Professional Development and Event Catalog

This session will focus on the most common types of fraud in the procurement and contracting arena, with a focus on fraud in construction.  The session will examine fraud vulnerabilities in the four key phases of the procurement process: Presolicitation. Negotiation. Performance. Closeout and Claims.  Within each phase, “red flags” will be discussed.  These are the indicia of possible fraud that managers should be alert for.  Also, within each phase, the most common fraud schemes will be highlighted and discussed.  Finally, the session will describe the generally accepted safeguards or controls that should be established to prevent the various fraud schemes that can occur.  This part of the program will make extensive use of actual fraud case studies designed to demonstrate fraud risks and fraud detection strategies.

A detailed analysis of the calculations related to determining a shareholder's tax basis for S corporation shares and loans. How to use the Form 1120S, Schedule K-1 information for basis determination. An illustrative example demonstrates how the process works, as well as the many potential pitfalls. **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.  

Enterprise Risk Management for SMEs

The course provides general information on proceedings that led to a grand jury indictment of television reality stars, Todd and Julie Chrisley. Participants learn how business decisions can lead to federal charges for conspiracy, bank fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion. The grand jury also indicted the Chrisley's accountant, Peter Tarantino, on tax-related offenses. Participants learn how to develop resources and tools for effective detection and deterrence of federal crimes, and the learn the consequences that follow white-collar crime, including how responses can influence lengthy prison terms. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

The Teams app is designed to be the foundation for all that you do in Office 365. If you understand and embrace that tenet you will maximize the ROI of your Microsoft 365 subscriptions. The course will explain and demonstrate how Teams can be implemented to central hub for accessing all your M365 applications and data. John Higgins, a strategic advisor to the profession on Microsoft 365 deployment, will share a number of "best practices" for deploying teams to increase communication, collaboration and knowledge sharing within your organization, as well as externally. 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 revisits useful, but potentially underutilized, managerial accounting techniques. You will appreciate a fresh look at concepts you may not have considered since your college days. We will illustrate practical ways you can immediately implement managerial accounting analysis in your professional endeavors. 

This course examines the critical issues and special opportunities facing partnerships and their partners, as well as the relationship between limited liability companies and partnerships, with a focus on reporting tax basis capital accounts. **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.

You are likely familiar with and/or have experience with IRS summonses. BUT - Did you know there's a lot of procedure and decorum that goes into issuing a summons that you can leverage to help your client? This program will focus on the basics of an administrative summons, what the IRS can summons for, how you should comply with a summons, summons referral criteria, and common errors and misnomers the IRS can make in generating/serving a summons. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Loans, rental agreements, business combinations – what do these all have in common? They all have the potential of creating a related party transaction.  This program presents a detailed analysis of the financial accounting rules for transactions with related parties, as well as compares and contrasts those rules with the AICPA financial reporting framework for small and medium-sized entities. **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.

This course explores the increasingly complex features of Excel that facilitate efficient data analysis.  We will introduce numerous analytical methods and techniques by using practical examples to illustrate how to unleash the power of Excel when manipulating, analyzing and reporting information.

Today's businesses have seen a dramatic increase in the use of outsourced providers to assist with executing processes from payroll, accounts payable, information technology, benefit plan administration and many other core processes. These processes ultimately have an impact on an organization's internal control over financial reporting but also could impact compliance and operational issues In 2011, the Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) 16 replaced the former Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) 70. In May 2017, a new standard, SSAE 18, superseded SSAE 16 The concepts covered in this course are referred to as a Service Organization Control Report (SOC). Organizations who utilize outsourced providers should understand the various types of SOC reports, their intended use and their implication on a company's financial reporting process, regardless of your status as a publicly traded or privately held organization.  The process can be complicated to understand as a user organization. Currently, several types of SOC Reports exist including: SOC 1 - Type 1 SOC 1 - Type 2 SOC 2 - Type 1 SOC 2 - Type 2 SOC 3 Cybersecurity SOC This course speaks briefly to the transition from SAS 70 to SSAE 16 and now SSAE 18.  However, the focus is on the various Service Organization Control Reports, their purposes and uses

This course goes beyond the basics and addresses important practical issues that an experienced practitioner must know about S corporations.

Charts and graphs are nothing new. However, many professionals struggle with building compelling visualizations. If that statement describes you, participate in this session to improve your skills in creating Excel charts and other visualizations. As a result, you will create visualizations to enhance your communication skills. This session is much more than just a seminar on fundamental charts. Instead, in this session, you will learn how to create advanced charts that are interactive, dynamic, and aesthetically pleasing – three qualities that will help to ensure that your readers and audience will understand the data you are presenting. This seminar is a must if you want to improve your communication skills.

Surveys show that the average North American company completes its monthly financial statement closing in six days. However, some companies can close their books in one day or less. You don't have to sacrifice accuracy for speed. This session will show you how to close month-end faster, better and cheaper. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

This year practitioners need to keep abreast of tax changes affecting pass-through entities used by their business clients and employers, and this enlightening course delivers that information. You will learn invaluable strategies, techniques, innovative tax-planning concepts, income-generating ideas, and other planning opportunities available to S corporations, partnerships, LLCs, and LLPs. In addition, this course will discuss current trends and emerging issues, helping practitioners stay informed about relevant and significant topics that may impact their clients. Continually updated to reflect enacted legislation.

Successful organizations, both large and small, must understand the importance of effective internal controls and be able to develop a system of controls that will keep the entity on its intended course. Moreover, those that design policies and procedures benefit by knowing why control measures are necessary. This session sets forth internal control concepts and explains the importance of strong internal control policies. The material highlights some of the reasons that measures are needed and it also provides an overview of control creation methods. Finally, it discusses ways to successfully implement the developed policies and procedures. Participants that take this course will gain a well-rounded understanding of internal control procedures of all types. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Learn how to investigate an asset misappropriate scheme. We will dig into asset misappropriation by learning some of the most common schemes and red flags. Learn data analysis techniques used in the early stages of a fraud investigation. You will be guided through a detailed case study to see forensic accounting techniques in action. This is the most practical fraud investigation course you will ever take. Rather than learning only the theory of fraud, you will learn how a forensic accountant actually investigates fraud from the beginning to the end. We focus on forensic accounting techniques used in the field to prove what happened, who was involved, how much money was stolen, and where the money went. How-To Guide to Fraud Investigations is Part 3 of a series of four courses on fraud investigations. Each course is a stand-alone class that may be taken individually. For comprehensive instruction on completing a fraud investigation from start to finish, take all four. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

We all are busy, pressed for time and we strive to do as much as we can – as fast as we can. This is our world.  However, there are times when we should stop and think. When we do not analyze (one of our many talents) this inaction causes problems. We will review the penalties of moving too fast. Let’s learn from the mistakes of others.

This course focuses on the key federal tax issues affecting businesses from the internal accountant's point of view, with a focus on recent tax legislation and developments.  Planning alternatives and the potential risks associated with those strategies will also be discussed.  **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.

Increasingly, automating business processes is a necessity. In this session, you will learn about real-world examples of automating business processes. Remember, the survival of your business might depend upon successful automation!