The Catawba College Institute of Business & Accounting (CCIBA), part of the Ralph Ketner School of Business, will offer a series of free, one-hour seminars that focus on business topics affecting individuals and small businesses. The seminars, presented by CCIBA Director Francis J. “Frank” Farina, Esquire, CPA, are scheduled at 1 p.m. on selected Thursdays in Tom Smith Auditorium on campus.

If you’re an individual or small business person who has cash transactions handled by employees or others; who hires others to perform services and wonders about tax withholding; or who seeks to invest money targeted for a particular purpose, these seminars may be helpful.

Seminar topics and dates are as follow:

• This Thursday, Feb. 20 — Who’s watching your purse? Designing Effective Internal Control Procedures and Checklists for Tracking Cash Receipts & Disbursements.

• Thursday, March 20 — Who owes those employment taxes? Complying with IRS Rules for Determining Status as Employee or Independent Contractor.

• Thursday, April 10 — Is that target on my back? Understanding and using targeted mutual funds to achieve specific investment goals.

Farina is an associate professor of accounting and director of the Catawba College Institute of Business & Accounting, where he teaches accounting, taxation, law and finance courses. Farina spent 23 years as a litigation attorney focusing on disclosure and fraud claims under federal and state securities statutes; shareholder derivative litigation concerning mismanagement and breach of fiduciary duties; and consumer protection actions.

Before practicing law, Farina was an external auditor with a Big Four accounting firm and held senior internal audit management positions in banking and in higher education. He has taught at the George Washington University, Georgetown University, Saint Michael’s College and Albright College. He is a graduate of Suffolk University, The George Washington University and Georgetown University Law Center; is admitted to the bars of New York and Pennsylvania; and is a licensed certified public accountant in North Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Register online at www.catawba.edu/cciba or call 704-637-4421.