Professional Development and Event Catalog

Stop struggling with PDFs! Adobe Acrobat and other PDF tools provide access to features that make working with PDF files a breeze. This course will teach you to use tools and features such as PDF forms, redaction, converting PDFs to Word and Excel files, and electronic signatures. You will also learn how to create and apply tick marks and build indices, catalogs, and portfolios. You will also learn how to secure PDF documents to their fullest. The popularity and usefulness of PDFs increase daily, but most PDF users have not learned how to manipulate PDF documents effectively. Accordingly, they struggle and strain with these standard files. You do not need to let this be the case. Join us in this very timely session, where you will learn the top features necessary to optimize your work with PDF documents.

To make more money in less time, all accountants need to learn to market themselves effectively to their clients or their firm. For better or worse, promotions and more money go to those who are the best marketers, rather than the most competent accountants.  In this fascinating and fun workshop, participants will learn seven key ways to get more clients and/or promotions through the art of marketing.

This comprehensive four-hour course takes CPAs beyond the basics, diving deep into the ethical quandaries that professionals face. Beyond just the rules of Circular 230, you'll explore a variety of ethical issues, discovering the best ways to handle them with integrity and wisdom. The course provides a dual focus: understanding your obligations under Circular 230 and tackling wider ethical challenges that can arise in your day-to-day work. With real-world scenarios and interactive discussions, you'll come away with practical solutions and the confidence to make the right decisions, keeping your practice ethical and your professional standing secure. **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.

Small business accounting solutions have never been better, with many fantastic options. In this session, you will learn about the relative strengths of these platforms so you can make the right choice when selecting and implementing a solution.

The tax laws keep changing and nonprofit entities must continue to adjust to new rules.  As part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, passed in August 2022, hundreds of billions of dollars in government funding and costs were allocated to energy and climate initiatives. As part of the legislation, for the first-time, tax-exempt organizations (including not-for-profits and government agencies) can claim certain energy credits on their federal income tax returns and receive a refund from the federal government even if they have zero federal income tax liability. Donor advised funds continue to be an area of focus within the IRS and Treasury, with proposed regulations recently issued (with more expected on the way). This year’s tax update will include s summary of these regulations already issued, as well as what’s on the table prospectively. This year’s Annual Not-for-Profit Update will include a tax update and review of key issues in completing IRS Form 990, and related Schedules. It is more important than ever for non-profits to understand and complete this annual tax form to ensure that the organization and its donors are also protected so they can accomplish their corporate intentions and goals. On the accounting standards front, some nonprofits will still be implementing the FASB’s new Credit Losses standard (Accounting Standards Codification [ASC] Topic 326), the last of the FASB’s recent wave of major standards. This standard primarily affects two groups of nonprofits: (1) those making loans or financial guarantees (e.g., foundations, community development financial institutions, universities) and (2) those with accounts receivable arising from service (or goods) delivery rather than grants and contributions (e.g., hospitals, universities). Meanwhile, the FASB has been progressing through its next generation of projects, informed by a public agenda consultation in 2021, as well as preparing for a follow-on public agenda consultation to be conducted beginning later this year. Although many of these projects are focused on business enterprises and the needs of their investors, there are several recent standards (Accounting Standards Updates [ASUs]) and current projects that have or could have significant applicability to some or many nonprofits. These include recent ASUs on Crypto Assets (2023-08) and on Income Tax Disclosures (2023-09) and current projects on Software Development Costs and on two specific Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) issues with potential financial statement impact, Financial Instruments with ESG-linked Features (part of a project on Derivatives Scope Refinements) and Environmental Credit Programs. This year’s FASB Update will include helpful implementation reminders for Credit Losses, and for Leases between Entities under Common Control (ASU 2023-01), which was important follow-on guidance for another of the FASB’s major recent standards, Leases (ASC Topic 842). The Update will also provide background information and discuss key provisions of the ASUs on Crypto Assets and Income Tax Disclosures, and a summary of efforts to-date on the Software Development Costs and ESG-related projects, as well as provide a brief preview of upcoming 2024 agenda consultation. Auditing Update - a review of Statements on Auditing Standards 142 (Audit Evidence), 143 (Accounting Estimates), 144 (Amendments to AU-C 501, 540 and 620); 145 (Understanding the Entity and Assessing Risk), 146 (Quality Management),148 (Amendments to AU-C 935), that will impact audits conducted in 2023 and beyond, with emphasis on practical application to NFP organizations. This session will also discuss the Statements on Quality Management Standards and their impact on smaller firms. Ethics Update – Our course will provide a review of recently enacted Ethics Interpretations, including NOLAR, Unpaid Fees, Accounting Standards Implementation, Loans, Information system services, Officer and directors, and Compliance Audits, as well as consideration of exposure drafts currently outstanding. Qualifies as one hour of ethics CPE.   This program will also provide an overview of other recent standards issued and projects in progress that impact Not-for-Profit 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.

One of the most significant challenges facing auditors is the prevalence of fraud that exists in today's business environment. All auditors should have a working knowledge of the requirements in professional literature regarding fraud. We will cover the issues that all auditors need to know about fraud and the people who commit fraud. This course will provide horror stories about frauds that have occurred and how they were detected. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

This webinar will show you how to use Excel's charting and formatting features to present financial data to a non-financial audience. As the saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words." People tend to better understand your point when visuals are used. We will explore the many capabilities of presenting your data without showing rows and rows or columns and columns of data. Help your audience visualize the meaning of the data, whether it is a trend, an exception, a distribution or a good vs. bad relationship. 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. 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 describes a state agency's quality review of a not-for-profit organization's A-133 Single Audit.  The case study describes the organization audited, its federally- and state-funded programs, and the CPA firm retained to do the audit.  Various anomalies in the financial statements alerted state officials to potential problems, and a detailed quality review followed.  Find out how the entity turned hundreds of thousands of dollars in bank overdrafts into hundreds of thousands of dollars of cash on its balance sheet.  Explore other “creative” ways to deal with fixed assets, accounts receivable, and related-party transactions.  Were the auditors just sloppy, ignorant, negligent?  Or were they active participants in producing fraudulent financial statements?  You be the judge.

Tax practitioners are responsible for presenting partner capital accounts on the tax basis. But what does this mean and how have rules changed in recent years regarding partner capital accounts? This webinar covers exactly that. For tax practitioners preparing partnership 1065 forms, this course explains these complex rules in practical and understandable terms.

This program will provide a detailed analysis of the real estate professional passive activity rules, including forms reporting examples, and integrates those rules with when real estate is considered a "business" under the Section 199A flow-through entity deduction. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

The Department of Justice updated guidance regarding their evaluations of Corporate Compliance Programs in March 2023: “Prosecutors should assess whether the company’s complaint-handling process includes proactive measures to create a workplace atmosphere without fear of retaliation, appropriate processes for the submission of complaints, and processes to protect whistleblowers.” This course offers recommendations for employers to consider when developing or augmenting an internal complaint handling process. Organizations benefit when whistleblowers trust the process and choose to promptly report their concerns internally. The measures offered promote a strong speak up culture and align with the Department of Justice's guidance. 

Everyone knows that Excel is the most widely used spreadsheet application in the world today. However, because it is ever-changing, many users are unable to keep up with the latest features and capabilities of this ubiquitous application. In this session, we look at some of the most helpful new features and tools that have been added to both the Desktop version of Excel and the Web version. Content like this is valuable to anyone that regularly works with Excel - We hope you will attend! 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 will explore the ethical considerations CPAs and CPA firms should be cognizant of when considering services to the state legal, regulated cannabis industry. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.

With approximately 500 functions now available in Excel, some newer and more powerful tools are easy to overlook. But, if you do that, your productivity will suffer. In this session, you will learn how to take advantage of many of Excel’s more advanced features – some new and some legacy – to elevate your productivity to higher levels. In this session, you will learn about many of Excel’s newer tools, including XLOOKUP, SUMIFS, SWITCH, and STOCKHISTORY. Also included in this session are discussions of advanced financial functions, such as IPMT and PPMT, and how to retrieve summarized data easily using GETPIVOTDATA and CUBEVALUE. Additionally, you will learn how to make sophisticated calculations easier with Dynamic Array formulas, harness the AGGREGATE function's power, and create more accurate forecasts with Excel’s FORECAST.ETS function. No matter your experience working with Excel, participating in this course will help you work more efficiently and effectively in Excel.

Isn’t it time you learned how to take advantage of critical features available in your Microsoft 365/Office 365 subscription? In this session, you will learn to use tools such as Teams, Planner, Power Automate, and others to enhance productivity and efficiency.

In this session, participants will delve into the differences and similarities that coexist between the Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z in the workplace. Guided by generational whisperer, Summer Jelinek, this immersive session will equip HR professionals with actionable strategies to foster understanding, drive productivity, and promote a harmonious working environment, irrespective of generational backgrounds.

Unlike a traditional financial audit objective (Are the financial statements materially misstated), performance auditing can address a wide variety of objectives.  Is this program working? Can it be improved? Where can we save money? How can we operate more efficiently and effectively? Are management’s assertions supported? And so forth.  This session will explain what a performance audit is, describe the applicable standards, and provide examples that indicate the value of a performance audit.  Performance audits can add value to any entity and practitioners can profit from adding these assurance services to their practices.

According to the FBI, “white-collar crime is … synonymous with the full range of frauds committed by business and government professionals … characterized by deceit, concealment, or violation of trust …. The motivation behind these crimes is financial—to obtain or avoid losing money, property, or services or to secure a personal or business advantage.”  CPAs can and should play a crucial role in preventing and detecting white-collar crime, as well as in prosecuting the perpetrators.  This session will explore whether we are up to this challenge, heighten awareness regarding the CPA’s role as a front-line defender of the public interest, and assess whether we are deserving of the public trust we enjoy.

You have used Excel for years and perhaps Lotus 123 before that. And through all that time, you have repeatedly said, “One day, I’ll learn how to write macros.” Finally, that time has arrived because this four-hour program will introduce you to the wide world of Excel macros and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). This course teaches the fundamentals of creating and working with macros in Excel and is designed specifically for those with little experience working with macros. More specifically, taking this course will teach you how to use Excel’s Macro Recorder to write simple yet effective macros. You will also learn how to secure and share macros with other Excel users and create user-defined functions to solve specific accountant-centric problems in Excel. Further, you will learn how to create macros that run when a user opens a workbook and VBA basics. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to learn how to begin working with macros – one of Excel’s most powerful tools.

*** This subscription includes eight individual sessions for a total of 16 CPE. You receive significant savings when purchasing these webinars as a subscription. Each of the eight courses runs live once a month beginning May 1, 2024 through April 30, 2025. Register for these scheduled courses as your schedule allows - at no extra cost to you. Once registered for this subscription, log in instructions will be emailed to you separately for each individual course. *** This subscription consists of a 16-hour audit skills curriculum for beginning auditors and attest providers, while it is also appropriate for anyone who has assurance responsibilities under the SSARS. This series covers the fundamentals of auditing, including internal controls, auditing cash, and discovering fraud.