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2009 Individual Tax Update
Presentation will cover the significant tax law changes passed so
far for 2009. The first part of 2009 has seen a flood of new
federal tax developments. And the only certainty is there is more
to come. We are on a “Change as We Go” tax roller coaster!
Accounting Standards Update
Update on recently
issued FASB and AICPA accounting standards, including FASB GAAP
Codification project.
A brand new business world is evolving....Are you asking the right
Questions?
If there is a wide, and prosperous world out there,
why is it all I see is my belly button? And other Powerful
Questions for 21st Century Businesses
A brand new business world is evolving....
Are you asking the right Questions that
will transform your Company, Organization and Yourself?
What one question in your business
or organization
are
you not asking right now?
What would happen if you had the courage to ask that
question out loud?
Are you ready for the answer?
Through humor, wisdom, business savvy
and stories, Norm Bouchard's presentation will immediately shift the
perceptions of lack of growth in your company or organization and
help you understand the possibilities for success in today's
business world. You will learn business principles and questions
that lead to success. Come and receive a renewed sense of adventure
and be empowered to ask the questions that will move your business
or organization and you to a new level.
Chicken or the Egg: A Study of Risk Management and Strategic
Planning
Raven will
guide this interactive session to explore the relationship between
Risk Management and Strategic Planning. During times of economic
changes, corporate bailouts, and corporate failures, companies
assess and reassess their strategic plans. Incorporating in-depth
analyses of internal and external risks in a strategic analysis
helps build strategic plans that are more comprehensive and less
reactive to conditions that require frequent or unexpected changes
to strategic direction.
This session includes a discussion of how risk management and
strategic planning are an intertwined foundation for a company's
long-term success. Attendees will examine Enterprise Risk
Frameworks, Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Treats (SWOT)
techniques, and Risk Management concepts that will help develop,
reassess, and refine their strategic plans to create a winning
position for their companies. You will also learn several risk
assessment and risk management techniques used by Fortune 500
companies.
Colorado Board of Accountancy Statutes, Rules and Regulations
Review and analyze actual Colorado State Board of Accountancy cases
to better understand the complaint, investigative and legal
processes of the board and the board’s specific statutes, rules and
regulations.
Conflict ... Land of the Lost:
M.A.P.S. Available (Manageable Approaches Promoting Success)
Save yourself a good deal of trouble by using practical, efficient,
and effective M.A.P.S.
Build on the strategies you already use to resolve conflicts
Discover what keeps people from using conflict to their advantage
Navigate conversations so others will hear what you have to say
Expand your negotiating skills
Explore current dispute resolution methods and Colorado resources
for negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and restorative justice.
Plot a course for productively engaging dilemmas
COSO
Guidance on Monitoring Internal Control Systems
Many organizations have an effective internal control system in
place, but are not fully leveraging the monitoring component of
their control environment. The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations
of the Treadway Commission (COSO) recognized this fact when they
witnessed the efforts of companies trying to comply with internal
control assertion requirements. COSO observed that some
organizations had effective monitoring processes, but were
under-utilizing monitoring to support their conclusions about the
effectiveness of their internal control environment. Consequently,
organizations often perform separate, redundant and unnecessary
evaluation procedures that tend to increase efforts and costs
without reducing risk As a result, COSO developed its Guidance on
Monitoring Internal Control Systems and selected Grant Thornton to
lead the project team. Mr. Burton was a member of the team that
authored the guidance.
Ethical Causes and Cures of the Financial Crisis: A CPA’s
Perspective
This seminar
focuses on the ethical causes and cures of the financial meltdown
experienced by the US and the world. Specifically, the seminar
analyzes the following:
1. The role
of short term versus long term perspective on earnings
2. The symbiotic role of China in feeding the irrational amount of US debt
3. The role of trust in ethical conduct in commercial transactions
4. The role of the concept of “moral hazard” in affecting improper risk
assessment determinations
5. The role of the Internal Revenue Code in both causing and perhaps
curing the crisis.
6. The role of mark to market accounting and proposed regulatory changes
7. The role of regulatory oversight (or lack thereof)
8. The role of unethical sales practices in marketing mortgages and Ponzi
Schemes
9. The role of human nature in engaging in unethical conduct
10. The role of unethical conduct by Madoff's CPA and CPA licensing
Financial
Management in Professional Sports
Professional
sports teams are big business today with big financial issues. Hal
Roth and Charlie Wright bring us their unique perspective on this
topic from their CFO positions in the industry.
Fraud Hotline Best Practices
According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE),
hotline programs are the number one method for detecting and
deterring fraud, waste, and abuse. This presentation will share
benchmarking information on hotline best practices and investigation
techniques in both the private and public sectors.
- Examine the need, benefit and value of anonymous reporting systems
- Discuss the key elements of an effective reporting program
- Learn how reporting hotlines can improve workplace safety and
productivity
The Generational Difference
All workplaces have generations ranging from the Baby Boomers to
Generation Y. More and more managers are noticing that different
generations are motivated by differing incentives and therefore must
be managed differently. We will explore what these differences are
and how to cope with them in the everyday managing of people in the
workforce.
Getting Started with ERM
By now, you know the basic elements
of an Enterprise Risk Management Program (ERM). Maybe your company
has even ventured into ERM territory with the beginnings of a
program, only to experience what many others have - a program that
easily loses momentum and becomes stalled. Whether you're ready to
start a first-time program or need a fresh approach to getting your
program back on track, you'll want to join us for this informative
webinar.
During this presentation,
Bill Fuller
will provide a brief overview of ERM and how it can add measured
value to an organization. Next, we'll discuss common pitfalls and,
more importantly, how you can be prepared to address or avoid them.
Finally, we'll provide some tactical first steps to get your program
started.
Improve Audits and Reviews:
Automate Analytical Procedures & Risk Assessment Process
There has been
increased emphasis on analytical procedures from the recent SSARS
10, SAS 56 & 103, and the increased attention paid to this process
during peer review. Technological advances have allowed for the
automation of analytical procedures for both audits and reviews that
have been under increased scrutiny since Sarbanes-Oxley. Tools are
available that improve the analytical procedure process by
automating the development and documentation of expected values that
are a fundamental requirement for both audits and reviews.
Learn:
Impact of technology on analytical procedures
Using expert system technology for regulatory
compliance (SAS No. 96, SAS No. 56, SAS 103, SAS 109;
SSARS 10)
Automating your analytical procedures
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)
In 2007, the SEC did
away with the requirement that foreign private issuers reconcile
their financial statements to US GAAP as long as they use IFRS. This
move began a migration towards IFRS in the U.S. markets. Companies
argue that it is only fair to give U.S. companies the same choices
as their foreign competitors. As a result, many experts predict that
the U.S. will replace U.S. GAAP with IFRS within the next decade. In
his presentation, Keith will cover a brief history of IFRS, what
benefits and hurdles IFRS presents, recent events that affect the
transition, and other factors to consider with this hot topic that
will change the careers of many CPAs.
New Form 990 Highlights
This session will highlight changes and issues necessary to enabling
participants to understand, properly plan for, gather information
for, and prepare Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt from Income
Tax. In addition, this course will provide background and insight
into the IRS’ significant redesign of Form 990, including heightened
emphasis on governance, transparency, operational issues, and
financial accountability.
The New Rules of Recruiting
Ms. Scates will
introduce you to the new rules of recruiting in our drastically
changed economy. She will address the following as it pertains to
all employers and their need to hire top talent:
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Market trends and
conditions, for example, unemployment is hovering at 8.9%,
however, for those over the age of 25 with a college degree it is
4.3%. Isn’t that who you need to hire? How do you find them and
more importantly, hire them.
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The pros and cons of
the recruiting vehicles available to employers such as job boards,
contingency and retained recruiters, and professional and
social networking sites (linked in, facebook, twitter, etc).
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Current motivators
for change. Motivators have shifted from title and compensation
to stability and loyalty. How to elevate and communicate these
attractors throughout the process?
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The offer and the
offer process, when, where and how much? You’ve gotten this far,
not let’s make sure you get your candidate.
Preparing for the Economic Recovery: Why Protecting Liquidity is
Essential
In an economy where
there is no safety net, the costs of a liquidity problem can be
extreme. Financial executives must find ways to gain strength
despite lean work forces and limited access to capital. Making the
wrong decisions driven by the downturn could leave your organization
in a weak position for the longer-term.
Join business expert DeAnn Brunts for a frank discussion about
managing liquidity while preparing to emerge strong from the
lingering recession.
DeAnn will offer practical techniques for managing liquidity,
including:
• Managing debt covenant compliance
• Balancing long term and short-term needs
• Consideration to banker and investor perspectives
• Case studies of liquidity fixes
• Exploiting competitive opportunities in a weak (and then
recovering) economy
QuickBooks Client Review
Process
Client Date Review
is a new feature include with the Premier Accountant 2009 and
Enterprise version 9. The review feature allows one person or many
people to use this for reviewing the client files and keeps notes
within the review area of QB. It allows you to find and detect
changes in your clients’ files since your last review including
deleted accounts, merged accounts, new accounts and changed
accounts. You can apply outstanding payments that the client has
received but not applied. You can track changes to lists, additions,
and name changes even tracking accounts or list items that were
merged. Come, attend this session and find out how you can make your
work easier when working with your clients.
Retirement Plan
Fiduciary Responsibilities
An analysis of plan
sponsor fiduciary duties, recent changes and the impact of current
market conditions.
Tax
Efficient Strategies for Affluent Business Owners
Kevin will present
a review and explanation of qualified and non-qualified retirement
plan types for Small & Medium-sized Businesses with discussion of
the process and considerations of plan alternatives & selection,
plan design, plan administration, and plan funding. Supporting
documentation includes IRS regulations, private letter rulings, case
studies, and industry articles. Equal emphasis will be on
understanding tax law as well as practical applications that may fit
your clientele. Learning objectives include identifying the key
elements involved in the decision making process of adopting a
qualified and/or non-qualified plan, reviewing the different plan
design options available so that a prudent decision can be made and
case study discussions of various advanced plan designs.
Using the
GAPP to Close the Privacy Risk Gap
The speaker will
introduce the AICPA/CICA’s Generally Accepted Privacy Principles (GAPP),
and discuss the myriad ways the material is being used by
organizations, their auditors, and consultants to address personal
information privacy and security risks. The content will also
highlight a privacy and security risk assessment performed by the
speaker for a vacation ownership industry client. Kerry will outline
the high-level project objectives, scope, and approach, as well as
the recommendations made to reduce their privacy risk exposure.
The GAPP were
released by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)
and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) in March
2004 after a two and one-half year research and development effort.
The purpose of the GAPP is to help guide organizations in
implementing, sustaining and auditing privacy programs. The GAPP
provides criteria and related material for protecting the privacy of
personal information. It incorporates concepts from significant
domestic and international privacy laws, regulations, and
guidelines.
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