite of Excel capabilities. From powerful data analysis tools like PivotTables and advanced functions such as XLOOKUP, to the nuances of Data Validations and Conditional Formatting, this course offers a deep dive into Excel's most impactful features. Whether you're streamlining complex data sets, enhancing your reporting skills, or just looking to boost your productivity, this session provides the insights and techniques you need to leverage Excel to its fullest potential, making it an indispensable tool in your professional or personal toolkit. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Portable Document Format (PDF) documents are everywhere! Yet few know how to work effectively with these documents. If you are interested in working more effectively and efficiently with PDFs, this session is for you. In this session, you will learn valuable tips you can use to assist you with creating, editing, and securing PDFs. You will also learn how to convert PDFs to fillable forms and secure PDFs, among other features. Don't miss this chance to learn ten PDF tips you need to know to increase your ROI on PDFs.

QuickBooks Desktop, Online, and Enterprise Solutions remain three of the most widely used accounting applications in use today. However, each platform continues to experience major changes across several fronts. Feature sets, licensing requirements, and price changes all impact users at unprecedented levels. Further, competition continues to emerge in the small business accounting battleground, adding confusion to the options existing QuickBooks and QuickBooks Online users may have. In this session, you will learn about many of the changes impacting QuickBooks Desktop, Online, and Enterprise users, and you can manage these changes for the benefit of your company or your clients.

Quality management will have a big impact on CPA firms. This course will cover both SQMS 1 and 2 as well as the related engagement level standards (SAS 146 and SSARS 26). The new standards will require a risk-based approach to quality management as well as the documentation of an information & communication process. SQMS 1 is required to be implemented at all accounting firms by December 15, 2025 but due to the size of the effort, firms should start their implementation process ASAP. SQMS 2 covers the appointment and eligibility of the engagement quality reviewer and the performance of the reviews. SAS 146 addresses the specific responsibilities of the auditor regarding quality management at the engagement level for an audit of financial statements and the related responsibilities of the engagement partner. SSARS 26 amends AR-C Sections to be consistent with these new standards. This two hour class will provide a deep dive into what you need to know to start your implementation process!

This course provides a concise overview of Gemini AI, Google's advanced multimodal artificial intelligence model. It explains how Gemini is integrated into different Google products, including Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and as a stand-alone chatbot. Participants will learn how Gemini enhances productivity by summarizing email threads, suggesting responses, drafting emails, generating formulas, creating tables, and more. By the end of the course, students will have a solid foundation in understanding Gemini AI's role in the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Preparing Form 706 requires a detailed understanding of estate taxation, valuation rules, and compliance requirements. This course provides a step-by-step breakdown of Form 706, helping tax professionals accurately report estate taxes while ensuring compliance with IRS regulations. Participants will explore key components, including gross estate calculations, deductions, tax computation, and portability elections. With real-world examples and practical guidance, attendees will gain confidence in preparing Form 706, even in complex scenarios. This course will also cover any recent legislative changes introduced by the new administration and their impact on estate tax planning and compliance. *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