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.

Highlights of key updates include:

• Latest individual federal tax reform developments
• New proposed/enacted tax legislation
• Tax savings strategies
• SECURE Act guidance and SECURE 2.0
• Advanced Child Tax Credit and IRS Letter 6419
• Virtual currency overview
• IRS administration and compliance
• Relevant tax cases and rulings

Learning Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, participants will accomplish:

• 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.
• Increased understanding of current IRS administration and compliance issues.
• Exposure to relevant 2022 tax cases and rulings.

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.

Highlights include:

• Latest federal tax reform developments
• New proposed/enacted tax legislation
• Tax savings strategies
• Cannabis Sales Taxed
• Business Interest Deductions Limited
• Business (Restaurant) Meals 100% Deducible
• Depreciation Changes and Luxury Auto Depreciation Updated
• QBI Deduction Stays the Same
• Avoid Obamacare Form 226-J Penalties

Learning Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Convey details of updated IRS changes
• Recognize opportunities to use business credits.
• Summarize the different types of business retirement plans, assessing contribution limits, elective deferral limitations, and prohibited transactions.
• Compare qualified Roth contribution plans, SEPs, SIMPLE IRAs, and 401(k) plans, identifying the rules on loans to participants and hardship distribution rules to ensure compliance with tax regulations.
• Discuss income subject to self-employment tax and withholding from wages, and assess the impact of various withholding and wages issues.
• Determine the difference between an independent contractor and an employee and examine subsequent reporting requirements.
• Prepare federal tax returns for C corporations.
• Prepare federal tax returns for S corporations.
• Understand federal changes and new rulings.
• Provide tax services for clients based on IRS practice and procedure provisions.
• Describe new developments in IRS policies and procedures.
• Identify the requirements of filing an offer in compromise (OIC).

Course Description

Technology continues to evolve and amaze! In fact, but for technology, where would our businesses be today? It’s truly amazing to see how companies quickly embraced many forms of technology in response to the pandemic. That pace of change is likely to accelerate as newer technologies become mainstream. Tools such as robotic process automation, data analytics, collaboration tools, and artificial intelligence will affect virtually every organization over the coming five years, working alongside today’s mainstream technologies. Participate in this session so you are prepared to embrace and prosper in an ever-evolving technological world.

Highlights include:
• Developments in hardware and software
• Significant developments in emerging technologies and why many of these technologies are essential now
• Critical cybersecurity issues and potential solutions
• Determining if subscription-based software models are right for your team
• The impact of 5G technologies on virtually all aspects of communications

Learning Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to: • Identify significant technology issues that affect accounting and financial professionals • List at least three security practices that should be in place in every organization • Evaluate software subscription models to determine if they are ideal for your team • Differentiate between various communication and collaboration platforms, such as Teams and Zoom • Estimate the impact of emerging technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotic process automation, and data analytics on businesses • Recognize technologies that will be key in a post-pandemic environment

Course Description

Jeff Sailor will use his signature videos, designed to entertain and educate, to deliver a broad overview of the latest accounting standards. More time will be devoted to areas of broad interest, while a brief introduction will be given for narrow scope topics. Major topics will include the latest issues related to Revenue Recognition, Leases and Credit Losses. Topics covered in this course include GAAP updates and accounting theory for useful financial information.

Learning Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to: • Identify and apply the most pervasive GAAP updates. • Cite the basics of the narrow scope GAAP updates. • Describe the characteristics of useful disclosures. • Apply the provisions of the new lease standard. • Apply the provisions for revenue recognition. • Describe the major provisions of the standard for Credit Losses

Course Description

It is safe to say that you use Excel to some degree, but do you and your team use it as efficiently and effectively as you could? Are you taking advantage of newer features such as Data Models, Dynamic Arrays, and the ability to collaborate in real-time with other Excel users? Do you use IDEAS, the IFS function, or the XLOOKUP function? Is Power Query part of your daily routine? Can you use Flash Fill to manipulate data?

In this session, you will learn about each of the above features, plus many others, to boost your productivity and accuracy when working with Excel. This session is a “must-see CPE” session for every accounting and financial professional who desires to use Excel better.

Highlights include:
• New features available in Excel that accounting and financial professionals should use
• How to work with larger volumes of data in Excel
• Improving efficiency through Excel’s collaboration tools
• How to link various sources of external data into Excel for reporting and analysis
• Create user-defined functions in Excel.

Learning Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to: • Identify the importance of Power Query in everyday situations. • Utilize Flash Fill to manipulate data without resorting to formulas. • List examples of when you should use Excel’s multi-condition functions. • Define “array” and identify situations when Dynamic Arrays can improve productivity. • Specify at least two ways you can Data Models and their impact on reporting processes.

Course Description

The 2020’s to date, and the future reality of what we can expect, is unlike anything we have ever experienced! Change is happening at a faster rate than we’ve grown to or comfortably expect! Our clients have a heightened awareness of their long-term financial issues and are increasingly becoming more nervous about their financial situations. As a result, CPAs are increasingly assisting their clients in developing financial planning strategies when preparing for their many concerns and uncertainties. CPAs also find themselves working with other high-level professional advisors to complement the unique and demanding situations in which clients find themselves.

Course presenter, Jeff Rattiner will help you learn and gear your clients to implement a highlevel three-prong approach for living through the balance of this decade by identifying and evaluating a client’s particular situation, determining the weaknesses and exposures that could exist for the client, and in helping to implement sound financial planning recommendations to ensure that the client is following a very specific and tailor-made financial plan by the CPA.

Advanced subject matter as well as new ways of approaching many financial planning disciplines will be discussed. You will gain an understanding and following the personal financial planning process, as well as each of the key financial planning disciplines, including cash flow management, insurance, investments, retirement, estate, education, and more. He will identify a unique approach for providing personal financial planning services, whether you’re performing the tasks yourself or supervising others. Within each discipline, a technical review involving client exposures and recommendations will be discussed. Lastly, he will also help the CPA analyze the income tax return based on the financial planning issues of the client.

Learning Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to: • Identify a comprehensive and dynamic financial planning process that can be implemented for clients in any financial situation. • Gain an understanding of why these are very unusual and difficult times to wrap a handle on the way things have previously been and now why more than at any other time, we need to learn pragmatic approach in digging deep into clients’ financial issues. • Determine how to diagnose, evaluate and propose solutions to client issues • Uncover and develop an understanding of personal financial planning and all of its subcomponents. • Describe how to incorporate tax planning strategies when addressing and evaluating financial planning issues. • Identify how to analyze, evaluate, navigate, and recommend practical solutions to complex dilemmas. • Understand the financial planning ramifications when examining Form 1040

Course Description

With the steady increase in divorce rates likely throughout this decade, and client future assets and income looking very differently than originally planned, how can we help our clients stay focused and continue to reach their objectives during a client environment previously not anticipated. Divorce is a major life changing event that affects clients in a variety of ways. It is an emotionally draining process, let alone a complex financial nightmare for most clients. Divorce can be one of the most devastating occurrences for your clients. Many times, our clients are not thinking clearly during the process, and by the time they realize it, it could be too late!

The initial financial plan can look vastly different before and after a divorce. Many advisors try to figure out the best ways to split marital assets, debt, income, and expenses, but the most significant problems began beforehand when the client is not fully prepared and then arise differently afterwards when clients realize that key assets have been undervalued and tax consequences not factored into the calculations used during the valuation process. If your client’s divorce is not handled properly, whereby if an adequate split is not negotiated or thought through properly, the results may never allow your clients the appropriate timeline to recover!

Join course presenter Jeff Rattiner, CPA, CFP®, as he prepares a path for your clients to pursue by thinking through the critical and timely decisions that must be made. This session will deal with the pitfalls one faces pre- and post-divorce and solutions that can be used to address these existing and future weaknesses. Issues will be covered from a financial and tax standpoint and include valuation, retirement, business valuation and succession, splitting assets and income, prenuptial and post-nuptial agreements, and the re-evaluation of goals after the divorce becomes final. Join this course to learn how to effectively guide your client through this difficult and complex situation. To address these pitfalls and ongoing concerns, there are many planning strategies that present themselves for CPAs and financial advisors to work with their clients in the area of planning for divorce.

Learning Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to: • Determine how to work through the divorce process • Discuss the financial ramifications pre-divorce • Discuss the financial ramifications post-divorce discuss the non-financial ramifications that if not thought through and understand prior could affect the financial outcome of divorce • Distinguish among state residency issues of common law and community property • Learn how these issues affect splitting assets, liabilities, income and expenses, including alimony and child support post tax law • Understand the impact of pre-nupt and post-nupt agreements to address these issues • Explore solutions that can be used to address these existing and future financial, tax, retirement, and valuation planning weaknesses • Prepare for the divorce, the process of paying for the divorce, and how that may affect business valuation and succession • Recognize the tax planning elements and resulting strategies of divorce • Identify which retirement strategies clients should pursue • Apply valuation strategies to help clients with closely held businesses • Apply post-divorce personal financial plans and investment strategies • Re-evaluate goals and objectives after the divorce becomes final to be covered from financial and tax standpoints. • Minimize the disturbances and inconveniences during the initial financial planning process by gaining additional emphasis on the financial, tax aspects, retirement, and valuation issues, which can lead to how clients can overcome the initial downfall, while re-tooling, and starting the process all over again. This is extremely imperative during stage two of life, which often occurs at a much more advanced age. This session will cover how to properly prepare your clients for the multiple types of financial planning ramifications anticipated before, during and after a divorce.

Course Description

Practitioners must provide a variety of reporting services, including compilations, reviews, and audits. This course will cover the latest requirements as well as practical advice for practitioners to effectively do their jobs. Particular attention will be paid to peer review issues. Various “big picture” thinking skills will be discussed as well. A major topic will be the AICPA’s focus on risk assessment. Jeff will also cover the new requirements for Agreed-Upon Procedures engagements under brand new SSAE 19. This course is sure to keep you awake with Jeff Sailor’s signature videos designed to entertain and educate.

Learning Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to: • Identify and apply the latest audit standards. • Cite and apply the latest compilation, preparation, and review standards. • Apply the new provisions for Agreed-Upon Procedures engagements under SSAE 19. • Identify peer review problem areas. • Cite and apply better practice skills.