WICPA CPE & Special Event Catalog
Surgent's Controllership Skills Update – Budgeting, Forecasting & Big Data
-
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $99
Budgets are the vehicle for allocating resources, measuring activities and identifying needed changes and improvements. An organization's strategy is the primary driver of costs. To be effective, the budget must be linked to strategy and long-term plans. Numerous organizations have achieved a series of short-term targets (budgets) but failed longer term, demonstrating the lack of this necessary linkage. Forecasting, a critical part of any successful budgeting process, can be flawed by technical errors, organizational structure, or emotional forces. The establishment of a system to collect, process and analyze big data can provide significant insights into the budgeting and forecasting process. An efficient system of incorporating big data and analytics into normal activities will improve management's decision-making. This brief program offers specific actions to improve your forecasting and budgeting activities. In addition, more advanced techniques are identified for the participant's further review, which can be applied throughout an organization. Good budgets effectively allocate resources, provide information for decision-making and serve as an early warning system for unforeseen events. A poor budgeting process fosters a false sense of security, provides inappropriate or inaccurate data and reinforces the status quo. Budgets are about the organization's story, not just the raw numbers!
Surgent's IT Systems & Data Management
-
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $99
Explore the critical intersections between information technology (IT) systems and data management through this specialized CPE course for accounting professionals. This session covers business resiliency and disaster recovery strategies, change management processes and much more. Through interactive discussions and hands-on activities, participants will learn how to enhance their organization's IT framework while ensuring robust data collection and storage. Equip yourself to oversee IT systems with confidence and reinforce data integrity and system availability.
Surgent's Ethics for the Industry Accountant
-
Online
4.00 Credits
Member Price: $159
While ethics training is required by many states, the true value of the CPA license is in understanding how critically important ethical behavior is to one another, our customers, our firms and the public. This course will explore the basic tenets of ethical behavior and use case studies to explore ethical dilemmas in various companies and organizations with a focus on dilemmas that may face CPAs in the industry. Note: This course qualifies to count toward the WICPA membership Ethics CPE requirement.
Overcome Your Obstacles to Abundance
-
Online
4.00 Credits
Member Price: $129
Getting rich requires many things. First, you need to know how to overcome previous limitations you may have had about making a lot of money. Second, you need to know and use the best financial strategies for becoming wealthy--including the latest investment and marketing strategies. And third, you need to be able to enjoy your lifestyle and look at what obstacles get in the way of you being rich and fully contented. By exploring the latest methods for achieving financial and personal success, you'll be able to make a lot more money and have a great time doing it.
Building a Better Budget in a Time of Uncertainty
-
Online
4.00 Credits
Member Price: $149
Most financial leaders would agree that budgeting is easy when business and the economy are stable. When revenues and expenses are expected to remain the same, the process becomes merely an exercise in carrying over what was done before to the current year. However, what happens when we are not sure about how the market will react to our product? What happens when the competitive landscape changes? In this course, we will discuss budgeting techniques and considerations when business lacks stability. Through a combination of theory and real-world examples, we will explore how to build flexibility into our budget - so that it can inform and drive decision-making when we don't quite know what is ahead. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
Ethics & Technology for CPAs
-
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $89
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.Note: This course qualifies to count toward the WICPA membership Ethics CPE requirement.
Surgent's Best Practices in Not-for-Profit Accounting & Reporting
-
Online
4.00 Credits
Member Price: $159
Don't just wing it when you can soar! To catch the eye of resource providers and fulfill the needs of leadership, it is essential that not-for-profits prepare financial statements which excel. This course will empower you with the knowledge of not-for-profit accounting and reporting to surpass the expectations of financial statement users. Over 20 focused exercises are included to illustrate and refine today's best practices in not-for-profit accounting and reporting.
Comprehensive Accounting & Financial Reporting Update
-
Online
4.00 Credits
Member Price: $149
This course covers recently issued accounting and financial statement reporting standards from the Financial Accounting Standards Board. Key implementation challenges and experiences from public company filings will be identified. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
Microsoft 365 Application Lightning Round Review-Updated
-
Online
1.00 Credits
Member Price: $55
Do you use Microsoft (Office) 365? Are you satisfied that you are getting the most that you can from it? If you answered yes then no, this course will provide a really high return on your investment of time and money in this application suite. John Higgins, one of the profession's leading experts on the integration of Microsoft 365 into business, will explain and demonstrate the depth and breadth of the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. The course is designed to raise your awareness of all that you can do with Microsoft 365 and substantially increase your monthly subscription ROI. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
Crypto, Blockchain & Taxes
-
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $79
For accounting and tax professionals, understanding the inner workings of blockchain and cryptocurrency is no longer just an advantage-it's a necessity. This course provides an in-depth look into the mechanics of digital currencies and revolutionary blockchain technology, equipping attendees with the knowledge to navigate benefits and risks effectively. Special emphasis is placed on the tax implications for both individuals and estates, ensuring that attendees can confidently advise on these issues, which are becoming increasingly relevant in financial planning and asset management. This offering is more than just a learning experience; it's an investment in one's professional growth. By understanding the tax complexities and estate planning challenges posed by digital assets, participants will be able to offer valuable insights and strategic solutions. They will emerge from this course not just with theoretical knowledge but with actionable skills that can be applied immediately. In a landscape where digital assets are becoming commonplace, this is the education that will differentiate the exceptional from the average. Join today and step into a role as a leader in finance for the digital age. **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.
AI Prompt Engineering Masterclass for Accountants
-
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $89
An advanced guide to prompting techniques that maximize AI efficiency and precision in everyday business research, operational due diligence and accounting tasks. Designed for accountants with no prior AI knowledge, the session explores how simple language and strategic prompting can unlock powerful, layered responses from large language models (LLMs). Participants will learn to overcome the "lazy" defaults of AI, using specific techniques to enhance detail, accuracy and contextual understanding in their queries. By understanding prompt engineering's role, attendees will discover how to guide AI to provide practical, relevant and analytical insights suited to complex financial scenarios, without needing extensive technical expertise. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
Forensic Accounting: Court Approved Methods of Proof
-
Online
4.00 Credits
Member Price: $149
How does a forensic accountant calculate financial losses? Federal courts have approved various ways to calculate losses ranging from net worth method of proof to the expenditures method. Each method of proof depends on the available facts to the forensic accountant. This presentation will focus on the various court approved methods of proof, when to use them and how to calculate the total loss. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.
Coaching Leaders to Handle Sensitive Employee Relations Situations
-
Online
1.20 Credits
Member Price: $39
This session provides HR Professionals with scripts for and tactics for coaching leaders in handling an array of employee relations situations with sensitivity, good judgment and high confidence. Topics include employee complaints, personality & attitude problems, performance counseling, personal hygiene problems, disability-related performance issues, misconduct due to mental conditions. You will learn how to use a unique process, "Reset the Clock," that prevents attorneys from taking something leaders did wrong or did not do in the past and using it to support legal challenges in the future. Liability is replaced with credibility. Lawsuits are then avoided rather than won. Financial assets are protected, morale stays high and bad publicity is averted. HR Professionals avoid hearing from senior leaders: "You should have anticipated this" after an avoidable legal claim.
White-Collar Crime: What Every CPA Should Know
-
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $79
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.
The Controllership Series: Overhead, Direct & Indirect Costs & Allocation Methods
-
Online
1.00 Credits
Member Price: $39
Managing expenses is a key for business success and overhead costs play a pivotal role in realizing favorable profit margins. Almost all companies have some form of overhead consisting of specific categories of indirect expenses. The better organizations are able to manage overhead costs, the more competitive they are in the marketplace. It is incumbent in the Controller's role to effectively manage, monitor and perform ongoing assessment of overhead costs, allocations and rates. Overhead refers to the ongoing business expenses not directly attributed to creating a product or service. A company must pay overhead on an ongoing basis, regardless of how much or how little the company sells. It is important for budgeting purposes but also for determining how much a company must charge for its products or services to make a profit. Overhead can be fixed, variable, or a hybrid of both. There are different categories of overhead, such as administrative overhead, which includes costs related to managing a business. In short, overhead is any expense incurred to support the business while not being directly related to a specific product or service.
Financial Decisions that Led Two Businessmen to Prison
-
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $89
Two college graduates built impressive careers: One worked in sales, the other in technology and investing. Both of those people made decisions in the course of their business that led to government investigations. They had to hire attorneys, go through judicial processes, face charges and plead guilty. Each of those people are on their way to prison. Learn from the lessons they offer. We interview both financial professionals and they tell us more about how their decisions influenced the consequences that followed. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event.Note: This course qualifies to count toward the WICPA membership Ethics CPE requirement.
Indirect Cost Rates 2026: What Nonprofits Must Know to Build NICRA-Proof Proposals
-
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $89
Indirect costs are an important aspect of obtaining full cost recovery on grants & cooperative agreements. An indirect rate is a mechanism for recovering allocable indirect costs. Have you struggled to understand how indirect rates work? We will show you Uniform Guidance theory & the mechanical aspects of how indirect rates are constructed. This session will cover the two of the most widely used indirect cost rate proposal templates to obtain Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreements (NICRA) for both the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) & U.S. Department of Interior (DOI). We will address: • Fringe & indirect rate examples, • The power of an indirect rate multiplier, • What is an ideal indirect rate, • Mandatory requirements for constructing an indirect rate, • The importance of the Statement of Functional Expense & • Understanding the HHS & DOI model templates.
Reasonable Compensation for S Corps
-
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $89
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.
Compilation, Preparation & Review Basics & Peer Reviews
-
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $89
Cover the basic requirements for performing preparation, compilation and review engagements under Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services (SSARS), including the new SSARS No. 25, Materiality in a Review of Financial Statements and Adverse Conclusions. Review common issues found on SSARS engagements in connection with peer reviews and the impact of various findings on the results of a peer review. Identify key issues to consider during SSARS engagements and determine how to incorporate quality control recommendations and tips for performing high-quality SSARS engagements. This event may be a rebroadcast of a live event and the instructor will be available to answer your questions during the event
Criminal Tax: How CPAs Bring Value to Defense Attorneys
-
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $89
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.
