Select Your Conference Courses

Course Description

Combining the real-life experience of a practicing CPA with essential down-to-earth tax materials in a high-tech format, this powerful presentation will enable participants to grasp recent individual tax changes. You’ll receive the most complete and up-to-date reference manual, written by renowned tax experts.  The digital PDF manual is hyperlinked to the Internal Revenue Code, tax court decisions, and other primary authorities, making it an extremely convenient resource. Join us as our world-class tax instructors share cutting-edge tax planning strategies in a high energy, often humorous presentation style using real-life experiences, which make complicated tax topics easily understandable. Specific course topics will be announced and updated through year-end.

Learning Objectives

• Increased understanding of individual and business federal tax reform developments;
• Tax savings strategies for individuals;
• Enhanced knowledge of the different types of individual and business retirement plans, assessing contribution limits, elective deferral limitations, and prohibited transactions;
• The ability to compare and contrast qualified Roth contribution plans, SEPs, SIMPLE IRAs, and 401(k) plans;
• Identify top estate planning strategies; and
• Increased understanding of current IRS administration and compliance issues.

Course Description

Combining the real-life experience of a practicing CPA with essential down-to-earth tax materials in a high-tech format, this powerful presentation will enable participants to grasp recent individual tax changes. You’ll receive the most complete and up-to-date reference manual, written by renowned tax experts.  The digital PDF manual is hyperlinked to the Internal Revenue Code, tax court decisions, and other primary authorities, making it an extremely convenient resource. Join us as our world-class tax instructors share cutting-edge tax planning strategies in a high energy, often humorous presentation style using real-life experiences, which make complicated tax topics easily understandable. Specific course topics will be announced and updated through year-end.

Learning Objectives

• Discuss business tax reform developments;
• Enumerate planning ideas for business tax reform; and
• Accurately prepare returns for business taxpayers.

Course Description

This course will explore some of the most essential tools for measuring financial and operational success, as well as improving results. Appendices will be provided to give students hands-on applicable materials that can be utilized after completion of the course.

Learning Objectives

• Understand the importance of conducting strategic and operational risk analysis for all facets of business;
• SOC Scope Audits of Systems of Internal Controls;
• Determining appropriate critical risk factors;
• Determining appropriate measures of effectiveness;
• Understand and utilize an ROIC Tree;
• Calculate the External Funds Needed for a business;
• Identify key elements of lean accounting and process activity mapping; and
• Understand activity based costing in combination with lean systems.

Course Description

How good are you with the technology you use daily? What new technology tools are available that could save you time and make you more effective? Technology continues to accelerate rapidly, and the need to keep pace is important. If you are not an information technology (IT) expert, but need a technology update to maintain and improve your skills so that you can serve your companies and/or clients more efficiently and effectively, then this course is for you!

In this fast-paced, update-style course, you will survey today’s IT environment, learning about computer hardware, software (including Office 2016/Office 2019/Office 365), operating systems (including Windows 10) and what they mean for you, and peripheral devices. You will also learn about significant trends in information technology and how to take advantage of the opportunities presented by these trends. Examples include the latest Excel features, working with PDF files, and security and privacy issues. Additionally, you will learn how to improve the overall performance of your IT investment, thereby increasing your return on investment.

Throughout this program, you will learn from real-time demonstrations of practical applications of the latest tools which can provide you with knowledge you need to harness the power of technology, both now and in the future. Register now for this “don’t miss” opportunity to get the skills needed to enhance the value of your IT investment.

Learning Objectives

• Identify key hardware and software enhancements and updates that are relevant to accountants, including operating systems, desktop productivity suites, accounting software, and document management systems;
• Implement key features in Microsoft Office applications, including accountant-centric features in Excel, Word, and Outlook;
• List and apply key features found in Adobe Acrobat for working with PDFs, including commenting, reorganizing PDFs, securing PDFs, and creating and working with PDF forms; and
• Identify key security and privacy issues facing accountants, including practical tools and techniques for mitigating risk, such as data encryption, password management, biometrics, and portals.

Course Description

Our financial and economic series is designed to take key topics for financial executives and explore them in detail such that the CFO/Controller/Financial Executive can take away useful and practical recommendations dealing with the topic at hand.   The program explores the current economic trends and analyze their impact on you as the financial executive in areas professional skepticism, medical care costs, social security viability, the dollar as a world currency, the national infrastructure and the “fate of the states” as well as the AICPA’s top 10 trends and technologies.  Specific recommendations and insights will be offered to you to deal with the challenges.

Course highlights: Understanding the prophetic financial issues for the CFO/Controller to include:

• Professional skepticism and the CPA
• Becoming attuned to broad based business knowledge
• Becoming a futurist to effectively lead your organization to success

Learning Objectives

• CPA becoming attuned to broad based business knowledge, professional skepticism, and subordination of judgment;
• The future of medical care in the United States in a post COVID-19 environment;
• Future of social security and impact on retirement planning and employee retention;
• Impact on financial executive if the dollar is no longer the world currency;
• “Fate of the States” – will the location of your business make you less competitive;
• Future of interest rates;
• Impact of greater reliance on technology;
• AICPA top 10 trends and technologies;
• National infrastructure; and
• ESG and DEI trends in the global economy.

Course Description

This one-day course is up to date with all significant legislative, administrative and judicial developments up to the date of presentation. It includes S corporation eligibility and election requirements, basis and other loss limits, taxable and net investment income, distributions compensation, and entity structuring. It also includes state-specific rules regarding entities and taxes.

Learning Objectives

• Understand the basic requirements of S corporation eligibility;
• Determine the pass-through of income, loss and other items from the S corporation to the shareholder;
• Calculate basis in stock and debt, including adjustments;
• Understand the compensation rules applicable to S corporation shareholder-employees;
• Calculate an S corporation’s built-in gain;
• Be aware of multiple entity structures; and
• Grasp the options for purchase and sale of an S corporation.

Course Description

Today’s accounting and financial professionals need leading-edge technologies to thrive in a high-speed economy. Unfortunately, many still use tools that first appeared over a decade ago, or are mired in manual processes.  This practice leads to inefficiency, fraud, poor decisions, and ineffective communication and collaboration.

Participate in this session to learn about today’s best accounting and finance tech tools, how to take advantage of them, and the benefits they provide. You’ll be amazed at what is available, how easy implementing these can be, and the benefits they offer.

• Using data analytics for better decisions
• Business intelligence platforms
• Automating business processes
• Integrating data across the organization
• Communication and collaboration tools
• Key security technologies

Learning Objectives

• Differentiate between data analytics and business intelligence and list examples of each;
• Identify at least three opportunities for automating transaction flows, including approvals, in any organization;
• List examples of the benefits of data integration and specific tools you and your team can use to facilitate data integration efforts;
• Cite examples of technology to facilitate intra-team communication and collaboration efforts and the related benefits; and
• List at least three security concerns facing businesses and provide examples of solutions to address these risks.

Course Description

The world has changed, but has your finance department changed with it or are they doing the same things the same way they always have? Being technically competent is no longer enough; you have to be able to connect with people throughout your organization. In this session, we will cover definition and characteristics of strategic leadership. We will review 30 roles to enhance: your position in the organization, your interactions with other departments, and your strategic role in your organization. These strategic roles will help move you and your department into the future; go from being a disliked cost center to an appreciated, value-adding resource within your organization. This course is designed to build on what you are already doing right and add specific steps you can implement immediately to have a positive impact on your organization’s future.

Learning Objectives

• Define what it means to be strategic
• Identify opportunities to add value throughout your organization
• Describe the 8 characteristics of strategic leaders
• Discover tips for hiring and developing a strategic team
• Identify roles to enhance your strategic skill set and improve how others see you in the organization
• Identify roles for developing strategic skills in your subordinates, team-mates, and coworkers