CPE Catalog
Note
AICPA On-Demand & Self-Study courses take up to 24 hours to process.
A Guide to Sampling - Part 2
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Online
2.00 Credits
Building on Part 1, this course will review the application of sampling in financial statement audits with a focus on sampling for tests of controls. We'll also review the requirements for sampling in Single Audits with a focus on tests of controls and tests of compliance.
Hold Your Horses! Could Tighter Reins Have Prevented a Landmark Fraud?
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Online
2.00 Credits
What can we learn from one of the largest municipal frauds in U.S. history? Rita Crundwell stole nearly $54 million from the citizens of Dixon, Illinois over the course of two decades. This course examines circumstances that allowed this landmark fraud to occur. We will explore internal control deficiencies and other circumstances that hindered prevention or timely detection of Rita's scheme.
What Does Fraud Look Like?
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Online
2.00 Credits
The audit standards state that one of the reasons auditors fail to detect fraud is that they don’t know what it looks like. Prior to the original SAS No. 82, Consideration of Fraud In A Financial Statement Audit, nowhere in any SAS was there a description of what fraud looked like. So, as they say, if you don’t know what you are looking for, you can often look right at it and not recognize it! This presentation illustrates some of the more common indicators of fraud they most individuals would overlook unless they 1) knew what they were looking for and were 2) actually looking for it. Contrary to what the standards say about fraud being concealed, I have found that fraud is often laying on the table right in front of you; but no one has discovered it because they have no idea what the indicators of fraud are.
Best Practices: Conducting Meaningful Walkthroughs
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Online
2.00 Credits
This course will serve as an introduction to conducting effective walkthroughs to gain an understanding of the client's transaction processes as well as identifying internal controls within each process. This course will review the procedures, questions to ask, and documentation requirements of walkthroughs. It will also include real-world examples of the red flags that may arise while executing a walkthrough. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.This course qualifies for yellow book credit.
Schedule K-1: What is it & What Do I Do with It?
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Online
2.00 Credits
This seminar provides a comprehensive overview of Schedule K-1, which taxpayers may receive from pass-through entities such as Partnerships, Subchapter S Corporations, or Estates/Trusts. The course will cover the most common characteristics of Schedule K-1, including how to report the information on Form 1040. Attendees will also learn about the Qualified Business Income (QBI) Deduction and its reporting criteria. Additionally, relevant topics such as basis and loss limitations, material participation, and integration with the QBI deduction will be addressed, along with a discussion of proposed changes to Schedules K-2 and K-3. *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
Surgent's Avoiding the Top 10 Mistakes That Can Wipe Out Retirement Savings
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Online
2.00 Credits
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.
Surgent's Choosing the Right Business Entity
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Online
2.00 Credits
The business structure a client chooses influences virtually every tax and financial issue associated with the business, including the business's day-to-day operations, its tax liability, how much of the owners' personal assets are at risk, and much more. For this and many other reasons, it is critical that a client choose a business structure that gives the right balance of legal protections and tax benefits. From a tax perspective, in terms of selecting an entity to do business in, the universe shifted with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacted at the end of 2017. The tax rate for C corporations was lowered to 21% and the 199A deduction offered pass-through entities the chance to significantly lower the rate at which they are taxed. But how do all these options work and which option is best for which business? Those questions are at the heart of this webinar. In this program, we discuss whether there is a "best entity" for our clients. Tax practitioners know that re-examining choice of entity determination is at the top of the agenda for client meetings because clients continue to want reassurance that they have the most tax-efficient entity structure. This program will equip you with the knowledge and insights you need to lead those discussions.This course qualifies for CFP credit.This course qualifies for IRS credit.
Federal Tax Update for Individuals with Doug Van Der Aa
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Online
4.00 Credits
This program will address recent legislation, rulings and developments affecting individual taxpayers and provide practitioners with a comprehensive update for the upcoming tax season. **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.
Reviewing Partnership Tax Returns: What Are You Missing?
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Online
4.00 Credits
Strategies to help reviewers catch errors in partnership and LLC tax returns before they are submitted.
K2's Excel Tips, Tricks, and Techniques for Accountants
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Online
8.00 Credits
Excel is the accountant’s tool of choice for analyzing and reporting financial data, yet many use time-consuming and error-prone processes to complete everyday tasks. Regardless of your level of experience, if you use Excel, you need this course to learn more efficient and effective ways to work with Excel. In this course, you will discover countless tips, tricks, and techniques to improve your general level of productivity, reduce the amount of time you spend on mundane tasks, such as formatting, and customize Excel for greater accuracy and efficiency. You will also learn valuable formula-building skills, best practices for linking Excel data from other worksheets and workbooks, and how to streamline report generation and printing processes. Your K2 instructor will reinforce key learning points throughout the program with practical, real-world examples that will improve your understanding and comprehension of the topics presented. This highly acclaimed course draws on over twenty-five years of experience in delivering spreadsheet training to accounting and financial professionals, which assures you of the relevance and usefulness of the information and guidance provided during the program.
Preparing and Reviewing Workpapers - Essential Tips for Avoiding Deficient Audit and Other Attest Engagements
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Online
8.00 Credits
Workpapers are the primary support for findings, conclusions and opinions on any audit or other attest engagement. This course will provide the essential tips and techniques for ensuring workpaper documentation is of a high quality, yet efficient, nature.
Forensic Accounting: Fraud Investigations
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Online
8.00 Credits
In high demand - forensic accounting knowledge and skills (bold) Forensic accounting has been a rapidly growing part of the accounting profession for some time. The rapid expansion in technology and growth in various sectors of business and industry, and the increase in complexity of white-collar crimes, all contribute to this growth. A diverse range of clients, as well as cases involving all types of fraud, make this an attractive profession, and one that is always in high demand. Enhance your knowledge and skills with our Forensic Accounting: Fraud Investigations webcast. Whether you're a forensic accountant, or an aspiring one, this webcast will provide you with the foundational knowledge to successfully identify, investigate, and communicate your findings. You will also receive a copy of the AICPA's Forensic & Litigation Service's Forensic Accounting - Fraud Investigations practice aid for future reference.
Strategies for Guiding Clients Through Challenging Situations: Tax Insights
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Online
8.00 Credits
This course equips practitioners with the knowledge to help clients navigate complex tax and financial challenges. Covering a range of difficult situations—such as divorce, bankruptcy, and other personal and business matters—this course provides key tax insights and strategic planning considerations. Participants will gain practical strategies to support clients in making informed decisions while understanding the tax implications of these situations.
Surgent's Forms 1120-S and 1065 Return Review Boot Camp for New and Experienced Reviewers
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Online
8.00 Credits
Most review techniques developed by professionals are self-taught and fine-tuned via experience. Yet how does one start? The purpose of this course is to give both new and seasoned reviewers additional and advanced procedures via a multitude of checklists to more thoroughly review S corporation and partnership tax returns. Its emphasis is not planning; rather, it is to develop a strategy to properly review a return effectively and thoroughly. The course includes dozens of "practice tips for new reviewers" and is updated for impacts of newly enacted legislation.This course qualifies for IRS credit.
K2's Ten Must Know Features In Excel
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Online
2.00 Credits
Most business professionals have used Excel for years, often without the benefit of any formal training. Thus, they don't know about key features in the application and, therefore, don't use them. Of course, this leads to inefficiencies and errors. Isn't it time to stop this madness? This session is for you if you're ready to become more efficient and effective with Excel! You will learn ten critical features that can help you get more work done in less time and improve your accuracy. We encourage you to make plans to join us for this session to learn the best ways of working with Excel!
Internal Control - Testing for Operating Effectiveness
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Online
2.00 Credits
Properly designed and effectively operating internal control over financial reporting is critical for preventing, or detecting and correcting, material misstatement. This course describes how to satisfy the audit requirements related to taking a control reliance strategy by testing the operating effectiveness of internal controls, while promoting an effective and efficient financial statement audit. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
The Controllership Series - Overhead, Direct and Indirect Costs and Allocation Methods
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Online
1.00 Credits
Managing expenses is a key for business success, and overhead costs play a pivotal role in realizing favorable profit margins. Almost all companies have some form of overhead consisting of specific categories of indirect expenses. The better organizations are able to manage overhead costs, the more competitive they are in the marketplace. It is incumbent in the Controller’s role to effectively manage, monitor and perform ongoing assessment of overhead costs, allocations and rates. Overhead refers to the ongoing business expenses not directly attributed to creating a product or service. A company must pay overhead on an ongoing basis, regardless of how much or how little the company sells. It is important for budgeting purposes but also for determining how much a company must charge for its products or services to make a profit. Overhead can be fixed, variable, or a hybrid of both. There are different categories of overhead, such as administrative overhead, which includes costs related to managing a business. In short, overhead is any expense incurred to support the business while not being directly related to a specific product or service.
Ethics - Keeping the Good from Breaking Bad
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Online
1.00 Credits
Ethics are how groups define right from wrong. Codes of Ethics define good behavior from bad behavior for professionals. When we break those codes, we "break bad." For five seasons, the popular television show "Breaking Bad" explored the transformation of one good man breaking bad. This session provides an overview of ethics and why people break bad, while using examples from the TV show as well as case studies of good people who broke bad.
Benefits and Best Practices for Telework
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Online
2.00 Credits
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, telework in state and local government was not often embraced as a form of employment. As the pandemic continues, governments are beginning to experience the benefits of remote work and are reevaluating hiring practices to offer more telework and hybrid work options, not simply as a result of an emergency. This course will review various telework options and best practices for success.
K2's 2023 Using OneNote More And Email Less
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Online
2.00 Credits
OneNote is a fantastic application included in your Microsoft 365 subscription. Yet, it is underutilized and misunderstood most of the time. If you genuinely want to change how you work, embrace OneNote. Stop using Outlook as a filing cabinet for essential emails and move them to OneNote instead. If you share a OneNote notebook with others, you can stop emailing altogether within your group and use OneNote as your collaboration and reference platform.