Gary Bolinger: The Uncertain Future of CPE [VIDEO]


Gary Bolinger, president and CEO of the Indiana CPA Society, says the profession’s system of continuing professional education is broken and needs to be scrapped.

“If we don’t do something,” he says an entire generation will “flatly reject” and “thumb their noses” at CPE as we know it. They will “find other ways to learn.”

In a video-phone interview with Rick Telberg for CPA Trendlines, Bolinger calls on the profession — mainly its leaders in state regulatory boards and associations — to “change the regulatory environment and delivery system… to be more responsive to the rate of change.”

If Bolinger is right, then today’s system of measuring achievement and competence in hours is already DOA and the profession needs to start embracing alternatives, such as real-time learning, independent study, peer-to-peer assessments, and snap quizzes.

Few issues could be as disruptive to the business of accountancy than what Bolinger suggests. But without dramatic change, it’s only a matter of time before the CPE system crashes and burns into a heap of cynicism and irrelevancy. If it hasn’t already.

 

10 Responses to “Gary Bolinger: The Uncertain Future of CPE [VIDEO]”

  1. Julia

    You cannot legislate integrity. A person with either learn what is needed to keep his job or he will be unemployed.

    I think the measure of my learning is my continuous, current employment. Every day I read information pertaining to my job. I do not need a board telling me how to learn my job.

  2. Tsegaye Tewolde

    I agree that the system is outdated and needs an overhaul.One way of doing this could be devising a system to ascertain that an individual has really grasped the knowledge.An annual online quizl on the claimed CPE areas could be a starting point.

  3. Margaret McConn

    The good courses are very expensive. For a sole practitioner or someone working for a company that does not reimburse CPE costs, it becomes a question of affordability versus getting some useful information. I think we have all chosen some courses simply because they are relatively inexpensive or at a convenient time.

  4. Gene Thurston

    Couldn’t agree more. I dropped out of the run of the mill CPE 20 years ago. The system needs an overhaul and make the curriculum more relevant.

  5. Clarke Price

    I agree 100% with what Gary & Ron have to say. The traditional model is living on borrowed time and if we’re not careful, the connection we have with members through professional development is going to be a distant memory. Five of my CEO colleagues from other states and I spent a very interesting day with Ron Baker several weeks ago discussing a variety of issues, but our education programs ended up being the #1 topic of interest. While there are divergent viewpoints on just what the future may look like, there’s unanimity in the view that the change (and challenges) we’ve all experienced is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The issue is far more than just what format and where the program is offered — and the move to online training is just a reaction — at the core, the problem is centered in the outdated notion that simply collecting 120 hours makes a better professional. As the Chinese proverb (or curse) goes, “may you live in interesting times” —- for those who serve the CPA profession, we may experience more “interesting times” than we’ve known in the past!

  6. Lana Kupferschmid, CPA

    The National Conference of CPA Practitioners, NCCPAP, is one organization that promotes “Practitioners helping Practitioners”. We encourage networking at our meetings and seminars and our members always say that they learn so much more from the NCCPAP meeting that anywhere else. We are currently encouraging the formation of new chapters in your area and we are developing webinars to learn in the privacy of your office. http://www.nccpap.org

  7. Donald J. Cowper

    Every Client situation is unique. How we in the profession assimulate and accomdate it determines our succes in that situation. With todays immediacy mentality we need to dialogue with fellow practitioners who have developed work flow charts to arive at the answers.We can’t know it all but we can find those who do know what we need.
    There already is such a model in place.The California Society of Tax Consultants.Our meetings for CPE are highly productive.We go to a meeting,to learn how someone has solved a problem and they share it. The meetings encourge dialogue during the Presentation, between breaks and after the meetings. We have as members,CPAs, EAs, JD Tax Specialists, former IRS Regional ,Appeals, Top Auditors and CRTPs. There is a Speciality Directory that our members may use at no charge for the solutions to a current problem. Our meetings are timely,and revelant. We encouage networking. Our Motto Says it all.”We Share because we Care.”

  8. June Ball

    Measuring how many hours you sit in class does not measure how much learning you have received. I’ve been in classes where students have signed in and at the first break, leave because they know they will get the entire credit. I agree with Mr. Baker that having the instructor certify someone’s learning is an appropriate measure.

    Today, we have so many resources and ways to use media to make CPE available from your desktop. Saves having to be out of the office and travel expenses. I am a CPA in Indiana and many times the classes I or my staff needs is only offered in Indianapolis. However, the Indiana CPA Society has worked on e-classes and resources for our state. When we have to travel to class, it’s 2 hours each way and an entire day of work lost. That’s why if we’re going to have to continue under the CPE model we currently use, at least allow CPE delivered from the web be a larger component allowable.

    Kudos to Gary and the INCPAS – they get it and they are trying to actively do something about our antiquated system!

  9. Sandra Cahill

    I definitely agree with both of you. As a tax professional, you have no choice but to keep up with the ever-changing tax laws, regulations, policies, and case law. When I go to CPE, sometimes I learn something, but many times it is information I have already learned myself by reading tax updates from the source or an online research service. One thing that I continuously learn a lot from is volunteering for nonprofit boards. They are often desperately in need for board of directors and/or committee members with CPA expertise, particularly on their finance committee. Maybe one alternative would be for CPAs to have the option to substitute CPE with relevant public service hours.

  10. Ron Baker

    Right on, Gary. As an instructor providing CPE since 1995, our system is totally antiquated. The question of “How do you measure that?,” I believe, is the wrong question.

    I’ll tell you how you don’t measure education: hours that butts sit in (uncomfortable) chairs. That measures inputs, not outputs. Not measuring would be superior to this completely ignorant measurement. We only use it because it’s easy and can be precise. But it’s precisely wrong. I’d rather be approximately right.

    I do think there are ways to do it better. Have the instructors certify someone’s learning. This doesn’t just have to be a test. We have to stop being afraid of subjective judgments and letting the free market sort out quality, since they are both far superior than precisely wrong measures.

    I applaud you for speaking out about this. I’ve been tilting at this windmill for years. The status quo is well invested, so I fear nothing will change. Like you, I put my faith in the younger CPAs who see the lunacy of the current system.