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

Course Description
Complete Business Math for Accountants provides accountants, managers, and business entrepreneurs with the information, analysis, and insights necessary to analyze and calculate the consequences of a wide range of business financial strategies and problems. The ability  to select the right operational technique is vital if the business is to survive, profit, and grow in today's uncertain economic environment. The owner of a small business must be able to make the right financial decision based on sound mathematical reasoning in order to run the business efficiently. They must understand the problem, and then apply math skills to solve it.

This course contains  hundreds of filled-in examples, illustrations, practical applications, measures, procedures, rules of thumb, statistical data, exhibits, tables, graphs, and diagrams. They are presented to aid in the comprehension and successful solution of a particular problem. The reader will also learn when, why and how to use the appropriate computational method.

Field of Study Finance
Level of Knowledge Basic
Prerequisite Basic Math and accounting
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

Course Description
The course is intended primarily to help business executives and information systems/computer professionals protect the computer and the data from a wide variety of threats.  Security concerns have heightened in the recent years.  Weak computer security and lack of internal controls increases an organization's vulnerability. The major steps in understanding and managing computer security are discussed in this course, and helps business executives identify resources in their organizations that need to be protected.  

Field of Study    Information Technology
Level of Knowledge    Overview
Prerequisite    None
Advanced Preparation    None

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:

·        Recognize importance of computer and data security techniques

·        Recognize and understand how different social engineering techniques can breach computer and data security

 Recognize methods to prevent social engineering fraud schemes

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

Preface

Good communications, oral or written, is the key to success in business life. The course is intended to assist business people in gaining an understanding of the communication process, writing and organization methods, and oral aspects of communication in business.  Effective Business Communications is intended for people in business who have not recently studied business communications as part of their formal education.


Field of Study    Communications and Marketing
Level of Knowledge    Overview
Prerequisite    None
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

Managers of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) generally are not skilled in financial matters.  Or, managers are often preoccupied with its welfare objectives and fund raising and ignore the operations efficiency and operating cost controls.  A series of appropriate questions that nonprofit financial managers must address in connection with an organization’s financial condition and activity include:

1.  Do we have a profit or a loss? 

2.  Do we have sufficient reserves? 

3.  Are we liquid? 

4.  Do we have strong internal controls? 

5.  Are we operating efficiently? 

6.  Are we meeting our budget? 

7.  Are our programs valid? 

8.  Are we competing successfully?

9. Is our prioritizing of programs and activities reasonable?

The course is an attempt to help answer theses questions.

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Field of Study Finance
Level of Knowledge Intermediate
Prerequisite None
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 is a primer for aspiring small business owners and entrepreneurs. The course explores step-by-step procedures necessary to set up and manage a small business. Topics include the development of a business plan, market entry strategies, organization and management, financing, Internet marketing, software, and critical factors for small business owners and entrepreneurs.


Field of Study    Business Management and Organization
Level of Knowledge    Basic
Prerequisite    Basic Math
Advanced Preparation    None
    

COVID-19 Note
Covid-19 had a major impact on the economy and on small businesses in 2020, and it will likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future.  Many sources that are available to small businesses have specific COVID 19 recommendations and strategies as well as other information, such as potential tax credits/deductions, extended due dates, etc.  The following are just a few of these sources:
•    https://www.sba.gov/page/coronavirus-covid-19-small-business-guidance-loan-resources
•    https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus-tax-relief-and-economic-impact-payments
•    https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/organizations/businesses-employers.html

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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

The major purpose of Legal Environments of Business is to provide you with a concise summary of the major legal principles affecting businesspeople and business transactions.  It provides a quick, yet comprehensive, review of this vital and wide-ranging area of the law.  You will be able to analyze business decisions from a legal responsibility perspective.

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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

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 cancelation and record retention policies

This course teaches you the art and science of managing and accomplishing organizational goals and improving the way organizations are managed. Management refers to the process of coordinating and integrating work activities so that they are completed efficiently and effectively with and through other people. Managers of today need to be equipped with all the tools and concepts necessary to perform managerial activities in order to be globally competitive. Topics include functions of managers, strategies, planning, decision making, organization, leadership, motivation, control, total quality management (TQM), the role of information technology (IT), international business, management information systems (MIS), and analysis of problems central to management.

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Course Description

Sexual harassment is a frequently discussed topic in employee relations. This course includes an overview of Illinois anti-sexual harassment legislation, discusses types of sexual harassment, provides examples of conduct considered unlawful workplace behaviors, and identifies employers’ responsibilities under Illinois laws.

Licensed CPAs in Illinois are required to complete one hour of sexual harassment prevention training in order to be eligible for license renewal.

Learning Objectives

After completing this course, you will be able to:

1.           Identify Illinois laws that offer employees protections against sexual harassment

2.           Recognize workplace behaviors that may constitute sexual harassment

Field of Study    Business Law - Technical

Level of Knowledge        Overview

Prerequisite       None

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
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Course Overview
This course provides an overview of the rules and regulations with respect to the management’s discussion and analysis (MD&A) section of an entity’s consolidated financial statements filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).  MD&A has been, and continues to be, a primary focus area of the SEC when reviewing public company filings.  In fact, it has consistently ranked in the top 10 of the most frequent comment letters issued by the SEC.  
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:
•    Identify the SEC Regulation applicable to MD&A
•    Recognize the primary objective and focus areas related to MD&A
•    Identify key information that should be included within a company’s MD&A
•    Recognize the types of transactions that should be discussed in MD&A
Identify methods to enhance the presentation of MD&A

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