May 2008

Welcome to the May, 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:

• Accounting for Intangibles (Fourth Edition)

• FAS 109: Accounting for Income Taxes (Second Edition)

• Recent Tax Developments (March-April 2008)

• S Corporations (Fifth Edition)

• Strategies for Reducing the Self-Employment Tax (Third Edition)

• Tax Law Changes for 2008

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 No. 150: Accounting for Financial Instruments with Characteristics of Both Liabilities and Equity (Second Edition)

• 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:

• Passive Investment Companies: State Tax Planning Strategy

• Quality Control and Peer Review

• Short-Term Securities Investments: The Sales Factor

• State Tax Appeals Process

New Courses: Wealth Management Specialty Library
Several new courses have also been released exclusively to the CCH Specialty Library: Wealth Management. This library provides insights on important or emerging financial and estate planning issues. It addresses a wide range of wealth management issues, from strategic planning to preparing the appropriate tax forms. New courses released exclusively to this library include:

• Asset Protection Planning: Fraud, Funding and Future Interests

• Estate Planning for Nontraditional Families

• IRAs, Conduit Trusts, and Accumulation Trusts

Course Spotlight: FAS 109: Accounting for Income Taxes
Accounting for income tax is complicated largely due to its many applications in specialized or rarely seen areas. The professional literature on the subject is verbose and fragmented, with six authoritative pronouncements in the “level A” GAAP hierarchy alone, and another twenty-three in the lower. CCH’s FAS 109: Accounting for Income Taxes course attempts to distill the complex provisions of FAS 109 and the other authoritative literature on accounting for income taxes into a succinct guide for the most commonly seen practice situations

This recently updated course addresses the most important principles in accounting for income taxes and illustrates their application in commonly seen practice situations. It explains the theory of how to differentiate the temporary differences that give rise to deferred income taxes, as well as how to calculate, record, and display them. FAS 109: Accounting for Income Taxes concludes with a comprehensive illustration that demonstrates in a practical, worksheet-based format, how to put the theory into practice. Topics covered in this course include:

• Background of FAS 109

• The Liability Method

• General provisions of FAS 109

• Specialized applications of FAS 109

• Financial statement presentation and disclosure issues, including disclosure issues under FIN 48

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

• Depreciation

• Governmental auditing standards

• Estate planning

• Financial planning

• Life insurance

• Recent tax developments

• Tax breaks for going green

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 “Fair Value Measurement Under FAS 157” on June 3^rd.

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