CPE Catalog
Chronological events are listed below the Featured events.
We are pleased to offer live CPE seminars throughout the year. These are virtual presentations with a live instructor allowing for live interaction. These seminars are listed in the Seminars tab below.
U.S. Taxation of Foreign Corporations: A Case Study Approach
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Online
3.00 Credits
Member Price: $149
This course is a case study designed to provide a comprehensive overview of U.S. taxation of a foreign corporation. Using a specific example, the course will walk through step-by-step mechanics on how to calculate the income inclusions and foreign tax credits under tested income (formerly known as global intangible low-taxed income or GILTI), Subpart F, and passive foreign investment company (PFIC) regimes. These computations have been updated to reflect changes enacted by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). The case study will further evaluate the tax impact of subsequent distributions from the foreign corporation and sales of its stock. A compare-and-contrast approach will highlight the different outcomes of these regimes for individuals and for C corporations, empowering participants to advise their clients on the most tax-efficient way to structure their foreign investments.
Employee vs. Independent Contractor: Achieving Success in a Worker Classification Audit
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Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $99
The IRS believes, perhaps with some justification, that many workers classified as independent contractors are actually employees and should be treated as such for tax purposes. The result is that worker classification audits are frequent and often costly for business clients, both in terms of time as well as money expended. This program prepares accounting and finance professionals to assist their clients with worker classification audits, and to avoid them if possible, by discussing and explaining the circumstances under which workers will most likely be characterized as employees or as independent contractors. The program also deals with the first line of defense against the IRS in worker classification audits — Section 530, as well as the common law factors distinguishing an employee from an independent contractor. This program also explores the IRS Voluntary Classification Settlement Program and discusses whether a practitioner should advise a client to request admission into this program.
Engaging and Managing Young Professionals
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Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $99
Younger professionals comprise a significant part of the accounting and finance workforce. Whether you are an owner of a small accounting practice or a manager in a multinational accounting firm, it is important to understand the characteristics and expectations of this large segment of the workforce. Research reveals that many of the common stereotypes surrounding young professionals are unfounded and counterproductive. This course provides an understanding of who young professionals are in comparison to their predecessors, the Gen-Xers and baby boomers. Equally important, the presentation will look at common myths regarding young professionals and why understanding this class of employees provides opportunities for your organization to grow and succeed.
Ethical Considerations for CPAs
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Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $99
As accounting firms' non-attest offerings to their attest clients become more diversified, such engagements increase firms' exposure to independence violations. In order to thread the needle of providing value-added services and upholding their independence obligations, firms need to have a strong foundational understanding of the applicable ethical and independence rules which govern these engagements. In this course, we'll review the relevant sections of the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct regarding independence, objectivity, and conflicts of interest. The course will focus on the Code's Independence Rule and common threats to auditor's independence. In particular, the course will focus on those unique considerations related to non-attest services, both from the perspective of AICPA interpretations and other applicable rules and regulations. PLEASE NOTE: THIS COURSE COVERS GENERAL ETHICS AND IS APPLICABLE IN STATES IN WHICH STATE-SPECIFIC ETHICS IS NOT REQUIRED.
Strategies for Maximizing Social Security Benefits
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Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $99
As Americans live longer and increasingly move away from traditional pensions, Social Security has become the main source of retirement income for many clients. Meanwhile, concerns about solvency and a lack of understanding of key rules have led to confusion and sometimes misguided decisions. This program offers tax practitioners the knowledge they need to help clients make informed choices about Social Security and retirement income.
Business Law for Small Business Owners
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Online
4.00 Credits
Member Price: $159
One of the most intimidating aspects of going into business for yourself is compliance. Tax, employment, and regulatory laws are difficult to navigate, so it often falls on the CPA to know the basics in these areas to help their clients avoid costly litigation. In this course, we will cover basic compliance areas for small business owners. We will look at the main elements of a contract, taxation of entity types, worker classification, property law, and many of the other areas that are often overwhelming for small business owners. By being able to speak to these issues, practitioners will be able to add value and help their small business owner clients grow and thrive.
Emotional Intelligence
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Online
4.00 Credits
Member Price: $159
Recent research shows that emotional intelligence is twice as important as IQ in the development of business leaders. But what's the difference between emotional intelligence (EI) and manipulation? This course is designed to help you understand how EI is linked to leadership success. You'll learn how to assess your own emotional intelligence and how to identify the negative consequences of unmanaged emotions. You'll learn techniques that will improve your self-awareness, self-control, and self-motivation and you'll create a plan that increases your EI so that you can achieve optimal results in your relationships with others.
Features and Benefits of SEP IRAs and SIMPLE IRAs
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Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $99
A challenge for many small business owners is choosing the 'right' type of retirement plan for their businesses. Many hesitate to adopt retirement plans for their businesses because they are intimidated by the governing rules. In those cases, SEP and SIMPLE IRAs are reasonable solutions because they are easy to establish, maintain, and communicate with employees; have minimal administrative costs; and are practical and efficient ways to start a retirement plan. These IRA-based plans - SEP IRAs and SIMPLE IRAs - have low maintenance costs and are easy to communicate to employees. With IRA-based employer plans, employer contributions are sometimes discretionary, giving business owners the choice of whether to fund every year. Despite the simplicity of these plans, employers must ensure that applicable compliance requirements are met to avoid penalties. To that end, this course will cover some key provisions of SEP and SIMPLE IRAs.
Representing a Client in an IRS Audit
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Online
3.00 Credits
Member Price: $169
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 called for delivering nearly $80 billion to the IRS over 10 years to allow the IRS to purchase new technology and hire employees. This funding would have provided the IRS with new equipment and new employees, possibly to handle more audits, many of them involving very complex tax issues. The Trump Administration has reversed this with prospects for a reduction in IRS employees and less money to fund the purchase and development of new software. This program discusses the current state of IRS audits. Trump administration changes will of course have enormous impacts on these audits going forward.
A Complete Guide to the Yellow Book
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Online
8.00 Credits
Member Price: $279
A thorough understanding of the Yellow Book is essential for anyone working with governments and not-for-profits. This course provides comprehensive coverage of Yellow Book requirements while building confidence and proficiency in performing Yellow Book audits. The course uses a highly illustrative and engaging format, featuring more than 25 focused exercises designed to strengthen practical application and enhance working knowledge.
The Best Individual Income Tax Update Course by Surgent
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Online
8.00 Credits
Member Price: $299
This highly informative course comprehensively covers all the latest tax law developments. The focus is on individual taxation and discussion of the planning opportunities practitioners need to understand to help clients respond effectively. You will come away from the course with the up-to-date knowledge to educate your individual tax clients and implement tax-saving ideas that will serve their ever-evolving needs. This course is continually updated to reflect enacted legislation. Please Note: Due to content overlap, it is recommended that this course NOT be taken together with BFTU.
A Complete Tax Guide to Exit Planning
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Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $99
When exit planning, it is important to weigh various issues, including tax implications, to achieve an effective management and/or ownership change. Many envision tax-free reorganizations being the most preferable structure to avoid capital gains tax, but the opportunities come at a cost to the seller. This course will provide a well-rounded discussion of the various strategies to consider when advising on exiting a business.
Getting Ahead: The Art of Marketing for CPAs
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Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $99
To many clients, CPA firms all look the same. While services and specialties may vary significantly from one firm to another, it is hard for the average person to see this by simply looking at the sign outside our office door. Is there any way to make us stand out more to the outside world? Through surveys, statistics, and examples, this course looks at how CPA firms can develop a marketing plan beyond just relying on referrals. We look at the pluses and minuses of various marketing channels, regulatory constraints, and how to measure success in the competitive financial services space.
Annual Accounting and Auditing Update
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Online
8.00 Credits
Member Price: $299
Designed as an all-you-need-to-know update for accounting, auditing, and attestation practitioners at all levels in public accounting and industry, this course provides a comprehensive review of recent standard-setting and rulemaking activities of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). On the financial accounting front, we will cover the FASB's Post-Implementation Review (PIR) report released in late 2025 for lease accounting under ASC 842 and discuss the best practices in applying the standard and identifying any ongoing issues practitioners are experiencing with applying the standard. We will also discuss the more than a dozen ASUs the FASB has issued since the beginning of 2024 and into 2026 covering government grants, derivatives and financial instruments, practical expedients for credit losses under ASC 326, and expense disaggregation on the income statement. Our focus on AICPA standards includes a detailed discussion of revamped AICPA quality management standards. The AICPA updated and modernized the standards by issuing Statement on Quality Management Standards 1, 2, and 3 (SQMS 1, SQMS 2, and SQMS 3, respectively), SSARS No. 26, and SAS 146, Quality Management for an Engagement Conducted in Accordance with Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (SAS 146). These standards, now effective as of December 15, 2025, modernize quality management standards to reflect an increased focus on risk assessment, technology use, and the presence of outside experts on engagements. We will also discuss AICPA's proposed SAS, The Auditor's Responsibilities Relating to Fraud in an Audit of Financial Statements, intended to supersede AU-C section 240. We will also cover new rules impacting public company audits and present case studies on recent fraudulent accounting stories and best practices for detecting and preventing such frauds. In summary, the course is your go-to source for all things A&A and will prepare you for your upcoming engagements throughout the rest of the year.
Data at 30,000 Feet: Traveling Smart with Client and Personal Information
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Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $119
Whether you're heading across town or across the globe, traveling with electronic devices carries real risks to the sensitive client and firm data stored on them. In this session, we'll explore the ethical obligations CPAs have to protect confidential information, including guidance from the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct and applicable laws. We'll examine how data can be accessed — legitimately or maliciously — by third parties during travel, and offer practical strategies to minimize risk, from using loaner devices and mobile device management to coordinating with IT before departure. The session includes current border search rules, international considerations, and actionable tips for staying secure in transit.
Excel Shortcuts for Accountants
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Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $99
This webinar presents a variety of time-saving ideas, shortcuts, and tips that are sure to boost personal productivity. We discuss better summing, address one of the biggest pitfalls that Excel users have faced over the past 25 years, present the most important keyboard shortcuts, demonstrate a better alternative to hiding rows or columns, illustrate how to quickly navigate to other workbooks and files, and demonstrate using Excel with styles.
Make Resilience Work for You - An Accounting Leader's Guide to a Holistic Approach for Managing Teams
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Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $99
Resilience training was originally developed to strengthen individuals in high-risk groups like law enforcement, firefighters, and the military. This course also speaks to accounting and finance experts in a very challenging discipline. Resilience training is based on the intriguing assumption that resilience can be learned. A resilience leader possesses mental toughness, competence, and confidence. A confident accounting or finance person makes better decisions and thinks in deliberate ways to meet adversity and pressure. Resilience is the ability to exercise tenacity, bounce back from tough times, or even triumph in the face of adversity. Today's accounting professionals will experience challenges but are able to reframe then as learning opportunities. Resilient accounting and finance professionals push their limits, learn from their mistakes, and are able to transform an organization and themselves.
More Money at the End of the Month: Strategic Ways to Improve Cash Flow
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Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $99
Cash flow management is often the most important task of any CFO or financial leader. Regardless of whether one works in start-ups or established companies, non-profit or for-profit entities, cash flow makes our organizations run. Have you ever wondered whether you are optimizing your company's cash flow? In this course, we will explore how to improve your company's cash flow using analysis and financial theories in the context of real-world situations.
Schedule 1-A: Implementing Important OBBBA Deductions for 2025
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Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $119
Schedule 1-A is a new tax form designed to consolidate four key OBBBA deductions that can be taken for the first time in 2025. Ultimately these four deductions: the tip deduction, the overtime deduction, the deduction for interest paid on a new car loan, and the senior deduction, appear as a single entry on line 13b of Form 1040. These deductions are phased out at higher income levels, the calculation of which takes place on Schedule 1-A. Accounting and finance professionals who wish to understand the mechanics of the four deductions and how they are expressed on Schedule 1-A and consolidated on Form 1040 would benefit from taking this program.
Time Management for Professionals
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Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price: $99
The phrase "time management" is misleading. No one manages time. Instead, we manage events in our lives which consume time. Like money, time is both finite and valuable; it should be budgeted and used wisely. Those individuals who "manage" or budget their time wisely often are more productive, less stressed, and able to achieve their goals more effectively than others. Professionals by nature place a high value on their time. Still, successful time management strategies vary based upon the personality, motivation, and discipline of each individual. This course provides simple, practical, and powerful techniques that help professionals work efficiently and achieve better balance in their lives. Successful time management skills also reduce the risk of burnout, which in turn improves the likelihood of achieving success in any endeavor.