CPE & Event Calendar

Do you want to build stronger relationships with your clients, improve client retention, and drive growth in your practice? This course delves into the essential strategies for effective client management in today's competitive landscape. Client relationships, like any relationship, can be challenging to manage. Miscommunication, differing work styles, and unrealistic expectations are some of the challenges accounting and finance professionals routinely encounter. However, when accounting clients and members of your team are on the same page, client loyalty and profitability improve while conflict is minimized. This webinar explores proven strategies to improve relationships between accounting and finance professionals and their clients.

Years ago, Peter Drucker said, "what gets measured gets managed," and that is true today. As financial professionals, we understand and desire this, but often it's difficult to get the concept across to the remainder of the organization. This program will take a deep dive into metrics with the goal of making them more actionable for any organization. By doing so, we are in a much better position to sharply increase the success of the organization.

Many experts say that an organization's culture is the single most important thing that will determine its success. Assuming that's true, it's necessary for the finance professional to understand the effect that the finance function has on that culture. This program will take a good look at what causes a better culture, both within the organization and within the department. Then, we will examine how the finance professional can positively influence the culture within the financial function and how that will affect the entire organization.

Have you noticed that change is continuing to happen at a more and more rapid pace? Obviously, some organizations survived change far better than others due to their ability to handle unexpected developments. Sick and tired of taking CPE that has no practical application or just regurgitates the same information over and over? Join us for this practical course, which will present a fresh approach to planning and strategy formulation for your organization. Often thought of as a painful process, planning and strategy formulation is probably one of the most important processes any organization undertakes in order to achieve financial success. We'll explore this fresh approach to many different planning stages, including the marketing plan, the technology plan, the capital plan, the five-year operating plan and much more! The pandemic has shown us that our planning process must be far nimbler and allow our organization to shift rapidly. Today's dynamic economic environment requires much more careful planning and strategy execution. Come find out how to make that happen for your organization.

Employee discipline is always challenging. Training on proper progressive discipline is critical to avoiding potential lawsuits while also trying to bring out the best possible employee performance. This webinar is designed to assist human resources professionals and managers in understanding the best ways to use progressive discipline as both a management and risk reduction tool. The webinar also will address best practices with regard to the employee termination process.

The past few years have shown us the need for numerous projects and the need to manage those projects in a unique way. Project management is an important part of every organization; however, often companies do not differentiate between project management and operations management. Sometimes the finance professional is called upon to serve on a project team, or in other cases is in a position to manage a project within the finance or accounting department. In either case, he or she should be well versed in both the theory and practice of project management. While project management has probably been around since the time of building the pyramids, the modern discipline started to take hold in large organizations in the late '50s and early '60s. From there it spread to smaller organizations to the point where almost any-sized organization can benefit from its ideas. This course is designed for the finance professional of the small and medium-sized organization. It is not meant for the experienced project manager of a large organization or the person wanting training for project management certification. In an effort to avoid talking theory without concrete examples, we will often use examples born from projects needed as a result of recent changes in both economics and politics.

Recent economic, societal, and political changes have shown us the need for numerous projects and the need to manage those projects in a unique way. Project management is a way of thinking highly recognized and practiced by large organizations, but often neglected by the smallest companies and entrepreneurs. This course quickly discusses the basics of project management thought and practice and then spends the majority of the time exploring some of the greatest mistakes that can be made, the ways to avoid them, and some of the tricks that have been introduced into the discipline. In the program we will explore some of the specific types of project management as well as some of the available software programs to make the task of project management easier.

Recent economic, societal, and political changes have shown us the need for numerous projects and the need to manage those projects in a unique way. Project management is a way of thinking highly recognized and practiced by large organizations, but often neglected by the smallest companies and entrepreneurs. This course quickly discusses the basics of project management thought and practice and then spends the majority of the time exploring some of the greatest mistakes that can be made, the ways to avoid them, and some of the tricks that have been introduced into the discipline. In the program we will explore some of the specific types of project management as well as some of the available software programs to make the task of project management easier.

Regulators, investors, other capital markets stakeholders and users of the financial statements need accurate and transparent financial information for decision making. One reason that why the capital markets are as efficient as they are today, is that users believe that they can trust audited financial statements, in part, due to the fact that they are audited. The AICPA instituted its Enhancing Audit Quality Initiative in 2014 to help to improve regulator and stakeholder trust when it was being questioned. Education, outreach and changes to the peer review program have helped to increase audit quality over the subsequent years. New standards will require a risk-based approach to quality management and enhance the guidance on the role of the engagement quality reviewer and the audit partner. (Please Note: This module is part of Surgent's Audit Skills Training: Level 5.)

In many smaller organizations the job of risk manager is housed with the CEO, and many of the staff who better understand the details of the various risks are not included in risk-management discussions. This program will take a hard look at risk management and show how to develop a program that is specifically designed to work well in a small business. Based on proven management techniques, the risk-management system will better focus on good risk management and especially strong mitigation.

For all the work performed on the audit, the one thing that the public sees is the auditor's report. So we need to make sure that the opinion is correct. With the effective date of SAS 134, the auditor's report underwent significant changes. This session will cover the format of the revised auditor's report and discuss the responsibilities of both management and the auditors which are now explicitly identified in the revised report. The session will also cover other conforming changes made to the auditor's report with the effective date of SAS 137-140. Lastly, the session will address both when, and how, the auditor would issue qualified and adverse opinions and when the auditor would disclaim an opinion. The session will also address when the auditor is required to add either an Emphasis of Matter or Other Matter paragraph and its contents. (Please Note: This module is part of Surgent's Audit Skills Training: Level 4.)

This course provides an overview of two of the most popular SEC topics which result in comment letters from the SEC. This includes a discussion of management's discussion and analysis (MD&A) as well as Non-GAAP Financial Measures. These two areas consistently rank in the Top 10 for the most frequent comment letters issued to public companies by the SEC.

Specifically tailored for practitioners who not only perform audits but provide other attest and nonattest services to small and medium-sized businesses, this course is a comprehensive update covering recently issued accounting, auditing, and SSARS standards, as well as other professional guidance impacting small and medium-sized business accountants. The course uses practical examples and illustrations to help you understand and apply the new guidance and will get you up to speed on the things that are most important to your smaller and medium-sized clients. This course covers recently released FASB ASUs, AICPA Auditing Standards, AICPA SSARSs, and the not yet effective Statements on Quality Management Standards (SQMS). Lastly, we will cover ongoing issues and pain points following ASC 842 becoming effective.

Starting and owning a small business has often been referred to as the "Third Pillar of Wealth," right behind investments and owning real estate. Essentially, all businesses start off as "small businesses." Small businesses, however, require a large amount of preparation in order to successfully launch and grow. Starting a business requires the owners and managers to address a host of issues, including an understanding of applicable laws, appropriate financing, staffing requirements, marketing, liability protection, and many more. This course provides a broad overview of the critical issues business owners, as well as their professional advisors, must consider when starting and growing a small business. There is extensive research regarding best practices in this area, and this webinar is intended to distill down such information and focus on what is critical to get a small business up and running as seamlessly as possible.

Stepping into the shoes of an outside technical consultant, each participant must perform an ASC 606 assessment for Quality Tiles, Inc. (QTI), a company recently acquired by Home D‚cor and More, Inc. (HDM). HDM management needs to ensure the company is in compliance with GAAP related to revenue recognition before the next board meeting. Participants will meet with GTI's controller and must strategically ask the right questions. Based on the information received, they will apply guidance in ASC 606, which can be complex, to a series of revenue recognition considerations to determine if revenue is being recognized appropriately.

This intensive 2-hour course is designed to unlock the potential of array formulas in Microsoft Excel. Array formulas are a vital tool in Excel for their unique ability to perform multiple calculations on one or more items within an array, making them indispensable for complex data analysis and calculations. They enable users to write fewer, more powerful formulas, leading to cleaner and more efficient spreadsheets. This course is tailored to enhance your data analysis and spreadsheet management skills by delving into the advanced aspects of array functions. Through a combination of theoretical knowledge and practical exercises, you will learn to streamline your work and improve efficiency in Excel.

The risk assessment process requires the auditor to understand internal controls over financial reporting and report deficiencies to management and those charged with governance as defined by professional standards. Auditors may be also required or decide to test internal controls for effectiveness. This module builds on the previous module on internal control extending the participant's skills to effective and efficient testing of internal controls and communicating deficiencies. (Please Note: This module is part of Surgent's Audit Skills Training: Level 3.)

A significant number of projects fail to achieve their initial goals and/or are not completed within budget and their original timetable. As a team member, a CMA has a unique skill set and experiences to assist in project management. In addition to their analytical training and knowledge of budgets and controls, they typically have ongoing contacts with other professionals from a variety of backgrounds. Familiar analytical tools/techniques can be applied to managing projects. This brief program is designed to aid both experienced and less experienced participants in increasing their knowledge of, and comfort with, the steps and skills needed for success.

This course provides a deep dive into SEC Form 10-K. This course addresses the key requirements and regulatory aspects, including filing deadlines and their significance for investors. This course also addresses the financial statements section, covering the balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement, and footnote disclosures, along with best practices for preparation. The course also focuses on the Management's Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) section, exploring its importance in the explanation of financial results and addressing common drafting challenges. Finally, this course discusses risk factors, internal controls, and corporate governance disclosures, highlighting their role in enhancing transparency.

The recent pandemic showed us one very important thing: the nimble business was in a far better position to change quickly and survive. Some organizations are nimbler, but why? The reason is that they know that change will happen quickly, and they specifically plan for that change. This program will take a look at planning and direct the participant into a planning system that is established to handle change more quickly.