how to make the best choices.
by ed mendlowitz
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 practice doctor
question: i received a call from an accountant with some questions about a foreign-owned client of his. he had the client for 15 years and seems he did not file a ton of required disclosure forms.
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in the course of our discussion it turns out he never took a cpe program or even read an article on the topic. the question here is why didn’t he?
answer: cpas are required to take substantial cpe courses each year. it is mind-boggling that this accountant has no clue about this area he prepares tax returns for, but i find that many cpas do not take the right type of cpe, electing to take easy-to-attend or convenient programs, irrespective of what they need to know to handle their clients better.
we all receive professional journals but many do not read them or even flip through them to see what is covered. here is what should be done.
- take cpe that relates to the type of clients you have. for instance, if you have foreign-owned businesses, take a course in this. likewise for construction contractors, professional firms, restaurant and hospitality, health care organizations, not-for-profits, employee benefit plans, manufacturers and distributors, nursing homes and any other area where specialized knowledge is needed. additionally, consulting pointers can be picked up that can be used to add value to your clients.
- definitely take courses in niches you practice in and promote.
- if you have technical specialties beyond taxes, auditing and accounting, take courses in those – for instance, estate or financial planning, business plan preparation, succession planning, quickbooks consulting and business valuations.
- it stands to reason that you need to minimally peruse the journals you receive to see what type of articles appear, and you should read those that relate to work you are currently doing.
the same applies to your staff. many times the partner’s attitude toward cpe affects his or her employees. a partner who eagerly attends courses will transmit positive feelings. a partner who grudgingly takes the minimum and who frequently leaves the room to make phone calls, or who brings work to work on during the presentations, gives an appearance of cheating as well as demeaning the cpe process.
i find that too many firms do not properly manage the cpe process. no matter how you look at it, cpe requires a substantial investment – in time as well as money. manage it and you will get immense dividends (at ws+b we know this for a fact).
failure to oversee this investment is bad business and is stupid. great dividends vs. throwing money down the toilet. you decide!