CPE Catalog
Note
AICPA On-Demand & Self-Study courses take up to 24 hours to process.
Business Communication Essentials (Dynamic Communication in the Workplace)
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Online
1.00 Credits
We know that effective communication is essential to growing a career and a business. But we often don't take time to think through, concsiously, about how we communicate and how small changes could change the trajectory of our messages. This workshop is designed to give you a survey of multiple communication strategies and mistakes to avoid. We start by discussing how people make decisions--which is important to understand in the context of business communication and communication in the workplace. We then transition into common communication mistakes and actionable tools and tactics that you can use to overcome and avoid these mishaps.
Maintaining a Harmonious Working Environment
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Online
1.20 Credits
A harmonious working environment is one in which people feel safe, seen, heard, and respected. Critical to maintaining it are that employees have high self-esteem, are treated with respect, and work in a safe, non-violent setting. This course provides practical knowledge and scripts on how to take appropriate action and deal effectively with discriminatory comments, sexual harassment, and threats and acts of violence,such that personal and employer liability is avoided.
The Controllership Series - The Financial Close Process
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Online
1.50 Credits
A common challenge for the controller role is in closing the month-end and period-end books in preparation to issue financial statements. This duty requires precision, timing and efficiency. In today’s digital world, many organizations have access to financial accounting software that will assist with the steps in the financial close. However, even with this aid it is critical the accountant understand the various steps for the close process and how they inter-relate to other accounting processes. This course gives you an insight into the inter-relationships between many processes that impact the financial close. The closing process has traditionally been a slow one with many companies taking two weeks to close its subsidiary’s books and another two to three weeks to roll up and consolidated the results. With the introduction of technology much has been done to help accelerate that process with integrated enterprise resource planning systems and general ledger and consolidate software. Within this segment we will discuss the elements of the financial close and also important concepts to assist the controller in accelerating their close timeline. This includes addressing all functional areas of the close including payroll, invoicing, payables, inventory, cash, and the general ledger. We will also discuss important concepts of ensuring your financial close is accurate by discussing bank reconciliations, overhead allocations, bad debt reserves, unpaid wages and accruals for vacation time, account reconciliations, deprecation and overall financial statement review. Note: This course does not address utilizing technology in the financial close. Its focus is to understand the varied procedures involved in the financial close whether or not technology is utilized.
Preparing to be a Forensic Accountant - Focus on Computer Forensics - Part 3 (Steganography)
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Online
1.60 Credits
This course is a complement to our series on Becoming a Forensic Accountant and the focus of the course is on steganography techniques. Steganography is the art and science of embedding secret messages in a cover message in such a way that no one, apart from the sender and intended recipient, suspects the existence of the message. The first use of steganography can be traced to 440 BC when ancient Greece, people wrote messages on wood and covered it with wax, that acted as a covering medium Romans used forms of Invisible Inks, to decipher those hidden messages light or heat were used. During World War II the Germans introduced microdots, which were complete documents, pictures, and plans reduced in size to the size of a dot and were attached to normal paperwork. Null Ciphers were also used to hide unencrypted secret messages in an innocent looking message. Given the amount of data being generated and transmitted electronically, it’s no surprise that numerous methods of protecting that data have evolved. There are various types of steganography: Text Steganography - Hiding information inside the text files. This involves changing format of existing text, changing words in a text, generating random character sequences or using context-free grammars to generate readable texts. Image Steganography - Process of hiding text in an image without distorting the picture. Video Steganography - Technique to hide any kind of files into a cover video file. Audio Steganography - The secret message is embedded into an audio signal which alters the binary sequence of the corresponding audio file. Network Steganography - The process of utilizing active network protocols as carriers to transmit a covert message, undetectable by an uninformed party, from a host to its destination. This session will review these methods and also discuss relevant software.
Ask Me No Questions and I Will Tell You No Lies - The Art of Interviewing & Interrogation
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Online
3.00 Credits
When we verbally communicate with an individual, we must make a conscious decision as to whether we believe what we have heard. Little do we realize that we are not making a decision based on what we have heard; rather we make a subconscious decision based primarily on what we have seen, or how the body was behaving when the subject was speaking. We often walk away from a conversation with a gut feeling that the person was not telling the truth. That gut feeling is your subconscious. Yet we often have no idea as to why we have that feeling. This presentation is designed to provide the participant with the tools to identify those both verbal and nonverbal indicators that we all give off when we are under stress. Normally, telling the truth does not create stress. When we lie, we know that we are not supposed to and that creates stress, and it will manifest itself in some manner, and that is what a trained interviewer is looking to observe. When we observe indicators of deception, how do we deal with it? How do we get the subject to admit to a wrong-doing when it is not in their best interest to do so? That is one of the many things that will be addressed in this presentation. Whether you are a parent dealing with you kids; an employer dealing with employees or and investigation interviewing a suspect, this presentation will provide you with the tools to assist you in finding the truth.
K2's 2023 Understanding Your Ransomware Risk
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Online
1.00 Credits
Protecting yourself from ransomware requires more than just anti-virus software. Additional technology protections are necessary. Further, business continuity, legal and regulatory, and cybersecurity insurance considerations should all be a part of your risk abatement strategy. Attend this session to determine if your current level of ransomware protection reduces your risk to an acceptable and identify ways to ensure that you are protected.
Modernized Bookkeeping for the CPA
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Online
1.00 Credits
CPAs get a bad rep regarding bookkeeping services. Walk through how to overhaul your offering by reviewing your client expectations, tech stack, and workflows.
Combatting Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
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Online
1.00 Credits
This presentation will review what sex harassment is under the law, company compliance obligations, and describe how promoting a positive company culture can prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.
Navigating Leaves of Absence
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Online
1.00 Credits
What obligations does an employer have when an employee needs to take a leave of absence? This presentation will provide an overview of the complicated, intertwined compliance obligations triggered when an employee requests a medical leave of absence (including for pregnancy, mental health, or addiction).
2024 Performance Auditing Made Easy
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Online
1.50 Credits
Unlike a traditional financial audit objective (Are the financial statements materially misstated), performance auditing can address a wide variety of objectives. Is this program working? Can it be improved? Where can we save money? How can we operate more efficiently and effectively? Are management’s assertions supported? And so forth. This session will explain what a performance audit is, describe the applicable standards, and provide examples that indicate the value of a performance audit. Performance audits can add value to any entity and practitioners can profit from adding these assurance services to their practices.
Data Extraction, Transformation, Validation the Right Data Sources for Analysis
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Online
2.00 Credits
In this course, we will explore the various types of data - both structured and unstructured - used in conducting fraud risk investigations and proactive monitoring. We will explore the various tools available on the market and techniques to confirm completeness and accuracy of the data before the analysis begins. The course will cover the process for selecting the right data sources to align with the various risks as well as pitfalls to avoid when preparing the data for analysis.
Dashboard and Report Design Principles Using Excel
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Online
4.00 Credits
If you... - Produce or revise dashboards and reports - Find your current reports and dashboards confusing - Are frustrated by the length, complexity and structure of your existing reports - Have many different styles of dashboards and reports in use and want to simplify things - Need to create a consistent “house style” that can be replicated by different teams - Want to look like a star by creating reports and dashboards that your internal customers love ... this workshop can help. In this session we explore the principles of what makes reports and dashboards easy, or hard, to understand, distil this into a simple set of rules and show you how to apply these rules using Excel.
Forensic Data Analytics Supercourse for Fraud Prevention and Detection
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Online
8.00 Credits
In this five part master series, class participants will gain a comprehensive view into the world of forensic data analytics (FDA). From understanding practical use cases of FDA in the audit, internal audit, investigations and proactive monitoring to understanding necessary data sources, validation proceudres, success factors and pitfalls to avoid. We will also explore hundreds of leading anti-fraud tests around corruption, conflicts of interest, fake vendor schemes, segregation of duties, revenue recognition and sales abuse, among dozens of other schemes. Participants will develop their own library of anti-fraud tests from various open source locations and apply them in relevant contexts such as the COSO Fraud Risk Management Guide. Finally, participants will also peek into future innovations in FDA and how technologies such as ChatGPT, data visualization, machine learning, AI and cryptocurrencies are all impacting the discipline. We can't promise you'll be a programmer after this course, but you will certainly be armed with the information needed to project manage an FDA project and "direct" the programmers to accomplish your fraud risk / FDA objectives.
Mastering The Three Pillars of Cybersecurity: Exploring the Technology Pillar
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Online
1.00 Credits
Are you looking to fortify your practice against the ever-growing threats in the digital landscape? Join us for the second installment of our exclusive webinar series, "Mastering Cybersecurity," brought to you by Practice Protect. In today's digitally connected world, the need for comprehensive cybersecurity is paramount. With cyberattacks becoming more sophisticated, it's crucial to stay ahead of the curve in protecting your sensitive client data. This webinar series is designed to equip CPAs with the knowledge and tools needed to secure their practices and client information effectively.
Strategies for Guiding Clients Through Challenging Situations: Tax Insights
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Online
8.00 Credits
In this comprehensive course, practitioners gain a deep understanding of strategic planning considerations and potential hurdles encountered when clients face difficult circumstances. Delving into an array of scenarios often classified as "challenging," the course offers tax insights. From divorce and personal bankruptcy to intricate personal relationship matters, participants will equip themselves to adeptly guide clients through these challenging scenarios by understanding the tax implications.
Aligning Analytics to COSO's Fraud Risk Management Principles
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Online
1.00 Credits
In this course, participants will learn about the five principals of COSO's Fraud Risk Management Guide and the linkages each principal has to the use of forensic data analytics to measurably demonstrate effectiveness and ROI. We will also explore key elements to a successful program that is sustainable as well as pitfalls to avoid. Finally, we will cover several case studies that demonstrate the key concepts discussed.
Cryptocurrencies for the CFO: Explaining Blockchain
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Online
2.00 Credits
What exactly is cryptocurrency and its cousin named blockchain? Are they here to stay? This session will provide a big picture examination of the technologies and currencies by explaining how we got here. We discuss the systems and technical aspects of cryptocurrencies and blockchain. What is the broad view of the technologies that currently do, and will continue to, impact our workplace and lives?
K2'S 2023 Top Ten Outlook Tips
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Online
2.00 Credits
Using Outlook for email management is routine for most business professionals these days. But unfortunately, using this tool for so long may cause some to perpetuate bad practices and habits when working in Outlook and exploring new options Outlook offers. In this session, you will discover ten valuable tips to take you to the next level of your email and work management.
Gamed: Why Performance Targets and Incentives Fail and How to Fix Them
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Online
4.00 Credits
Target setting can drive breathtaking positive results, the moonlandings, the eradication of smallpox or the repair of the ozone layer, for example. They can also have a dark side that can put executives in jail, bring global businesses to their knees and even cause wholesale loss of life. Using practical examples and case studies, this course walks you through the steps you need to follow to design robust, effective and credible targets for your organization.
2023 Compliance Update on Arbitration Agreements, Severance Agreements, Confidentiality and Non-Disparagement Agreements
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Online
1.00 Credits
In the last year, our country has seen the passage of multiple federal laws impacting the enforceability to common employment documents. Several federal agencies have also issued opinions that could impact common employment documents. This presentation will review those new laws and opinions and discuss the potential impact they may have on arbitration agreements, severance agreements, confidentiality agreement, and non-disparagement agreements.