CPE Catalog & Events

Do you use Microsoft (Office) 365? Are you satisfied that you are getting the most that you can from it? If you answered yes then no, this course will provide a really high return on your investment of time and money in this application suite. John Higgins, one of the profession's leading experts on the integration of Microsoft 365 into business, will explain and demonstrate the depth and breadth of the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. The course is designed to raise your awareness of all that you can do with Microsoft 365 and substantially increase your monthly subscription ROI. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

When the leadership in any organizations carries out their responsibilities of establishing, maintaining and monitoring internal controls, it significantly reduces the possibility of fraud occurring.  When and if it does occur, a good system of internal controls will often detect it early on.  This presentation is an illustration of what can happen when top management fails to carry out their responsibility of protecting an entity’s assets through a good system of internal controls.

Unlock the full potential of data analytics with our specialized course, "Leverage PowerBI.com to Create Data Analysis for Others". This two-hour, intensive training is specifically designed to empower professionals in harnessing the powerful features of Microsoft PowerBI.com. Whether you're a data analyst, business intelligence professional, or someone keen on mastering data visualization and report creation, this course is your gateway to becoming a proficient Power BI user. Dive into the dynamic world of data analytics and learn to transform raw data into visually compelling stories that drive decision-making. Our expertly crafted program offers a deep dive into the essentials of PowerBI.com, starting with a comprehensive tour of its interface and core concepts. You'll gain experience in connecting to diverse data sources, creating stunning visualizations, and building interactive dashboards that communicate insights effectively. The course also covers the innovative Q&A feature of PowerBI.com, allowing you to explore data with natural language queries. By mastering the art of sharing datasets, reports, and dashboards, and creating comprehensive apps, you'll be equipped to deliver top-tier data analysis solutions to colleagues and clients alike. Through this course, attendees will gain a deep understanding of how to leverage the PowerBI.com platform to disseminate datasets, reports, and dashboards, catering to the specific needs of their audience. Our course is tailored for those who aspire to lead in the data-driven landscape, offering not just theoretical knowledge but real-world applications. Upon completion, participants will not only have a thorough understanding of PowerBI.com but also the confidence to apply this tool in creating impactful data analysis for diverse audiences. Join us to elevate your professional skillset, make data-driven decisions with ease, and add a valuable credential to your portfolio. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

By reviewing the latest developments and issues relevant to preparation, compilation and review engagements, you'll be able to adhere to professional standards while performing these types of engagements.

Financial statements are a window into what is going on in the day-to-day operations of the company. They help us see what the company's strengths and weaknesses are. However, financial statements can often have different messages depending on the user. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

This comprehensive case-driven training is designed to quickly get the accountant up to speed in basis calculations and distribution planning for the owners of pass-thru entities (i.e., S corporations, partnerships, and limited liability companies (LLCs)). The cornerstone of this course is the line-by-line analysis of the Schedule K-1s and how it affects the basis calculations. This session is taught using a Hands-On methodology. Real-world examples and cases demonstrate the complex income tax code and regulations to enhance the participant's learning experience. Each attendee will receive the most comprehensive reference manual with numerous practice aids, real-world examples, and case studies.

The tax landscape is constantly changing, challenging tax practitioner to stay abreast of these developments.  This eight hour program will cover issues unique to business entities, including 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.

In order to prepare accurate and effective not-for-profit financial statements, professionals must have a strong working knowledge of the reporting requirements. Now is the time to obtain that knowledge! This course explains the requirements, illustrates how the requirements manifest in the financial statements, and clarifies options available to not-for-profits in applying the requirements. The course covers key accounting areas that affect not-for-profits, including net assets, contributions, and functional expense reporting. The course materials utilize a highly illustrative and innovative format, including 30 focused exercises to provide an enhanced working knowledge of not-for-profit accounting and reporting.

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.

Many Excel users have received little or no formal training to help them use the ubiquitous productivity application. This session can help users that wish to improve their Excel skills to increase their productivity. The material starts by covering basic topics such as time saving tips and keyboard shortcuts and then moves to more advanced areas like conditional formatting and complex formula building. Users that find themselves looking at the spreadsheets that others design and wishing they could do as much with Excel will benefit greatly by taking this course. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Why can it be hard to automate accounting? Because many accountants don’t know their options and, therefore, fail to reap the rewards of accounting automation. This session will teach you how easy and profitable accounting automation can be. In it, you will learn how to automate many traditional accounting processes, often with technology you already own. In addition to bank feeds, you will learn about automation options for processing accounts payable and receivable, approving transactions, and linking data from one platform to another. If you are serious about improving efficiency and accuracy, you should make plans to attend this session.

When it comes to assessing your organization's employee experience, it's no longer enough to administer an annual survey and call it a day. Rather to engage and retain today's talent, it's all about an integrated, strategic approach to employee listening woven throughout the entire employee lifecycle. While this thought can overwhelm many HR professionals, the good news is that this is an area where you can start to see big ROI in a short period of time. In this session, we'll break down where to start, steps to improve your existing efforts, and strategies you can use to move the needle in your organization and drive HR and business success.

Human Resources professionals are often tasked with investigating allegations of employee misconduct, discrimination, and others. Investigation training is traditionally presented from the position of an outsider looking in, such as a governmental agency, law firm, or private investigator. HR investigations require similar skills, but the environment and the approach are quite different. This session explores these differences and provides best practices for planning, executing, documenting, and reporting the results of an HR investigation. Attendees will end the session with takeaways to immediately implement in future HR investigations. 

Volatility and complexity are the new normal. Most organizations are drowning in data, but starving for information. The finance and accounting function has the opportunity to leverage Big Data and the continuum of analytics – descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive. All are useful for better decision making. Collecting, validating, and reporting data is not the same thing as analyzing information where we can glean valuable, actionable insights. In some ways the finance function is many years behind other disciplines such as marketing, sales, and supply chain managers, in applying analytics. How can the CFO’s function catch up?

This course introduces practical ways that public accountants can use Excel to enhance both the efficiency and effectiveness of client engagements. We will reinforce core concepts by illustrating ways that Excel is a tool for analysis and reporting. We will introduce numerous analytical methods and techniques by using practical examples to illustrate how to unleash the power of Excel when obtaining, analyzing, and reporting information.

This course provides accountants with the leading AI insights and strategies drawn from real-world experience, empirical studies, countless CPA case studies, and social media commentary. It goes beyond theory, offering practical lessons learned from the front lines of AI implementation in the business world and accounting industry. Participants will gain actionable knowledge on bridging the theory-application gap, navigating exponential technological changes, and creating secure, adaptive AI policies. By the end of the session, accountants will be equipped to leverage AI responsibly and innovatively in their roles. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

When a new employee is hired, there are a lot of things the employer needs to take care of. Aside from getting employment contracts signed, training lined up, and the new hire breakfast planned, employers are tasked with making sure all of the payroll forms are filled out. For many small business owners, this can be a source of anxiety. They often wonder if they have everything they need. They also hear horror stories about potential IRS penalties for not having all of the boxes checked. In this course, we will explore the payroll compliance side of hiring new employees. From the alphabet soup of forms that need to be filled out to the initial payroll tax forms, we have you covered if you are a new practitioner or new business owner. We will even discuss the surprisingly difficult-to-navigate world of unemployment insurance.

As litigation becomes more complex, attorneys are relying more on accountants to serve as consulting experts or expert witnesses at trial. Serving as an expert witness is not as difficult as you might expect. Accounting experts educate lawyers and jurors on issues such as valuation, tax liability, and forensics. Learn how accountants become expert witnesses, the role they play during pre-litigation through to trial, and the techniques experts employ to avoid challenges from opposing counsel.

Do you love PivotTables? Of course, we all do! Traditional PivotTables are incredible, but they do have limitations. If you have ever encountered one of these limitations, you'll be excited to learn that by using the Data Model as the source for PivotTables, you'll be able to bypass many of the restrictions that exist with traditional PivotTables. The data model (also referred to as Power Pivot) is included in Excel 2016+ for Windows and available as a free download for previous versions (excluding Excel for Mac). Using the data model enables you to build PivotTables that were previously not practical. If you frequently build PivotTables and would like to do more with them, you'll want to understand how to use the data model (Power Pivot) to enhance your reports. Note about Excel versions: Power Pivot is not available in all versions of Excel, including Excel for Mac. If you would like to see if Power Pivot is available in your version of Excel, visit the Microsoft site.

This comprehensive case-driven training is designed to get the accountant up to speed quickly in the area of basis calculations and distribution planning for the owners of pass-thru entities (i.e., S corporations, partnerships, and limited liability companies (LLCs)). The cornerstone of this course is the line-by-line analysis of the Schedule K-1s and how it affects the basis calculations.  **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