March 2008

Welcome to the March, 2008 issue of Focus on Learning, the monthly newsletter for the CCH Learning Center that provides insights on how to use the Learning Center to your full advantage and updates on new courses and features available to you. In each issue we highlight a course (or series of courses) on a timely topic, and let you know about new courses released in the CCH Learning Center. We also inform you of new useful features, provide helpful tips on existing features, and help you use the CCH Learning Center to meet your professional development and CPE needs.

New Learning Center Core Library Courses
CCH is committed to keeping you up-to-date and knowledgeable on the latest issues that impact your firm or corporation. Many new or revised courses covering a wide range of topics have been released to the CCH Learning Center Core Library over the past two months, including:

• Asset Protection and Risk Management

• Corporate Tax Part 1: Formation and Operation (Second Edition)

• Corporate Tax Part 2: Distributions (Second Edition)

• Corporate Tax Part 3: Reorganizations (Second Edition)

• Financial Instruments: GAAP Level A (Second Edition)

• Governmental GAAP for State and Local Governments: Accounting and Financial Reporting for Investments (Second Edition)

• Governmental GAAP for State and Local Governments: Assets (Second Edition)

• Nonqualified Deferred Compensation: New Requirements

• Partnership Taxation Fundamentals (Third Edition)

• Recent Tax Developments (January-February 2008)

• Tax Research: Secondary Sources of Federal Tax Law (Second Edition)

New Courses:  Accounting and Audits Specialty Library
Several new courses have been released exclusively to the CCH Specialty Library: Accounting and Audits. This library covers a broad range of accounting and auditing courses including specialized topics.  Courses include:

• FASB Staff Positions (FSPs) – Selected Issues

• Financial Performance Reporting by Business Enterprises

• Fraudulent Financial Reporting (Second Edition)

• SAS 104, SAS 105, and SAS 111: Additional Risk Assessment Standards

• SAS 112 on Internal Control, SAS 114 on Governance, and SAS 113, Technical Corrections

New Courses: State Taxation Specialty Library
Several new courses have also been released exclusively to the CCH Specialty Library: State Taxation. This library provides insights on important or emerging state tax issues, and analyzes their impact on compliance and planning. It provides the guidance you need to stay a step ahead of important state tax issues. New courses released exclusively to this library include:

• Economic Nexus: States' Tool to Tax Out-of-State PICs

• FIN 48: State Tax Issues

• Limited Liability Companies: The New Uniform Act and Current Status of the Series LLC

• Tax Research: Researching State and Local Tax Law (Second Edition)

New Courses: CCH CPE Podcast Center
The CCH CPE Podcast Center gives you easy access to free Podcasts covering hot topics and recent developments in taxation. You can listen to the audio courses online, or download them to a portable devise. The course audio is free; you only pay if you wish to earn CPE Credit. Two new courses have been released to the Podcast Center. These courses are:

• CCH CPE Podcast: Developments in 2007 Affecting Individual Taxpayers

• CCH CPE Podcast: Developments in 2007 for Partnerships and S Corporations

Course Spotlight: Risk Assessment Standards Series
The AICPA’s “Risk Assessment Standards” represent the most sweeping change to auditing philosophy and practice in the past twenty years. The CCH Learning Center provides a series of courses designed to help auditors implement these stringent new standards. The series is structured with one course for each of the five major new Risk Assessment Standards, as well as a course covering three smaller Standards that present necessary technical amendments to pre-existing standards.

Each course in the Risk Assessment Standards Series contains detailed implementation guidance, including considerations applicable to small, medium-sized, and large auditing firms and audit clients. In particular, many of the implementation aspects of the new Standards contain what amount to “fixed cost” components. This has particular impact on audits of small clients. The cost of determining materiality, for example, does not increase one hundred-fold for a $100 million client as opposed to a $1 million client. Practical observations and examples throughout the text seek to address these matters in ways that will lead to cost-effective auditing at all levels. Courses in this series include:

• SAS 106: Audit Evidence

• SAS 107: Audit Risk and Materiality in Conducting an Audit

• SAS 108: Planning and Supervision

• SAS 109: Understanding the Entity and its Environment and Assessing the Risks of Material Misstatement

• SAS 110: Performing Audit Procedures in Response to Assessed Risks and Evaluating the Audit Evidence Obtained

• SAS 104, SAS 105, and SAS 111: Additional Risk Assessment Standards

Upcoming Courses
We will release many new courses in the CCH Learning Center in the weeks and months ahead to give you even more choices and more value. Among the new and updated courses that are in development now, look for courses in the following areas soon:

• Accounting and auditing developments

• Accounting for intangibles

• Asset protection

• Business entity taxation

• Governmental auditing standards

• Estate planning

• Financial planning

• Recent tax developments

• Self-employment taxation

• State taxation

• Tax research

Audio Seminars
CCH’s wide range of interesting, educational CPE options now includes audio seminars. Each audio seminar allows an unlimited number of users at your firm to get up-to-speed on a hot topic using nothing more than a telephone connection. Plus, participants can earn up to 3 CPE Credits. Learn about upcoming audio seminars here.

CCH’s audio seminars, presented by top experts, are designed to provide you with updated information on the hottest tax and accounting topics. Along with detailed handout materials, each site registering for an audio seminar receives topically-related bonus items such as books, journals, newsletters or self-study CPE courses. Check out the latest Audio Seminars schedule for details on upcoming seminars, including “International Tax Reporting and Compliance: Navigating Forms 5472, 1120-F and 1040NR and Related Foreign-U.S. Inbound Tax Compliance Issues ” on April 3^rd.

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