1 Year Telephone Seminars - Training Resources

Mortgage Fraud: An Epidemic BenefitsThe FBI recognized 2008 as the worst year ever for mortgage fraud. 2009 has seen the mortgage fraud epidemic spread even wider and deeper. This teleconference will focus on the most prevalent forms of mortgage fraud. Best practices for detection and prevention are outlined, with industry-specific recommendations for bankers, lawyers and mortgage professionals. We will conclude with a  more...

Affirmative Action in Employment - What Does It Really Mean? BenefitsThe Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs is the government agency charged with enforcement of affirmative action regulations. It is armed with a new leader and an increased budget. During fiscal year 2008, the OFCCP recovered a record $67,510,982 in back pay for salary and benefits on behalf of 24,508 individuals who, in OFCCP's view, were subjected to unlawful employment  more...

Hot Wage and Hour Issues: Assuring Proper Exempt and Nonexempt Classification of Your Employees BenefitsEmployees and their counsel continue to pursue individual and class action overtime claims based on the alleged misclassification of exempt workers at a fever pitch. Thousands of lawsuits asserting violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act or parallel state laws are filed each year and the costs of defending these matters and the damages claimed and paid, whether through trial or  more...

Best Practices in Commission Pay Plans BenefitsThere are few management tools that work as well in recruiting, directing, motivating and retaining sales people as a strong commission plan. This is critical because sales people are often highly paid, remote from headquarters and entrusted with customer relationships (very valuable assets). A properly designed commission plan clearly and personally communicates the strategy of the  more...

Employee Safety and Health Systems: Cutting Injuries Using the Team Approach BenefitsTraditional safety committees involve a small number of employees and are often managed by the individual responsible for the facility safety and health system. The problem is that the success of the committee, and thus the system success, is predicated by the authority given to the committee and its leadership which in most cases is low to nonexistent. The bottom line is that employee  more...

FAS 117-1: Endowments of Not-for-Profit Organizations BenefitsIn response to the enactment of the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act in most of the United States, the Financial Accounting Standards Board last year promulgated FASB Staff Position No. FAS 117-1. FSP FAS 117-1 provides guidance for nonprofits as to the proper classification of endowment funds when UPMIFA has been enacted and expands the required disclosure about  more...

Changes to Cafeteria Plans: What You Need to Know to Prepare BenefitsThe IRS recently issued new rules which replaced parts of the old regulations. These new rules are exciting but require you to review and act on your old documents. The information provided will assist you in decisions for the upcoming plan year and how to prepare for the changes. Human resources and benefits managers, attorneys, controllers, CFOs finance directors, payroll managers,  more...

Obtaining a Portion of the Stimulus Grant Funding BenefitsThis past year the federal government has provided a significant economic stimulus program that has been primarily implemented through grant funding. The Recovery Act (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 signed by President Obama on February 16, 2009) is the economic stimulus package of $787 billion. Because of the national scope of the economic situation, stimulus money has  more...

Lighting Design and Control for Commercial Buildings: Increase Sales, Increase Productivity and Save Energy BenefitsWhatever your business is, the proper illumination can provide paybacks that far exceed the energy saved. Studies have confirmed findings. This topic will be presented in a fast paced teleconference with many real life examples. System efficiencies, impact on other architectural systems and integrated controls will all be discussed. We will discuss daylighting, a 100 year old feature that  more...

Cash Is King: Effective Cash Flow Management BenefitsA balance sheet is often described as a snapshot of your financial situation at a single point in time. (Think of it as the balance in your personal checking account.) An income statement summarizes revenue, expenses and net income for the entire year or other period of time. Both of these financial statements are important tools to measure the success of your business but do little to  more...

Understanding the New Penalties for Tax Preparers nSignificant changes have been made to the preparer penalty of IRC §6694 since 2007. The standard of care needed to avoid the penalty has been raised, the penalty is greater and the reach of the penalty is broader. In addition, there are various other penalties and rules of conduct you must be aware of and new guidance has been issued in several of these areas in the past year. It is imperative  more...

FCRA and FACT Act Regulatory and Litigation Update 2009 nIn the last year, new federal rules under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act have become effective. These rules restrict cross-marketing by financial institutions and other companies; impose new requirements on companies that use credit reports; and require lenders and others to establish new fraud prevention programs. In addition, a spate of federal court  more...

Preventing Workers' Compensation Abuse nNationwide, workers' compensation abuse costs the insurance industry billions of dollars each year. It is sometimes called "The Hidden Tax" because each of us absorbs these monies in the costs of goods and services each year. This teleconference will give you a better understanding of workers' compensation abuse, keys to a successful investigation and how to avoid claim pitfalls. This  more...

Tenancies in Common - Legal and Practical Issues nDuring the last five years, the tenant-in-common offering industry has grown to approximately $5 billion in annual equity raised. While specific data is hard to find, industry experts estimate that between $10 billion and $12 billion has been raised and spread across more than 2,000 offerings. In the last year, the number of materially under-performing TIC transactions has increased. As the  more...

IRS Form 941 Reporting Update nThe IRS collects hundreds of billions of dollars of employment taxes each year - more than any other source of revenue. Form 941 and related forms lie at the heart of the IRS's employment tax collection system. Much of the administrative burden under that system falls on employers. An employer's failure to understand and comply with its obligations can result in IRS assessments, audits and  more...

Understanding the New GFE and HUD-1/IA Settlement Statements nEffective January 1, 2010, all residential mortgage loan originators will have to change their loan origination forms and procedures to comply with a new rule recently adopted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The new rule dramatically changes both the Good Faith Estimate and the HUD-1 and HUD-1A Uniform Settlement Statements required by the federal Real Estate Settlement  more...

Labor Law Update: Preparing for Upcoming Regulations nAttend this teleconference and learn the new laws and strategies regarding a variety of employment-related laws that are in effect or are expected to be in effect for 2009. From the new COBRA rules, FMLA regulations, EFCA and union initiatives, issues involving wage and hour and independent contractors, the latest drug and alcohol testing, confidentiality and security of personnel data,  more...

Floodproofing Fundamentals: Design Methods to Reduce Flood Damages nProblem: Floods are the most common natural disaster in the United States. According to the National Flood Insurance Program, more than 80 percent of the natural disaster losses in the United States are caused by flooding. Over the past 10 years, the National Weather Service estimates that flood losses have averaged more than $4 billion a year nationwide. Various government and insurance groups  more...

Compliance With the PCI/CISP Credit Card Security Standards nThe Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is now in its third year of existence and iteration. Derived from the original VISA Cardholder Information Security Program and MasterCard Site Data Protection program, PCI-DSS's now 245 distinct requirements have troubled merchants and financial institutions alike for years. This teleconference will help you understand how PCI-DSS applies to your  more...

Preparing a Winning Closing Argument n"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we will now hear closing arguments." Even the most experienced trial lawyer may inwardly quake when the judge utters these fateful words. But what makes for an effective closing? Do closings even matter? When should you object? Should you really start preparing your closing the day you get a new case? These are questions that are not addressed in law school, and  more...

Overcome Your Competition: Stand Out in a Crowded Marketplace nYear in and year out, sales professionals invest their time and their organizations' money along with leveraging high-priced resources in sales pursuits, but walk away with no fruit for their labor. This percentage varies from company to company, but on average the percentage of opportunities pursued and not closed is well over 50 percent! Extensive studies have proven this excessively high  more...

Strategies Short of Foreclosure: Real Estate Short Sales and Beyond nRecord numbers of foreclosures have radically changed the residential real estate market in the last year and affected all aspects of the practice of residential real estate law, real estate closings, lending and sales. Whether your real estate market has experienced a bubble burst or merely a fizz, your practice has been affected by slowing markets, the subprime meltdown and the record number of  more...

Curbing Unauthorized Overtime Benefits Year after year, one of the most challenging tasks employers face is keeping track of the hours their nonexempt employees work and correctly paying any required overtime premium. When unauthorized overtime occurs, labor costs skyrocket, and businesses face a budgeting nightmare. And when employees perform compensable work off the clock, the potential overtime liability for an employer  more...