FREE CPE — Our Pilot-Testing Program

Here's your chance to receive free continuing professional education!

As a pilot tester, you'll obtain credits while taking a course at no cost to you! It's simple — just complete a course within a designated time period, tell us how many minutes/hours it took you to complete it, and tell us what you liked or didn't like about it. Pilot testers must be licensed CPAs. Please review the courses listed below, choose one that appeals to you, and email us for information on how to get started!

Reinventing the CFO by Jeremy Hope
With the demands of today’s regulatory environment, the CFO’s role is expanding beyond mere measurement of the bottom line. Today, CFOs must look beyond number-crunching to embrace other challenges: eliminating inefficiency and waste, assembling a skilled and knowledgeable finance team, and leading effectively. By outlining seven key roles imperative to the CFO’s success – freedom fighter, analyst and advisor, architect of adaptive management, warrior against waste, master of measurement, regulator of risk, and champion of change – the author provides specific guidance for any CFO looking to elevate performance and add value to an organization. Each chapter offers helpful checklists to help you implement the characteristics of each role. While providing useful advice and insight, this course challenges long-held assumptions about the CFO’s role in the modern organization.

Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done by Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan
According to acclaimed CEO Larry Bossidy and legendary advisor Ram Charan, execution is the “missing link between aspirations and results.” In their best-selling book, the authors demonstrate how to turn promised results into reality and get things done. They say the key is to understand the three core processes of business—people, strategy, and operations—and to learn how they work together. With the right people in place to formulate and execute strategies, it’s then simply a matter of creating applicable programs and establishing a system that rewards execution.

Project Management Accounting: Budgeting, Tracking, and Reporting
Today’s project managers need to understand finance and accounting concepts in order to make both informed decisions and a greater contribution to their organizations. Project Management Accounting offers guidance that project managers can use right away to learn how to budget appropriately. Basic business practices and fundamental accounting and finance principles, such as cost accounting and budgeting, are also covered. Project managers will learn how finance, accounting, and project management work together, which will result in their making more informed business decisions.

Managing Risk in Construction Projects
Risk management in construction is often left to analysts and special consultants. With this course, you will be able to understand and apply risk management techniques yourself, in order to make more effective decisions. The authors begin by describing risk management and decision making in terms of a construction project and move on to discuss available tools and techniques, the human element, problems in procurement and finance, and the practical application of risk analysis, risk modeling, and simulation.

Commercial, SBA, Real Estate, and Venture Capital by Delta Publishing
This course is designed to train people interested in financing services to develop the knowledge and techniques required to approve and package a variety of loans and financing, such as SBA loans and venture capital financing. Understanding the new money markets and finding available sources of capital for investment, expansion, real estate development, and personal investment have challenged the majority of businesses. The course focuses on the basic principles, concepts, terminology and instruments used to qualify a client, package a loan, and delineate the various services available in the financial community. Useful Internet resources are provided wherever applicable.

The Pocket CFO: Tools and Metrics by Delta Publishing
The Pocket CFO: Tools and Metrics is a question-and-answer guide to the complex world of business that is packed with formulas, ratios, guidelines, and rules of thumb to help analyze and evaluate any business-related problem. Broken into three parts, this course takes you through (1) accounting principles, financial statements, Sarbanes-Oxley, and guidelines for evaluating a company’s financial health; (2) financial analysis tools, financial metrics, and financing methods for decision making; and (3) the seemingly complex world of quantitative analysis, where you’ll use statistics for forecasting and validity testing and find out about decision theories, including linear programming, learning curve theory, and queuing models.

Applied Operations Management: Manufacturing and Services by Delta Publishing
This course teaches you how to manage operations and productive systems. Operations management involves the planning, coordinating, and executing of all activities that create goods or services. You will gain a working knowledge of methods for designing operational functions, systems and processes; will learn to apply strategic and operational decisions in improving processes for delivering goods and services to customers; and will learn to apply tools to achieve competitive in both manufacturing and services businesses. The course outlines new trends in the subject, such as total quality management (TQM), business process reengineering (BPR), supply chain management (SCM), and agile technology and modularity.

Real Estate Financing and Investments by Delta Publishing
Real Estate Financing and Investments is an all-in-one course designed to help investors and potential homebuyers understand real estate. The first two chapters examine the financial side of the lending process by discussing financial instruments and the fundamentals of investing. Chapter 3 looks at decisions for homeowners, such as buying and renting, pricing homes, refinancing, and insurance policies, while the final chapter looks at the advantages and pitfalls of real estate investing, how to value an income-producing property, and how to use leverage and increase your return.

Integrated Tax & Financial Planning
Estate planning, financial planning, and asset protection planning can’t be conducted in a vacuum—each of these elements has a major impact on the others. In this course, you’ll learn about the interrelationships between them and the proper sequencing of planning activities among them. Special planning circumstances (e.g., for single parents) will be discussed within this context. This novel course is one you cannot afford to miss if you offer financial planning advice.

Tax Planning for Investors
New investment instruments have been created; older more traditional products have been repackaged; and major tax law revisions geared toward stimulating the market, corporate mergers, and market globalization have altered the perception and use of traditional investment strategies. Get up to date with Karen Brosi as she shares valuable information on such topics as: planning strategies, equity investments, installment sales and short sales, zero capital gains rates, exchange-traded funds, bonds, puts and calls, employee stock options, mortgage-backed securities, and REITs and REMICs.

Hot Topics in Estate Planning by Art Werner
This course addresses hot topics in estate planning and summarizes several recent developments. Issues discussed include: the current climate of estate and gift tax, domicile issues in integrated planning, life insurance trusts, tax issues on transfers to split-interest trusts and QPRT’s, grantor retained trusts, charitable trusts, FLPs and intentionally defective grantor trusts. Practical examples based on actual situations and numbers that will help you understand a variety of estate planning techniques.

Benefits and Employee Compensation by Danny Santucci
Optimize the overall compensation packages of your key employees and principals. Various ideas, methods, and techniques for doing so are described and evaluated in this short course by Danny Santucci. You’ll learn about (1) tax-favored fringe benefit options; (2) equity-based compensation, such as employee stock sales, repurchase agreements, incentive stock options, ESOPs, and bonuses; and (3) the new and controversial deferred compensation arrangements. After this short course, you’ll have a working knowledge of how to structure compensation packages that can minimize your tax liabilities and costs.

Interest & Debt: Selected Issues by Danny Santucci
This mini-course brings the practitioner information on tax issues affecting interest and debt. The various types of interest and their required allocation are explored and reviewed. For the economically troubled client, special attention is devoted to debt cancellation, repossession, discounts, and foreclosure. The program also discusses installment sales, taxable interest, and bad debts.

Post Mortem Estate Planning
This is a great course for practitioners who deal with postmortem estate planning. You’ll learn about the following: the alternative valuation date, installment payments of estate taxes, QTIP elections, the use of qualified disclaimers, estimated taxes, final income tax return of the decedent, medical expenses associated with final illness, savings bond interest acceleration, estate fiscal year and accounting method elections, passing out administrative expenses to maximize benefits to beneficiaries, 65-day rule election, income and deductions in respect of a decedent, and qualified plans and IRAs.

OMB Circular A-123 and Sarbanes-Oxley by Cornelius E. Tierney et al.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, while passed for publicly traded companies, has created a ripple effect in the area of governmental accounting. OMB Circular A-123 has greatly increased the scope and responsibility of managers in federal agencies. By presenting information in an easy-to-understand and accessible way, this course offers a practical way for professional and nonprofessional federal employees to learn how to comply with these new regulations. This helpful manual helps the reader determine the best approach to compliance through practical guidance on evaluating and testing controls, step-by-step instructions, in-depth explanations, practice aids, forms, and checklists.

Realities of HUD Auditing by Michael Morgan
This course first briefly visits the history of HUD involvement in the housing sector, lists the various programs still in existence, and introduces you to the government offices that orchestrate the various aspects of HUD programs. Responsibilities and requirements of the government agency, auditor, and auditee are reviewed. The remainder of the course concentrates on compliance testing issues and documentation of the risk-based approach to HUD engagements.

The Yellow Book Interpreted by Leita Hart-Fanta
*Updated for the new 2007 standards, 2nd revision. This in-depth course looks at the practical application and use of Government Auditing Standards, or Yellow Book. Topics include: general standards of independence; professional judgment, competence, and quality assurance; fieldwork and reporting standards for financial audits; attestation engagements; and performance audits. The author’s conversational style, clever commentary, and straightforward advice make this course a must-have for those either currently working or planning to work in governmental auditing.

Construction Accounting by James J. Adrian Douglas J. Adrian
NOTE: This course provides credits in the following categories: 12 Accounting, 9 Management Advisory Services, 3 Taxes. You will receive one certificate with all of the fields of study listed with the amount of credit awarded, totaling 24 credits.

In the construction industry, bankruptcy and poor profit margins are often the result of improper accounting methods. The industry as a whole tends to deny resources to its accounting department, which isn’t the best approach considering it’s the department most likely to lower costs and increase profits. Financial and managerial accounting issues, auditing, tax planning, and value-added services (e.g., claims, valuation, and improving jobsite productivity) are addressed. Managers, accountants, and auditors will learn the challenges each department faces so they can work together to ensure profitability and long-term success.

Internal Audit Reports Post Sarbanes-Oxley by Susan M. Switzer
Internal audit reports are the primary method of communication among auditors. SOX intensified the need for these reports to be organized, concise, and useful in relating specialized financial information to all areas of a company's operations. This course offers direction on creating process-based internal audit reports that clearly convey what is observed during an audit. The book includes a helpful review of grammar specifically for internal auditors; coverage of various professional standards on readability; practical tips for nonnative English speakers; information on international audit reporting; and a wealth of checklists, templates, examples, and exercises.

Business Valuation: An Integrated Theory by Z. Christopher Mercer & Travis W. Harms
Business Valuation: An Integrated Theory demystifies modern valuation theory and provides a comprehensive picture of business valuation so you can apply the concepts correctly and effectively. You’ll learn about the business appraisal process and how it works, the relationship between the Gordon model and the discounted cash flow model of valuation, the levels of value in the context of enterprise and shareholder cash flows, the Quantitative Marketability Discount Model, and the valuation of S corporations.

The Essential Handbook of Internal Auditing by K H Spencer Pickett
This condensed version of the highly successful Internal Auditing Handbook will help you understand the new audit context and how it fits into the wider corporate agenda. The new audit context is firmly anchored in the corporate governance, risk management, and internal control arenas. Renowned author K.H. Spencer Pickett provides a range of professional standards and guidance, and he covers all the essentials of internal auditing, including auditing strategies and fieldwork. Helpful models and checklists are included.

Healthcare Fraud: Auditing and Detection Guide by Rebecca S. Busch
The complexity of our health care system makes it a target for provider, recipient, and vendor fraud. This must-have resource for auditors, fraud investigators, and health care managers provides tips and techniques for spotting fraudulent activity and outlines steps to take when it’s suspected. Author Rebecca Busch packed this vividly detailed book with stories, case studies, and research. Her profiles of potential fraudsters are insightful, and her discussions of common fraud schemes and fraud investigation methods are of great benefit.

Accounting for Derivatives: Advanced Hedging Under IFRS
Finally, there’s a comprehensive and practical course on hedge accounting. This case-driven text leads you through a variety of hedging strategies, allowing you to create your own accounting interpretation in each case. Specific topics covered include IAS39 from a derivatives practitioner perspective, FX hedging and commodities hedging, and explanations of hedging instruments like forwards, swaps, cross-currency swaps, and range accruals.

Policies and Procedures to Prevent Fraud and Embezzlement by Edward J. McMillan
This invaluable resource demonstrates how to proactively safeguard a business’s assets and reduce financial dishonesty in the workplace. McMillan profiles employee fraudsters and their methods, explains how internal controls can prevent fraud, and outlines how to assemble a fraud examination team and develop a fraud action plan. In addition, the book is filled with examples, expert advice, and nearly 100 pages of useful forms for documentation and internal control analysis.

Accounting Update 2008 by Rod Redding
This course examines new pronouncements set forth by the SEC, FASB, IASB, GASB, AICPA, FASAB, and XBRL-US. Accounting expert Rod Redding clearly explains the pronouncements so that even CPAs who won’t apply the information on a day-to-day basis will gain a general understanding. Pronouncements are listed by their issuing organizations, making them easy to reference. Each pronouncement includes a brief summary followed by discussion of specific points.

SFAS Update 2008 by Rod Redding
This course provides brief summaries of new Statements of Financial Accounting Standards issued by FASB. SFAS Nos. 154–160 are examined, including how they affect practicing accountants. The course makes an excellent reference.

SAS Update 2008 by Rod Redding
This course describes changes to SAS Nos. 104–112 and SAS No. 114. Information is presented at a level that enables CPAs to understand the general nature of the new information, even if they will not apply that information on a day-to-day basis. Official information released by the organizations covered in the course should be relied on for implementation.

Juggling the Numbers: Financial Reporting and Analysis by Rod Redding
Determining a company’s financial security or its ability to pay its debts requires a comprehensive business analysis. Renowned accounting expert Trod Redding covers the bases and show you how to put it all together. In Juggling the Numbers, you’ll learn how to conduct a business analysis step by step; how Porter’s Five Forces Analysis can provide insight into a company’s competitive position and its profitability; how to determine the quality of information in financial statements; how to perform horizontal, vertical, and ratio analyses. How to calculate Altman’s Z-score for Bankruptcy, why the 4 C’s of Credit should be considered and more.

Compilations & Reviews Update 2008 by Bob Jennings
The landscape of the accounting profession, especially when dealing with financial statements of companies, continues to change. Compilations & Reviews Update 2008 is a comprehensive review of these revisions that features operable tables, comparison charts, sample materials, and practitioner advice. The course’s concise, clear language makes topics such as engagement letters, GAAP disclosures, SSARS updates, compilation and review issues, and disclosure requirements easy to grasp.

Microsoft Office Access 2007 Step by Step by Lambert, Lambert, Preppernau
Microsoft Office Access is a powerful relational database application with hundreds of tools that allow you to track, share, and report information. This course will lead you through the process of building databases from scratch or from templates, exchanging data with other databases, creating forms to simplify data entry, using filters and queries for analysis purposes, and protecting data from corruption and unauthorized access. This course starts from scratch and builds on previous lessons, so it is great for those who haven’t worked with Access or databases before. The included CD contains practice files and resources to get the most out of Access 2007.

Microsoft Access 2007 Data Analysis by Michael Alexander
Access 2007 is a powerful tool for sorting, analyzing, and presenting large amounts of data in meaningful ways. This unique book will teach you how to (1) collect, transform, analyze, and present data; (2) create custom functions, perform batch analysis, and develop automated procedures; (3) build effective query skills; (4) clean and shape raw data, create and utilize custom calculations, work with dates, and perform advanced time analysis; (5) work with SQL statements, PivotTables, and PivotCharts; (6) perform advanced statistical analysis using subqueries and domain aggregate functions; and (7) use macros to enhance data analysis. Filled with useful tips, screen shots, appendices, examples, and a sample database, this course will open your eyes to what Access 2007 can do for you.

Microsoft Excel and Access Integration with Office 2007 by Michael Alexander & Geoffrey Clark
Microsoft designed Excel and Access applications to work together. This course shows how to move data between these programs to take advantage of Excel’s flexible presentation layer and versatile analysis capabilities and Access’s relational database structure and robust querying tools. In addition, you’ll learn to create Excel PivotTables with Access data; report Access data with Excel’s presentation layer; use VBA, ADO, and SQL to move data; automate redundant processes with VBA; and simplify integration tasks using XML. The examples demonstrated throughout this book can be found in the companion database located at: http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470104880.html