Professional Development and Event Catalog

Award winning discussion leader, former state accountancy board chair, and lifelong tax practitioner Mark Hugh will review ethics for tax professionals: the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct and interpretations; the Statements on Standards for Tax Services; tax preparer standards in the Internal Revenue Code; the rules for practice with and before the IRS, including IRS Circular 230; new developments; and discuss examples of best practices and case studies.

In the fight against global corruption, accountants are being asked to be more forthcoming when they discover information or evidence that points to illegal or prohibited activities. This ethics workshop considers new international professional ethics proposals for responding to non-compliance with laws and regulations (NOCLAR). This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

In this course, we will explore the psychological and behavioral factors that contribute to irrational and biased money decision-making. We will examine the role of cognitive biases and emotions in financial decision-making, and discuss strategies for overcoming these biases to make more rational financial choices. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Stay current on recent changes to the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct and keep abreast of emerging trends in ethics standards and regulatory initiatives and their potential impact on your practice. Explore frequent practitioner ethics compliance challenges, including competence, due professional care, audit quality, and independence. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

In a competitive market, every company is looking for anyway to differentiate themselves from their competition. While we often look to new markets and data for a competitive advantage, ethics can be the factor that makes the biggest difference to customers, employees, and the public at large. Using surveys, research, case studies, and examples, this course will explore why the CPA credential and the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct is so different. We will discuss why CPA's are in a unique position of trust and how this can put their companies ahead. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

With the rapid pace of change, change now happens daily in business and our personal lives. It can be difficult to navigate change when right and wrong get a bit fuzzy. New processes, new technology, new circumstances and new impacts to people must be measured and decisions made as the change evolves. Change always becomes something different than what was originally planned or imagined. In this session, learn how to measure your ethics through change. You will learn how to filter everything you do during change through a simple litmus test. Through the power of story, you will learn from the lessons of other organizations and their ethical mistakes. Lastly, you will take away what is required to manage yourself so that when ethical decisions arise, you have the mental capacity to manage through it well. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Maintaining an ethical climate (bold) Being on prime-time news might seem exciting, but not when the story is an ethics breach you committed. You may say, "that will never happen to me". And those were the words spoken by Wells Fargo, United Airlines, Senator Al Franken, and Steve Wynn. A claim of an ethical failure can stay in the news for almost five years. That's long enough to damage your reputation and lower your profitability. Upholding high ethical standards for yourself and your team requires constant care and feeding.

The Professional Ethics Executive Committee (PEEC) of the AICPA has been very busy issuing new and updating existing ethics rules. This course will provide an overview of recently issued and soon to be effective ethics rules that CPAs in both industry and public accounting need to know to be compliant. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and ChatGPT are hot topics in the news, but what exactly are they? How might AI enhance your accounting practice? What are some dangers it presents and how can you avoid getting trapped in them? This engaging, timely and fun webinar will help you appreciate the benefits and ethical challenges of using AI in general and ChatGPT in particular in your work as a CPA. You'll come away with clear guidelines about what you need to consider if you decide to incorporate AI into your business. Note: this program qualities for one CPE credit in behavioral ethics! Also, it will be useful to you, even if you're not a CPA. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Recent economic volatility has created added stress on accounting and finance professionals and their clients. When individuals or businesses lose money, they often blame others for their misfortune. Business disputes can sometimes lead to accounting malpractice claims. Understanding the most common types of accounting malpractice claims provides a roadmap of what not to do. This course provides a current overview of accounting malpractice litigation throughout the United States. The goal is to learn about the types of claims asserted against CPA firms and strategies to employ to avoid such claims. Reviewing malpractice claims allows us to identify patterns of behavior that may reduce litigation risk.

Casey Crowther did not have a college education, but he had an outstanding work ethic. With little more than a pickup truck and some hand tools, he built a roofing company that grew. Over time, Casey's company employed more than 100 people and generated more than $20 million in annual revenues. With a company of that size, Casey relied upon advice from his bookkeeper when filling out financial documents. As a result of representations he made on bank statements and loan documents, authorities charged Casey with criminal behavior related to PPP loan fraud. What should an accounting professional learn from Casey's story? Stay tuned to find out! This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Most ethics courses focus on unethical individuals and their terrible misdeeds. We don’t need another course on lessons from Enron or individuals committing fraud.  Most unethical failures result from unethical individuals.  Instead, this session will focus on how good people can do better, why there is no such thing as business ethics and why we only need one rule to lead ethical lives.

The course provides a concise overview of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting -- an emerging system of non-financial record-keeping and governance. Around the world, organizations of all sizes and kinds are under increasing pressure from regulators, consumers, employees, and other stakeholders to provide a fuller and more integrated picture of the way in which entities operate, invest, and create value. This includes taking into account how their operations impact financial, manufactured, intellectual, human, social, relationship, and natural capital. Participants will walk away with an increased situational awareness of ESG reporting, and an ESG starter strategy. This can be used immediately to position themselves for ESG success in an era of growing expectations for conscious capitalism, ethical investing, and moral leadership. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Ethics and professional skepticism are a cornerstone of public accounting. This course will review the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants that practitioners must adhere to. This course will outline the pressures, opportunities, and rationalizations that lead to instances of fraud. In addition, this class will walk through some interactive examples to illustrate various scenarios of noncompliance during engagements. 

Based on real life experiences! This program addresses the many issues impacting CPA practice with a world in crisis. The unique challenges facing practitioners are related through actual practice situations - and then analyzed for their ethical implications. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

This workshop explores how each of us can play a part in helping to make the world a more fair and gentler place. This one-hour webinar includes an overview of Aristotle's virtue ethics and its application to present day life. We will focus on the virtue of compassion both individually and organizationally and its impact on individual, organizational and world wellbeing. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

This session will explore the ethical considerations CPAs and CPA firms should be cognizant of when considering services to the state legal, regulated cannabis industry. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

CPAs in public practice are required to maintain independence. In this course, we will discuss concepts associated with independence and review the rules from the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct with a focus on their practical application.  We will also review the recently issued ethics interpretations from the Professional Ethics Executive Committee (PEEC), which impact independence, and discuss practical methods of implementation. 

Ethics are of central importance to the CPA profession. But what do we mean by ethics? Is it just appropriate behavior, compliance with laws, or is it more than that? In this course, we'll discover what sets ethics apart and, therefore, sets the profession apart as well. We'll explore the tools available, the role of bias, and dive into real life case studies. We'll apply the AICPA's ethical framework and detect where bias was involved in the case studies. We'll even discover that one person set the price tag on their ethics at $53.7 million, only to lose it all in the end. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Today, more than ever, effective performance management is critical to the well-being of an organization, as well as the engagement and satisfaction of staff. Unfortunately, performance management is also often one of the most dreaded responsibilities managers face. This session will provide insight into what performance management is, how to prepare and conduct performance appraisals, how to coach the marginal employee, legal considerations to be aware of when conducting an appraisal, and ways to engage and motivate staff. In addition to providing tools to conduct effective appraisals, we will also look at the ethical implications of employee reviews. When done well, performance management has the power to improve communication between managers and their staff as well as help foster stronger career paths and routes for growth. It can motivate, re-engage, and energize everyone involved. Ethical values such as fairness, accountability, respect, intellectual honesty, and trust will be incorporated into this session. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.