CPE Catalog & Events

Surgent's Weekly Expert Hour

Each week’s topics will change based on the most critical issues affecting financial professionals

Excel for Accounting Professionals Session 8: Dynamic Headers, Mapping Tables and Error Check

Surgent's Advanced Audits of 401(k) Plans: Best Practices and Current Developments

Audit requirements for ERISA §103(a)(3)(C) audits An annual update of the changes affecting 401(k) plans Compliance issues associated with eligibility and enrollments, remittances, lack of oversight, compensation, vesting, and other topics Best practices for engagement planning, internal controls, risk assessment, and detailed testing Avoiding common mistakes while performing audit procedures Plan mergers and acquisitions Common audit reporting and disclosure issues

Yellow Book: Staying Compliant with Government Auditing Standards

Foundation and principles for the use and application of generally accepted government auditing standards (GAGAS) General requirements for complying with the Yellow Book Ethics, independence, and professional judgment Competence and continuing professional education Quality control and peer review Standards for financial audits Standards for attestation engagements and reviews of financial statements Fieldwork standards for performance audits Reporting standards for performance audits

Surgent's Guide to Partner Capital Account Reporting

How a partner’s outside basis and capital account differ Reconciling Schedule M-2 Form 1065 with Partnership K-1 Schedule L IRS requirement to report partner tax basis on the transactional approach Implications if a capital account is negative Deficit restoration accounts and qualified income offsets Modified outside basis method and modified previously taxed capital method Determining a partner’s beginning capital account  Beginning capital account for partnerships and partners consistently reporting on the tax basis The two types of adjustments under 754 and how 743 and 734 require different capital account presentations

Surgent's Lessons Learned from Successful Companies

Creating a visionary company Traits of successful, visionary companies Goal setting to create a successful organization The role of experimentation and failure in achieving success How successful organizations emphasize learning new skills The role of effective communication in achieving corporate success The importance of emotional intelligence in building corporate culture How leadership can direct a company toward success

Surgent's Guide to Understanding the At-Risk Basis Rules and Forms 6198 and 7203

Basis and at-risk basis How to calculate the amount of annual at-risk basis Forms 6198 and 7203 When activities may be aggregated for at-risk purposes Qualified nonrecourse financing

Surgent's Successfully Completing an Estate Tax Return -- Form 706

Changes to the IRS Form 706 How to successfully navigate the form The ins and outs of the “portability” rules, including how the rules actually work using common examples Income tax consequences How to avoid malpractice traps Overlooked GST issues

Surgent's Auditing 401(k) Plans: Critical Issues and Annual Update

Key requirements of SAS 136 Changes affecting 401(k) plans  Audit strategy and improving overall efficiency Common mistakes as noted in peer reviews and DOL inspections

Surgent's Improving Your Profits: Identifying Cost Cutting Opportunities

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

Surgent's Skills to Enhance Personal and Professional Networks

The value of strategic networking Quality vs. quantity in networking Networking for professional opportunities Person-to-person networking Maintaining and expanding your current connections Networking for introverts Long-term networking strategies

Surgent's What Tax Practitioners Need to Know About Medicare

Eligibility for Medicare How to apply for  Medicare Introduction to Parts A, B, C, and D of Medicare Payments for Parts B and D of Medicare: the higher costs imposed on higher income beneficiaries Late enrollment penalties Medicare Advantage in lieu of original Medicare The Affordable Care Act’s impact on Medicare Legislative and regulatory developments

Surgent's Annual Update for Defined Contribution Plans

Common risks and pitfalls associated with defined contribution plans Nuances of the fair value disclosures New reporting and disclosure requirements for the current year Results of DOL Audit Quality Study

Surgent's Ethics for Tax Professionals

What does practicing before the IRS mean? Who may practice before the IRS? What should a tax preparer do if he or she has knowledge of a client's omission of income from a tax return? May a tax preparer rely on the work of other tax return preparers? May a tax preparer rely on and use client-provided information? Standards associated with giving advice to clients Abolition of the disclaimer requirement When must a tax preparer examine a client’s books and records?

Surgent's Enterprise Risk Management Concepts and Strategy for Small and Medium-Sized Companies

Overview of ERM and how it affects all organizations What COVID-19 has taught us about risk management Risk tolerance and developing a plan Risk identification Risk analysis Risk responses Strategy risk

Surgent's Successful Communication

The communication process and barriers that get in the way Techniques for overcoming barriers Understanding and self-assessment of each component of the communication process Gaining skills to listen more effectively, especially in stressful situations with heightened emotions Action plan to apply techniques in the workplace for communication success

Surgent's Starting a Small Business: What Every Trusted Advisor and Entrepreneur Needs to Know

Understanding the time commitment required to start and run a business Selecting a corporate structure to protect your personal assets Building your product or service Sales and marketing in your business Establishing your owners, investors, managers, and employees Accounting, recording-keeping, and other software programs Leases, contracts, and employee agreements Protecting intellectual property Insurance Business plans Financing Market position

Surgent's Basic Estate Administration for CPAs and FAs

Legal principles and definitions Trust accounting issues Working closely with legal counsel proactively in the best interest of the client Property law concepts Complex community property issues Filing special forms: Form SS-4, Form 56, Form 4810, and Form 5495 Executor checklist The basics of filing a Form 1041 for an estate or non-grantor trust Filing a final Form 709 The basics of filing Form 706 Understanding 706 elections Understanding Estate Valuations, including GST and portability Special considerations for IRAs and ERISA plans When to make Section 454 elections When to make Section 754 elections Understanding the fine points of basis S corp issues Partnership and LLC considerations Passive loss carryforwards and estates Fiscal year elections 65-day election for trusts and estates Tax aspects of pecuniary and specific bequests

Surgent's Emotional Intelligence

Self-awareness Self-regulation & motivation Empathy Managing relationships

Surgent's Industry Accountant Key Performance Metrics

Key tools used by businesses and financial professionals across the globe to measure performance Detailed, real-world examples of businesses utilizing these tools