CPE Catalog & Events

Employment at will—what this means in a practical sense Implied employment contracts What a prospective employer can ask about, and test for, during  employment interviews Federal anti-discrimination rules applicable to hiring and firing How to fire an employee and not get sued

Prepare now and protect yourself from new audit examinations What to do when there is tax-related identity theft Understanding substantiation requirements for travel, charitable contributions, vehicles, meals, virtual currency considerations, and tax-related identity theft Gaining an in-depth understanding of IRS hot examination issues including passive loss rules, real estate professional status, and the Section 199A provisions as they pertain to rental real estate Identify how the IRS holds persons other than an employer liable for unpaid payroll taxes, a.k.a., the trust fund recovery penalty Understanding IRS Audit Techniques Guides and Compliance Campaigns Recognizing the 30-day letter and the 90-day letter, including what the taxpayer’s responsibilities are

New and proposed FASB ASUs related to ASC 606 ASC 606 disclosure requirements and examples for non-public business entities Impact of applying ASC 606 due to COVID-19

Common fraud prevention strategies Common fraud detection methods

Development costs that should and should not be capitalized How these costs are amortized and how they are tested for impairment Presentation and disclosure requirements

Why the IRS selects a tax return for audit What happens when the taxpayer disagrees with the results of the audit IRS employees who interact with taxpayers during an audit FATCA audits Types of IRS examinations Potential IRS audit outcomes Substitute for returns Large Partnership Compliance Program IRS’s shift in audit strategies Responding to IRS Notices online Audits of high income and high net-worth individuals The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (BBA) and its impact on auditing partnerships IRS Letters of Concern

Issues involved when settling an estate – marshaling of assets, payment of creditors, & distribution and accounting to beneficiaries Explaining the needs and limitations of durable powers of attorney, health care directives, and living wills Why a will is probated, and on what grounds it may be challenged Comprehensive checklists on how to read a will, duties of an executor and trustee, and much more Identification and report of estate assets What to do and what not to do as a fiduciary, executor, or trustee – duty of care, investment, informing, payment of debts and taxes, & defending a will contest How executors and trustees interact with beneficiaries Elective shares, and when a spouse might make that choice What a trustee needs to know about incompetents and minors Rights of creditors, third parties, and beneficiaries Key issues in transferring property to a trust and from a trust or estate to a beneficiary Identifying income, estate, and inheritance taxes Fiduciary accounting – principal and income concepts An introduction to drafting an account, and why it is relevant Administration of revocable trusts Estate basis reporting

Process of estate administration, including the basics of creating the estate, the role of the executor, and how to probate a will Steps to take immediately upon the death of the decedent and the importance of inventorying the estate assets Problems associated with the distribution of estate assets Utilizing family settlement agreements

Criteria that the IRS uses to select returns for examination Substantiation requirements for travel, charitable contributions, vehicles, meals, virtual currency considerations and tax-related identity theft Understanding worker classification determinations on who is an employee and who is an independent contractor Distinguishing S corporation officer’s reasonable compensation issues How the IRS holds persons other than an employer liable for unpaid payroll taxes, a.k.a., the trust fund recovery penalty Tax-related identity theft procedures

Criteria that the IRS uses to select returns for examination Substantiation requirements for travel, charitable contributions, vehicles, meals, virtual currency considerations and tax-related identity theft Understanding worker classification determinations on who is an employee and who is an independent contractor Distinguishing S corporation officer’s reasonable compensation issues How the IRS holds persons other than an employer liable for unpaid payroll taxes, a.k.a., the trust fund recovery penalty Tax-related identity theft procedures

The basics of subscription pricing Pricing strategies, with an eye toward a modern model for your business How to implement subscription pricing The need to look back and assess the financial impact of the implementation How to manage customer retention The optimum subscription pricing for your business

What are Excel tables are and why are they important? How to create Excel Tables from scratch The art of sorting and filtering data within Excel tables to quickly identify patterns, trends, and outliers How Excel tables use structured reference formulas to create accurate calculations How Excel tables increase spreadsheet creation productivity

Best practices when designing spreadsheets Creating a proper worksheet structure Using Excel's built-in features to find errors Creating custom controls to prevent and find errors Using links to quickly move to controls Using conditional formatting to highlight errors

What keeps companies from becoming streamlined?  Behavioral biases Information processing biases Emotional biases How to deal with behavioral biases  Connecting behavioral biases to cost cutting Creating a culture of cost cutting Rules of thumb for cost cutting  Managing headcount Post-COVID common areas of excess cost Budgeting techniques Budget variances Benchmarking Common size financial statements Horizontal analysis Negotiation and contracting techniques Cash flow and the business cycle

How to analyze others through simple observation A proven model to understand and predict behavior Why assertiveness is neither good nor bad What behaviors to expect from different personality types Why do I act like I do? Correcting employee issues in a new and better way

Proven ways to measure costs in relation to objectives Develop methods to measure company and department objectives Use ratios to measure and improve efficiency Develop an incentive system that rewards efficiency

Effects of recent legislation, including the recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act and the SECURE Act 2.0  The Qualified Business Income deduction   Filing information, filing status, personal exemptions, dependents, the standard deduction, etc.  Wages and salaries   Interest income, dividend income, mutual funds, Social Security  Figuring tax   Basic income tax preparation, Form 1040 and Schedules 1 – 3  Capital gains and losses   Medical and dental expenses, charitable contributions   IRA contributions and distributions   Distributions from qualified retirement plans, pensions, and annuities   Profit and loss from business or profession and self-employment tax   Depreciation   Rental income and expenses  Preparation of Schedules A, B, C, D, E, and Forms 4562, 4797, and more 

Effects of recent legislation, including the recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act and the SECURE Act 2.0 Filing information, filing status, personal exemptions, dependents, the standard deduction, etc. Dependents and income Wages and salaries Credits, withholding, estimated tax, and basic return preparation Capital gains and losses Itemized deductions

Timely coverage of breaking tax legislation Form 1099-K reporting requirements FinCEN reporting requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act in 2024, including recently updated FAQs Donor Advised Funds - IRS Proposed Regulations and Tax Planning Recent Employee Retention Tax Credit updates, including the limited-time reopening of the Voluntary Disclosure Program New Form 1099-DA Review of pertinent cases and rulings affecting taxpayers Practice aids, including all the numbers applicable for the current year -- inflation-adjusted amounts, mileage rates, retirement contributions, and more Advanced practice, reporting, and other issues intertwined with advanced planning and discussion ideas

Comprehensive coverage of the SECURE Act 2.0 Retirement planning in light of IRA and RMD changes Review of pertinent changes from recent legislation Reading a tax return for developing client-specific tax strategies Identifying tax opportunities: reviewing the prior-year return to develop a plan for the future Compensation and fringe benefit issues Identify clients with net investment income tax problems and the potential ways to reduce or eliminate them All in the family: Tax tactics for spouses, children, and parents Understanding the environment: what’s new, what’s expired or expiring, and what’s likely to change