CPE Catalog & Events

Join us for an in-depth webcast on Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRTs) and the essential aspects of preparing Form 5227.  This course will provide a comprehensive overview of CRTs, including their purpose, benefits, and practical considerations. Moreover, we will delve into the intricacies of Form 5227, the informational return for charitable remainder trusts, ensuring you have the necessary knowledge to accurately complete and file this crucial document. During this webcast, Art Werner will guide you through the fundamental concepts of Charitable Remainder Trusts, illustrating how they can be utilized as a strategic tool for tax planning. We will explore various types of CRTs, their formation, and the different scenarios in which they are most beneficial.  A significant portion of the webcast will be dedicated to Form 5227, the reporting requirement for charitable remainder trusts. We will provide an in-depth analysis of the form's components, line by line, ensuring you gain a comprehensive understanding of the information it requires. From trust assets and income to distributions and charitable beneficiaries, we will cover each section, discussing common pitfalls and best practices for accurate reporting. Mr. Werner will address the recent updates and changes to Form 5227, enabling you to stay up to date with the latest compliance requirements.   **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.

One of the most difficult things for any Client Advisory Services (CAS) professional to learn is how to communicate financial information to non-financial people. To be successful, it's crucial to master this skill, as we frequently explain accounting jargon to those unfamiliar with the field. In this course, we will explore how to properly communicate with stakeholders, including investors, clients, boards of directors, and even other departments. We will explore biases that people have when viewing financial information and even how to make sure we keep our message on point. If you are looking to move up in the financial services world, this course is a must for you.

Budget methods are the key to allowing department managers to efficiently prepare their budget in Excel. For example, a budget method may be to spread prior year actuals or match prior year actuals, or match prior year actuals less 10%. In this webinar, we will explore how to allow users to pick a budget method from a drop-down list for each account and then have Excel perform different calculations depending on the budget method selected. We use several features and functions at the same time to pull this off. Even if you are not involved in the budgeting process, the underlying features and functions discussed have a wide range of uses.

The enforceability of non-compete agreements in the U.S. is in flux. While the FTC's proposed ban is on hold pending legal proceedings, existing state laws continue to govern the validity of non-compete clauses. Some states, like California, Oklahoma, and North Dakota, prohibit non-compete agreements, while others enforce them under certain conditions. Although state laws vary, non-competes are often used to protect the creation and development of corporate goodwill, customer relationships, and specialized training, among others. Today, employees are more likely to be asked to sign non-compete agreements as a condition of employment. Non-compete agreements are also a common component of a business sale agreement. This program surveys non-compete agreements from all angles, including the current state of play regarding the usefulness and enforceability of agreements going forward. Whether you advise individual clients or work for an employer, this course provides an understanding of common issues that arise in the negotiation and enforcement of non-competes.

This course will focus on preparing financial statement audit documentation critical for high quality audits that can pass peer review.

How do you raise your skills to the next level to master the Controller or CFO role?  Welcome to a course that provides insights that align the CGMA Competency Framework. The course will examine each of the areas: Technical, Business, Leadership and People to increase your competency.  How are your technical skills?  Are you a traditional accountant or have you learned to expand your technical skills to go beyond “what are the financial numbers?” to “why did these financial results occur?”  Are you able to use ratios to understand the business dynamics and the implications to change course or take corrective action?  Are the systems that you implement and operate best practices or merely stop-gap solutions? How are your business skills?  Can you set a vision? Can you develop a strategy?  Do you understand the macroeconomic environment of your organization?   Can you lead a major project to a successful conclusion?  This session will explore the role of business as opposed to tracking the results of the business. How are your people skills?  How good is your ability to influence others? How are successful are your negotiation skills?   How well can you communicate?  Are you a collaborator or a partner?  This section will help accountants understand that it is people skills that drive the overall success of the accounting operations. Finally, how are your Leadership skills?  Do you inspire staff or make them angry?  Do you know why your staff work for your company and you?  Do you understand what employees want from their position?  Do you know how to deal with a difficult staff person?  Can you lead difficult change?  This session will help you recognize what leadership truly is as opposed to what passes for day to day management.

Welcome to a course that makes the process of M&A easy to understand and easy to implement within your organization or your clients' organization. The course will provide an intensive overview of the M&A process. Focus will be on practical techniques to guide you through the M&A jungle and avoid the traps that have befallen many organizations.

Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini and many others are transforming the digital landscape of virtually every business, including CPA firms. We will demystify the complex world of generative AI in this informative session designed specifically for CPAs. We will break down the nuts and bolts of how generative AI works, making the technical aspects accessible and relevant. Equip yourself with the foundational knowledge to leverage AI in your practice or business. You will learn multiple examples of how you can apply generative AI tools in accounting, finance and tax to boost your team's productivity and improve the quality of your work product. 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 training is designed to get the accountant up to speed quickly with partnership and limited liability company (LLC) formation and preparation issues as well as a complete understanding of calculating a partner and LLC member’s basis. The cornerstone of this course is the in-depth line-by-line analysis of the Form 1065 Schedule K and K-1 and how these items affect the partner/member’s individual income tax return. **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 course provides financial professionals with a comprehensive understanding of trusts and their role in estate planning. Participants will learn how to determine whether a trust aligns with a client's financial goals and explore strategies to maximize tax efficiency. The course covers various trust structures and their potential to reduce income, estate, and generation-skipping taxes at both federal and state levels. Additionally, it delves into trustee responsibilities and the benefits of irrevocable life insurance trusts and dynasty trusts. With a focus on practical applications and real-world scenarios, this course equips CPAs, EAs, attorneys, bankers, and financial planners with the expertise to navigate probate avoidance, streamline asset distribution, and manage complex tax considerations. Whether working with revocable or irrevocable trusts, participants will gain the tools to enhance their clients' financial well-being across generations. *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

As the new administration proposes changes to tax policies, estate planning strategies must adapt to evolving laws and regulations. This course equips financial professionals with advanced tools and techniques to address complex estate planning issues, including the latest legislative and regulatory updates. Participants will gain insights into tax-efficient wealth transfer strategies, charitable giving techniques, and the impact of recent tax law changes on estate and gift taxation. With a focus on real-world application, this course provides practical strategies for leveraging closely held stock, split-interest trusts, and life insurance in estate planning. Attendees will explore how to maximize tax benefits while ensuring compliance with changing regulations, ultimately helping clients achieve their financial and legacy goals. *Please Note:  If you need credit reported to the IRS for this IRS approved program, please download the IRS CE request form on the Handouts Tab and submit to kori.herrera@acpen.com

Two of the hottest topics in the CPA profession today are CAS (client advisory services) and ChatGPT. This course will explain how to bring these two worlds together by integrating ChatGPT and other generative AI applications into your client advisory services. John Higgins, a leading advisor to the profession on ChatGPT and a seasoned client advisor on technology based solutions, will show you how you can position your firm and yourself as a "go to" advisor on how to embrace this technology in virtually any type of business. John will address how to use this technology as a research and writing assistant in your client services and how to advise your clients on this revolutionary technology and all benefits and "gotchas" that come with it. If you want to step up your advisory game, this course is a "must take." This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Charts and graphs are nothing new. However, many professionals struggle with building compelling visualizations. If that statement describes you, participate in this session to improve your skills in creating Excel charts and other visualizations. As a result, you will create visualizations to enhance your communication skills. This session is much more than just a seminar on fundamental charts. Instead, in this session, you will learn how to create advanced charts that are interactive, dynamic, and aesthetically pleasing – three qualities that will help to ensure that your readers and audience will understand the data you are presenting. This seminar is a must if you want to improve your communication skills.

The President signed on July 4, 2025, one of most consequential tax legislation in recent years. The well-informed tax practitioner will want to stay abreast of these developments! This course will start with a short background of this legislation as it made its way through Congress and to the President's desk. We will then review the final provisions that was approved by the Senate and passed by the House. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

The mad scramble to remote work and utilize apps like Teams has been trying for most organizations over the past couple of years. With a rush to install and no time to plan, most team members did their best, prioritizing remote meetings as the primary concern. Therefore, as a result, Teams is vastly misunderstood and underutilized in most organizations. Join us in this session to go beyond the remote meetings aspect of Teams and to learn how to optimize efficiency, communication, and workflow with Teams.

The Art of Accountability is a dynamic training session tailored for leaders seeking to cultivate a culture of accountability while fostering respect and trust within their teams. High morale is intrinsically linked to high accountability in todays fast-paced work environment. 

Advisors who represent fiduciaries must understand the tax laws and the accounting rules that apply when a fiduciary accepts title to fiduciary assets. Because a trustee or personal representative exercises authority over the management and investments of fiduciary assets for the benefit of the named beneficiaries, the fiduciary is held to a very high standard of "fiduciary duty." In this webinar series, we'll review the concept and requirements of fiduciary duty and the duty to account to the beneficiaries (UPIA/UFIPA). We'll also cover crucial fiduciary accounting concepts that differ from financial accounting or tax law, including the distinction between principal and income and state statutory accounting rules. Finally, we'll analyze the differences and similarities to fiduciary taxation. Be sure to register for all four parts: Fiduciary Accounting Part 1: Fiduciary Duty Basics & Authority Fiduciary Accounting Part 2: Tools, Rules and Relationship to Tax Fiduciary Accounting Part 3: Special Accounting Elections & Distributions from Entities Fiduciary Accounting Part 4: The New Frontier (Total Return Trusts)

Perhaps the most important element of the budget process is its communication.  If management does not understand the budget – there is an issue. Knowing the right ways to communicate at all levels is essential to stakeholders laying an ownership claim to successful budgets.  This session reveals several key guidelines in successful budget presentations and will identify key problems in how people often communicate financial plans. Presenting your budget and reporting is the final part of a four part series, but can easily stand on its own course that is intended to be fun, enjoyable and educational.

Most leadership development focuses on a single direction within the organizational hierarchy: downstream to subordinates. While it is important to be a good boss, leadership is much more than that. The best leaders learn to lead well in all directions. They lead upward to superiors and across among peers throughout the organization. And it all starts with self-leadership. This often overlooked or misunderstood leadership principle is essential to build a thriving and productive culture. This topic is based on Jon’s book, Mission-Critical Leadership: How Smart Managers Lead Well in All Directions. 

Not-for-profit organizations always need volunteers as treasurers or members of the financial oversight committee! CPAs are often asked to fulfill these roles. This course highlights the financial accounting needs of such organizations. Along with covering the status of the not-for-profit organizations, an update on recent ASC updates affecting nonprofit entities is covered. This course is geared toward hands-on, or future hands-on, treasurers of service clubs and similar not-for-profit organizations.