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10 Things Professionals Should Know About Proper Planning for Death,
Disability and Taxes To Become More Effective and Confident Managers
and Leaders
Effective managers and leaders in business understand that nether
they nor their coo-workers or staff can be effective in the work
place when catastrophic health or accidents occur and the worker who
is affected is unprepared to deal with managing the family
emergency. While it may not be possible to avoid the unplanned
crisis, there are some easy, simple, basic things every person can
do to protect themselves and their families from the consequences
from not having done the proper disability or death planning. Nor
should any one be surprised by unplanned taxes resulting from
improper planning or not titling their property or beneficiary
designations in an incorrect manner. Reduce unproductive and
excessive "out -of -office time to deal with family issues. Learn
the "Dirty Dozen" - twelve planning tips to designed to reduce
stress, same you, your family and employer money, and insure you and
your family retain control of the situation while avoiding
unnecessary lawyer and court involvement.
10 Steps to
Cleaning Up Your Client’s Data
Topics include QuickBooks Posting Lists, Troubleshooting Beginning
Balances, Cash Position/Bank Reconciliations, Troubleshooting
Undeposited Funds, Troubleshooting AR & AP, Troubleshooting
Inventory, Troubleshooting Sales Tax Payable, Troubleshooting
Payroll Tax Liabilities, Troubleshooting Opening Balance Equity and
Troubleshooting the Income Statement. This is considered an
intermediate to advanced level course. Attendees will receive a
detailed booklet of almost 100 pages illustrating these topics and
many more!
Bottom Line Benefits of a
Comprehensive Safety & Health Program
Why should everyone be
concerned about job safety and health? In the US each year
approximately 6,000 employees die from workplace injuries and 50,000
die from illnesses caused by exposure to workplace hazards.
Additionally, 6 million workers have non-fatal workplace injuries at
an annual cost to US businesses of more than $125 billion! Protect
your companies most valuable asset -- your employees.
Investments in worker Health
and Safety programs have been demonstrated to improve the bottom
line by increased productivity, fewer lost work days, and lower
worker's comp costs, just to name a few benefits. Learn how a
comprehensive Health and Safety program incorporates proactive
management with an integrated risk management plan (primary
prevention and safety) with loss control (mitigation and secondary
prevention). The presenter will discuss these topics from an OSHA
Voluntary Protection Program perspective.
Breaking the Code of
Corporate Communications
The effectiveness of an organization is a function of
how well organizational leaders maintain a culture where workers
want to be their best and be successful. This program explores the
factors that have been associated with the most successful
organizations and provides strategies about what to do when the
organization becomes unhealthy. The presenter will discuss the kinds
of communication effective leaders use and the kinds of processes
that produce positive outcomes. Participants will have the
opportunity to dialogue about issues that promote or inhibit their
organization’s performance.
Colorado Board of Accountancy Statutes, Rules, and Regulations
Designed For:
All active Colorado CPAs.
Objectives:
To familiarize and update participants with the Colorado Board of
Accountancy Statutes, Rules, and Regulations and to apply these
bodies of law to practical everyday experience for a CPA in public,
private, and government practices; To review and analyze actual
State Board of Accountancy cases in order to learn the complaint,
investigative, and legal process of the Board and to enable
participants to understand the ramifications of this process.
Major Subjects:
» An overview of the Colorado State Board of Accountancy Statutes,
Rules and Regulations
» Recent legislative changes affecting the accounting profession
» Recent changes to Colorado Statutes, Rules, Regulations, and
Policies
Employee Theft: Detection
and Prevention
Employee theft and dishonesty is
a $400 billion industry. It not only impacts an organization's
productivity and competitiveness but it's reputation as well. This
powerful presentation will highlight significant social and economic
trends as they relate to workplace theft and fraud. Attendees will
learn about the predictable progression of criminal behavior and
workplace crime and how to stop it. Also examined will be proven
prevention methods and how they can be economically used to detect
workplace crime and investigate it.
The Economy, Mortgage Mess,
Gas & Food Prices - Taxes Are Not the 2008 Headline!
(Individual Tax Update)
2008 Individual Tax Update covering
this year’s phase-ins, phase outs, and planning possibilities. Sec.
179 expense deduction has never been higher but only if you have
the income. There are mortgage buy-outs and real estate sales to
untangle. Don’t forget those employee and business expenses. Plus
more!
Ethical Considerations -
Taking a Tax Return Position After Recent Amendments
Recent tighter Congressional changes
to taking a tax reporting position and penalties for both the
taxpayer and the professional provide a fresh perspective on
understanding the underlying ethical aspects of taking a tax return
position. To gain this ethical understanding related to these
Congressional changes, one must understand thoroughly tax research
authorities and their corresponding weight in applying the
thresholds for taking a tax return position. Two primary tax issues
involving real estate are examined to apply relevant tax research to
the recent Congressional changes in taking a return position: (1)
tax issues surrounding the Colorado tax credit on the contribution
of a conservation easement; and (2) tax issues surrounding
replacement properties in a Section 1031 like-kind exchange.
The Evolution of Qualified Retirement Plan Design since the Pension
Protection Act (PPA 2006)
The PPA of 2006
opened up retirement plan design options for our business owners of
today. Advanced Pension Plan Designs and Controlled Groups &
Affiliated Service Groups for Business Owners will be priority
discussions. Many design concepts will be presented including Cross
testing (New Comparability) or Triple Stack Matching, Cash balanced
plans, Traditional defined benefit or 412i plans and the possible
combination of multiple plans for the most tax deduction.
The presentation
will also include the long-awaited proposed regulations on Roth
401(k)/403(b) plans confirming that designated Roth accounts (DRACs;
also called “Roth 401(k)’s”) are NOT clones of Roth IRAs. Why should
retirement plans consider adding this additional contribution source
to enhance retirement benefits?
Excel 2007 and Word 2007
Microsoft Office 2007 is the biggest change to Office
in many years. During this presentation, Bill Hubbell from
Microsoft will show you the new user interface of Office 2007 and
demo some new functionality for Word and Excel. Come prepared to
ask questions and get useful answers on why Office 2007 is worth the
upgrade.
Fair Value
Accounting (SFAS 157 & 159)
With the recent upheaval in the lending industry there is more
attention being put upon corporations valuation of assets and
liabilities. Prior to SFAS 157 & 159 there were different
definitions of fair value and limited guidance for applying those
definitions of GAAP. In developing these Statements, the Board
considered the need for increased consistency and comparability in
fair value measurements and for expanded disclosures about fair
value measurements. This presentation will discuss the proper
use of the fair value measurements and the required financial
disclosures.
Final Report of the U.S.
Treasury's Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession
Discussion of the Final Report of the U.S. Treasury's
Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession (ACAP), including
subcommittee recommendations on human capital, firm structure and
finances, and concentration and competition. Topics will
cover audit firm transparency, annual reporting and governance;
auditor responsibility for the detection and reporting of fraud; the
standard audit report model; partner signatures on audit reports;
audit firm change reporting on Form 8-K; practice mobility; firm
governance; the debate over liability and firm sustainability; and
public company agreements that limit audit firm choice. He will
also discuss ACAP's discussion on international accounting and
reporting standards and the recent approval of international
accounting standards by the AICPA.
Financial Perspectives in
Health Benefits Delivery
Through role playing we will explore practical implications and
considerations discussed in the Key Note Presentation. This session
will highlight some of the positive and negative considerations in
applying these strategies, and demonstrate how the finance teams
contribute to the process.
Internal Audit's Role in
ERM
This engaging and
interactive presentation will provide you with strategies and best
practices for integrating your enterprise risk management program
with your internal audit plan. This effort will allow you to align
internal audit activities with the strategic goals and objectives of
the organization and add value. We will cover in detail the
emergence of enterprise risk management, its link with corporate
governance and internal audit, and practical steps for integrating
the ERM program with your internal audit plan.
Investigative Interviewing -
Understanding the Art
Everyone has at one point or
another conducted an interview. Auditors can’t begin their planned
procedures until they conduct interviews of a variety of people in
an organization. It is important for them to understand the
functions of people in the organization and processes they are to
rely on in the performance of the audit. But, when it comes to
interviewing a target of an investigation, interviewing takes on a
whole new meaning. It becomes a game of psychological warfare and if
your interviewer is not trained in the art of conducting an
admission-seeking interview, you don’t have a chance of
accomplishing your objectives. This course is designed to teach
internal auditors how to increase their success in conducting
interviews.
What skills will you develop? – By the end of this workshop
the participant will understand:
• How do I structure the
interview?
• Is there really anything to interpreting body language and other
physical characteristics emitted by the target that could indicate
they are lying?
• What are the best interview questions to ask?
• Should anyone else be present besides the target and myself?
• What are the legal issues I should be aware of?
These and many more
questions are answered. The single best source of finding out: Who
did it? Who else was involved? How much was taken? How long did it
go on? How did it happen and go undetected? – Is logged in the mind
of the perpetrator. If the interview is conducted properly and by a
trained interviewer, these questions can be answered enabling the
company to possibly recover many thousands of dollars, terminate the
miscreants and his/her cohorts, and prevent this crime from every
happening again.
IRA's and
401(k)'s Mistakes and Misconceptions
What could go wrong with
something as “American Pie” as an IRA or 401(k)? Plenty, according
to Susan Spancers. Susan is prepared to discuss numerous issues
that can be potential problems with your retirement accounts. It is
possible that your benign retirement plan could become more like a
“roaring lion” if it is not taken care of properly. If you would
like to brush up on your retirement plan awareness, this
presentation will offer a nice review and offer several new insights
you probably have not considered before.
Job Costing in QuickBooks
If
you are in construction, an accounting firm, a law firm, a writer,
or other entity that has specific projects that can be tracked to
certain customers, you can use job costing in QuickBooks to track
the profitability. If QuickBooks is set up with job costing in
mind, you can even track profitability by specific items or
services. If you are doing payroll through QuickBooks you can map
payroll to apply these costs to the job as well. From tracking
audits, preparing business valuations or large tax returns - a topic
for you!
Managing Generations
Never before have so many diverse generations existed together in
the workplace. These differences are interesting and even
entertaining to explore but, more importantly, present significant
challenges for communication, rewards systems, productivity,
professional development and workforce planning.
This presentation explores current and emerging trends in
generational demographics and how they affect the workforce.
So what should you be looking for? What strategies can you use to
manage these differences? How can you use this information to
increase your staff’s productivity?
Come join us and find out!
Managing the Rising Cost of
Health Benefits
Health care costs continue to rise at
an alarming rate, and as companies work to manage these costs they
are increasingly including the finance team in the decision making
process. This presentation will explore recent trends as it relates
to cost sharing, risk management, and population health management.
Payment Card Industry (PCI)
Standards 101
As Ecommerce and electronic
payments have become come place in our society it is critical that
consumer, businesses and the payment card industry have assurance
that security is in place to safeguard payment card transactions.
Accordingly, the payment card industry has promulgated several
standards address the security of payment card transactions. Payment
card service providers and merchants of all sizes are required to
comply with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards based on the
criteria set forth by the card brands.
In this session, attendees
will learn about the payment industry, card payment transaction
cycle and the history behind the Payment Card Industry (PCI)
standards.
Peak Oil - The Most
Important Issue You Have Never Heard Of
It is time for America
and the world to begin thinking critically about some of the most
basic assumptions that underlie our modern society; namely, that we
may continue to presume and rely upon the more or less continued
growth of our population and economy, upon continued technological
progress and steady improvement in overall living conditions and
quality of life. There is no doubt that modern agriculture,
economics, population growth and nearly everything else that defines
modernity currently relies upon easy access to cheap fossil energy
for sustenance. But with oil production basically flat four years
into a historic rise in the price of oil, it is important to
consider the implications of a decline in fossil fuel availability,
colloquially known as "Peak Oil". From the obvious uses for
transportation and power generation. to more subtle influences such
as the production of fertilizers and pesticides, the production of
plastics and other ubiquitous petrochemicals, for the support of
public health infrastructure and beyond, a decline in available oil
would have profound implications for all of us.
Recruiting for the Non-Recruiter: The Interview Facade and to
Hire for the Long Term
Amy Duclos, with fifteen years of executive search expertise, will
share her insights into the candidate's perceptions of the hiring
process during this open discussion. As an employer, learning how
to break down the "Interview Facade" will lead to a more
genuine conversation with your candidates, and increase your odds of
hiring a person who will be a long-term fit with your company
Risk Management 101 -
Limiting Organizational Exposure Due to Workplace Bullying
Where does
your organization rate on the civility scale? Who wants to work for
an organization that tolerates toxic and disrespectful work
environments? Who’s paying attention to workplace “bullying”
behavior typically viewed as being a problem in our children’s
schools? Who is measuring the lost productivity, absenteeism, and
cost of turnover caused by acts of bullying? Who’s preparing for
the potential lawsuits? This session will address these questions
and begin a discussion to take back to your organizations about
identifying and addressing acts of bullying in the workplace, what
it means in terms of risk management and workplace planning issues,
and strategies to address this emerging problem.
Save Your Team and Sanity: Cost Effective Use of Consultants
Accounting and finance organizations
are consistently challenged to accomplish critical projects;
implement new policies, processes or new regulations; fill an
interim position or achieve peak workloads, such as year-end close.
The recent trend is to engage Consultants to meet these challenges
and enable organizations to carry out key business initiatives and
meet specific business needs when internal resources are not
available. This session will focus on identifying the strategic
advantages of using Consultants, finding the right Consultant and
firm to work with and utilizing the Consultant efficiently while
they are engaged.
Stock Analysis: A Walk on the Wild Side, the Simple Act of Buying a
Business or Both?
We’ll explore the research and
decision process used when investing capital in today’s business
climate. Whether investing business or personal assets, making well
informed decisions and avoiding key mistakes is critical to long
term successful. Of course, that assumes you followed the first
rule: checking your emotions at the door.
When Parents Age - Help Your Clients Respond to Common Challenges
Who lives to 100? Is
it Alzheimer’s? Discussions will revolve around our aging clients
and how to assist in their decisions. Topics include what Medicare
is and Medicare is not, finding dollars for those extra years
through various vehicles and housing and in-home services.
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