Professional Development and Event Catalog
Surgent's Section 529 Plans: A Comprehensive Guide
2:00pm - 4:00pm
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $99
See more dates
This course provides a thorough examination of qualified tuition programs (Section 529 plans), focusing on their tax treatment, planning applications, and recent legislative changes. Participants will learn how 529 plans operate, what qualifies as education expenses, and how contributions, distributions, and beneficiary changes are treated under federal law. The course explores practical planning strategies, including 529-to-Roth IRA rollovers, multigenerational "dynasty" 529 planning, grandparent-owned account considerations, and interplay with financial aid. It also addresses state-level variations, compliance issues, and common pitfalls. Using real-world scenarios, the course evaluates when 529 plans are advantageous, the limitations families may encounter, and alternative approaches to education and long-term savings. Participants will gain a clear understanding of tax benefits, penalties, strategic funding approaches, and planning opportunities for high-net-worth families as well as typical households.
More Dates
How Recent Auditing Standards Improve Risk-Based Audits
2:00pm - 6:00pm
Online
4.00 Credits
Member Price: $149
See more dates
Recent generally accepted auditing standards were written to improve the quality of risk-based financial statement audits, audit reporting, and required by-product communications. This course will discuss the important clarifications and enhancements intended to improve audit quality to ensure better compliance with requirements contained in the SASs. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
More Dates
How to Audit Expenses and Payables
2:30pm - 4:30pm
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $89
See more dates
It is imperative that audit staff understand the fundamentals of expenses & payables. This course will cover the basics of auditing expenses, accrued liabilities, and other payables, including the related audit assertions, risks, & threats to the expenses & payables balances. During this course, we will also highlight the various substantive auditing procedures that staff should perform, and also walk through some real-world examples. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
More Dates
Microsoft Teams for CPAs: Unlocking Its Full Potential
3:30pm - 5:30pm
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $89
See more dates
Microsoft Teams is designed to be the foundation of your Microsoft 365 ecosystem deployment. When deployed effectively, Teams can serve as a powerful platform for communication, collaboration, and knowledge sharing across your firm or business. Unfortunately, most organizations are substantially underutilizing the capabilities of Teams. This course provides a review and demonstration of the key features of Microsoft Teams that you can harness to optimize the return on your Microsoft 365 investment. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
More Dates
Fraud Busters: Controls to Prevent and Detect Fraud
4:00pm - 6:00pm
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $89
See more dates
This course investigates actual real-world fraud schemes and discusses what controls could have prevented the fraud from occurring, and what controls could detect and curtail the fraud scheme. The instructor speaks from experience, finding multiple frauds very early in her career leading to a career-long focus on fraud prevention and detection. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
More Dates
The Future of Audit: Technology, Talent and Transformation
9:00am - 10:00am
Online
1.00 Credits
Member Price: $55
See more dates
The audit profession stands at a critical inflection point, facing unprecedented challenges from technological disruption, evolving regulatory landscapes, and workforce transformation. This comprehensive course, based on the Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs' groundbreaking research report "The Future of the Audit: Building Relevance and Sustaining Quality," provides auditors with essential insights and actionable strategies to navigate these seismic shifts. Through expert perspectives from industry leaders including PCAOB board members, Big Four executives, and audit committee chairs, participants will explore how artificial intelligence, blockchain, and data analytics are fundamentally reshaping audit practices while creating new opportunities for value creation and risk assessment. Beyond technology adoption, this course addresses the pressing talent crisis facing the profession and offers practical solutions for building a future-ready workforce. Participants will learn how to leverage emerging technologies to enhance audit quality, understand the implications of regulatory modernization including the concept of "regulatory sandboxes," and develop strategies for attracting and retaining top talent in an increasingly competitive market. Whether you're a partner in a small firm, a manager in a large organization, or an audit professional seeking to future-proof your career, this course provides the roadmap for maintaining relevance, ensuring quality, and thriving in the evolving audit landscape. You'll leave with concrete action steps for immediate implementation and a clear vision for transforming your audit practice to meet the demands of tomorrow's financial ecosystem. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
More Dates
Ethics: Court Orders, Confidentiality, and Compliance
9:00am - 11:00am
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $89
See more dates
Tax professionals often find themselves navigating complex ethical terrain when responding to court-ordered summonses, especially in emotionally charged settings like divorce. This course explores the ethical obligations and legal boundaries that govern the disclosure of taxpayer information, with a focus on IRC 7216 and 6713, Circular 230, and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA). Through scenario-based learning and practical analysis, participants will examine how ethical principles intersect with legal mandates and how to maintain professional integrity when faced with conflicting client interests, ambiguous court orders, or pressure to over-disclose. This course emphasizes informed consent, scope limitations, and the preparer's duty to protect confidentiality even when disclosure is legally permitted. This course provides the tools and frameworks needed to make sound decisions, avoid regulatory pitfalls, and uphold the highest standards of practice in sensitive legal contexts. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
More Dates
Leadershift Ethics: Things Must Change!
9:00am - 11:00am
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $89
See more dates
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.
More Dates
Surgent's New and Expanded Tax Benefits Associated with Section 1202 – Qualified Small Business Stock
9:00am - 11:00am
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $99
See more dates
This program reviews and analyzes the important changes made by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) to qualified small business stock (QSBS) covered under Section 1202. Effective for stock issued after July 4, 2025, there are important changes that make Section 1202 much more appealing to clients willing to run the risks associated with doing business as a C corporation. These enhanced provisions could potentially lead to exclusion of capital gains if very strict compliance rules are followed. Section 1202 application is particularly attractive for start-ups and entrepreneurial endeavors. For taxpayers willing to confront the technical challenges of this provision, Section 1202 may produce impressive tax advantages.
More Dates
Surgent's Employer's Handbook: Health Care, Retirement, and Fringe Benefit Tax Issues
9:00am - 12:30pm
Online
4.00 Credits
Member Price: $159
See more dates
The employer-employee relationship strains both sides in uncertain times, and businesses need CPAs, controllers, and other advisors to provide understanding of the complex legal, tax, and health care issues associated with all aspects of employment. This course provides in-depth coverage of this critical area.
More Dates
Financial Statement Presentation, Disclosure, and Analysis
9:00am - 5:00pm
Online
8.00 Credits
Member Price: $239
See more dates
This comprehensive session is a must-attend event for accountants who prepare financial statements and want to explore best practices for discerning the stories told by financial statements. We discuss salient requirements for presenting financial information while considering the critical role of disclosure for lending relevance to financial statements. We also explore techniques that will allow participants to perform meaningful financial statement analysis and effectively communicate conclusions to decision-makers and other stakeholders. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
More Dates
Surgent's Compilations, Reviews, and Preparations: Engagement Performance and Annual Update
9:00am - 5:00pm
Online
8.00 Credits
Member Price: $299
See more dates
Specifically designed for preparation, compilation, and review practitioners, this course will provide you with a comprehensive review and hands-on application for performing financial statement preparation, compilation, and review engagements. You will learn the ins and outs of applying SSARS No. 21, Clarification and Recodification, as well as the additional guidance related to SSARS engagements through the issuance of SSARS Nos. 22-26 by the ARSC. In addition to SSARS 26, the entire suite of quality management standards is discussed. However, knowing the standards is not enough. You need to be able to effectively apply them. To support this, the course will review recent peer review feedback on SSARS engagements, providing insights on how to successfully apply this guidance. Not only will this course bring you up to date on SSARS requirements and guidance, but more importantly, it will provide you with practical examples and illustrations to help you effectively and efficiently perform these types of engagements. This course is intended to be your go-to reference for training your staff and managing your SSARS No. 21-26 services in compliance with professional, ethical, and technical requirements.
More Dates
Surgent's The Complete Guide to Payroll Taxes and 1099 Issues
9:00am - 5:00pm
Online
8.00 Credits
Member Price: $279
See more dates
Employment taxes are often overlooked as an area where more planning may be effective. Payroll taxes have become an increasing burden for the average business, and IRS penalties for noncompliance have risen dramatically in recent years. The Service has announced that uncovering noncompliance by employers ranks high on its audit list. This course presents a comprehensive overview of federal payroll taxes, Form 1099, and related compliance issues.
More Dates
The Best Individual Income Tax Update Course by Surgent
9:00am - 5:00pm
Online
8.00 Credits
Member Price: $299
See more dates
This highly informative course comprehensively covers all the latest tax law developments. The focus is on individual taxation and discussion of the planning opportunities practitioners need to understand to help clients respond effectively. You will come away from the course with the up-to-date knowledge to educate your individual tax clients and implement tax-saving ideas that will serve their ever-evolving needs. This course is continually updated to reflect enacted legislation. Please Note: Due to content overlap, it is recommended that this course NOT be taken together with BFTU.
More Dates
Securing Your Data with a Password Management App - Updated
9:30am - 11:30am
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $89
See more dates
Cybersecurity protection is one of the most important responsibilities of every CPA professional to protect the confidentiality of sensitive client information. While there are many aspects of cybersecurity that need to be addressed, the biggest vulnerability to protect against is unauthorized access to your application login credentials. Once your login credentials are breached, the cybercriminal essentially has the keys to your data kingdom. John Higgins, a national leader in the CPA technology, will demonstrate the ease with which you can protect all of your login credentials with maximum security with minimal expense. You will leave this course prepared to deploy this state of the art security tool in your organization. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
More Dates
Forensic Accounting: Court Approved Methods of Proof
9:30am - 1:30pm
Online
4.00 Credits
Member Price: $149
See more dates
How does a forensic accountant calculate financial losses? Federal courts have approved various ways to calculate losses ranging from net worth method of proof to the expenditures method. Each method of proof depends on the available facts to the forensic accountant. This presentation will focus on the various court approved methods of proof, when to use them, and how to calculate the total loss. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
More Dates
Fraud and Embezzlement: Case Studies from the Trenches
10:00am - 12:00pm
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $89
See more dates
Governmental entities are the second largest victims of embezzlement. This seminar examines recent events involving theft of public money and circumstances that allowed the fraud to occur. Case studies we examine include the 2012 $54 million embezzlement from the City of Dixon by Rita Crundwell. The events that impacted the small Illinois town of 16,000 residents was the largest governmental fraud case to date, and spanned an astonishing 20 years. This remarkable story inspired an award-winning documentary, "All the Queen's Horses." We will also examine factors that led to scandals involving the Baptist Foundation of Arizona, World Com, Collin Street Bakery and the Ohio American Cancer Society, among others. This course is ideal for CPAs, government finance personnel, all Internal Auditors, lawyers, governance professionals, accountants and human resource personnel. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
More Dates
Surgent's Guide to Understanding the At-Risk Basis Rules and Forms 6198 and 7203
10:00am - 12:00pm
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $99
See more dates
Many tax clients with losses from their S corporations, partnerships, and multiple-member LLCs treated as partnerships will want to use these losses to offset their other income from other sources. This program explains when, why, and how the at-risk rules apply to allow or to prevent the owner of a pass-through entity from taking a loss from a pass-through entity and using it to offset other income. This program is extremely helpful for anyone with pass-through entity clients.
More Dates
Financial and Tax Accounting for S Corporations and Partnerships
10:00am - 6:00pm
Online
8.00 Credits
Member Price: $239
See more dates
This program compares and contrasts the financial and tax accounting differences of partnerships, LLCs, and S corporations, as well as discuss the tax accounting for these entities. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
More Dates
Surgent's Fiduciary Income Tax Returns – Form 1041 Workshop with Filled-in Forms
10:00am - 6:00pm
Online
8.00 Credits
Member Price: $279
See more dates
This course is designed as a comprehensive guide to the core concepts of trust and estate income tax preparation. The course explains the common terminology and complicated income tax rules of estates and trusts, fiduciary accounting, and an introduction to or refresher on preparing Form 1041. This practical, over 300-page manual is an excellent reference source for your practice, which begins with quite simple cases. Building upon that base throughout the manual, the course ends with two complicated preparation cases, one trust and one estate, each with filled-in forms.