Personal Financial Planning for Accountants is a comprehensive course on personal finance. What is more important to the "average person”' than making sure their finances are secure using proper planning and money management?  This course includes all the major areas in personal financial planning - planning your personal finances, managing your personal finances, making your purchase decisions, insuring your resources, investing your financial resources, and controlling your financial future.  Topics covered include time value calculations, budgeting, career planning, banking, insurance, home buying, consumer credit and money management, investment planning, retirement planning, and estate planning.

Field of Study    Finance

Level of Knowledge        Overview

Prerequisite        Basic Math

Advanced Preparation   None

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Additional Contents : Complete, no additional material needed
Advance Preparation : None
Intended Participants : Any CPA looking to maintain or enhance their professional competence
Course Declaration : Participants must complete the final examination within one year of purchase. A minimum passing grade of 70% or better is required to receive CPE
Click here to view cancellation and record retention policies

This presentation integrates federal taxation with retirement planning. The course will examine tax and savings strategies related to determining retirement income needs, wealth building, capital preservation, and estate distribution. The result is a unified explanation of tax-economics that will permit the tax professional to locate, analyze, and solve financial aspects of retirement. Designed to improve the quality of services to clients and the profitability of engagements, this program projects the accountant into the world of retirement planning. This course will give the participant practice in analyzing problems, developing solutions, and presenting final personal retirement plans to clients. The emphasis is on practical simplicity in dealing with the self-employed and highly compensated individual.

Course Level: Overview. This program is appropriate for professionals at all organizational levels.  
Field of Study: Taxes 
Prerequisite: General understanding of federal income taxation. 
Advanced Preparation: None
Passing Percentage: 70%

Click Here For Course Objectives

Additional Contents : Complete, no additional material needed
Advance Preparation : None
Intended Participants : Any CPA looking to maintain or enhance their professional competence
Course Declaration : Participants must complete the final examination within one year of purchase. A minimum passing grade of 70% or better is required to receive CPE
Click here to view cancellation and record retention policies

This course teaches you the securities market, the various types of investment securities (stocks, bond, options, futures, tax-advantaged investments, mutual funds, etc.), and the risk-return characteristics of each. It focuses on the principles and tools of investment analysis, asset allocation, portfolio selection and management.  The course tells you what are available to invest in, the features of each type of investment, the advantages and disadvantages of each investment category, including global investing, and when a particular investment type might be suitable for you. 

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Additional Contents : Complete, no additional material needed
Advance Preparation : None
Intended Participants : Any CPA looking to maintain or enhance their professional competence
Course Declaration : Participants must complete the final examination within one year of purchase. A minimum passing grade of 70% or better is required to receive CPE
Click here to view cancellation and record retention policies

Financial markets represent the lifeblood of our global economy. These mechanisms promote greater economic efficiency by transferring funds from individuals, businesses and governments with an excess of available funds to those with a shortage. Funds are transferred in the financial markets through the purchase and sale of financial instruments (such as stocks and bonds). Short-term financial instruments are available in money markets, while longer-term financial instruments are purchased and sold in the world’s capital markets. Many financial markets have been in existence for hundreds of years; however the modern era has brought along many new innovations such as securitization and the derivatives market.

This course provides an introductory overview of the world’s largest financial markets, including the money, bond, stock, mortgage, foreign currency and derivatives markets. This course reviews the various types of financial risk that impact these markets, as well as the economic variables that influence market activity (such as interest rates and monetary policy).


Learning Objectives

After completing this course, participants should be able to:

• Describe the unique characteristics of financial markets.
  
• Recognize the types of financial instruments traded in financial markets.
  
• Explain how economic variables (such as interest rates and monetary policy) and financial risks impact financial market activity.
  

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Additional Contents : Complete, no additional material needed
Advance Preparation : None
Intended Participants : Any CPA looking to maintain or enhance their professional competence
Course Declaration : Participants must complete the final examination within one year of purchase. A minimum passing grade of 70% or better is required to receive CPE
Click here to view cancellation and record retention policies

Course Description

A manager’s success depends largely on his or her ability to manage a company’s assets. This mission is complicated by the interdependent nature of a company’s finances. One short-term financial problem, such as a cash flow shortage, can cause a longer-term credit problem, such as denials for bank loans. The successful manager must be able to quickly identify and resolve such short-term problems in order to prevent their long-term deleterious effects. This course is intended for effective business managers and entrepreneurs. Covering every facet of the daily management of a business’s finances, it is designed to help managers pinpoint, remedy, and prevent business and financial problems. In each case, it also points out potential ripple effects—the ways in which a problem in one sector can disrupt operations in other areas.

          Learning Objectives

•            After studying this chapter, you will be able to:

•            Recognize signs in the concept of revenue base erosion.

•            Identify irrelevant cost factors when evaluation special orders.

•            Identify causes of a high level of merchandise returns that can affect business profits.

•            Identify the causes of low turnover of merchandise.

•            Recognize trade-offs between excessive inventory ordering and carrying costs.

•            Identify order costs and carrying costs associated with inventory management.

•            Recognize how the economic order quantity (EOQ) applies to inventory management.

•            Identify technologies used to improve inventory tracking and management.

•            Recognize reasons that create a lack of inventory storage space.

•            Identify concepts used in the analysis of profitability.

•            Recognize ways to reduce the break-even point, and limitations of break-even analysis.

•            Recognize how to apply cost-volume-profit analysis.

•            Identify the problems of a weak sales mix and the causes of falling sales or profits.

•            Identify the risk-return trade-off.

•            Recognize components of interest rate risk.

•            Identify factors relating to a lack of diversification and increased risk.

•            Recognize signs of existing or potential financial problems.

•            Recognize influences that can adversely affect the market price of a stock.

•            Identify the objectives of debt rating services and some bond terminology.

•            Recognize characteristics of evaluating stock prices.

•            Identify the conditions when bankruptcy looms.

•            Recognize steps management can take to avoid business failure.

•            Recognize uses of the Altman Z-Score for spotting risky companies.

•            Identify measures that a company can take to avoid a takeover threat.

•            Recognize common ratios used by companies to help manage cash positions.

•            Identify ways to improve cash flow and return on surplus funds.

•            Identify early warning signs of a company going broke.

•            Identify ways to minimize the impact of vendor's price increases.

•            Calculate the advantage of accepting vendor terms and discounts.

•            Recognize the reasons for poor credit ratings.

•            Identify methods to prevent check signing fraud and improper payments.

•            Recognize commonly used financial ratios that help spot liquidity problems.

•            Identify early warning signals for inadequate liquidity.

•            Recognize ways to improve return on investment and how return on equity is calculated.

•            Identify methods to identify a low rate of return and the signs for poor quality of earnings.

•            Recognize how to determine the stability/instability in product revenue over time.

•            Identify the causes for excessive labor costs.

•            Recognize the concept associated with operating leverage.

•            Recognize the applications of activity-based costing.

•            Understand how a profit-maximizing firm would adjust prices at different levels of demand.

•            Identify how actual costs can exceed standard (budgeted) costs.

•            Recognize how to compute an efficiency variance.

•            Recognize ways to spot record-keeping errors.

•            Recognize the characteristics of different corporate structures used to affect tax planning and preparation.

 Additional Contents : Complete, no additional material needed
Advance Preparation : None
Intended Participants : Any CPA looking to maintain or enhance their professional competence
Course Declaration : Participants must complete the final examination within one year of purchase. A minimum passing grade of 70% or better is required to receive CPE
Click here to view cancellation and record retention policies

The course is intended for business professionals engaged in budgeting, financial planning, forecasting, profit planning, and control. A budget is the formal expression of plans, goals, and objectives of management that covers all aspects of operations for a designated time period. The budget is a tool providing targets and direction. Budgets provide control over the immediate environment, help to master the financial aspects of the job and department, and solve problems before they occur. Budgets focus on the importance of evaluating alternative actions before decisions are actually implemented. This course explains what budgets are, how they work, how to prepare and present them, and how to analyze budget figures and results. The new development and use of budgets at various managerial levels within a business are discussed. Active financial planning software that combine budgeting, forecasting analytics, business intelligence, and collaboration.

Field of Study Finance

Level of Knowledge Overview

Prerequisite Basic Accounting

Advanced Preparation None

Click Here For Courses Objectives

Additional Contents : Complete, no additional material needed
Advance Preparation : None
Intended Participants : Any CPA looking to maintain or enhance their professional competence
Course Declaration : Participants must complete the final examination within one year of purchase. A minimum passing grade of 70% or better is required to receive CPE
Click here to view cancellation and record retention policies

"Just the facts ma'am; just the estate planning facts." Designed to give a quick overview of estate planning essentials, this course surveys wills, living trusts, gifts, marital property, and probate avoidance with an Internet flair. Will and trust types are examined in the context of general estate and gift taxation. Designed to eliminate estate problems and death taxes, the emphasis is on practical solutions that are cost effective. Talk about having it all in an overview course - there is even a quick review of immediate postmortem death tax planning and filling out the Form 706.

Course Level: Overview. This program is appropriate for professionals at all organizational levels.  
Field of Study: Taxes 
Prerequisite: General understanding of federal income taxation.
Advanced Preparation: None
Passing Percentage: 70%

Click Here For Course Objectives

Additional Contents : Complete, no additional material needed
Advance Preparation : None
Intended Participants : Any CPA looking to maintain or enhance their professional competence
Course Declaration : Participants must complete the final examination within one year of purchase. A minimum passing grade of 70% or better is required to receive CPE
Click here to view cancellation and record retention policies

Throw away the tax Code and regulations and make sense of estate planning. Learn how to structure an effective estate plan using a highly visual, real-life situation approach. Diagrams, charts, tables, and calculation sheets are used to present key elements of any successful estate plan - from the simplest to the most complex.

Course Level: Overview. This program is appropriate for professionals at all organizational levels.  
Field of Study: Taxes 
Prerequisite: General understanding of federal income taxation. 
Advanced Preparation: None
Passing Percentage: 70%

Click Here For Course Objectives

Additional Contents : Complete, no additional material needed
Advance Preparation : None
Intended Participants : Any CPA looking to maintain or enhance their professional competence
Course Declaration : Participants must complete the final examination within one year of purchase. A minimum passing grade of 70% or better is required to receive CPE
Click here to view cancellation and record retention policies

Cash is the lifeblood of a business. Sound cash management is the key to the survival of any business. You can go broke even while making a profit. Profit is measured on an accrual basis in accounting. This course alerts you to the difference between profit and cash flow and teaches you the tools and techniques that allow you to effectively increase and manage your cash flow.

Click Here to view course objectives

Additional Contents : Complete, no additional material needed
Advance Preparation : None
Intended Participants : Any CPA looking to maintain or enhance their professional competence
Course Declaration : Participants must complete the final examination within one year of purchase. A minimum passing grade of 70% or better is required to receive CPE
Click here to view cancellation and record retention policies

Course Description
In 2020, the Pension  Rights Center reported that one out of three older adults received income from  private company or union pension plans;federal, state, or local government pension plans;or railroad retirement, military,or veterans pensions. The need to properly administer and account for pension funds is critical. There are very specific requirements forpension accounting and postretirement benefits. ASC 715 Compensation−Retirement Benefitsprovides guidance on financial reporting  for  employers  who offer pension benefits to their employees.ASC 960 Plan Accounting−Defined  Benefit Pension  Plansand ASC 962 Plan Accounting−Defined Contribution Pension Plansaddress the plan accounting standards for defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans respectively. Those detailed calculations of pension cost and reporting requirements produce a complex accounting standard. This course is designed to help you navigate the complexities of this standard. It begins with an overview of the pension system in the U.S. discussing the nature of pension plans, plan participants’ activities, the classification of pension plans, and types of pension plans and their characteristics. It addressesthe significance ofpension federal laws, including the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the Pension Protection Act, and the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act. This course also provides current coverage of the requirementsfor accounting and reporting on pension plans and postretirement benefits. Itincludes specific examples to illustrate theapplication.Relevant references to and excerpts from ASC 715, ASC 960, and ASC 962 are discussed throughout the course.

Learning Objectives
After studying this course,you will be able to:
1.Identify the key provisions of pension federal laws
2.Distinguish between defined benefit and defined contribution plans
3.Identify theway to evaluateplan assets
4.Recognize various measures of pension obligations
5.Identify the components of pension expense
6.Recognizethe pension assets (overfunded plan) and pension liabilities (unfunded plan)
7.Identify the unique accounting practice of postretirement benefits
8.Recognizethe reporting requirements for the employer and pension plans

Field of Study Accounting
Level of Knowledge Intermediate
Prerequisite GAAP
Advanced Preparation None

Additional Contents : Complete, no additional material needed
Advance Preparation : None
Intended Participants : Any CPA looking to maintain or enhance their professional competence
Course Declaration : Participants must complete the final examination within one year of purchase. A minimum passing grade of 70% or better is required to receive CPE
Click here to view cancellation and record retention policies

Course Description:

This course discusses all facets of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and divestitures, including deciding on terms, key factors to consider, pros and cons, types of arrangements, evaluative criteria, valuation methods, financial effects of a merger, holding companies, takeover bids, SEC filing requirements, accounting and reporting requirements for business combinations, and financial analysis of combinations. Also addressed is emergence of corporate development officers (CDOs).

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Additional Contents : Complete, no additional material needed
Advance Preparation : None
Intended Participants : Any CPA looking to maintain or enhance their professional competence
Course Declaration : Participants must complete the final examination within one year of purchase. A minimum passing grade of 70% or better is required to receive CPE
Click here to view cancellation and record retention policies

A derivative is a financial product that derives its value based on an underlying asset, liability or other variable (such as an interest rate, foreign currency or commodity price). Derivatives have become very popular tools for “hedging” (i.e. reducing) financial risk; they have also become an increasingly standard item on big companies' balance sheets. Yet understanding how they work, what they are used for and how they can affect the bottom line of a business has proven to be a significant challenge for the accounting and auditing industries.

This course provides an “accountant-friendly” overview of financial risk management and derivative instruments. This overview focuses on the various types of risk that impact financial markets today, as well as the four major categories of derivatives commonly used to hedge these risks (i.e. forwards, futures, swaps and options).

COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After completing this course, participants should be able to:

• Define the various types of risk that impact financial markets.
• Describe the unique characteristics of forwards, futures, swaps and options.
• Recognize appropriate hedging practices using derivative instruments.

Chapter 1
Introduction to Derivatives and Hedging

After studying this chapter participants should be able to:

• Define the various types of risk that impact financial markets.
• Recognize proper financial risk management practices.
• Describe the tools used to manage financial risk.

Chapter 2
Forwards

After studying this chapter participants should be able to:

• Describe the unique characteristics of forward contracts.
• Recognize appropriate hedging practices using forward contracts.
• Calculate the payoff from a forward contract.
• Calculate forward prices and describe the effects of arbitrage on forward pricing.

Chapter 3
Futures

After studying this chapter participants should be able to:

• Describe the differences between futures and forwards.
• Explain the mechanics of futures exchanges.
• Calculate futures daily margin requirements.
• Describe the financial and operational risks associated with using futures contracts as hedging tools.

Chapter 4
Swaps

After studying this chapter participants should be able to:

• Describe the unique characteristics of swap agreements and recognize the differences between the various types of swaps.
• Calculate swap settlement amounts.
• Recognize appropriate hedging practices using swaps.

Chapter 5

After studying this chapter participants should be able to:

• Describe the unique characteristics of option contracts.
• Recognize the differences between option contracts and other types of derivative products.
• Recognize appropriate hedging practices using option contracts.
• Calculate the payoff from an option contract.

Additional Contents : Complete, no additional material needed
Advance Preparation : None
Intended Participants : Any CPA looking to maintain or enhance their professional competence
Course Declaration : Participants must complete the final examination within one year of purchase. A minimum passing grade of 70% or better is required to receive CPE
Click here to view cancellation and record retention policies

Perhaps the term "fringe benefits"  is somewhat of a misnomer, since it connotates peripheral importance. With many companies expending over a third of their payroll on such items, they are hardly inconsequential. A fringe benefit is a form of pay for the performance of services. For example, taxpayer provides an employee with a fringe benefit when they allow the employee to use a business vehicle to commute to and from work. A person who performs services for a taxpayer doesn't have to be their employee. A person may perform services as an independent contractor, partner, or director.

Click Here For Courses Objectives

Additional Contents : Complete, no additional material needed
Advance Preparation : None
Intended Participants : Any CPA looking to maintain or enhance their professional competence
Course Declaration : Participants must complete the final examination within one year of purchase. A minimum passing grade of 70% or better is required to receive CPE
Click here to view cancellation and record retention policies

We are all (including tax practitioners) getting older, and the need for effective retirement planning has never been greater. This course is essential for participants who wish to attain a comfortable retirement for themselves and their clients by maximizing tax-saving strategies. Designed to improve the quality of services to clients and the profitability of engagements, this presentation integrates federal taxation with retirement planning. The emphasis is on practical simplicity in dealing with the self-employed and highly compensated individual. Distribution options from IRAs and other retirement plans are explored.

Completion Deadline & Exam: This course, including the examination, must be completed within one year of the date of purchase. In addition, unless otherwise indicated, no correct or incorrect feedback for any exam question will be provided.

Course Level: Overview. This program is appropriate for professionals at all organizational levels.

Learning Assignment & Objectives

As a result of studying the assigned materials, you should be able to meet the objectives listed below.

ASSIGNMENT

At the start of the materials, participants should identify the following topics for study:

Qualified deferred compensation

Basic requirements of a qualified pension plan

Basic types of corporate plans

Types of defined contribution plans

Self-employed plans - Keogh

Distribution & settlement options of IRAs

Tax-free rollovers for IRAs

Roth IRAs

Simplified employee pension plans (SEPs)

SIMPLE plans

Additional Contents : Complete, no additional material needed
Advance Preparation : None
Intended Participants : Any CPA looking to maintain or enhance their professional competence
Course Declaration : Participants must complete the final examination within one year of purchase. A minimum passing grade of 70% or better is required to receive CPE
Click here to view cancellation and record retention policies

Before launching into an estate planning program, it’s important to know who owns what and exactly for whom you are planning. This requires that methods of holding title must be analyzed, considered, and selected. Sole proprietorships, S corporations, C corporations, partnerships, and limited liability companies are analyzed as to formation, operation, and ultimate disposition. Since who or what holds title imposes its own unique tax and legal consequences on the estate plan, emphasis is given to the maximization of tax benefits in each business format. While each has its own separate characteristics, several may be used together in more sophisticated planning.

Learning Assignment & Objectives

As a result of studying the assigned materials, you should be able to meet the objectives listed below.

At the start of the materials, participants should identify the following topics for study:

Individual ownership & sole proprietorships

Corporations

Trusts & co-tenancies

Co-tenancy taxation, percentage interests & partition

Partnership taxation & recapitalization

Family partnerships

Limited liability companies

Retirement plans

Custodianship

Estate

Learning Objectives

After reading the materials, participants will be able to:

Distinguish between the various types of corporations, clarify S corporation rules and their tax advantages and disadvantages, contrast the advantages and disadvantages of corporations relative to other types of entities, and explain how leasebacks to corporations work;

Differentiate between the types of joint ownership, describe how to use the benefits of partnerships, trusts and limited liability companies to hold property;

List the various retirement plans and how they can be used to provide substantial lifetime benefits to a business owner and to employees.

Additional Contents : Complete, no additional material needed
Advance Preparation : None
Intended Participants : Any CPA looking to maintain or enhance their professional competence
Course Declaration : Participants must complete the final examination within one year of purchase. A minimum passing grade of 70% or better is required to receive CPE
Click here to view cancellation and record retention policies

Everyone needs to do estate planning. It is more than just planning for death. Estate planning is designing a program for effective wealth building, preservation, and disposition of property at the minimum possible tax cost. This exceptional mini-course surveys wills, living trusts, gifts, marital property, and probate avoidance. Designed to eliminate estate problems and death taxes, the emphasis is on practical solutions that are cost effective. The text reviews and explains both federal gift and estate tax systems giving practice pointers and planning observations.

Learning Assignment & Objectives

As a result of studying the assigned materials, you should be able to meet the objectives listed below.

ASSIGNMENT

At the start of the materials, participants should identify the following topics for study:

• Build, preserve & distribute
• Legal documents
• Estate planning team
• Estate administration
• Estate planning techniques & devices
• Trusts

Learning Objectives

After reading the materials, participants will be able to:

       dentify the key participants and their roles in a coordinated estate plan and explain probate process including trust administration;

Compare and contrast specialized estate planning tools emphasizing the use of trusts and demonstrating how such tools save death taxes and transfer wealth while accentuating asset control;

Summarize recommended trust provisions and requirements pointing out how these terms and rules impact estate and trust taxation.       

Additional Contents : Complete, no additional material needed
Advance Preparation : None
Intended Participants : Any CPA looking to maintain or enhance their professional competence
Course Declaration : Participants must complete the final examination within one year of purchase. A minimum passing grade of 70% or better is required to receive CPE
Click here to view cancellation and record retention policies