Course Description

Combining the real-life experience of a practicing CPA with essential down-to-earth tax materials in a high-tech format, this powerful presentation will enable participants to grasp recent individual tax changes. You’ll receive the most complete and up-to-date reference manual, written by renowned tax experts.  The digital PDF manual is hyperlinked to the Internal Revenue Code, tax court decisions, and other primary authorities, making it an extremely convenient resource. Join us as our world-class tax instructors share cutting-edge tax planning strategies in a high energy, often humorous presentation style using real-life experiences, which make complicated tax topics easily understandable. Specific course topics will be announced and updated through year-end.

Course Description

Bogdan Constantin will teach you how to apply entrepreneurial management strategies and tactics to your firm, team, or company. He’s committed to teaching the disciplines of entrepreneurial thinking that produce not just entrepreneurial inspiration but a strategic frame of mind. You’ll learn how to better measure success and reframe your priorities based on available business levers. You’ll see how your current business or industry environment can influence success or failure and what to do about it. You’ll learn how companies develop unique internal sources of competition to create advantages and thrive with disruptions in their marketplace or industry.

Learning Objectives

• Cite and apply KPIs to measure business success
• Learn how to develop internal sources to create competitive advantages
• Discuss ways companies win with evolving business models and value propositions
• Apply growth strategies and tactics to survive and thrive during marketplace disruptions
• Learn how to create a sustainable, continuous improvement environment
• Identify and discuss ways to Manage commercialization challenges and market launches efficiently and effectively
• See beyond current paradigms in order to uncover innovation needs and to predict impact through strategic idea and concept development

Course Description

Combining the real-life experience of a practicing CPA with essential down-to-earth tax materials in a high-tech format, this powerful presentation will enable participants to grasp recent individual tax changes. You’ll receive the most complete and up-to-date reference manual, written by renowned tax experts.  The digital PDF manual is hyperlinked to the Internal Revenue Code, tax court decisions, and other primary authorities, making it an extremely convenient resource. Join us as our world-class tax instructors share cutting-edge tax planning strategies in a high energy, often humorous presentation style using real-life experiences, which make complicated tax topics easily understandable. Specific course topics will be announced and updated through year-end.

Course Description

This course explores the impact of unresolved conflict in workplaces, emphasizing that employees often leave due to poor management rather than company issues. It introduces Conflict-IQ™ as a tool to understand and manage conflict positively within diverse organizational cultures. Drawing on extensive experience, it guides participants through foundational principles and practical applications of Conflict-IQ™, integrating emotional intelligence for effective conflict resolution. By course end, participants gain the skills to cultivate collaborative, inclusive environments, fostering growth and innovation within their organizations.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze the relationship between unresolved conflict and employee turnover, distinguishing between company-related issues and management-related factors.
• Evaluate the role of effective conflict management in fostering a positive workplace culture, emphasizing the impact on employee retention and organizational success.
• Demonstrate proficiency in utilizing Conflict-IQ™ as a strategic tool to understand, address, and resolve conflicts within diverse organizational settings.
• Apply foundational principles of Conflict-IQ™ to real-life workplace scenarios, integrating emotional intelligence techniques for effective conflict resolution.
• Synthesize strategies for cultivating collaborative and inclusive environments, utilizing Conflict-IQ™ principles to promote growth and innovation within teams and organizations.
• Develop a comprehensive plan for implementing Conflict-IQ™ practices within their respective workplaces, ensuring long-term sustainability and organizational development.

Course Description

Whether you hold a position as an owner, operator, general manager, staff member, or department head in a hotel or restaurant property, this course will enhance your accounting knowledge and boost your confidence in decision-making. You’ll gain hands-on experience in benchmarking various hotel, lodging, and restaurant units throughout the course. This practical exposure will enable you to assess your performance relative to competitors in the lodging industry. You’ll be better equipped to make informed choices in procurement, staffing, operations, and marketing budget allocation.

The central focus of the course is on decision-making skills, including accurately interpreting financial statements, benchmarking against competitors, and drawing precise inferences to optimize your decisions.

Learning Objectives

• Examine and cite the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI)
• Learn how to apply managerial accounting tools to improve flow through
• Apply and use specific financial statements for better decision-making
• Discuss ways to benchmark hotel and restaurant performance
• Cite the best ways to prepare operating budgets and monitor performance
• Understand the consistencies and differences between USALI and U.S. GAAP with reference to IFRS

Course Description

Experience America’s most comprehensive California Federal Tax Update live and in action with our renowned tax expert, Mark Seid. By combining the real-life experience of practicing CPAs with cutting-edge tax planning strategies, Western CPE provides you with essential knowledge while reviewing IRS, Congressional, and Judicial actions over the past year. Citing the latest legislative developments while clarifying which tax reforms pertain to California tax practitioners, our intensive update will enable participants to quickly understand and implement tax reform changes for their client’s Individual and Business preparations. Each tax season brings new challenges, and tax professionals in California experience more complexity. That’s why thousands of California Tax Professionals turn to Western CPE to get an update that helps them win every day of tax season. Be prepared for California’s unique tax fights, and always have the answers for your clients. Whether you’re a new Tax CPA or an Expert Tax Advisor, you’ll receive critical updates and in-depth explanations behind the changes Congress and the IRS make. You’ll receive the most complete and up-to-date reference manual written by our renowned tax experts. In addition, the digital PDF manual is hyperlinked to the Internal Revenue Code, tax court decisions, and other primary authorities, making it extremely convenient.  California has its own unique headaches, and its financial professionals still need to deal with the full weight of all the Federal Tax danger zones. Join us as our world-class tax instructors share cutting-edge, California-specific tax planning strategies.

Course Description

Discover how to take your clients and businesses to the next level with Brayn Consulting’s Specialty Tax Incentives Course. This course will equip you with the skills to create effective collaboration and lead teams of professionals, including lawyers, engineers, accountants, and tax support staff. You will learn how to review, document, and substantiate tax incentives specific to your clients, and gain insight into the latest industry best practices for maximizing tax credits and deductions. With Brayn Consulting, you’ll have access to expert knowledge and guidance on the R&D Tax Credit, 174 R&E Expenses & Amortization, 45L Energy Efficient Home Credit, 179D Energy Efficient Commercial Building Deduction, Cost Segregation, Building Science Consulting, Employee Retention Tax Credit, Payroll Tax Credit, Tax Audit Resolution, and the Investment Tax Credit. Elevate your business and start empowering your clients today with Brayn Consulting’s course.

Learning Objectives

• Examine how to leverage tax incentives for renewable and energy-efficient projects
• Recognize which businesses can take advantage broad definition of “qualified research” tied to the R&D tax credit
• Cite ways Building owners can take advantage of the ability to look back and “catch-up” lost depreciation deductions without having to amend a tax return
• Discuss Tax Audit Resolution strategies and comprehensive documentation frameworks
• Understand Section 48 federal tax credit for installing renewable or recoverable property in 2023 & after
• Learn and discuss why the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, software, transportation, and biotechnology industries are earmarked for tax incentives

Course Description

Today financial planning is very different from the profession and advice of the past. We all know what we would like to do, and achieve, but how realistic are those expectations? To put it into perspective from a prior TV commercial, “this is not your father’s Oldsmobile!”.

The main reason is for this is that our world is changing rapidly. Employment shifts, everyday living, and life priorities are now part of the new norm! – Add to that other unanticipated events that we need to figure out, which essentially are “the secrets” of how to maintain our edge in the future on the advice we render makes this process a game changer.

This is no small task or straight shot for us, or for our clients, and as a result, immediate changes will need to be made as they relate to planning for insurance, investments, education, income tax, retirement, and estate. This revised concentration effects employees, closely held business owners, high net worth individuals, and retirees just to name a few.  It is more important than ever to help us relay the importance for our clients, and perhaps ourselves, to help stay focused.

Learning Objectives

Identify the latest financial planning trends in a very different era and learn how to apply them. Find out what leading practitioners in our profession say where we are and where we are going and why, in this rapidly changing environment Learn how to identify, evaluate, and provide recommendations in this forging environment.

• Learn how to structure your practice to cover all of the financial planning bases and anticipating strategies for future changes.
• Determine how to educate, communicate and provide well-thought-out financial plans for your clients.
• Determine how your clients can best manage their cash flow and budgeting during this “New Norm”.

Determine how to incorporate the personal financial planning process as part of the client’s emotional and financial life cycle.

• Evaluate retirement planning strategies for saving and investing, including the “newly defined retirement”.
• Recognize and evaluate potential investment strategies

Determine when and how to evaluate insurance concerns. Explore the "real" critical aspects of estate planning and where the focus for your clients should be.

Course Description

In today’s tough economic environment, Finance leaders, like CEOs, must also shift their mindset. Every firm and company faces an existential threat, whether it’s excessive cash burn, liquidity crises, or raging competition. Financial Leaders need to know how to take control of capital allocation, scrutinize areas of revenue leakage, and identify pockets of profitability.

Frank Ryan or Jennifer Elder will show you how Financial Leaders and their teams can think differently to survive and thrive during peacetime and wartime.

Learning Objectives

• Discuss & Identify current economic trends impacting your situation
• Learn to apply strategies during changing landscapes
• Identify when to shift priorities based on profitability or growth goals
• Learn & Discuss methods to create better visibility into financial data
• Apply accountability measures to address financial constraints
• Cite the right skill set financial leaders need

Course Description

Quality management is important. Every CPA firm that provides audit and other attest services must undergo a third-party quality control review. This session will provide you with the tips on how to avoid common quality management deficiencies in all services that are subject to peer review.

Learning Objectives

• List the potential impact of risks faced by public accountants when performing audit and other attest services
• Recall common peer review deficiencies in all types of attest engagements
• Identify minimum documentation requirements contained in the SSARSs, SASs and SSAEs
• Recognize how to strengthen analytic procedures to support conclusions on reviews and audits
• Explain best practices for preparing and reviewing workpapers to ensure an effective and efficient engagement
• List the quality management standards and guidance related to a CPA firm’s responsibilities for its system of quality management over the audit and attest practice

Course Description

Financial, retirement, tax, and valuation issues are critical concerns when contemplating a divorce. Understanding, assessing, and deciding how to proceed is essential before completing the marital separation agreement. Learn business valuation and the division of assets. Discuss property, retirement, and other possibilities that may enter the equation. Gain insights on the tax and financial ramifications of divorce. Navigate the assessment and division of financial assets before, during, and after the divorce.

Learning Objectives

• Minimizing the inevitable financial damage
• Financial issues in the heart of dividing assets in a post COVID world!
• Understanding which types of assets, plans or equity components the client should pursue during the division.
• Tax elements inherent in valuing and selling assets
• Valuing retirement plans
• Community property vs. common law issues
• The importance of being prepared by planning in advance
• The ongoing payment issues dealing with alimony and child support
• The rash of documents protecting a client going forward, including pre-nuptials, cohabitation agreements, post nuptials and many others
• The advanced income tax issues including like-kind exchanges, filing status issues, credits and asset sales
• The advanced retirement issues including dissecting qualified, personal retirement, and nonqualified plans, QDROs, past and defunct plans, and using retirement assets to equalize assets
• The high-level valuation issues including closely held business, stock redemptions, partnership redemptions and stock options
• Redesigning the personal financial plan after divorce

Course Description

Stay ahead of the game and keep up with the latest changes affecting accounting, auditing, compilation, and review engagements. Join our course for a comprehensive update on newly issued IFRS and statements by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). Learn about the latest developments in compilation and review processes, and gain a competitive edge with our expert guidance.

Learning Objectives

• Recall examples of the conceptual framework for financial reporting
• Recognize when to apply first-time adoption of international financial reporting standards
• Explore Financial Instrument Disclosures and disclosure of interests in other entities
• Apply the Restatement Approach under IAS 29 Financial Reporting in Hyperinflationary Economies
• Learn about Foreign Currency Transactions and Advance Consideration
• Identify and cite the General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information
• Discuss the newest Climate-related Disclosures

Course Description

Many for-profit and non-for-profit entities receive government assistance or are required to have financial statement or compliance audits due to law or regulation. This course will discuss the requirements under Government Auditing Standards (Yellow Book) relevant to a variety of circumstances. This course will cover the latest in independence, quality control, audit planning, satisfying compliance audit requirements, reporting, and more!

Learning Objectives

• List important requirements of Government Auditing Standards
• Explain important areas of emphasis within the Yellow Book
• Describe when Generally Accepted Auditing Standards may apply to a variety of types of entities
• Explain what additional responsibilities exist with a Yellow Book financial statement audit
• Recall the importance of independence and other ethical responsibilities
• Distinguish internal control responsibilities for Yellow Book and compliance audits
• List required elements of a Yellow Book findings and publicly-available reports
• Identify proper responses to a variety of FAQ related to the application and compliance with Yellow Book

Course Description

This six hour course is up to date with all significant legislative, administrative and judicial developments up to the date of presentation. It includes S corporation eligibility and election requirements, taxable income, compensation, distributions basis and other loss limits. Although this program has an S corporation emphasis, several of the topics apply to other forms of closely held businesses, including partnerships and C corporations.

Learning Objectives

• Determine the entities which are, and which are not, eligible for S corporation status.
• Understand the corrective rules for repairing eligibility and preserving S status.
• Identify corporate income, loss, and other items that affect income, loss and basis.
• Recognize the pervasive issue of compensation of shareholder-employees.
• Understand the S corporation shareholder stock and debt basis rules.
• Calculate the effects of income, distributions, losses and other items on shareholder’s basis.
• Apply the sequence of loss limitations affecting shareholders and other business owners.