CPE Catalog & Events

Selected Ethics Topics 2025 - 2026

The major topics that will be covered in this course include:Stay in compliance with recent ethics standards changes that impact your practice.Learn about key regulatory changes and initiatives impacting CPAs and the future of the profession.Discuss emerging issues and standard-setting activity that could affect your practice in the future.Explore practical applications of the standards and hear about common practice issues and challenges. Examples include private equity, technology, tax planning, audit quality, regulatory enforcement and standard-setting environment.Learn how failure to follow the standards can result in unwanted regulatory actions and publicity.

The 10 Must Know Excel Features

The major topics that will be covered in this class include:Excel Tables: Master the use of Excel tables for efficient data management, including sorting, filtering, and structured references, to manage  data more effectively.Custom Sorting: Get to grips with custom sorting options to organize data in a way that best suits your needs, enhancing data readability and analysis.XLOOKUP: Discover the power of XLOOKUP for advanced data retrieval, a game-changer for complex analysis, allowing you to extract specific data from extensive datasets with ease.SUBTOTAL: Gain proficiency in using the SUBTOTAL function, a versatile tool for calculating data in visible cells, ideal for analyses that require dynamic calculations.SUMIF(S): Explore the functionality of SUMIF and SUMIFS functions for conditional summing, crucial for precise budgeting, expense tracking, and financial reporting.Array Formulas: Dive into array formulas to perform multiple calculations on one or more items in an array, enhancing the efficiency of complex accounting computations.Data Validations: Learn to implement data validations to ensure data integrity and prevent errors in financial data entry, a critical skill for maintaining accurate accounting records.Slicers: Learn to use slicers for interactive data segmentation in tables and PivotTables, enabling accountants to quickly filter and analyze specific subsets of financial data.Conditional Formatting: Understand how to apply conditional formatting to highlight critical financial data points, trends, and variances, making data analysis and interpretation more intuitive.PivotTables: An introduction to PivotTables, one of the most powerful Excel features, for summarizing, analyzing, and presenting large sets of financial data in a digestible format.

Business Transformation: Critical Skills for CFOs and Controllers

Deep Dive Into Common Auditing Deficiencies

The major topics that will be covered in this course include:Review common deficiencies identified by the AICPA and state boards of accountancy.Feature discussion on a variety of topics, including analytical procedures, sampling, group audits and risk assessment.Review of the areas of concern and how you can overcome them by employing best practices.

Multistate Taxation - Tax Staff Essentials

Constitutional limits and Public Law 86-272 Interstate activity Nexus, UDITPA and MTC Calculation of state taxable income Filing methods for multistate taxpayers Apportionment and allocation Multistate income tax planning

Surgent's Employer's Handbook: Legal, Tax, and Health Care Issues

Hiring and firing issues – What questions cannot be asked in an interview; how to document employee performance; establishing an annual review system; when an employer may and may not fire an employee, and much more Employment contracts – An analysis of the legal and planning issues in structuring employment contracts; when noncompetition agreements will and will not work Employment issues in the economy – Telecommuters and other special situations Legal liability issues – Recognition of age discrimination, sex discrimination, FLSA issues, minimum wage, overtime, sexual harassment, and more Fringe benefit issues – COBRA, Family and Medical Leave Act, and new developments in health care Medical plans – Who is a full-time employee?

Untying the Knot: Taxes & Divorce

The major topics that will be covered in this course include:Filing Status: Determining the correct filing status during and after divorce.Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs): Tax implications of dividing retirement accounts.Back Taxes: Strategies for addressing unpaid tax liabilities during and after divorce.Offers-in-Compromise & Installment Agreements: Resolving tax debts with the IRS.Currently-Not-Collectible Status: Understanding when and how to use this option.Innocent Spouse & Injured Spouse Relief: Protecting clients from unfair tax liabilities.Lien Discharges & Subordinations: Managing IRS liens on property during divorce.Reasonable Compensation: Evaluating fair compensation in divorce-related business valuations.Case Studies: Explore unusual and complex tax issues in divorce through real-world examples.

Fraud Busters: Controls to Prevent & Detect Fraud

The major topics that will be covered in this course include:Fraud motivators - the fraud triangle, typical profiles of fraud perpetratorsRevisiting the basics of controls - design vs effectiveness, preventative vs. detectiveEntity-wide controls and how they can assist in fraud deterrenceSpecific fraud types and the controls that could prevent and detect them

ACPEN: Tactical Business Systems – Getting the Most from Information Systems and ERP

The CFO’s role in IT and systems governance Understanding what IT, ERP, and AI actually do—and don’t do Common system problems and why implementations fail Defining system needs before selecting software Documenting current processes and identifying gaps ERP selection, implementation steps, and risk management Cybersecurity, data security, and technology risk Post-implementation measurement and continuous improvement

Best Practices: Conducting Meaningful Walkthroughs

The major topics that will be covered in this course include:Review of audit procedures.Documentation requirements.Real world examples of red flags that may arise.

Surgent's Adapting to OBBBA Changes: A Strategic Review

Business losses The SALT cap Implementing Section 1202 changes Form 1099 reporting changes Business meals Health care–related issues Family and medical leave Other crucial OBBBA provisions

Surgent's Handling Difficult People

Be familiar with the nature and sources of difficult behaviors in the workplace, as well as strategies for addressing them Understand a proven formula for handling difficult people Utilize a problem-solving model to brainstorm strategies for working effectively with challenging individuals Implement a step-by-step process to resolve conflicts between yourself and others within your organization Apply the hostility curve as a tool to maintain control in situations involving angry or upset individuals Implement new strategies for managing your emotions in difficult interactions Understand the impact of attitude on interactions with others Create a personalized action plan for applying course strategies in your workplace

ACPEN: Fiduciary Accounting for Estates and Trusts

10 Principles of Tax Accounting for Trust Income Entity accounting income and Form 1041 Uniform Principal and Income Act Discretionary Power to Adjust Allocations between principal and income Trust accounting issues

Financial & Tax Accounting for S Corporations & Partnerships

The major topics that will be covered in this class include:Review the Accounting Standards Codification, OCBOA/Special Purpose Frameworks, and AICPA financial reporting framework and their application to partnerships, LLCs and S corporationsFinancial accounting issues arising from changes in ownershipFinancial vs. tax accounting for partnership/LLC capital accountsSection 704(b) substantial economic effect rules and their relation to financial accountingThe integration of financial accounting with Forms 1065 and 1120SFinancial accounting basis for ownership interests vs. tax accounting basis for ownership interestsDeferred tax accounting for partnerships/LLCs and S corporationsFinancial accounting for the operations of a partnership/LLCFinancial accounting impact of the C to S election and the S to C electionFinancial and tax accounting for S corporation shareholder equity and partner capital accountsFinancial vs. tax accounting for loans to and from S corporations and their shareholders

How to Build a Custom AI Chatbot and GPT in Plain English

The major topics that will be covered in this course include:Fundamentals of GPT Builder and AI agent customization techniquesIntegration of specialized knowledge bases and domain-specific expertiseSecurity and privacy considerations in AI chatbot deploymentCustom GPT development without coding expertiseImplementation of AI agents for customer support and workflow automationMulti-bot interactions and content creation strategiesBest practices for maintaining and scaling AI assistants

Numbers to Narrative: Storytelling in Business Communication

The major topics that will be covered in this course include:Role of narrative in professional communicationSituation–complication–resolution frameworkNarrative arcs in business contextsIntegrating data within a structured storyDefining tension and resolution logicallyMaintaining accuracy while improving clarityApplication of storytelling framework to a workplace scenario 

ACPEN: S Corporation (Form 1120S) – Formation to Liquidation

Extensive review of the S corporation tax laws with an emphasis on any new legislative changes Requirements to make an S election (i.e., types and numbers of shareholders and second class of stock issues) Fixing late S corporation elections (i.e., Form 2553) S corporation formation (§351) and liquidation issues Revocation and termination of S corporations Schedule K and K-1 – separately stated versus non-separately stated income and expense items Detailed Schedule K-1 reporting including the 20% qualified business income (QBI) deduction and 3.8% net investment income tax Compensation issues including the tax treatment of fringe benefits Built in gains tax and other planning opportunities when converting a C to S corporation Preparation of the Schedule M-2 and the ordering rules for distributions out of the AAA, PTI, E&P and OAA accounts Tax treatment of stock redemptions (sale or distribution?)

Internal Controls Over Compliance vs Compliance

The major topics that will be covered in this course include:Testing internal ControlsAlign internal controls with specific compliance requirementsThe misidentification of controls and the confusion between compliance and control processes

ACPEN: Private Company Simplified GAAP Alternatives

Guidance, related to "plain vanilla" interest rate swaps that convert variable into fixed rate debt and other derivatives Guidance related to amortization and impairment of goodwill Guidance related to separately recognizing intangible assets from goodwill in a business combination Guidance related to lease accounting and revenue recognition options

Build Better Budgets: Fundamental Techniques

The major topics that will be covered in this course include:Advantages of budgetingThe role of budgetingMaster budgetingFlexible budgetingStandards and variancesCapital budgeting