Top Accounting and Auditing Issues (2023)

This six CPE hour course reviews top accounting issues: 2022 GAAP update, cost-effective cybersecurity for small businesses, and real-world blockchain applications. This course provides an overview of updates to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) impacting the 2022 calendar year-end reporting period. To ensure all recent pronouncements are captured, this course revisits standards issued in late 2021, to alert readers to changes that could impact their reporting. Discussion will also be provided on existing standards originating from the FASB’s Private Company Council and how these can streamline reporting requirements. This course is also designed to assist accountants and auditors who are working with small businesses. The course assumes that there will be a limited budget for implementing cybersecurity internal controls for a small business. It will also discuss working directly with small business owners and bookkeepers, and some of their resistance to formalized internal controls. Since an effective risk assessment is necessary to develop internal controls, cyber fraud risks specific to small businesses will also be covered. Finally, the course will review real-world applications for blockchains. Many people have heard of blockchains but are not sure what they are or how they work. You might know that blockchains are used for cryptocurrency transactions, but are you aware of the other business and accounting uses for blockchain technology? This course explores current and possible future uses for blockchain technology in businesses, government entities, and in the accounting and auditing profession. Examples of how blockchains work will be provided.

This six CPE hour course reviews top auditing issues: going concern: auditing and internal control issues, crypto basics and audit considerations, fraud risks when conducting remote audits, and environmental, social, and governance. This course reviews internal control and internal control systems from the auditor’s point of view. It provides updates on internal controls and American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) auditing standards, as well as internal control and audit reports. It also covers the new quality management standards approved by the AICPA Accounting Standards Board (ASB), discusses internal control and COVID-19 issues, along with other related matters. This course also presents a basic overview of auditing crypto assets and liabilities. It discusses cryptocurrencies and tokens and how these assets and liabilities should be recorded on the books. The course presents a basic overview of the fraud risks auditors may encounter when conducting remote audits. It discusses the risks and provides auditing procedures that can help to mitigate the risks. Finally, this course gives an overview of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting requirements and standards and ESG’s impact on generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS) and attestation.

This four CPE hour course reviews top auditing issues: management’s discussion and analysis (MD&A) and non-GAAP financial measures. This course provides an overview of the rules and regulations with respect to the management’s discussion and analysis (MD&A) section of an entity’s consolidated financial statements filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). MD&A has been, and continues to be, a primary focus area of the SEC when reviewing public company filings. In fact, it has consistently ranked in the top 10 of the most frequent comment letters issued by the SEC. This course also provides an overview of non-GAAP financial measures with a particular emphasis on comments from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), as well as comment letter analysis from several of the Big 4 accounting firms. Non-GAAP financial measures continue to rank at the top of the most frequent comment letters issued by the SEC. As a result, it’s important to understand the guidance with respect to these measures to ensure that an entity’s financial statements remain GAAP compliant and are not misleading.