Professional Development and Event Catalog

Learn why creating an employer brand is so important and instrumental in competing in today's competitive marketplace. Elevate your recruiting experience for candidates and onboarding process for new hires to enhance your employer's brand.

Financial forecasting is an important part of any successful business. It enables businesses to plan for the future and anticipate scenarios based on strategy. The controller helps forecast financials by calculating future revenue and income streams. In recent years, corporate finance has undergone many dramatic changes due to the growth of a number of high-tech tools. The responsibilities/competencies of the Financial Controller position (FC) has changed in recent years To maximize performance, Controllers must be aware of how the FC position is changing, and how they must adjust to these changes. There are many types and methods of financial forecasting. This course will review the most prevalent forecasts and relative methods being used.

Performing engagements in accordance with Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS or “Yellow Book”) requires additional reporting, ethics, and performance requirements. This course will identify and review the guidance found in the Yellow Book and analyze the relationship between Government Auditing Standards and the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct. We will review the Yellow Book requirements for financial statement audits while also touching upon ethical principles and independence

This presentation highlights the latest legislative changes affecting depreciation and capitalization rules, including inflation increases and Section 179 and 168(k) deductions.  Planning and potential pitfalls will also be presented.  **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 begins with a look at the GASB standards effective this year, including GASB 100, Accounting Changes and Error Corrections and GASB 101, Compensated Absences. We'll include practical application of the topics in the form of case studies. 

Explore the ethical principles included in the Code of Professional Conduct that address the emerging practice issues created by new technologies. Consider how technologies may impact audit quality and the integrity of the financial systems, and whether they create a need for CPAs to adjust their skill sets to address those challenges. Look at the potential ethical challenges created by the data related to privacy, security, and its application. Discuss the changes being proposed to address emerging ethics challenges. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Is your tech stack aligned with your organizational goals? Is there duplication among software titles? Is your hardware where it needs to be? Get answers to these and other questions in this session!

The IRS believes, perhaps with some justification, that many workers classified as independent contractors are actually employees and should be treated as such for tax purposes. The result is that worker classification audits are frequent and often costly for business clients, both in terms of time as well as money expended. This program prepares tax practitioners to assist their clients with worker classification audits, and to avoid them if possible, by discussing and explaining the circumstances under which workers will most likely be characterized as employees or as independent contractors. The program also deals with the first line of defense against the IRS in worker classification audits - Section 530, as well as the common law factors distinguishing an employee from an independent contractor. This program also explores the IRS Voluntary Classification Settlement Program and discusses whether a practitioner should advise a client to request admission into this program.

PivotTable is a fancy term for an Excel report that summarizes data. If you have not yet had the good fortune of exploring PivotTables, it is about time. In this session, we'll dig into PivotTables, understand the report layout options, and examine PivotTable formulas.

The Not-for-Profit Advisory Committee has been busy discussing several projects that the FASB is working on and their impact on nonprofits. In this course, we will review the key issues and discussions from recent NAC meetings. We'll also take a look at ASUs issued by the FASB that may impact nonprofit financial statements. After a break, we then transition from accounting to auditing with a look at the common deficiencies found in nonprofit Yellow Book audits with a focus on CPE, reporting, and independence.

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, as well as an update on Schedules K-2 and K-3. 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.

This comprehensive training is designed to get the accountant up to speed quickly with partnership and limited liability company (LLC) formation and preparation issues as well as a complete understanding of calculating a partner and LLC member’s basis. The cornerstone of this course is the in-depth line-by-line analysis of the Form 1065 Schedule K and K-1 and how these items affect the partner/member’s individual income tax return. **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 introduces practical ways that public accountants can use Excel to enhance both the efficiency and effectiveness of client engagements. We will reinforce core concepts by illustrating ways that Excel is a tool for analysis and reporting. We will introduce numerous analytical methods and techniques by using practical examples to illustrate how to unleash the power of Excel when obtaining, analyzing, and reporting information.

Seismic changes in tax legislation is currently taking place, and the well-informed tax practitioner will want to attend this two hour monthly program in order to stay abreast of these developments! Approximately one-half of the program is devoted to individual tax issues, and the remaining time is spend on business entity taxation, IRS procedure, tax legislation and other issues. Due to the changing nature of the topic, learning objectives, course descriptions and program content will vary and will be provided in more specificity closer to presentation time. This course provides a concise look at the hottest topics affecting every tax practitioner. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Between 2010 and 2020 a parade of Court Cases, IRS Factsheets, Job Aids and Internal Memos, plus Heightened IRS scrutiny and Preparer Penalties has brought the issue of 'Reasonable Compensation for S Corp's out of the shadows and placed it forefront as a priority issue for CPA's, EA's, Tax and Financial advisors to cover with their clients. We will explore key court cases, IRS guidelines, preparer penalties and some of the obscure tools the IRS has put in place. We debunk common myths and fiction on how reasonable compensation should be calculated and replace it with facts and methodologies that the IRS relies on. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Many partnerships and S corporations are now required to complete the voluminous Schedules K-2 and K-3 to report foreign-related tax information. Updated for the 2023 tax year, this course is an essential guide for tax preparers on how to identify which entities need to complete these schedules and how to identify which parts are applicable to a given taxpayer. The filing requirements are broad and often not very intuitive, catching many practitioners unaware that more schedules and parts are applicable to more taxpayers than anticipated. This course includes a deep dive into the domestic filing exception, as well as a discussion of filing requirements of each part of Schedule K-2. Please note: Surgent also offers a companion course, "Schedules K-2 and K-3: Preparation of Forms" (KPF2).

Financial statements are a window into what is going on in the day-to-day operations of the company. They help us see what the company's strengths and weaknesses are. However, financial statements can often have different messages depending on the user. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

If you are an experienced Excel user seeking to elevate your skills, join the K2 team for K2’s Advanced Excel. In this laptop-friendly program, you will learn critical advanced Excel skills in six key areas: 1) collaborating with other users and securing workbooks, 2) using tables to analyze and report data, 3) integrating and manipulating data from external sources, 4) creating and auditing complex formulas, 5) advanced data analysis tools, and 6) visualization techniques to analyze and communicate information. The course draws from over twenty-five years of experience delivering Excel training to accountants and other business professionals. Throughout the program, relevant, real-world examples reinforce the topics presented. Take advantage of this opportunity to become more efficient and proficient in Microsoft Office Excel, the tool of choice for accounting and financial professionals. This course covers advanced Excel topics found in Excel 2019 and newer.

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.

Fraud Risk - Complying with Minimum Audit Requirements will highlight the audit procedures most effective in identifying, assessing and responding to fraud risk. The financial statement auditor's overall responsibility is to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to provide reasonable assurance as to whether the financial statements are materially misstated due to fraud or error. The difficulty is that there are inherent limitations related to detecting fraud due to deliberate schemes to conceal the intent to deceive, such as collusion. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.