Professional Development and Event Catalog

The use of technology by businesses of all types, including CPA firms, has exploded in recent years, creating the need for proactive and robust cybersecurity risk management practices. This trend has created the need for a data-driven decision-making process but has also introduced risks into many companies' operating environment. This course will explore the most common technology risks and trends that every CPA should know to better advise and serve clients.

Required minimum distributions (RMD) must begin for the year in which the account owner reaches age 72 unless an exception applies. RMDs must also be taken from inherited accounts, and the process for determining RMDs for these accounts is more complex than those that apply to RMDs for non-inherited accounts. Failure to comply with the RMD rules will result in the account owner owing the IRS a 50% excess accumulation penalty on any RMD shortfall. Interested parties must understand the compliance requirements that apply to RMDs to be able to assist in ensuring that penalties are avoided.

Tax planning for the end of 2023 and for 2024 is largely built upon legislation contained within the Inflation Reduction Act and the SECURE Act 2.0, both enacted in 2022, that offers new planning options for businesses. There are, however, other business tax changes that come from other pieces of legislation, IRS pronouncements of various kinds, and court cases. This program analyzes the new opportunities that these tax changes offer to businesses and their owners.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and SECURE Act 2.0 both contained tax law changes that impact many individuals in 2023 and in later years. This program covers many of these changes as well as other tax topics that continue to impact individual income taxpayers.

This program is an in-depth analysis of the Section 754 election and the two adjustments associated with the election under Section 743(b) and Section 734(b). The 754 election is a highly technical provision that provides great tax benefits to the owners of the partnership, and particularly in the case of Section 743(b), a new partner. In this webinar, our expert panel will cover the most common questions encountered by practitioners in their daily practices. The program includes a number of examples that provide insights into the mechanics of the two adjustments that follow upon a Section 754 election.

New accountants, whether coming right out of school or from industry will find that the accounting profession is heavily governed by technical and ethical standards. In addition, the new accounting professional will need to understand new terminology as well as what their team members and clients expect of them by way of job performance and client service. This module will help those transitioning to the accounting profession to understand the role of the accountant in public accounting and in industry, discuss the major standards relating to ethics including integrity, objectivity, independence and serving the public trust. (Please Note: This module is part of Surgent's Audit Skills Training: Level 1.)

This course provides an overview of the similarities and key differences between the revenue recognition and business combination standards issued by the FASB and IASB. While these standards are similar in many material respects, there are notable differences that are good to understand. However, this course is not intended to provide an exhaustive discussion of these differences.

This course is a case study designed to provide a comprehensive overview of U.S. taxation of a foreign corporation. Using a specific example, the course will walk through step-by-step mechanics on how to calculate the income inclusions and foreign tax credits under GILTI (Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income), Subpart F, and PFIC (Passive Foreign Investment Company) regimes. The case study will further evaluate tax impact of subsequent distributions from the foreign corporation and sales of its stock. A compare-and-contrast approach will highlight the different outcomes of these regimes for individuals and for C corporations, empowering participants to advise their clients on the most tax efficient way to structure their international investments.

Surgent has partnered with UiPath(TM), the world's leading robotic process automation (RPA) software company, to provide this CPE course that gives learners practical application in RPA. Participants in this course receive an engaging introduction to RPA through an experiential, use-case approach. They learn how general, real-world problems can be solved in a non-RPA environment. The course teaches skills that enable participants to create a robot using free UiPath software to automate the solution. By automating repetitive tasks and streamlining workflows with RPA, firms and their employees can benefit from fewer errors, increased productivity, and job satisfaction.

In 2006, Congress passed the Tax Relief and Health Care Act. Prior to the Act's passage, rewards to individuals who provided information to the IRS regarding tax fraud were capped at $10 million. The Tax Relief and Health Care Act authorized the IRS to create a Whistleblower Office dedicated to investigating, processing and recovering claims concerning the underpayment of taxes. Under the IRS' new program, whistleblowers may recover 15 to 30 percent of the amount collected provided the taxes and amounts in dispute exceed $2 million. If the whistleblower's claim does not meet these criteria, the IRS may still consider granting an award under its pre-2006 Tax Relief Act discretionary authority. Given the rapid growth of this program, practitioners should have a basic understanding of the procedure and content for IRS Whistleblower claims, both from the perspective of a claimant's potential to recover and a taxpayer's exposure to liability.

More and more employers rely on non-compete agreements to protect company assets. Although state laws vary, non-competes are often used to protect the creation and development of corporate goodwill, customer relationships and specialized training, among others. Today, employees are more likely to be asked to sign non-compete agreements as a condition to employment. Non-compete agreements are also a common component of a business sale agreement. This program surveys non-compete agreements from all angles. Whether you advise individual clients or work for an employer, the presentation provides an understanding of common issues that arise in the negotiation and enforcement of non-competes.

According to a recent study, over 70% of accounting professionals suffer from burnout, leading to feelings of exhaustion, inefficiency, and dissatisfaction with their careers. Recurring challenges for accounting and finance professionals include long hours, repetitive work, pressing client demands, and changing rules and regulations. Together, these conditions contribute to chronic workplace stress. Burnout is real, and firms that ignore this common problem pay a high price. Nearly three out of five employees in accounting and finance professions report psychological harm from work-related stress, including an overall feeling of lack of interest, motivation, or energy. Fortunately, individuals and organizations are beginning to take career burnout more seriously, especially in the post-pandemic era. This course looks at the causes of accounting burnout and examines strategies organizations are implementing to address and reduce a well-known but often overlooked problem.

The control and compliance requirements for single audits differ from the requirements for GAAS audits. As a result, sometimes it's difficult to tell where the auditor's responsibilities start and stop in a single audit. This course is designed to help you proceed and succeed in applying the single audit control and compliance requirements. Over 15 focused exercises are included to provide an enhanced working knowledge of the most critical challenges in single auditing today.

The control and compliance requirements for single audits differ from the requirements for GAAS audits. As a result, sometimes it's difficult to tell where the auditor's responsibilities start and stop in a single audit. This course is designed to help you proceed and succeed in applying the single audit control and compliance requirements. Over 15 focused exercises are included to provide an enhanced working knowledge of the most critical challenges in single auditing today.

The information technology component of the COSO Framework's Information and Communication element is a very important part of an entity's business processes. Controls over information technology (IT) are effective when they maintain the integrity of information and the security of the data the systems process and when they include effective general IT controls (GITC) and application controls. GITC are policies and procedures that function as the foundation to support the effective operation of the system's application controls. The increasing complexity of IT systems in many entities has resulted in a greater focus around controls in the IT environment. There is a growing trend toward automation of processes and controls as more and more entities adopt advanced IT products and services to enable greater efficiency in operations, compliance, and reporting activities. This requires an increased focus on the entity and the auditor on GITC. (Please Note: This module is part of Surgent's Audit Skills Training: Level 4.)

With so much of significance going on currently in the world of A&A today, you need to be able to make sense of the key drivers of our profession. In this course, we will review the key aspects of the events that are impacting practitioners and financial statement preparers alike. Specifically, because technology is rapidly transforming our profession, we'll review current trends and risks related to technology. Next, while many COVID-19 accounting considerations have passed, the issue of going concern is likely to last for the next several accounting periods. We'll review the disclosure and reporting issues related to this complex topic. With the private company implementation date for ASC 842 now here, we'll review the new lease accounting guidance. Then, we'll wrap up the course with a discussion of peer review findings and engagement quality initiatives.

With so much of significance going on currently in the world of A&A today, you need to be able to make sense of the key drivers of our profession. In this course, we will review the key aspects of the events that are impacting practitioners and financial statement preparers alike. Specifically, because technology is rapidly transforming our profession, we'll review current trend and risks related to technology. Next, while many COVID-19 accounting considerations have passed, the issue of going concern is likely to last for the next several accounting periods. We'll review the disclosure and reporting issues related to this complex topic. With the private company implementation date for ASC 842 now here, we'll review the new lease accounting guidance. Then, we'll wrap up the course with a discussion of peer review findings and engagement quality initiatives.

Professional standards are changing with the times and the desire of the AICPA to move the profession into a new era where use of technology will play a key role in an audit and professional skepticism, independence, and quality are emphasized. We are seeing changes already as the AICPA has issued 15 new standards since 2019. This program will discuss SASs 134 through 149.

Quality should be the primary focus of all engagements. Since initiating its Enhancing Engagement Quality initiative in 2014, the AICPA has been using its peer review program as a way to assess the improvement in engagement quality. In this course, we'll review the latest results from the peer review program, identify areas of focus for both 2020 and 2021 peer reviews, and identify common findings in recent peer reviews of audits as well as SSARS engagements.

This course provides a comprehensive analysis of the SECURE 2.0 Act, which is part of a much larger legislative package entitled the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023. The principal focus of the Act is to expand retirement coverage and increase retirement savings. As such, the Act has many important changes relating to IRAs and qualified plans. This long-awaited new legislation alters the landscape of retirement planning for taxpayers of all ages, and there are changes taking immediate effect in January 2023. Make sure you are up-to-date with the latest information available in order to effectively advise your clients on these important changes. In addition, this guidance will be of particular relevance to practitioners' own retirement planning.