Professional Development and Event Catalog

Description: CPAs can be requested to assist attorneys in litigation support in criminal proceedings. For criminal tax cases, the IRS has recommended prosecution. However, the rules and stakes are different than a simple civil audit. This presentation will focus on how to assist defense attorneys in calculating tax loss, asking the right questions, and probe possible weaknesses in criminal tax investigations. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Description:Most organizations have many of the basic controls required to operate in place. However, a notable percentage of these companies do not have important measures that can help enhance security, productivity, and the quality of information available for decision making. In this session, we work to identify areas where important internal control measures are needed. We spend time explaining why these controls should be created, and show in detail some specific controls that would be beneficial if utilized. Those wishing to strengthen an internal control system should strongly consider attending this session.

Description:As the digital asset market continues to mature, more taxpayers may be contemplating blessing their favorite charitable organizations with gifts of cryptocurrency. Beneficiaries unfamiliar with digital assets may find it challenging to properly report any of these types of donations. Likewise, taxpayers will need to ensure that they properly value and substantiate any contributions or potentially risk their charitable deductions being denied. This course will provide a brief overview of digital assets. This will be followed by a discussion of the rules regarding the documentation required when claiming a charitable contribution of digital assets. This course will also cover recent IRS publications and cases discussing taxpayers whose deductions of digital assets charitable gifts was scrutinized.

Description: This program reviews the statutory and regulatory guidance as they relate to fringe benefits. There will be an emphasis on entertainment, meals and business transportation expenses, including qualified employer-provided parking, with a focus on planning opportunities. Recent federal tax legislation, cases and rulings will also be addressed.

Description: If there is a potential error, the IRS will assess a tax and add a hefty penalty, without even knowing the facts. As a tax professional, you will be exposed to the IRS and their methods of penalizing taxpayers for the smallest of violations. This presentation will focus on the rules and regulations that create the penalty, and the reasons that exist that the IRS will consider to remove those penalties. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

Description: What can you do to enhance your commitment to the highest ethical standards of the profession? How will doing so bring you more business?In this unique and engaging ethics course, the instructor, Dr. Bruce Weinstein, The Ethics Guy (R), reveals ten crucial qualities of CPAs. They are:1. Honesty2. Accountability3. Care4. Courage5. Fairness6. Gratitude7. Humility8. Loyalty9. Patience10. Presence (focus or mindfulness)You're already a good CPA and a good person. This course will show you how to be even better. The result will be greater satisfaction in your professional relationships, a deeper commitment to the profession of accounting, and much more business.Please note that this is a stand-alone course for 2 CPE credits in Behavioral Ethics, but you'll maximize your ROI by also taking "Ethics: How to Build and Keep Your A-Team". Together these courses are two of the surest pathways to sustained success in accounting.

Description: This course will explore the ethical principles included in the Code of Professional Conduct that address emerging practice issues created by new technologies. Consider the how technologies could impact audit quality and the integrity of the financial systems and whether they create a need for CPAs to change their skill sets to address those challenges. Discuss the changes being proposed by the profession to address emerging ethics challenges. Consider whether there are new ethical challenges created by the data related to privacy, security, and its application.

Description:The title of this webinar is NOT a joke. If you consistently apply the five principles of ethical intelligence that Forbes Contributor Bruce Weinstein, The Ethics Guy, presents, your business will prosper, you will take better care of yourself and lose that weight, and either find or keep the love of your life.However, you are the one that will have to do the work, day in and day out. All Bruce can do is show you the way. If you are willing to commit (or renew your commitment) to leading your business and your personal life with ethical intelligence, this is the perfect webinar for you. The work you put in during and after the webinar will help to make you a better CPA and a better person.

Description:Can you afford to hire a single dishonest person? Of course not. But what are you doing to ensure that you hire and promote only honest, accountable people?One of the most common complaints in business is, "I can't find and keep good people on my team." This distinctive, results-focused webinar will show you the four things you must do to hire and retain the very best employees at every level of your organization.This one-hour presentation in behavioral ethics disguised as one of the most practical, revenue-building webinars you'll take this year.

Description:The walking dead aren't the only threat to your business. So are several dangerous, even terrifying myths about what ethical leadership is and is not.This fun and distinctive webinar will present what Forbes contributor Bruce Weinstein, The Ethics Guy, calls "zombie ethics"-myths about accounting that hinder your ability to serve your clients and enjoy a thriving business.Taking a page from Nobel laureate Paul Krugman's recent work, zombie ethics are ideas about ethical leadership that deserve to remain buried but keep resurfacing from time to time. They walk the earth and wreak havoc. In this engaging webinar, The Ethics Guy will show you how to send them back to the cemetery for good. You can then fearlessly bring in new business--and watch your practice soar!

Description:How did the world's superstars build such powerful businesses? What lessons from the biggest musicians, movie stars, athletes, and innovators will help you become more successful?We'll explore how the principles of ethics and the traits of high-character leaders have made your favorite celebrities who they are and how you can follow in their footsteps. This webinar is based on presenter Bruce Weinstein, The Ethics Guy's popular Forbes.com columns, "Lead Like..."It's an ethics presentation disguised as a fun, engaging, and entertaining journey into what makes superstars so influential and how they are able to sustain their stellar success.

Description: This course will help you to stay current on recent changes to the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct, as well as keep you abreast of emerging trends in ethics standards and regulatory initiatives and their potential impact on your practice. We will also explore frequent practitioner ethics compliance challenges, including competence, due professional care, audit quality, and independence.

Description: 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.

Description: The importance of Defined Names and Excel Tables is detailed in our course "Excel - Two Must Know Features: Defined Names & Tables." Once you understand these two features, how can you use them to build advanced spreadsheets?This course is designed to demonstrate how you can use these features to build better spreadsheets that are easier to read, easier to update and more accurate. Learn about the INDIRECT function and how to use it with Defined Names to build a summary table. You will also learn the importance of Consistent Column Calculations and how tables can help. We will demonstrate the use of Structured Table References, as this is the foundation for using the advanced data analytics.This session is presented using Excel 2019/Office 365. Regardless of the version you are using, most concepts covered in this course apply to all versions of Excel.

Description:In this course, we will focus on Financial, Statistical and Math functions. In the Financial functions section, you will learn how to use the financial functions to build better amortization schedules. In the Statistical and Math functions sections, you will learn how to use various statistical functions to analyze your data. Depending on your version, Excel has over 500 functions already built in and ready to use. How many of those do you incorporate into your spreadsheets? You will learn some powerful functions that will take your calculating power to the next level. This session is presented using Excel 2013. Regardless of the version you are using, ALL concepts covered in this course apply to ALL versions of Excel.

Description:In the "Excel - Formatting Spreadsheets for Beginners" class, you learned basic formatting of a spreadsheet. In this class, we take you to the next level by teaching you how to customize many of the formatting options.Learn to customize cell styles and how to use these styles in other workbooks. Most Excel users know how to select number formats but this class shows how to leverage the Custom Number Formatting option to create special formatting options.Many of the formatting options are applied manually, cell-by-cell or by range. This can be tedious if there is a condition by which you want to apply a format. You will learn to use Conditional Formatting to format based upon a criteria.Have you ever finalized a spreadsheet, only to accidently make changes over the top? This action is something that is very easy to do. This class demonstrates various options to prevent this from happening and will look at various security options within Excel.This session is presented using Excel 2019/Office 365. Regardless of the version you are using, most concepts covered in this course apply to all versions of Excel.

Description: Did you know Excel has 400-500 functions depending on your version? Did you know there are 12 different function categories? Did you know you could create your own functions? After you attend this class, you will be in the know! In this course, we will focus on proofing and auditing your spreadsheets. You will learn how to build spreadsheets that validate the accuracy of your calculations and techniques to use the Data Validation feature to validate data entry. You will also learn techniques to cross-foot your data to ensure accuracy as well as how to use the various Excel Auditing Tools. This session is presented using Excel 2013. Regardless of the version you are using, ALL concepts covered in this course apply to ALL versions of Excel.

In this course, we will focus on the Logical, Information and Lookup and Reference functions. In the Logical function section, you will learn to perform logical tests using the IF function along with AND, OR and NOT. In the Information function section, you will learn various ERROR checking functions that can be combined with the Logical functions. In the Lookup and Reference section, you will learn to use the various LOOKUP functions and the INDIRECT function. Excel has over 500 functions that are built in and ready to use. You just have to figure out which one to use and when. Integrating functions into each and every one of your spreadsheets not only improves efficiency, it also makes your task easier to execute. This session is presented using Excel 2013. Regardless of the version you are using, ALL concepts covered in this course apply to ALL versions of Excel.

Description: In this course, you will learn how to build robust dashboards for analyzing key metrics in Excel. We will begin with some dashboard design guidelines, such as understanding your audience and identifying necessary metrics. Then we will work through importing data, setting up calculated fields and columns, and creating key performance indicators (KPIs) for the dashboards. Most business professionals use Excel to help them make decisions about their data. However, as the amount of data grows, it becomes more difficult to make strategic decisions based on rows and rows and columns and columns of data. You will learn how to add charts and eye-catching visuals with Power View, which will make your dashboards easily understood.This session is presented using Excel 2013. Regardless of the version you are using, ALL concepts covered in this course apply to ALL versions of Excel.

Description:Formatting Excel spreadsheets to look their best can be a tedious task. From deciding which fonts to use to cell formatting to multiple sheets to printing to distribution, these factors can take considerable valuable time. This class is designed to help you efficiently format spreadsheets, so you can spend time on more profitable tasks like analyzing data.Learn to format multiple sheets at the same time as well as use Cell Styles to quickly format cells and ranges. Learn how to create and use templates that are pre-formatted. We will also review print options.This session is presented using Excel 2019/Office 365. Regardless of the version you are using, most concepts covered in this course apply to all versions of Excel.