May - July 2007 Credits |
>2007 Is a Reporting Year
>New Courses in June and July
>Instructor Spotlight - Chris Rouse
>Florida Licensed CPAs
>Volunteer to Help Plan the NEW Worklife Blance Conference
>Upcoming Conferences
>Alternative CPE Options
>Practice Leaders Workshop
>2007 CPAs in Industry Section Lunch and Learn Series
>Hands-On Computer Training
>CPE FAQs
>Become and On-Site Administrator
2007 IS A REPORTING YEAR
The Georgia State Board of Accountancy reporting period ends December 31, 2007. The Georgia Society of CPAs offers five easy ways to earn CPE credits.
GSCPA Courses
The 2007-2008 CPE season will offer 435 courses with over 100 of these being new courses. A large number of these courses are offered at off site locations to meet the needs of the GSCPA chapters in outlying areas. Refer to the CPE Course Catalog for a complete listing of courses and locations.
Self-Study
In addition to the many conferences and seminars offered by the GSCPA, we have partnered with several other companies to bring you alternative forms of CPE. Interactive CPE is becoming an increasingly popular alternative format for meeting CPE requirements.
GSCPA Conferences
Conferences offer a variety of topics relative to a specific area of the profession. In addition to gaining new knowledge in your field, conferences also offer the opportunity for networking, which most other CPE options do not offer. This year the GSCPA will be offering fifteen conferences including two new additions - the Worklife Balance Conference and a newly formatted MAP Conference. Watch for details on these two new events as well as all your past favorites on the GSCPA Conferences portion of the web site.
CPE-to-Go
CPE-to-Go brings public seminars, scheduled at your request, directly to the location of your choice. Think of it as take-out CPE. The GSCPAs CPE-to-Go program, including the course material and instuctors, can be scheduled around your availability with examples keyed to your work issues. With few exceptions, every program offered in the GSCPA CPE catalog can be CPE-to-Go.
Webcasts
Webcasts are live, real-time courses on hot topic subjects. Generally, webcasts are two hours in length, however they are also offered in four hour and eight hour time frames as well. They are interactive and qualify for online group study CPE credit. Visit the GSCPA web site to view and register for webcasts offered through ACPEN and Society InSight.
NEW COURSES IN JUNE AND JULY
How to Beat the IRS Legally: Tax Planning & Strategies for Individuals
Date: June 14
Course No: 06020
Instructor: Ed Harter – Surgent McCoy
Location: GSCPA Training Center
Credit Hours: 8 hours CPE
How can you retain good clients and create significantly more revenue for your firm? This course focuses on practical, innovative ideas and valuable checklists that you and your clients can put into action today. You will find that additional billings generated by implementing our strategies are well worth the price of admission for this seminar.
Some Highlights
-Proprietary checklist and integrated strategies for reviewing the prior year’s tax return and identifying planning issues that can create significant additional billings
-Meeting the requirements for taking a loss on investment
-Planning techniques for dealing with the Alternative Minimum Tax
-How to minimize the 110% estimated tax payments of your clients with creative strategies
FIN 48 - Uncertainty in Income Taxes: A Must Know for Tax CPAs and Accountants/Auditors
Date: June 11 (8:30am-noon) or June 11 (1pm-4:30pm)
Course No: 06037 or 06038
Instructor: Debra Simon – AICPA
Location: GSCPA Training Center
Credit Hours: 4 hours A&A
FIN 48 adds major new tax documentation and disclosure requirements on a scale unseen since passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002. Despite an outpouring of requests for an extension, the Financial Accounting Standards Board declined to extend the effective date. Thus, starting in early 2007, FIN 48 significantly modifies the accounting and disclosures relating to uncertainties in income taxes covered by FAS 109, Accounting for Income Taxes. FASB prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. Guidance also is provided on derecognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods, disclosure, and transition. These concepts are reinforced with real world case studies and examples throughout the course.
Audits of 401(k) Plans
Date: June 18
Course No: 06024
Instructor: Bruce Nunnally - AICPA
Location: GSCPA Training Center
Credit Hours: 8 hours A&A
401(k) plans have become a popular option for employee benefit plans so it is imperative that you have the skills necessary to audit these plans effectively. Every aspect of how to audit a 401(k) plan and prepare financial statements that satisfy ERISA and SEC requirements are covered in this course. Tap into ways to plan and conduct 401(k) audits more efficiently and effectively and understand the differences between 401(k) audits and other employee benefits.
Some Highlights
-ERISA and SEC requirements
-Audit planning ~ analytical procedures, accounting estimates, fraud
-Evaluating internal control
-Auditing the statement of net assets available for benefits
-Auditing the statement of changes in net assets available for benefits
-Special audit considerations
-Preparing the auditor’s report
Reinventing Your Audit Practice: Implementing the Risk-Based Approach
Date: July 17
Course No: 07008
Instructor: Mike Inzina – Altec
Location: GSCPA Training Center
Credit Hours: 8 hours A&A
Reinventing Your Audit Practice is designed to assist firms who have been performing procedure-based audits in implementing the risk-based approach required by SAS 104-111. It includes detailed coverage of the risk assessment standards and forms for documenting the required risk assessments.
Some Highlights
-The nature of judgment
-Audit risk
-Audit sampling
-Applying effective analytical procedures
-Applying efficient substantive procedures to various account balances
-Concluding the fieldwork
-Internal control related matters
Estate and Gift Taxation of Nonresident Aliens in the United States
Date: July 24
Course No: 07015
Instructor: Michael Rosenberg – Florida Institute of CPAs
Location: GSCPA Training Center
Credit Hours: 8 hours CPE
Florida Institute of CPAs
Enable participants to acquire a working knowledge as well as a practical, how-to approach regarding the U.S. estate and gift taxation of nonresident alien domiciliaries.
Some Highlights
-Potential U.S. estate and gift consequences associated with the U.S. investment by nonresident alien domiciliaries
-Increased IRS audit activities in the U.S. estate and gift tax areas as they relate to foreign investors
-Substantive U.S. estate and gift tax rules relative to foreign investors’ planning and tax minimization alternatives; and probate alternatives for foreign investors wishing to minimize the disclosures in third-country proceedings associated with the transfer of U.S. and possibly other non-home-country assets
-Post-mortem tax planning alternatives
Investing in Private Equity
Date: July 31
Course No: 07029
Instructor: Dennis Gerschick – Regal Seminars
Location: GSCPA Training Center
Credit Hours: 8 hours CPE
This course will address why investors should invest in private equity, and how they can do so. It will explain how investing in private equity is different than investing in the public markets. It will also highlight numerous pitfalls that should be avoided.
Some Highlights
-The different ways to invest in private equity
-Factors to consider in selecting a private equity fund
-The differences between LBO, venture capital, and hedge funds
-The critical issues to consider before investing in a private company
For complete course descriptions and to register online, visit www.gscpa.org and click on the Course Catalog tab under Continuing Education.
INSTRUCTOR SPOTLIGHT - CHRIS ROUSE
Chris Rouse is an audit partner and the firm audit and accounting quality control partner at Windham Brannon, PC, an Atlanta CPA firm. He is a 1965 graduate of Florida State University, and has practiced since then with Big-8 and large local firms. He has served primarily audit clients in his career, including clients in the financial services industry, real estate, manufacturing and distribution companies, service businesses and not-for-profit entities. His service as firm-wide A&A partner includes helping his partners deal with new and difficult audit and accounting issues. He has served as team captain on many peer reviews, from top-100 firms to sole practitioners. He also provides litigation support, primarily in accountants malpractice cases.
Chris currently serves on the US Department of Labor ERISA Advisory Council, and chaired a Working Group of the Council in 2005. Chris recently finished service on the AICPA Technical Issues Committee (Auditing), and has served on the AICPA Peer Review Committee and the Technical Standards Committee (Ethics). Chris is currently chair of the GSCPA Assurance Services Section, is co-chair of the GSCPA Peer Review Executive Committee, and serves on a Peer Review Report Acceptance Body and the GSCPA Audit Committee. He has chaired the GSCPA Audit and Accounting Committee, the Peer Review Committee, the Financial Institutions Committee, and served on several others.
Chris has taught numerous audit and accounting training courses, and is a GSCPA Outstanding Discussion Leader. He is a frequent speaker on audit and accounting matters at state and national seminars.
CALLING ALL CPAs LICENSED BY THE STATE OF FLORIDA
You can earn your Florida CPE ethics requirement in the state of Georgia. In an effort to help our members who are licensed in the state of Florida but living in Georgia, the GSCPA is offering a 4-hour Florida ethics course that complies with the ethics requirements for Florida CPAs as set forth by the Florida Board of Accountancy.
Beginning with the June 30 renewal period, the Florida Board of Accountancy requires licensees to show evidence of taking the Florida specific ethics course, “Ethics: Protecting the Integrity of Florida CPAs.” You will have one opportunity to take this course in Georgia.
Through information and discussion, this course addresses both internal and external issues faced by CPAs such as professional standards, ethical conduct, client communication and independence. For the complete course description or to register for this course visit the online CPE catalog at www.gscpa.org.
Ethics: Protecting the Integrity of Florida CPAs
May 21 05003 Atlanta 1 - 4:30 p.m.
MEMBERS: $109 if registered by 5/5, $129 standard fee
NON MEMBERS: $129 if registered by 5/5, $149 standard fee
VOLUNTEER TO HELP PLAN THE NEW WORKLIFE BALANCE CONFERENCE
The GSCPA relies on input from volunteers to make its programs relevant to the changing needs of our membership. The GSCPA is currently seeking volunteers to help plan the NEW Work Life Balance Conference. If you would like to participate in the planning this new event, contact Lynne Carr at lcarr@gscpa.org, 404-504-2945 or 800-330-8889 ext. 2945.
Conference planning task forces typically meet over lunch for about two hours, and have two to three planning meetings as well as one wrap-up meeting after the event. The option to teleconference is available for each meeting.
UPCOMING CONFERENCES
Just What You Wished For at the Spring Government Workshop
May 11
Macon Conference Center
#13015
Topic: GASB Update by G. Robert Smith, Jr., PhD, CPA
Standard Registration Fee: $229
The Solution to Your Real Estate Needs at the 2007 Real Estate Conference
Presented in Partnership with the Georgia Institute of Real Estate and the Atlanta Commercial Board
May 17
Cobb Galleria Centre
Course No. 13001
8 hours CPE (including a possible 3 hours A&A)
6 hours Real Estate Credit
CLE Credit Applied For
Standard Registration Fee: $229
Stay Connected at the 27th Annual Georgia Federal Tax Conference
June 6-7
Cobb Galleria Centre
CPE Credit:
Wednesday - 8 hours
Thursday - 8 hours
Both days - 16 hours
CLE Credit: Applied for
CLU Credit: Applied for
CFP Credit: Applied for
#13075 – Both Days
#13076 – Wednesday Only
#13077 – Thursday Only
Member Early Registration Fee: $429 by 5/16
Member Standard Registration Fee: $479 after 5/16
Non Member Early One-day registration: $289 by 5/16
Non Member Standard One-day registration: $319 after 5/16
For the complete program schedule or to register for any of the above conferences visit www.gscpa.org and click on the Conferences tab under Continuing Education.
ALTERNATIVE CPE OPTIONS
The GSCPA offers a variety of ways to meet your CPE requirements. In addition to the many conferences and seminars offered by the GSCPA, we have partnered with the following vendors bring you options for self-study and web cast CPE. For more information and to register visit www.gscpa.org and click on Continuing Education. You will register directly with the vendors for these programs.
SELF-STUDY
PASSOnline.com
PASSOnline has been a provider of CPE for CPAs and other financial professionals since 1990 specializing in accounting, ethics and taxation education. PASS and PASSOnline offer Continuing Professional Education software and online education courses to a wide variety of accounting professionals. Courses are available on diskette or CD-ROM, via download or online over the Internet.
Surgent Associates, LLC
With Surgent and Associates Educational Software Products, LLC, you earn much more than your mandatory CPE requirements. You benefit from the comprehensive and up-to-the-minute coverage that can only come from almost 20 years of experience in the continuing professional education industry. All Surgent McCoy courses are NASBA approved. Furthermore, most are accepted for CFP®, CLU, ChFC, EA, CFM, and CMA continuing education credit.
CPEasy.com
CPEasy provides quality CPE programs that are easy to access, simple to use and available whenever and wherever you choose. With CPEasy, you register online for your choice of courses and monthly reports, study in your home or office, and take quizzes and track your CPE progress online.
CCH Learning Center
The CCH Learning Center offers a comprehensive line of current, engaging, interactive continuing education courses - giving you the content and tools you can trust, combined with the speed and power of CCH® Tax Research NetWork™ and Accounting Research Manager™. CCH is registered as a sponsor for both NASBA and QAS.
WEBCASTS
Society InSight
Stay plugged in to what’s happening and earn CPE credit right from your desktop. Society InSight web casts are high-quality CPE programs that bring you the latest topics from leading experts. Broadcast live from the classroom, they allow you to interact with the presenters and join in on the discussion. Most programs are two hours.
ACPEN
The Accounting Continuing Professional Education Network (ACPEN), sponsored by many State CPA Societies, is dedicated to bringing highly relevant, interactive CPE to every CPA in the most convenient and economical ways possible. Participants, with a broadband internet connection, using their own computer, join the rest of the thousands of accountants and other financial and tax professionals as an attendee. You are able to watch the broadcast, download the written materials and interact with speakers, live, during the program.
PRACTICE LEADERS WORKSHOP
August 8, 2007
GSCPA Training Center – Course No. 08014
$325 Early Bird - $365 Regular
“A Focus on Recruiting and Retaining the Best and the Brightest” Presented by the Staffing Task Force
Finding and retaining top talent is the most significant issue facing the CPA profession. To ensure your firm is poised for success, attend this Practice Leaders Workshop, where you will gain access to practical information and tools you can implement back in your office and see immediate results. This Workshop will address a critical issue facing the accounting profession, and give you concepts, tips, and tools for recruiting and retention.
Your team members are the key to your success. Partners, managers, and other leaders with people management responsibilities will learn best practices in human resources, including:
• Innovative recruiting concepts and how to differentiate your firm from others in the hiring process
• Sources for finding qualified team members and partners
• Creating mechanisms for your people to succeed
• A clear organization, roles definition, and reporting structure
• Career RoadMaps™
• Methods for motivating your people
In addition to group discussion, you will participate in a number of exercises designed to reinforce learning. Each participant will receive a valuable course manual that includes course materials, exercises, tools, and resources for your use when returning to the office. If you’re interested in an effective method for growing your team and developing your human resource management skills (or those of others in your firm), this workshop is a must.
2007 CPAs IN INDUSTRY SECTION LUNCH AND LEARN SERIES
Come join your peers at an Industry Lunch and Learn session of your choosing. This opportunity to earn CPE and network with your fellow members will be offered 10 times annually. The next three sessions for 2007 are below along with the session topics. Each lunch and learn is to be held on the third Thursday of the month at the offices of Tarpley and Underwood across from Perimeter Mall.
May 17, 2007 – Fentress Seagroves, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, LLC – “The Other Side of the Story. Business Divestitures and a Seller’s View point”
June 21, 2007 – Roger Ward, PFS, CFP, MFP, Tarpley & Underwood, PC – “Personal Wealth Management”
July 19, 2007 – Bill Jennings, CPA, CFE, Navigant Consulting – “Fraud Detection & Prevention” - (A&A)
The registration fee is fifteen dollars, with registration/lunch beginning at 11:30a.m. and the session running from Noon until 1p.m. To join the CPAs in Industry Section and to find out more about the Lunch and Learn series, please visit the sections web site: http://sections.gscpa.org.
HANDS-ON COMPUTER TRAINING
In addition to the computer classes offered directly from GSCPA, the GSCPA has partnered with the following companies to bring you numerous opportunities to develop and enhance your computer skills. You will register directly with New Horizons or Triality Inc.
New Horizons
New Horizons is offering discounted rates for GSCPA attendees at both its Atlanta and Marietta locations. Please visit New Horizon’s web site, www.newhorizons.com, to view the courses being offered. To register for courses or for more information please contact Angel Fennell with New Horizons at 770-270-2000 or afennell@newhorizons-atl.com.
Triality, Inc.
Triality, Inc. is offering discounted rates for GSCPA attendees in the Stockbridge area. Please visit Triality’s web site, www.trialityonline.com, to view the courses being offered. To register for courses or for more information please contact Chris Menard with Triality, Inc. at 678-565-1974 or chris@trialityonline.com.
CPE FAQs
When does the Georgia State Board of Accountancy reporting period end?
The Georgia State Board of Accountancy reporting period ends December 31, 2007
How can I tell if a class I attended from another sponsor qualifies for CPE?
The Georgia Board of Accountancy is charged with administering the legal requirements pertaining to CPE. As such, it establishes the rules for which programs and what administrative procedures should be followed. The Georgia Society of CPAs is the professional organization of CPAs in Georgia, and does not set rules for which courses qualify for credit. For a summary of the rules set by the Board of Accountancy visit our web site at www.gscpa.org/cpe and click on CPE Resources or visit the State Board’s web site at http://www.sos.state.ga.us/plb/accountancy/default.htm.
What is the cancellation policy for seminars and conferences?
Cancellations/Transfers made up to 3 business days before a class are subject to a $20 administration fee; Cancellations/Transfers made within 3 business days are subject to a $50 administration fee; No refunds or transfers of course fee will be made after the date of the course; No-shows forfeit entire registration fee.
BECOME AND ON-SITE ADMINISTRATOR
Assist the GSCPA CPE department by providing on-site administrative support at CPE courses outside Atlanta and pay a significantly discounted registration fee. For more information about volunteering as an On-site Administrator, contact Terry Gainer at tgainer@gscpa.org, 404-504-2944 or 800-330-8889 ext. 2944.