CPE Catalog & Events

Every organization in the world will fall victim to fraud. This course will cover the means and methods available to reduce the prevalence of fraud. We will also discuss the controls that victim organizations employ in order to seek improvements for our own organizations.

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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.)

Fraud continues to be at record highs. According to NASDAQ's Global Financial Crime Report, fraud schemes and bank frauds led to global losses of over $485 billion. Four of the most cited frauds were customer fraud, cybercrime, asset misappropriation, and bribery and corruption. From global banking giants to local charities and mom-and-pop shops, no entities are immune from fraud, even from their most trusted employees and leaders. It is critical for all organizations to learn fraud detection and prevention strategies to protect themselves from becoming the next fraud victims. CPAs and internal auditors must also learn how to detect fraud schemes before it's too late. In this course, we apply a case study approach to prepare you to spot fraud schemes that others have missed. In this quarterly fraud series, follow our Surgent team as we explore and explain the latest fraud schemes and how accounting teams can better prevent and detect them. This course is designed to keep you up to date on the latest schemes and ways to protect your clients.

Fraud continues to be at record highs. According to NASDAQ's Global Financial Crime Report, fraud schemes and bank frauds led to global losses of over $485 billion. Four of the most cited frauds were customer fraud, cybercrime, asset misappropriation, and bribery and corruption. From global banking giants to local charities and mom-and-pop shops, no entities are immune from fraud, even from their most trusted employees and leaders. It is critical for all organizations to learn fraud detection and prevention strategies to protect themselves from becoming the next fraud victims. CPAs and internal auditors must also learn how to detect fraud schemes before it's too late. In this course, we apply a case study approach to prepare you to spot fraud schemes that others have missed. In this quarterly fraud series, follow our Surgent team as we explore and explain the latest fraud schemes and how accounting teams can better prevent and detect them. This course is designed to keep you up to date on the latest schemes and ways to protect your clients.

The Yellow Book contains performance and reporting requirements related to internal control deficiencies. This course is designed to help you understand these requirements and excel in applying them. We will also examine where the auditor draws the line as to whether an internal control deficiency is a significant deficiency or a material weakness.

This course provides an overview of critical challenges companies encounter under ASC 606, emphasizing several key areas that can be particularly challenging for effective revenue recognition. This includes identifying valid contracts, determining performance obligations, assessing variable consideration, and distinguishing between recognizing revenue over time versus at a point in time. The course also covers principal versus agent considerations, accounting for contract modifications, licensing arrangements, and disclosure requirements.

This course provides an overview of the similarities and key differences between the revenue recognition standards issued by the FASB (ASC Topic 606) and the IASB (IFRS 15). While these standards are materially similar as the regulators worked jointly to issue the new converged standards, there are notable differences that are good to understand. However, this course is not intended to provide an exhaustive discussion of these differences.

For those entities who formerly recognized revenue under the guidance of Statement of Position 81-1, Accounting for Performance of Construction-Type and Certain Production-Type Contracts (SOP 81-1/ASC 605-35), understanding the basics of Topic 606 is not enough. In order to effectively apply Topic 606, you need a detailed understanding of how to recognize revenue over time under Topic 606's Five-Step model. Even though Topic 606 is currently effective, changes in business and contracts will always require the need to stay current on this topic. Now is the time to get the answers to your application questions. In this course we'll explore Topic 606 from the perspective of entities that currently recognize revenue under SOP 81-1/ASC 605-35, highlighting how the accounting for revenue recognition changed following the adoption of ASC Topic 606. Next, the course will address challenging sections of the ASC 606 guidance such as identifying performance obligations and when and how you recognize revenue over time. Applying Topic 606 successfully to your long-term contracts is an ongoing exercise. This course will keep you up to date with the latest guidance and best practices in this critical area.

Audit documentation provides the principal support for the independent auditor's report. Therefore, it is important that workpapers meet professional standards. Anything less could result in peer or regulatory review deficiencies at as a worse case, lawsuits when fraud occurs at a company. The auditor is not responsible for identifying fraud. But the auditor is responsible for planning and performing the audit to obtain reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material misstatement due to fraud or error. Effective workpaper reviewer is an important part of meeting professional standards at the engagement level as well as the overall firm level. In addition, the workpaper review process should be used as a tool for professional development and promoting efficient audits. This module will provide the tips and tools for satisfying these important workpaper reviewer responsibilities for auditors at the in charge or newer manager levels. (Please Note: This module is part of Surgent's Audit Skills Training: Level 3.)

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 the SEC Form 8-K. This is a broad form used to notify investors in U.S. publicly traded companies of certain events that may be important - generally within four business days of the respective triggering event. This course provides a detailed look at the events that require a Form 8-K filing, the relevant disclosures, and presents a number of examples to help illustrate disclosure of these events.

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.

As entities continue to oursource financially significant processes, auditors will need to rely on third party assessments of the effectiveness of the controls over these processes. These assessments are called SOC1 reports. Understanding the scope, level of testing and results of such reports is critical to the successful completion of any financial statement audit. In this course, we'll review the relevant information which auditors need to know about SOC1s, including their professional standards guidance, scope (Type 1 or 2), coverage and user auditor response to control deficiencies identified by the service auditor.

Single auditing can seem complex. With thousands of pages of potential AICPA, GAO, and OMB literature coming together for the audit of one client, auditors can easily lose focus and confidence in what they are supposed to do; however, it does not have to be that way. This course is designed to sharpen your skills and knowledge in performing single audits and eliminate wasted efforts.

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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.

In this hands-on game, participants are helping to prepare an internal control testing plan for Home D‚cor & More (HDM). They must assess controls related to HDM's inventory cycle to determine which financial statement assertions each control satisfies, the quality of the control's design, and whether there is adequate segregation of duties. Then, they will complete the HDM control testing plan, including the level of reliance to place on each control and the test of control methods. Each participant wants to be spot-on with the evaluation before submitting the information to a manager for feedback.

Participants play the role of an auditor collecting information, making inquiries, and documenting findings around the audit of Home D‚cor and More. They develop professional skepticism skills as they analyze data obtained from an interview with Courtney the Controller, comparing, confirming, and corroborating it against information provided by the CFO. Some things aren't matching up and the player uses Courtney's responses and their own questioning mind to consider the next step. They need to be alert to conditions that may indicate possible misstatement due to fraud or error, and a critical assessment of the audit evidence to develop a sense of when things just don't look right.

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.

The manager for Home D‚cor and More (HDM) requests that participants conduct a search for unrecorded liabilities. The company experienced recent turnover in the accounts payable department so there is extra concern that all liabilities have been captured as of year-end. Participants will use their expertise to make resource requests from the HDM accounting team. Once they receive the supporting documentation, they will trace transactions to the detail to identify whether each selection is properly recorded as of year-end. The manager will share feedback on the results of the search!

During this interactive game, participants take the role of an auditor performing a physical inventory observation at a client's warehouse. Participants will have the opportunity to use their powers of observation and exercise professional skepticism in identifying areas of risk that might need follow-up, interviewing Wally the client, and performing inventory test counts. After performing the test counts, participants will evaluate the results.