CPE Catalog & Events

The IRS defines the "gig economy" as people earning income providing on-demand work, services, or goods on either a part-time or full-time basis. The economic times we live in are changing, and accounting and finance professionals must learn how the rules apply in this new gig economy. The tax rules that apply to gig workers challenge traditional ideas of who is an employee and who is an independent contractor, and accounting and finance professionals must have the knowledge to make this determination. This program addresses federal and state tax issues accounting and finance professionals must address with clients and their own workers.

Part of one's duty as a CPA working in industry is to safeguard the assets of the organization. Cost cutting is one way to preserve assets and maintain a company's competitive position in the industry. However, what keeps us from ridding our organizations of unnecessary costs? In this course, we will look at the factors that prevent our companies from being as streamlined as they could be. By using statistics and survey data, we will attempt to show how to better negotiate and navigate budgeting and contracting decisions. We will also discuss financial statement analysis techniques, benchmarking, and cash flow management in an effort to better cut costs and maintain the long-run viability of an organization.

Do you want to build stronger relationships with your clients, improve client retention, and drive growth in your practice? This course delves into the essential strategies for effective client management in today's competitive landscape. Client relationships, like any relationship, can be challenging to manage. Miscommunication, differing work styles, and unrealistic expectations are some of the challenges accounting and finance professionals routinely encounter. However, when accounting clients and members of your team are on the same page, client loyalty and profitability improve while conflict is minimized. This webinar explores proven strategies to improve relationships between accounting and finance professionals and their clients.

This program reviews and analyzes the important changes made by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) to qualified small business stock (QSBS) covered under Section 1202. Effective for stock issued after July 4, 2025, there are important changes that make Section 1202 much more appealing to clients willing to run the risks associated with doing business as a C corporation. These enhanced provisions could potentially lead to exclusion of capital gains if very strict compliance rules are followed. Section 1202 application is particularly attractive for start-ups and entrepreneurial endeavors. For taxpayers willing to confront the technical challenges of this provision, Section 1202 may produce impressive tax advantages.

Part 1 of a 2-part series is an overview of GAAP requirements for nonprofit organizations and will help you become proficient in nonprofit financial reporting. This webcast focuses on presentation and disclosure unique to nonprofit organizations. Be sure to register for the next in the series: Nonprofit A&A Series Part 2: Revenue Recognition.

Part 2 of a 2-part series is an overview of GAAP requirements for nonprofit organizations and will help you become proficient in nonprofit financial reporting. This session focuses on revenue recognition.  Be sure to register for part 1 in the series: Nonprofit A&A Series Part 1: Financial Statement Presentation & Disclosure

Years of growth in a retirement account can be wiped out by one mistake. As such, retirement account owners and their advisors should take care to ensure that IRAs are operated in compliance with the governing regulations. This includes ensuring that distributions are handled properly, and that movement of retirement assets, including between IRAs and employer plans, does not violate the limitations that apply.

The IRS believes, perhaps with some justification, that many workers classified as independent contractors are actually employees and should be treated as such for tax purposes. The result is that worker classification audits are frequent and often costly for business clients, both in terms of time as well as money expended. This program prepares accounting and finance professionals to assist their clients with worker classification audits, and to avoid them if possible, by discussing and explaining the circumstances under which workers will most likely be characterized as employees or as independent contractors. The program also deals with the first line of defense against the IRS in worker classification audits — Section 530, as well as the common law factors distinguishing an employee from an independent contractor. This program also explores the IRS Voluntary Classification Settlement Program and discusses whether a practitioner should advise a client to request admission into this program.

Gerald Ford once said that "[n]othing in life is more important that the ability to communicate effectively." Public speaking remains a centuries-old skill that allows individuals to effectively communicate both at a personal and professional level. The benefits of good public speaking run long, whether it be the ability to persuade others, lead a team, or encourage critical thinking. This course is designed to refresh and refine speaking skills for professionals. Through this webinar, participants will gain a better understanding of the core skills of how to communicate effectively in groups — big or small. The webinar is intended to help those who already speak in public better improve their skills, while at the same time teaching more novice speakers how to approach a task that so many professionals dread — speaking in front of others.

Getting ready for busy season involves not only knowing what's new for the current year but also understanding how the changing limits, phaseouts, and other rules apply to current-year returns. With OBBBA enactment over the past few years, the present course will constitute a one-stop "shop" that brings you the essential individual tax information. In addition, this course provides an up-to-date review of important tax form changes, new tax forms, new limitations, key developments as they are reflected in the IRS forms, IRS filing issues, and deadlines that will be invaluable to attendees who prepare tax returns during busy season.

Stay current with this deep dive into accounting for and auditing nonprofit revenue streams. During this session, we'll review recent new standards. The case studies will include familiar and complex situations and audit techniques to identify potential misstatements.

In a recent Gallup study, 50% of respondents quit because of their manager, which makes your managers and supervisors your company's first line of defense against costly turnover. This program looks at management from a broad perspective and then drills down into key skills needed to manage effectively.

In this webinar we will explore the powerful concept of splitting data from reports and dig into the mechanics that enable this technique. The key feature discussed is the Tables feature, and the key function discussed is the multiple-condition summing function. We will illustrate these items in a variety of ways, including building crosstab style reports and mapping tables.

Answering clients' tax questions accurately and on time is a key challenge for tax practitioners. Through simple, plain language explanations and examples, this course will help practitioners perform tax research more efficiently by describing the structure of the primary sources, highlighting the difference between primary and secondary sources, and describing the steps in the tax research process.

Some companies are "born" great; others change and become great along the way. This seminar will discuss how both new and established companies become great. This seminar benchmarks world class companies to understand the underlying principles that made them great. The seminar begins with key lessons about business start-ups from Paul Hawken, author of Growing a Business, and Guy Kawasaki, author of Art of the Start and Enchantment. Next, the seminar looks at research on existing businesses, beginning with the management classic In Search of Excellence and then focusing on Jim Collins" research presented in Built to Last, Good to Great, How the Mighty Fall and Great by Choice.

ChatGPT has grown its user base to over 800 million active users per week. As a leader in the generative market, it is a tool that every CPA should have a basic understanding of how to use it and apply it in business. This course will provide a comprehensive review and demonstration of how to put ChatGPT to work for you and your clients. It is designed as a "hands-on" course that facilitates your following along with the presenter while applying the features of ChatGPT on your computer. Practice files will be provided so that you don't have to expose your confidential data.

One of the most challenging skills for a manager or supervisor to master is delegation. This course will cover a variety of delegation-related topics and provide participants with the necessary knowledge and skills to delegate work and authority effectively.

Excel remains a staple tool for virtually all accounting and financial professionals. In this session, learn about many of the newer features in Excel, along with some you may have overlooked in the past'truly "must-see CPE!?

The Quality Management Suite of Standards was required to be implemented by December 15, 2025. The standards modernize the firm's approach to quality to reflect an increased focus on risk assessment, technology use, and the presence of outside experts on many engagements. Beginning with performing a risk-based approach, the standards provide accounting firms with the ability to enhance their quality control by shifting their focus to a proactive approach (management) from a reactive approach (control). The results of the firm's risk assessment will form the basis of its new Quality Management document. This is not just a tweak of the old document but a more robust document that adds new requirements from the new standards. We will cover how to perform a risk assessment, including the key provisions of the standards, and how to effectively implement a monitoring plan. We will also review how the firm will evaluate its System of Quality Management beginning in 2026.

Accounting and financial reporting for construction contractors may be the most difficult area to comply with the various standards. Construction engagements are, in many instances, more complicated than most lines of business due to the many users of the financial statements. In this course, we will discuss why construction accounting and financial reporting is so complex and examine the relationship between the contractor and the surety, both from an underwriting and a claims perspective. We will also explore what the surety looks for to maximize potential bond credit.