CPE Catalog
Note
AICPA On-Demand & Self-Study courses take up to 24 hours to process.
The Competent Accountant - Mastering the Role of the Controller/ CFO
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Online
4.00 Credits
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.
New Mergers & Acquisitions: Tricks, Traps, & Terrors
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Online
4.20 Credits
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.
Ethics - A Line in the Sand; Implications for Daily Business
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Online
4.20 Credits
Ethical behavior continues to be a problem in society and even in the CPA ranks. "Ethics - A Line in the Sand" looks at the behavioral issues that influence how CPA's act. The course will address why individuals make ethical blunders, the state of ethical conduct in business organizations, the relationship between strong cultures, policy and procedures and successful ethical work environments. In addition, the course will highlight the one behavior to watch for as an indicator of potential ethical violations.
A Practical Guide to Trusts
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Online
8.00 Credits
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
ACPEN Signature 2025-2026: Business Fraud Update and Managing the Risk of Fraud
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Online
8.00 Credits
Fraud has not been conquered. Although most organizations like to think, “it can’t happen to us,” the fact of the matter is that fraud can happen to any organization and its impact can be catastrophic. Accountability professionals are the first line of defense against fraud. When fraud happens, management always turns to the accountability professional and either says (a) “this must be your fault,” or (b) “you were right; you warned us; help us make sure this cannot happen again.” Consequently, accountants, internal auditors, external auditors, fraud examiners, and risk management professionals need to develop the skills needed to prevent, detect, and deter fraud and need to be proactive in promoting and effecting organizational change. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ (ACFE) 2024 Report to the Nations: The median loss per fraud case is $145,000; the average loss per fraud case is $1.7 million. 43% of frauds are discovered by tips, usually from employees. Asset misappropriation schemes are the most common (89%) but least costly ($120,000 median loss). Financial statement fraud schemes are the least common (5%) but most costly ($766,000 median loss). Corruption is the most common scheme in all global regions. Median losses for frauds by owners/executives ($459,000) were more than 7X GREATER than those carried out by employees ($60,000). 84% of fraudsters exhibited at least one behavioral red flag. Organizations that have implemented anti-fraud measures suffer significantly lower losses and find fraud much more quickly. These conclusions are alarming and should be a wake-up call for all business and government professionals. The impact of fraud is always devastating and can be catastrophic. The 2025 Business Fraud Update is another fast-moving seminar that will provide a comprehensive look at the latest developments about fraud from the technical, legal, and operational perspectives and update participants on the most recent legal and regulatory developments in this important area of professional responsibility. In addition, our panel of legal, accountability, and forensic experts will explain key steps and methods in conducting a successful fraud investigation: Establishing predicate for an investigation Gathering and preserving evidence Conducting interviews and obtaining confessions When to involve law enforcement professionals and regulators The CPA's Role Preparing an expert report Providing expert testimony Implementing corrective action plans
Surgent's Audits of 401(k) Plans: New Developments and Critical Issues
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Online
8.00 Credits
One of the most favored employee benefit plans, the 401(k) plan, provides unique challenges for auditors. Through this course, auditors will obtain an understanding of the rules and regulations unique to employee benefit plans and obtain practical guidance on applying them. Auditors will enhance their knowledge of the performance and reporting requirements through real-world examples, best practices, and efficient audit techniques that can be utilized in various audit engagements. Make sure your audits don't trigger a DOL inspection by conforming to all applicable rules and regulations.
WORKSHOP: Master CAAS and Empower Your Advisory Services
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Online
10.00 Credits
Elevate your advisory services to new heights with our comprehensive CAAS Online Workshop Series. Over two dynamic days in September, 2025, you'll delve into the strategies and tools that will empower you to enhance your advisory capabilities. Confidently step into Client Advisory and Accounting Services (CAAS) or elevate your existing CAAS offerings? This event is perfect for accountants and managers in public accounting firms who want to build or enhance their CAAS capabilities and leverage new tools and frameworks to deliver real value to clients. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting out, this workshop series is designed to provide you with actionable skills and confidence to transform your advisory practice. Join us and take the first step towards mastering advisory excellence! Don't miss this opportunity to master advisory excellence-register now and take the first step towards a brighter future for your advisory services!
Erase the Mark: Best Practices in Penalty Abatement
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Online
2.00 Credits
If there is a potential error, the IRS will assess a tax and add a hefty penalty, without even knowing the facts. As a tax professional, you will be exposed to the IRS and their methods of penalizing taxpayers for the smallest of violations. This presentation will focus on the rules and regulations that create the penalty, and the reasons that exist that the IRS will consider to remove those penalties. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
Sticky Ethical Choices, featuring Bob Mims and Don Minges
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Online
1.00 Credits
If ethics were easy, then why do so many professionals have a Code of Conduct? Some Ethical decisions are easy, others are not. We will discuss several thorny ethical issues and the ramifications. What are the considerations and evaluation criteria to use? The need to carefully deliberate alternatives – is paramount. Be aware.
Leading in Exponential Times
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Online
1.00 Credits
Navigating through change Against the backdrop of change and uncertainty, there's an immediate need for accountants and finance professionals to evolve and accelerate. Technology, demographics, regulations and standards are driving changes in the way CPA firms work. What can you do to better navigate a world of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA)? How can you influence others to join you? This webcast will help you make sense of the dizzying array of challenges around culture, technology, generations and the speed of change.
The Controllership Series - The Future Role of the Controller Part 2
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Online
1.50 Credits
This is a two-part series that discuss new trends and concepts the financial controller should begin to execute in order to truly become a valued member of the senior leadership team. The rapid pace of the evolving technological landscape has promoted changes in how accountants and financial professionals focus attention on strategy and modernize their roles to leverage digital technology. There is increased demand for enhancing flexibility into finance cycles and initiating real-time reporting and insights. These are the core attributes that will assist in transforming the work that controllership function performs. Is the financial controllership prepared to meet future business demands? The IMA® (Institute of Management Accountants) and Deloitte’s Center for Controllership aimed to better understand the current state of controllership and expectations of future demands for controllers and accounting professionals. They conducted a survey in late 2022 and identified several trends. The survey takes a look at how prepared controllership is to meet future business demands. It also highlights some insights for leaders to consider that may increase their preparedness. It also identified areas of additional insight and questions to answer on the controllership transformation journey. In this segment, we will go through numerous concepts in detail.
Benford's Law and Other Digital Analysis Techniques
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Online
1.80 Credits
Numbers and especially the digits within those numbers can conceal a lot of information. Benford's Law and other digital analysis techniques can be the keys to unlocking that information. This session will explain what Benford's Law is, how it works, and how it can be used to reveal bogus information and made-up data. Accountants and auditors should understand how to use this valuable audit tool as well as other digital analysis techniques. But, if you attend this session, you must promise not to reveal the secret behind these techniques to any fraud perpetrators.
A Guide to Sampling - Part 1
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Online
2.00 Credits
Sampling is often identified as a common audit deficiency in peer review. This course will review when is sampling applicable and basics of planning a sample. We'll then focus on the application of sampling in financial statement audits with a look at sampling for substantive procedures. We'll look at the use of monetary unit sampling and tools that can be leveraged to reduce bias in sampling.
Like-Kind Exchanges
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Online
2.20 Credits
Please join us for a discussion on like-kind exchanges (LKE), known as one of the last great tax legal “shelters” available to those buying and selling real property. We will be covering the basic structure of a LKE, and ways a taxpayer can utilize qualified third party intermediaries (QI), tenancy-in-common structures including Delaware Statutory Trusts (DST). We will also explore creative solutions to sticky situations a taxpayer may find itself in obtaining replacement property. **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
Reasonable Compensation for S Corps
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Online
2.00 Credits
Between 2010 and 2020 a parade of Court Cases, IRS Factsheets, Job Aids and Internal Memos, plus Heightened IRS scrutiny and Preparer Penalties has brought the issue of 'Reasonable Compensation for S Corp's out of the shadows and placed it forefront as a priority issue for CPA's, EA's, Tax and Financial advisors to cover with their clients. We will explore key court cases, IRS guidelines, preparer penalties and some of the obscure tools the IRS has put in place. We debunk common myths and fiction on how reasonable compensation should be calculated and replace it with facts and methodologies that the IRS relies on. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
SAS No. 122, AU 240, Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit
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Online
3.00 Credits
When performing a financial statement audit, auditors have always been responsible for the detection of anything that would cause a material misstatement of the financial statements whether caused by error of fraud. However, in the past the audit profession focused on material misstatements due to errors and more or less ignored the possibility of misstatements due to fraud. Now, SAS No. 122, AU 240 requires significant documentation as to what the auditor did in order to determine if there any material risk of a misstatement of the financial statements. This presentation is an overview of what the auditor is to document in there working papers on every financial audit as to the procedures they performed in order to determine the risk of a material misstatement. If a material risk is discovered, they are then required to document what they did in order to determine if the financial statements were misstated.
Optimize Your Staff's Performance
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Online
4.00 Credits
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The same theory applies to departmental performance—the overall result is only as strong as its weakest contributor. Leave our interactive and entertaining session with insight for developing and sustaining the best team you can possibly assemble. The four elements in this process are (1) development, (2) leadership, (3) hiring and (4) environment. Discuss how to effectively use these elements in your creation of an outstanding organization. Discover the power of the 10 Attributes for Leadership Success and the negative impact of Leadership’s Fatal 13. Above all, learn how to combine these four elements as a successful catalyst for sustained high-quality output and results.
AI for CPAs - How it Works and How to Apply it
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Online
4.00 Credits
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.
Compilation, Preparation and Review Basics and Peer Reviews
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Online
2.00 Credits
Cover the basic requirements for performing preparation, compilation, and review engagements under Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services (SSARS), including the new SSARS No. 25, Materiality in a Review of Financial Statements and Adverse Conclusions. Review common issues found on SSARS engagements in connection with peer reviews and the impact of various findings on the results of a peer review. Identify key issues to consider during SSARS engagements, and determine how to incorporate quality control recommendations and tips for performing high-quality SSARS engagements. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event
The Best Federal Tax Update Course by Surgent
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Online
8.00 Credits
In this continually revised course, tax advisors will be fully updated on the most recent enacted legislation and IRS guidance, as well as major trends on the horizon with a view toward planning considerations. This update course is designed for all practitioners, both those working in public accounting as well as those in private industry, who need the latest information on tax changes. Please Note: Due to content overlap, it is recommended that this course NOT be taken together with BITU.