CPE Catalog
Note
AICPA On-Demand & Self-Study courses take up to 24 hours to process.
Surgent's Data Security: Best Practices to Protect Your Business and Yourself
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Online
1.00 Credits
Data security is a front-of-mind topic for most businesses because the risk and cost statistics are sobering. Each of us is in the crosshairs because a typical internet-connected computer faces a cyberattack every 39 seconds. Businesses of all sizes should be cognizant of the ethical issues that must be considered when planning their approach to privacy and data security. In this webinar, we will explore both the risks we have traditionally faced in the workplace personally, as well as the novel set of data privacy threats and compliance challenge issues employers face with a remote and mobile workforce.
Surgent's Nuts & Bolts of Cryptocurrency Taxation
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Online
2.00 Credits
Cryptocurrency is heading mainstream. According to a recent study conducted by New York Digital Investment Group, there are 46 million bitcoin holders in the US, and institutions have also shown increased interest in this space. The rising popularity of cryptocurrency and the inclusion of the virtual currency question on the front and center of Form 1040 have made cryptocurrency a subject that tax practitioners cannot afford to ignore anymore. This course is designed to walk you through tax implications of common cryptocurrency-related transactions (trading, mining, spending, staking, etc.) and how to successfully service clients affiliated with cryptocurrency by using a tool like CoinTracker. This session also covers current developments surrounding this topic and some of the unique tax planning opportunities in the crypto space such as tax loss harvesting without being subject to wash sale rules, tax lot ID optimization (FIFO, LIFO, and HIFO), self-directed IRAs, etc.This course qualifies for IRS credit.
Surgent's Elder Fraud
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Online
2.00 Credits
When we leave our jobs, we also leave the protection our employer provides us with regards to internet and Wi-Fi security. Hired people may be able to help with the newest applications, but they may not understand the security risks posed. This session will cover some basic information about cybersecurity weaknesses and some of the scams that target older, retired people. Many times, the perpetrator is someone close and someone who we think we can trust. In this course, you will learn some basic tools to protect against those who wish to perpetrate fraud.
Surgent's Advanced Trust Issues: A Roadmap for Success in An Increasingly Complex Area
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Online
4.00 Credits
Trusts are not cookie-cutter documents. In fact, they can be rather unwieldy, especially in explaining the functions to a client and then having the client comply with the trust terms. This course delves into best practices. Given common scenarios, what are the best trusts to use? And how can the client be best protected?
Surgent's Update on the AICPA's New Ethics and Quality Control Standards
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Online
4.00 Credits
Quality and ethics are the hallmark characteristics of the accounting profession. It is our responsibility as CPAs to have a firm understanding of our professional responsibilities in these two key areas. Recently enacted and proposed updates to the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct (Code) and Quality Management standards represent significant changes in how we govern ourselves and our firms as CPAs. This course will cover the details of the enacted and proposed changes to the Code, especially those impacted our communication of noncompliance with laws and regulations, and other changes which will impact our independence. Next, the course will review the new quality management standards proposed by the AICPA, which will represent a significant change in how firms design and deploy their processes which ensure engagement quality and compliance with the Code. In this period of great change, this course will give you the information which you need to move forward in this new era.
Surgent's Form 1040 Return Review Boot Camp for New and Experienced Reviewers
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Online
8.00 Credits
Most review techniques developed by professionals are self-taught and fine-tuned via experience. Yet how does one start? The purpose of this course is to give both new and seasoned reviewers additional and advanced procedures via a multitude of checklists to thoroughly review various tax returns. Its emphasis is not planning; rather, it is to develop a strategy to properly review a return effectively and thoroughly. The course includes dozens of practice tips for new reviewers and is updated for impacts of newly enacted legislation.This course qualifies for IRS credit.
Surgent's Technical Business Practice Issues and Tax Forms for Experienced Practitioners
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Online
8.00 Credits
Don't let the title frighten you. It is critical that staff be trained on the increasingly complex forms-related issues that challenge them each busy season. This course will help experienced staff focus on the essential amidst the cacophony of IRS and legislative changes and avoid costly mistakes. This course brings to the forefront advanced preparation issues, from individual returns to flow-through entities such as S corporations, LLCs, and partnerships.This course qualifies for IRS credit.
Surgent's Employee vs. Independent Contractor: Achieving Success in a Worker Classification Audit
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Online
2.00 Credits
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 tax practitioners 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.This course qualifies for IRS credit.
Surgent's Excel Budgeting Ideas
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Online
2.00 Credits
Budget methods are the key to allowing department managers to efficiently prepare their budget in Excel. For example, a budget method may be to spread prior year actuals or match prior year actuals, or match prior year actuals less 10%. In this webinar, we will explore how to allow users to pick a budget method from a drop-down list for each account and then have Excel perform different calculations depending on the budget method selected. We use several features and functions at the same time to pull this off. Even if you are not involved in the budgeting process, the underlying features and functions discussed have a wide range of uses.
Surgent's Understanding S Corporation Taxation: Shareholder Basis, AAA, and Retained Earnings
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Online
2.00 Credits
Even though they have been around for several years, the tax laws pertaining to S corporations remain some of the more difficult areas of the Internal Revenue Code. Given the rising popularity of S corporations, understanding how shareholder basis and the equity section of the balance sheet work together for tax purposes is imperative for nearly any tax practitioner. In this course, we will discuss this relationship. Using examples and illustrations, we will show how contributions, operating transactions, and distributions affect shareholder basis as well as equity.This course qualifies for IRS credit.
Surgent's Advanced Critical Tax Issues for S Corporations
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Online
8.00 Credits
This course goes beyond the basics and addresses important practical issues that an experienced practitioner must know. Even if you have attended other S corporation courses, you will learn something new in this course.This course qualifies for CFP credit.This course qualifies for IRS credit.
Surgent's Purchase and Sale of a Residence: Critical Tax Issues
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Online
2.00 Credits
Many clients end up selling one or more residences during their lifetimes. Tax practitioners must be aware of the tax rules that relate to such sales in order to assist their clients regarding these sales. This program provides general tax practitioners with the tax rules they need to know to help their clients when they sell a personal residence. This program is a comprehensive survey of the various tax issues associated with the sale of a residence.This course qualifies for IRS credit.
Surgent's Excel: Mastering PivotTables
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Online
2.00 Credits
PivotTable is a fancy term for an Excel report that summarizes data. If you have not yet had the good fortune of exploring PivotTables, it is about time. In this session, we'll dig into PivotTables, understand the report layout options, and examine PivotTable formulas.
Surgent's Employer's Handbook: Health Care, Retirement, and Fringe Benefit Tax Issues
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Online
4.00 Credits
The employer-employee relationship strains both sides in uncertain times, and businesses need CPAs, controllers, and other advisors to provide understanding of the complex legal, tax, and health care issues associated with all aspects of employment. This course provides in-depth coverage of this critical area.
Surgent's The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA): What You Need To Know
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Online
4.00 Credits
Many accounting and finance practitioners have had difficulty understanding and applying the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). Accounting and finance practitioners are still confused and challenged by many of the new and extended tax provisions that the OBBBA delivered. Mastering these crucial provisions requires multiple exposures to these challenging tax changes. This program is a four-hour review and analysis of the most important changes from the OBBBA that impact both individual and business taxpayers. This course affords accounting and finance practitioners an opportunity to gain a broader, deeper understanding of this wide-ranging set of new tax rules, to grasp what is new and what is a continuance of prior rules, and to develop deeper planning insights into the many changes that the OBBBA contains. To the extent that the Treasury has provided guidance relating to OBBBA changes, we will discuss that guidance. We will also point out areas where Treasury guidance would be useful and areas where guidance is expected.This course qualifies for IRS credit.
Surgent's Real Estate for Accounting and Finance Professionals
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Online
2.00 Credits
Explore the intricacies of federal income taxation as it intertwines with rental real estate activities. This course delves into the calculation of rental income, understanding the nuances of deductions, and unraveling the complexities of passive activity loss rules. Whether it's mastering Schedule E or understanding Congress' intent behind tax laws, professionals will leave with an enriched understanding.This course qualifies for IRS credit.
Surgent's Schedules K-2 and K-3: Filing Requirements
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Online
2.00 Credits
Many partnerships and S corporations are now required to complete the voluminous Schedules K-2 and K-3 to report foreign-related tax information. Updated for the 2024 tax year, this course is an essential guide for tax preparers on how to identify which entities need to complete these schedules and how to identify which parts are applicable to a given taxpayer. The filing requirements are broad and often not very intuitive, catching many practitioners unaware that more schedules and parts are applicable to more taxpayers than anticipated. This course includes a deep dive into the domestic filing exception, a discussion of filing requirements of each part of Schedule K-2, and numerous examples of common taxpayer scenarios. Please note: Surgent also offers a companion course, "Schedules K-2 and K-3: Preparation of Forms" (KPF2).This course qualifies for IRS credit.
Surgent's International Tax Challenges and Opportunities for U.S. Filers
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Online
3.00 Credits
Globalization continues to make it easier for taxpayers to live abroad, do business in other countries, or invest in foreign enterprises. This creates significant complications and tax planning opportunities when it comes to filing U.S. tax returns. This course provides an overview of the unique tax challenges and solutions presented to U.S. expats or investors living or investing abroad. It examines how foreign-source income is taxed in the U.S. and how the tax consequences could be mitigated by applying the tax treaties, claiming credit for foreign taxes paid, or excluding foreign-earned income. Additionally, the course discusses the numerous foreign informational form reporting requirements and the significant penalties that could be imposed by the IRS. Examples from real-life client scenarios are included.This course qualifies for IRS credit.
Surgent's Representing a Client in an IRS Audit
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Online
3.00 Credits
Recent legislation in Congress has provided the IRS with substantially increased funding to bolster its human staff and purchase software that will allow the IRS to audit many more taxpayers in a more effective way. The IRS believes it can target the right kinds of taxpayers for audits so that it will not waste its time on audits that produce little, if any, revenue. The purpose of this program is to discuss the current state of IRS audits and the anticipated increases in the IRS's ability to audit wealthier taxpayers in an efficient way. The course will discuss the state of the IRS's current audits and where the IRS is headed with audits in the coming years. Tax practitioners should also be aware of the state of the IRS's efforts to target efficiencies so as to produce the most revenue.This course qualifies for IRS credit.
Surgent's Strategies for Maximizing Social Security Benefits
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Online
2.00 Credits
As the population of the United States ages, tax practitioners will be asked to advise their individual clients with respect to when they should begin to take Social Security benefits. This program will provide you with the background to knowledgeably discuss the benefit options available to Social Security beneficiaries and the alternative payment options available to married couples, dependents, a surviving spouse, and a divorced individual.