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ADVANCED EXCEL Although many accountants consider themselves experts in using Excel, most accountants are self-taught and do not use Excel to its full potential. This course is designed to take experienced, self-taught users to the next level. It provides real world examples developed by accountants for accountants in the following six major topic areas: collaboration and workbook security; using tables to analyze and report data; integrating and manipulating data from external sources; creating and auditing complex formulas; advanced data analysis with subtotals, filters, and PivotTables; and using charts to analyze and communicate information. Its content is based on twenty years of experience in delivering Excel training to accountants and on feedback from thousands of accounting and financial professionals just like you. If you use Excel extensively, you need this course! Participants will have access to sample data files. This course includes coverage of features found in Excel 2003, 2007, and 2010.

BUDGETING, FORECASTING, AND BUSINESS ANALYTICS The built-in reports of today's accounting information systems rarely provide all of the information needed to manage business operations, but modern business performance measurement tools can make planning, measurement, reporting, and control processes much more effective. During this session, your instructor will review some of the top third-party tools to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the budgeting and forecasting process, such as Microsoft Forecaster, Budget Maestro, PROPHIX, and OutlookSoft. Additionally, your instructor will review some of the top business performance measurement and information reporting solutions, such as Microsoft FRx, BizExcelerator, Crystal Reports, and F9. Important concepts such as data warehouses, data mining, business intelligence, EVA analysis, and balanced scorecards will be discussed to improve your understanding. Your instructor will also show you how to enhance and supplement analysis and reporting using Microsoft Excel and how to speed up and improve information retrieval processes using open database connectivity (ODBC). Using PivotTables, charts, and PivotCharts, coupled with ODBC, may be all that is necessary to get the information that you need from your financial and operational systems. By the end of the day, you will be familiar with the tools and processes necessary to provide your organization or your clients with the information retrieval, analysis, reporting, and planning capabilities required to manage business more effectively.

CLOUD COMPUTING "Cloud Computing." You’ve heard the term, but what does it really mean and how will it impact you both personally and professionally? In this seminar, you will learn the fundamentals of cloud computing, including what cloud computing really is and how it differs from hosted services. The course then shifts into a discussion to help you understand if cloud computing might be right for your organization or for your clients. From there, you will learn about the leading providers of cloud-based services and which of their solutions might be right for your organization or for your clients. Additionally, during the seminar you will learn how to migrate to cloud-based solutions and how to avoid the major pitfalls along the way. In this seminar, leading solutions from organizations such as AccountantsWorld, Microsoft, Google, Zoho, Thomson Reuters, CCH, Intuit, SAP, Intacct, Sage, Salesforce.com, Capital Confirmation, XCM Solutions, Bill.com, VMWare, Amazon, Insynq, Awensa, Cloud9 Real Time, and many others will be reviewed to help you understand the opportunities that exist today to move your organization forward and begin increasing the return on your investment in technology. A special focus of this seminar is the impact that cloud computing will have on the accounting profession, regardless of whether you work in public accounting, industry, or for governmental, educational, or not-for-profit institutions. Don’t miss this chance to learn about cloud computing and the potential for you to improve information services within your organization while improving efficiency and driving down costs!

EXCEL-BASED DASHBOARDS Dashboard reporting is rapidly becoming the norm for organizations seeking to improve financial and operational reporting processes. Dashboards allow recipients easy access to mission-critical data, usually in an on-demand environment, thereby allowing users to get the information they need when they need it. With greatly enhanced charting and graphing capabilities, along with the ability to handle much larger volumes of data, Excel is an ideal tool for creating high-impact dashboards in businesses of all sizes. In this course, learn how to build Excel-based dashboards that extract information from your accounting application along with other databases and to present this data as actionable information in a dashboard setting. Key topics covered in this course include extracting and summarizing data stored in various databases; charting and graphing data, including specialized charts and graphs such as tachometer gauges and thermometer charts; identifying and highlighting trends in data; distributing dashboard reports throughout the organization; and using Excel add-ins such as Xcelsius and BizExcelerator to enhance the dashboard reporting process. Don’t miss this chance to learn how to create and implement Excel-based dashboard reports as a means of improving the financial and operational reporting processes in your organization.

EXCEL BUDGETING AND FORECASTING TECHNIQUES Recent research reveals that nearly 75% of North American companies use Excel as their primary budgeting and forecasting tool. This course is designed to provide participants with the Excel knowledge and skills necessary to prepare budgets and forecasts more efficiently and with greater accuracy. It provides real world examples developed by accountants for accountants in the following six major topic areas: collaboration and workbook security, integrating and manipulating data from external sources, consolidating budgetary data, summarizing and analyzing data with PivotTables, forecasting revenues and expenses using linear regression and other techniques, and understanding and applying capital budgeting principles. If you use Excel in budgeting and forecasting, you need this course. Participants will have access to sample data files. This course includes coverage of features found in Excel 2003, 2007, and 2010.

EXCEL FINANCIAL REPORTING AND ANALYSIS Microsoft Excel is a powerful tool for analyzing financial data and preparing financial reports, but like most powerful tools, it contains hidden features and functionality useful for these purposes that are not obvious to users, both novice and expert alike. The purpose of this course is to uncover these hidden features so that users may prepare computationally accurate and aesthetically pleasing reports in a more effective and efficient manner. It provides solutions for accountants in the following six major topic areas: advanced techniques for formatting reports and financial statements, assembly and printing of reports and schedules, using templates to automate reporting processes, advanced financial analysis with PivotTables connected to the General Ledger using ODBC, data consolidation, and using charts and digital dashboards for presenting financial information. Participants will have access to sample data files. This course includes coverage of features found in Excel 2003, 2007, and 2010.

EXCEL TIPS, TRICKS, AND TECHNIQUES FOR ACCOUNTANTS Excel is the accountant's tool of choice for analyzing and reporting financial data, yet most accountants have never received any formal Excel training. As a result, many accountants use time-consuming and error-prone processes to complete everyday tasks. This highly acclaimed course contains hundreds of tips, tricks, and techniques to improve your productivity and accuracy. Its content is based on over twenty years of experience in delivering Excel training to accountants and on feedback from tens of thousands of accounting and financial professionals just like you. The course has six major areas of topical coverage: productivity tips and tricks, formatting essentials, customizing Excel, formula-building essentials, three-dimensional workbooks, and printing essentials. If you are an Excel user, regardless of your level of experience, and you have never taken a formal Excel training course for accountants, you need this course! Participants will have access to sample data files. This course includes coverage of features found in Excel 2003, 2007, and 2010.

PAPERLESS OFFICE Would you like to find important documents in 10 seconds or less? Of course you would! At the very least, you would like to have secure, reliable access to information more rapidly than you have today while reducing storage space requirements and costs. No one expects a completely “paperless” office, but everyone would like to have much “less paper” to manage! This course will use best practice methods and demonstrate proven processes for document management. The instructor will guide you through the file organization and retention process from simple, inexpensive systems costing a few hundred dollars to comprehensive options complete with workflow. Example topics include how to integrate digitized hard copy files with documents that already exist in your system, such as Word, Excel, and Outlook e-mail files and how to manage long-term electronic file systems. There will be discussion on exporting and importing data from specialized applications such as tax or accounting software into a total document management solution. Considerations for implementing paperless audits will be included. You will leave this seminar with a comprehensive understanding of your options and a clear direction of how to implement your own version of the Paperless Office. The course will begin with understanding paperless issues and how to best organize your paper and electronic documents today. It then moves on to suggest what options are best for you to eliminate paper, what documents to maintain electronically, and how to retire expired documents. The goal is to improve productivity and to reduce cost.

PDF DOCUMENTS - BEYOND THE BASICS This seminar focuses on how to use Adobe Acrobat for creating and using Portable Document Format (PDF) files. PDF is the recognized standard for exchanging digital documents and has become the standard document format for many electronic document management systems. Understanding how to use PDFs effectively is rapidly becoming a necessary business skill, especially as more and more organizations migrate to paperless environments. In this seminar, participants will learn how to create and modify PDF documents; run optical character recognition (OCR) on documents to improve searchability; create bookmarks for navigation; send PDFs for review and comment; accumulate comments from multiple reviewers in a single document; secure PDFs with passwords or digital certificates; apply digital signatures; protect PDFs from being modified; redact sensitive data from PDFs; and create and use fillable forms. You don't want to miss this opportunity to learn a full range of skills for working with PDF documents.

PEACHTREE ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE - MANAGING BUSINESSES MORE EFFECTIVELY Dating back to the 1970’s Peachtree software has a rich tradition of bringing innovations in accounting software to small businesses across the United States. In this seminar, you will learn how to put recently introduced features to work the right way in order to manage your business – or that of your clients’ – more efficiently and effectively. This is not a class on how to perform basic data entry functions in Peachtree, but rather, it is a class designed to show you how to take advantage of key Peachtree features such as Internal Accounting Review, Workflow, Business Intelligence, My Dashboard, Real-time Alerts, Multi-year Reporting, and Inventory Management. If you are currently using or supporting Peachtree software, or are considering implementing Peachtree, you should take advantage of this opportunity to learn how to make the most of Peachtree software.

QUICKBOOKS ADVANCED FEATURES, TOOLS, AND TECHNIQUES This advanced course is designed for those who are experienced with QuickBooks and who are looking for insight on how to deal with the more difficult issues that advanced users often face. The course includes coverage of techniques and features of which even advanced users are often not aware as well as useful workarounds for common problems. Some of the key topics covered are the best ways to exchange QuickBooks data with others, inventory accounting issues and solutions, tracking and managing sales taxes, working with and resolving payroll issues, advanced financial and operational reporting matters, job costing, time tracking, and much more. In addition, a detailed discussion on troubleshooting QuickBooks performance is included to ensure that your QuickBooks installation is operating at peak performance. If you are an experienced QuickBooks user and want to get more out of the product for your company and/or your clients, you need this course.

QUICKBOOKS FOR ACCOUNTANTS Although QuickBooks is generally labeled as an “entry level” accounting solution, it is an extremely powerful product with features and capabilities of which many users are either not aware or don’t know how to utilize effectively. This course is designed to help you get more out of QuickBooks and to resolve the issues with which even experienced QuickBooks users often struggle, such as locking down prior periods. The course starts out fast with a chapter covering the top issues accountants face with QuickBooks. The day continues with practical guidance and solutions designed to help accountants get the most out of QuickBooks for themselves and/or their clients. Issues such as setting up a new company, configuring and customizing QuickBooks preferences, and enabling system security and password protection features are also addressed in this course. In addition, you will learn about locking down transactions in prior periods, the audit trail, customizing reports, exporting reports to Excel, and data backup. Despite the product's user-friendly design, the most common QuickBooks problems involve recording transactions incorrectly. To prevent these and other problems, adequate training is necessary. Help your company or client put the power of QuickBooks to work, the right way. Register for this professional educational seminar today!

SMALL BUSINESS INTERNAL CONTROLS, SECURITY, AND FRAUD PREVENTION AND DETECTION More than ever, the importance of internal controls is being escalated, seemingly on a daily basis. For small businesses, maintaining an effective system of internal controls presents a significant challenge. Implementing many of the theoretical concepts surrounding internal controls – such as segregation of duties – may not be practical or even possible in some cases. Consequently, the current internal control structure of many small businesses fosters an environment in which too much risk is present. This, coupled with the presence of computerized accounting software, can often lead to disastrous results for small business owners and managers. This course assists accountants in evaluating, developing, and implementing an effective internal control structure in a small business environment. Throughout this course, the concept of risk-based internal controls is stressed, ensuring that small businesses are insulated from the most significant risks. Additionally, in this course, you will learn technology-focused techniques for preventing and detecting fraud as well as securing information systems and sensitive data. Course participants will benefit from the case studies used in class in which theoretical concepts are implemented and demonstrated in leading small business accounting software programs such as QuickBooks, Peachtree, Microsoft Dynamics GP, and Sage MAS 90. This course provides accountants with the necessary insight and tools to design, implement, and monitor effective internal controls, security, and anti-fraud measures for small businesses.

TECHNOLOGY FOR CPAs - DON'T GET LEFT BEHIND How good are you with the technology you use daily? What new technology tools are available that could save you time and make you more effective? Technology continues to accelerate rapidly, and CPAs need to keep pace. This course is designed for those who are not information technology (IT) experts, but who need an update of their base- knowledge level to serve their companies and/or clients more efficiently and effectively. In this fast-paced, update-style course, you will survey today’s IT environment, learning about computer hardware, software, operating systems (including Windows 7 and what it means for you), and peripheral devices. You will also learn about significant trends in information technology and how to take advantage of the opportunities presented by these trends. Examples include the latest Excel features, working with PDF files, and security and privacy issues related to IT are also included along with tips to improve the overall performance of your IT investment. Throughout the entire course, significant amounts of time are invested to demonstrate practical applications of the latest tools that provide CPAs in all disciplines with the information they need to harness the power of technology, both now and in the future.

CHARTING WITH MICROSOFT OFFICE - COMMUNICATING MORE EFFECTIVELY! Everyone knows that you can create charts in Excel and PowerPoint. But do you know that you can also create charts in Word? Or that you can create charts which allow users to self-filter the data displayed? Or how to create “mixed” charts, such as one that combines a line chart and a column chart? Or how to create a PivotChart? In this four-hour course, you will learn how to move past the basics of charting in Microsoft Office and how to create compelling and captivating charts to help you communicate your message more effectively.

CLOUD SECURITY AND COMPLIANCE - WHAT'S YOUR RESPONSIBILITY? For centuries, accountants have been responsible for keeping confidential the financial and other business information of their clients. Moving data to the cloud in no way reduces your legal or ethical responsibilities with respect to the need to keep private information private. Regardless of where you store this information, it is your responsibility to manage and maintain it in a secure manner. Attend this seminar to see exactly what your responsibility is and how to fulfill it.

EXCEL MACROS - PART I You have used Excel for years and Lotus prior to that. During this time, you have said repeatedly, “One day, I’ll learn how to write macros.” Well, that time has arrived because this four-hour program will introduce you to the wide world of macros and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) in Excel. Designed for those with little, if any, experience working with macros, this course teaches the fundamentals of creating and working with macros in Excel. In this seminar, you will learn how to use Excel’s Macro Recorder to write simple, yet effective, macros; how to secure and share macros with other Excel users; how to create user-defined functions to solve specific accountant-centric problems in Excel; and how to create macros that run automatically when a user opens a workbook. You will also learn the basics of VBA, including many necessary elements to write macros that can make you and your team more effective and productive with Excel. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to learn how to begin working with macros – one of Excel’s most powerful tools.

EXCEL PIVOTTABLES FOR ACCOUNTANTS - PART I PivotTables are the most powerful feature of Excel, yet few accountants use them in their day-to-day activities. For some, PivotTables are too intimidating; for others, PivotTables are a foreign concept. With a little information, guidance, and demonstration from the instructor, you will be ready to begin using PivotTables to accomplish routine analysis and reporting. This session will begin with basic PivotTables and progress to advanced PivotTable topics. Specific topics covered in this session will include drag-and-drop pivoting, grouping and ungrouping, creating calculated items and fields, and drilling down to underlying details. PivotTables consolidated from multiple ranges and PivotTables dynamically linked to external databases and financial accounting systems will be covered. Participants will have access to sample data files.

EXCEL PIVOTTABLES FOR ACCOUNTANTS - PART II This course is a continuation of Excel PivotTables for Accountants – Part I. It extends and builds upon the foundation of PivotTable topics covered in that course and includes in-depth coverage of using advanced data summary functions and creating calculated items and fields. Analysis and reporting of multidimensional OLAP data using PivotTables are also covered, along with an introduction to PivotCharts. Other advanced topics, such as the use of an intermediary database to create PivotTables from multiple external data sources, creating consolidation PivotTables from data ranges in multiple workbooks, producing more effective reports with advanced formatting features, and numerous tips and tricks to improve your PivotTable experience will round out this course. This course is for those who have already completed Part I of this series and would like to extend their knowledge of Excel’s most powerful feature. Participants will have access to sample data files.

EXCEL REPORTING - BEST PRACTICES, TOOLS, AND TECHNIQUES Excel is the most common financial reporting tool in use today. In this session you will learn how to take advantage of key features which allow you to create and format financial reports and analyses that are linked to underlying data sources, including your general ledger. Save time, improve quality, and increase accuracy by learning these techniques. Upon completing this course, participants will be able to: link and import data from external databases – including multi-table databases – into Excel; use Tables and PivotTables to create accurate financial reports and analyses; describe Excel shortcuts for formatting financial reports; implement Excel templates to improve reporting productivity; and identify opportunities to work with third-party tools to streamline reporting in Excel.

EXCEL TABLES - REVOLUTIONIZE HOW YOU WORK WITH EXCEL! Added to Excel with the 2007 release, Tables are one of Excel’s best features about which most users know very little and, therefore, fail to experience the benefits of working this great feature. Much more than just a formatting tool, Tables will revolutionize how you work with data in Excel. Tables can serve as data sources that automatically and dynamically re-size to match the volume of data under analysis; Tables provide a simplified means of writing formulas known as Structured Referencing; Tables contain advanced filtering and sorting capabilities; and Tables streamline the process of working with large volumes of data. If you are using Excel 2007 or Excel 2010 and are not working with Tables, then you need this four-hour course to increase your efficiency and proficiency with Excel.

INCREASING PRODUCTIVITY WITH ONENOTE Why attend a course on Microsoft OneNote? According to one CPA, “I was recently introduced to Microsoft OneNote and it has changed my life for the better almost overnight.” In this course, participants will learn how to configure and use the best features of OneNote, including sharing information with other users; integrating OneNote with iPads and iPhones; using OneNote in tandem with Outlook; and creating, formatting, and synchronizing notes across multiple devices. For maximum effectiveness, each participant is encouraged to bring a wireless network-ready computer equipped with OneNote 2007 or 2010 and Outlook 2007 or 2010.

iPAD - AN EFFECTIVE BUSINESS TOOL Moving beyond the hype, Apple’s iPad has all the potential to serve as a serious business tool. Not only can you use the iPad to access traditional resources such as your corporate network and email, but you can also use it to create, communicate, and collaborate in ways that you may not have considered possible even just six months ago. In this fast-paced, four-hour course, you will learn how to put the iPad to work, exploring key business issues such as security, connecting to the Cloud, and how to work with common file formats, including PDF documents, Excel spreadsheets, and Word documents. Whether you already own an iPad or are considering acquiring one, you need this course to ensure that you maximize the return on your investment.

MOVING TO OFFICE 2010 - A ROAD MAP FOR SUCCESS The newest versions of Microsoft Office are substantially different in many respects from their predecessors; a radically new user interface coupled with new file formats means that the transition can be a rough one, but it does not have to be that way. If you have recently upgraded to Office 2010 or plan to do so this year, take steps now by attending this half-day seminar to ensure that the move is a smooth one for you and your team. While Office 2010 offers tremendous opportunities for increased efficiencies and productivity, users in many organizations have struggled with the transition. In this seminar, you will learn how to develop a road map for successfully deploying the newest version of Microsoft Office. Key topics covered in this session include; what your best licensing strategy is; understanding the new user interface; what tools are available to assist users in working with the new user interface; best practices for dealing with potential file format issues; and what new features and functions are available and what has been deleted.

OFFICE 365 As cloud services become normal practice in business, the move from on-premise to hosted services for email, document sharing, collaboration, and communication tools is a logical first step. While there are a number of solutions available for this first step, this course demonstrates how Microsoft's Office 365 can work for your business. The course will cover the configuring and using Office 365 services such as email & calendar, Office Web Apps, websites & collaboration, and instant messaging & online meeting. After completing this course, you and your team will be able to work from anywhere, on any device, and at any time using Office 365.

OUTLOOK ESSENTIALS Are you ready to learn the essential features in Outlook to help you manage your e-mail, contacts, and calendar more effectively? If so, then you should plan to invest four hours in this fast-paced seminar designed to help you become more proficient with some of Outlook’s basic features. In this half-day seminar, participants will learn how to use Outlook to become more organized, to secure messages and other critical information, and to maintain control over their calendar. Much more than just a course on sending and receiving e-mail, participants will learn essential techniques for managing personal information. Don’t miss this chance to learn how to take control of the critical information stored in Outlook – the business application you likely use more than any other. This course includes coverage of features found in Outlook 2003, 2007, and 2010.

PDF FORMS - WHAT ACCOUNTANTS NEED TO KNOW You’ve worked with PDF files for years, but did you know that you can quickly and easily turn routine forms into interactive, fill-in PDF documents? Imagine converting timesheets, expense reports, job applications, time-off requests, and all of your other forms into interactive PDF documents that are automatically distributed. Now, also imagine responses collected and summarized using just a few keystrokes. Additionally, think about extending this functionality to transactional documents such as estimates, invoices, and purchase orders so that these documents can be prepared as interactive PDF forms and then imported into leading accounting applications, including QuickBooks. In this half-day seminar, you will learn about the near limitless possibilities associated with PDF forms. You will learn how to create PDF forms from existing paper forms, existing electronic forms, and even from scratch. You will also learn how to add calculations to your forms and how to automate the process of distributing forms, collecting responses, and summarizing the responses in one file.

POWERPOINT ESSENTIALS Are you looking for “just the facts” as they relate to Microsoft PowerPoint? If so, you’re in the right spot in this four-hour seminar. PowerPoint Essentials provides you with the skills you need to create captivating and compelling PowerPoint presentations, along with tips on how to enhance your PowerPoint slideshows. In this fast-paced, four-hour seminar, you will go beyond the basic steps to create simple presentations and learn how to use tools such as Templates, Themes, and Masters to ensure your presentations have a clean and consistent design. You will also learn how to build charts in PowerPoint and how and when to apply special effects, including Animations, and Transitions. In addition, you will learn how to use key PowerPoint features such as Custom Shows, Presenter View, and the built-in Laser Pointer to ensure that your message comes across loud and clear. PowerPoint Essentials is just the course for those starting out with PowerPoint as well as those who desire to enhance their self-taught PowerPoint skills. Stop wasting time in PowerPoint and get better results by making plans to attend this four-hour seminar.

QUICKBOOKS - ADVANCED REPORTING QuickBooks remains the top-selling entry-level accounting software solution in the United States. Yet, many accountants wrestle with generating financial statements and operational reports from QuickBooks data files. In this half-day seminar, you’ll learn how to use advanced techniques and tools to assist you in such issues as solving accrual-to-cash basis conversion issues, creating presentation-quality reports with Intuit Statement Writer, consolidating data from multiple data files, using third-party add-ins such as Adagio, getting industry-specific operational reports, extracting and analyzing data via ODBC queries and PivotTables, and optimizing the reporting process with dashboards. Upon completing this course, participants will have a thorough understanding of how to prepare comprehensive and detailed financial statements and operational reports quickly and efficiently. Learn how to get the information and reports you need out of QuickBooks by attending this course.

QUICKBOOKS - RECONCILING AND ANALYZING FINANCIALS With close to four million small businesses utilizing QuickBooks software, many accountants and auditors frequently work with QuickBooks-based financial statements. Yet, few are comfortable that they truly understand the numbers behind the financial statements. In this fast-paced, half-day program, you will learn valuable time-saving techniques for reconciling balance sheet accounts and analyzing the income statement. You will also learn about specific tools available to accountants – such as the Client Data Review and the Working Trial Balance – that facilitate rapid reconciliations and confirmations of QuickBooks-based financial statements. This seminar features discussions on using QuickBooks’ Reconcile feature in conjunction with custom reports to lend credence and credibility to balances in historically problematic accounts such as Prepaid Expenses, Customer Deposits, and Retainers. Additionally, participants in this course will learn how to reconcile loan balances, sales and payroll tax liabilities, and equity accounts to help ensure that the financial statements reflect the true performance of a company or client. If you work with QuickBooks or have clients using QuickBooks and are concerned about the accuracy of your financial reports, then mark this course as a “must attend”.

WORD ESSENTIALS Like most Microsoft Word users, you are probably self-taught in this application and you can get through the basics of creating a document and applying some formatting characteristics. But do you use Word’s Styles feature? Or its Building Blocks and Quick Parts? Do you create and use Templates, or work with Themes? Can you insert Excel-like formulas into Word Tables? If your answer to any one of the above questions is “no,” then you are likely wasting significant amounts of time when working with Word. Resolve today to put Word to work for you the right way by attending this four-hour program and learning Word Essentials. In this program, you will go beyond simple entering and editing text to learn how to take advantage of key time-saving and productivity-enhancing features in Word to help you produce polished and professional documents in a fraction of the time it is taking you to do so now. Focusing on the tools, techniques, and features most applicable to professionals, this course is sure to help you become more effective when working with the leading word processing tool in use today. Don’t miss this chance to get more productive!