CPE Catalog & Events
ACPEN: Fiduciary Accounting for Estates and Trusts
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Online
4.00 Credits
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
ACPEN: Cost and Pricing Models: Boost Your Bottom Line
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Online
2.00 Credits
Cost Accounting Activity-based Costing
Internal Control - Testing for Operating Effectiveness
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Virtual
2.00 Credits
The major topics covered in this class include:Generally accepted audit requirements related to testing controls for operating effectivenessIdentifying key controls that may prove effective and efficient to test in a control reliance strategyResponses when deviations are discovered when evaluating the design or operating effectiveness of internal controlLeveraging audit evidence available for Service Organization Control (SOC1) ReportsGeneral computer control considerations when evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting
Surgent's Controller/CFO Update: Hot Topics Facing Today's Financial Professional
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Virtual
4.00 Credits
Economic update Leadership and management changes because of recent developments, including AI Managing for productivity Hiring the best people for the organization New motivation techniques
Surgent's Preparation and Compilation Engagements Under the SSARS
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Virtual
4.00 Credits
Relevant sections of SSARS No. 21, Clarification and Recodification SSARS No. 21, Clarification and Recodification, and updates to SSARS No. 21 due to the issuance of SSARS No. 23, Omnibus Statement on Standards for Accounting and Review Services SSARS No. 22, Compilation of Pro Forma Financial Information SSARS No. 24, Omnibus Statement on Standards for Accounting and Review Services – 2018 SSARS No. 26, Quality Management for an Engagement Conducted in Accordance With Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services Proposed changes to the SSARS guidance Comprehensive sample engagement work programs for preparation and compilation engagements Prescribed form, specified line item, pro forma, and other engagement variations Complete illustrations of relevant engagement letters, reporting and other required communications for preparation and compilation engagements
Construction Contractors: Auditing Considerations
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Virtual
4.00 Credits
Auditing contractor accounting and revenue from contracts with customers Planning and risk assessment for construction contractors Key controls Substantive procedures for long-term contractors
The Best Individual Income Tax Update Course by Surgent
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Virtual
8.00 Credits
Comprehensive coverage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act Review of key components of President Trump's tax bill, including a tip income exemption, overtime pay relief, Social Security tax exemption, auto loan interest deductibility, SALT deduction modifications, a lower corporate tax rate, restoration of 100% bonus depreciation, immediate R&D expensing, and permanent extension of select TCJA provisions Tariff policy and implementation - analyze the use of tariffs as a fiscal and trade policy tool Digital assets and tax implications - understand the new Form 1099-DA for reporting digital asset transactions, along with updated IRS guidance on cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and broker responsibilities Artificial intelligence - discover how AI and generative tools are transforming tax practices, as well as how the IRS is leveraging AI to enhance audit selection Form 1099-K reporting requirements - understand the evolving IRS thresholds and rules for third-party payment platforms The Gig Economy - examine key tax implications for gig workers, including Independent Contractor vs. Employee classification challenges, reporting responsibilities, and the impact of the 2024 Department of Labor Final Rule on worker status Timely coverage of breaking tax legislation Real Estate professional requirements Review of pertinent cases and rulings affecting taxpayers Practice aids, including all the numbers applicable for the current year -- inflation-adjusted amounts, mileage rates, retirement contributions, and more Advanced practice, reporting, and other issues intertwined with advanced planning and discussion ideas
About the TIGTA: Who Watches the IRS?
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Virtual
2.00 Credits
Major topics covered in this course include:The role of TIGTA in the US tax systemAuditing, investigating, and inspecting and evaluating IRS programs and operationsIdentifying opportunities to improve the administration of tax lawsPromoting integrity, economy, and efficiency in the tax systemResponding to requests from Congress and other external stakeholdersUpholding ethical standards in the accounting professionBuilding trust and confidence in the tax system
ACPEN: Change Management: Your Leadership Role for Aligning Profits & Culture
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Online
2.00 Credits
Why professional agility is critical, and how to develop it Foundational models for change management Proven strategies to prepare for change as individuals, teams & organizations Implementing change: A how-to look Leading through change for success of all involved
ACPEN: Data Analytics: Practical Insights for Today's Accountant
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Online
2.00 Credits
Apply new effective tools in business processes Better understand how to use data analytics in public accounting engagements Identify popular software packages that may be useful for accomplishing data analytics
ACPEN: Progressive Management Accounting
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Online
2.00 Credits
A taxonomy of accounting: tax, financial, managerial A spectrum of direct and indirect absorption costing Fact-based Data with Activity Based Costing (ABC ) Why do we need advanced management accounting techniques, such as ABC? How the ABC cost assignment network structure connects costs to products and sales channels Learn to use ABC to manage product, service-line, channel, and customer profitability Understand two views of costs: (1) process view versus (2) product view Comparing ABC with time-driven ABC, resource consumption accounting (RCA), lean accounting, and other costing techniques Operational Costing to Optimize Process Costs - How driver-based budgets and rolling financial forecasts lead to productivity improvement and cost reduction Applying “Attributes” to assess ”value-added costs” and “costs of quality (COQ)” The Shift in ROI’s Source from Tangible to Intangible Assets Increasing the ROI from information – with Corporate Performance Management (CPM) as a Value-Multiplier Accelerating the Rate of Adoption for Implementing and CPM Understand the barriers that slow the adoption rate of CPM: technical, misperceptions, model design, and social / cultural How to overcome behavioral resistance to change
Smart Formula Selection in Excel: What to Use When
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Virtual
2.00 Credits
The major topics that will be covered in this class include:Introduction to Strategic Formula Use:Why choosing the right formula matters: clarity, performance, and maintenanceCommon traps: overusing IF, defaulting to familiar tools, ignoring modern functionsHow Excel offers multiple ways to solve the same problem and how to pick wiselyConditional Logic and Branching Tools:IFS vs SWITCH vs nested IF: comparing readability and structureWhen to simplify logic and how to avoid nested nightmaresSummarizing Data:SUMIFS vs SUMPRODUCT: multiple conditions, weighted sums, totalsFiltering and Output Control:FILTER vs IF + INDEX: dynamic data extraction with vs without Excel 365Trade-offs in backward compatibility and ease of useCustom Output and Decision Trees:CHOOSE vs SWITCH vs LOOKUP: logic trees and category mappingEmbedded Variables and Reusability:LET vs named ranges: clarity and efficiency for long formulasUsing LAMBDA with LET to create custom functionsSimplifying and documenting complex calculationsBest Practices for Formula Selection:Criteria for deciding: readability, flexibility, future maintenanceTips for avoiding overengineering and formula bloat
Surgent's Understanding S Corporation Taxation: Late S Corporation Elections, Disproportionate Distributions, and Selling Shares
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Virtual
2.00 Credits
Making an S corporation election and late filing relief Disproportionate distributions Selling S corporation shares Redemption rules
ACPEN: 2026 Tax Season Update for Business with Steve Dilley
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Online
4.00 Credits
Update on significant 2025-26 business tax developments and related cases and rulings Review of recent business tax provisions and their integration into tax forms Depreciation changes in Section 179 and Sec. 168(k) bonus depreciation Tax issues impacting “gig” workers, including Form 1099-K Rulings on OBBBA of 2025 business provisions
ACPEN: Cutting-Edge Estate and Financial Planning Trends
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Online
8.00 Credits
The latest legislative changes in estate and financial planning Expected changes in estate and gift tax exemptions and their impact Common client errors and risk mitigation strategies Domicile planning considerations in financial and tax strategy Charitable giving strategies under new tax rules Advanced use of split-interest trusts for tax and estate planning Best practices for IRA distribution planning with new tax implications
ACPEN: K2’s Small Business Internal Controls, Security, And Fraud Prevention And Detection
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Online
8.00 Credits
Common challenges associated with implementing appropriate internal controls in small business environment Fraud in small business environments Internal control options in small business accounting software Understanding the need for application controls and general controls
Avoiding the Most Misapplied Audit Concepts
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Virtual
8.00 Credits
The major topics that will be covered in this course include:Risk Assessment - Properly assessing inherent, control, and detection risk on an engagement, and linking the results to an appropriately tailored detailed audit plan based on risk assessment and client service goals, regardless of entity type.Substantive Analytics- Leveraging strong substantive analytic procedures as audit evidence to cut back on tests of details.Selecting items to test common misunderstandings related to designing, performing and concluding on tests of details, including sampling.Identifying and Evaluating Internal Control Deficiencies - Emphasizing the importance of identifying both design and operating effectiveness deficiencies during the course of the audit, and how to properly categorize deficiencies as inconsequential, significant or material for impact on the audit or required communications with management and those charged with governance.
Surgent's Advanced Individual Income Tax Return Issues
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Virtual
8.00 Credits
New issues for the current year tax return and §199A Installment sales — understanding the complicated issues Form 8582: Passive losses with carryovers — Complicated case with filled-in forms Puts, calls, straddling, and unusual investments — Understanding the tax laws and reporting them correctly on the tax return Capital gain and loss issues — The problem with proper reporting of installment sales issues; capital gains and losses; when is a stock worthless; and much more... At-risk rules: What a return preparer really needs to know Passive loss issues — You cannot just trust your software. What to watch out for and the questions you need your clients to answer in order to do it right! Incentive and nonqualified stock options — Reporting; key strategies for planning; dealing with the alternative minimum tax Alternative minimum tax — Understanding it; planning strategies to avoid it; using the minimum tax credit; explaining it to a client Form 6251: Detailed calculation example
Surgent's Form 1040 Return Review Boot Camp for New and Experienced Reviewers
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Virtual
8.00 Credits
Key provisions of the recent HR 1, One Big Beautiful Bill Act, have been incorpoated throughout the course Review an error-prone "staff-prepared" Form 1040 from client-provided information. Where do you start? Get to know your client and ask the questions Several new reporting issues for the reviewer to consider, including the main credit provisions as enacted under the American Rescue Plan What are common errors preparers make and what are the areas generating malpractice claims? The importance of engagement letters, questionnaires, and §7216 permission statement Initial administrative groundwork Identifying organizing issues in the tax return to be reviewed Avoiding “willful blindness.” Handling ethical and moral dilemmas Efficient review of certain advanced issues for income, adjustments, deductions, and credits Effective procedures for delinquent clients, filing past-due tax returns First-time client issues requiring extra scrutiny Multiple checklists of efficient procedures to identify potential issues on a 1040 return Listing of schedules for staff to prepare to make a review easier, including basis issues for 1040 clients Reconciling time pressure with thoroughness and quality control Professionals acting professionally
Start From Trust: An Evidence-Based Approach to AI Adoption
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Virtual
1.00 Credits
The major topics that will be covered in this course include:Why one visible machine error collapses trust while identical human error does not, and what that asymmetry costs firms in both directionsWhere small and midsize firms actually stand on AI adoption, and why a firm that has not adopted broadly is not automatically behindCalibrated trust: the difference between misuse (overtrust), disuse (undertrust), and trust matched to what a tool actually does wellThe five-stop adoption spectrum: paralysis, accidental delay, informed caution, responsible piloting, and reckless adoptionThe AI Trust and Usage Quadrant: four firm postures and the next step each one impliesGoverned versus unstructured AI use, and why staff already bringing their own tools makes abstention a decision rather than an optionWhat the evidence says about human and AI combinations, and the two task questions that predict whether a tool will help or hurtReading vendor claims: the gap between a demo and production, and why fluent explanations increase acceptance of wrong answersFive trust questions to ask any AI vendor: permission, uncertainty, audit trail, explainability, and change controlThe NIST AI Risk Management Framework trustworthiness characteristics as a technical backboneThree vulnerabilities that current firm financial performance can conceal: client expectations, talent, and deferred learningCognitive offloading and skill retention: what firms lose by waiting, and the conditions under which offloading frees capacity insteadFive actions a firm can take this week, and four evidence-based rollout rules for a first pilot
