Indiana society CEO Gary Bollinger speaks about the move to a competency-based system.
Maryland, Ohio lead nation in CPE revolution.
The Ohio Society of CPAs has launched a series of micro learning courses for certified public accountants that provide timely knowledge packaged in 10-minute modules.
The Ohio rollout follows by only days action by the Maryland State Board of Public Accountancy to vote unanimously to adopt the final CPE regulations for “nano” learning, or 10-minute CPE increments.
The regulations take effect March 31 in Maryland, which joins Ohio as the only other state in the union to win official approval of this new CPE format.
The so-called “future of learning” is a professionwide initiative to advance the CPE model started by the AICPA.
“This is an important step in moving toward the future of learning for CPAs,” Tom Hood, Maryland society CEO, says.
In the Ohio initiative, called Quick Byte, the courses are the first micro learning resources developed by a state CPA association, and the first programs under one hour to qualify for CPA continuing education in Ohio after a landmark rule change last year.
In 2014, The Ohio Society of CPAs worked closely with the Accountancy Board of Ohio to adopt new rules making Ohio the first state where CPAs can earn credit for micro CPE beginning in 10-minute increments. Last week, Maryland followed suit by adopting new CPE regulations for the shorter format the Maryland Association of CPAs has dubbed “nano learning.”
“In a period of rapid change and increasing complexity, the winners are going to be those people who can keep their rate of learning greater than the rate of change and greater than their competition, says Hood.
Quick Byte consists of 42 courses that are 10 minutes each and can be accessed on laptops, tablets and other mobile devices. CPAs can earn 0.2 hour of credit for each Quick Byte course available now.
“The nature of professional education is changing,” said Scott D. Wiley, CAE, president and CEO. “Studies show micro learning can provide the quick, focused education that CPAs need to stay current in the marketplace.”
The shorter video format is convenient and ideal for an increasingly digital audience to digest. That can mean higher retention rates since topics are pared down and targeted specifically on concepts the learner needs to know right now.
The Quick Byte series is grouped into three topic areas. Tax and accounting and auditing cover recent technical updates while the specialized knowledge courses offer essential skills and management topics CPAs increasingly need as they advance in their careers.
To make tracking continuing education easier, The Ohio Society of CPAs also has synchronized its CPE transcript tool with the Accountancy Board of Ohio’s online reporting system. Credit for courses taken through The Ohio Society of CPAs is automatically uploaded into the ABO reporting system in real time. This is a valuable benefit for Ohio CPAs, who must report continuing education credit every three years.
The Ohio Society of CPAs has been an important innovator in CPE education over the years. It was the first state CPA association to develop on-demand courses designed specifically for an online learning market. It also webcasts a robust schedule of live learning events each year from an in-house training studio.
8 Responses to “Killing the CPE Hour: 10-Minute Courses Get the Green Light”
Ron Baker
Tracking CPE by time has always been useless.
It’s about time we went to a competency-based model (outputs) rather than measuring useless inputs (hours).
The ICAEW in the UK has already adopted this methodology–CAs there no longer have to track CPE hours, but rather they have to develop a competency-based CPE program, based on learning. They are ahead of the USA, and I’m sure we could learn from them.
It’s the same reason CPAs have to get rid of tracking time for pricing and evaluating their CPAs–it’s a useless metric.
John R Brougher III, CPA
If you cannot concentrate and stay on task for a 50 minute CPE hour, then you need to be in another job (maybe not even a profession). By the time you get through logging in, doing the course, dealing with the certificate, recording the course on the State Board website, you will have spent more time in compliance for each course than you did “learning”. This “nano-CPE” approach is highly inefficient, and only leads to more “mile wide – inch deep” experiences in “learning”. Self-paced online courses with competency-based testing upon conclusion are an effective method of actually learning something worthwhile. It’s not necessary to “sit through” a day of site-based instruction by a “presenter” (provided, of course, that your State Board permits it…as they do in Texas). I haven’t “sat through” a live CPE course in decades.
Bob Dean
Gary, I really appreciate your perspective on CPA competency development–going beyond the CPE hour. I would like to learn more about the Indiana CPA Center of Excellence and have some ideas to share with you on how to further enhance collaboration. These ideas are based on my work with Fortune 500 companies on collaboration and knowledge sharing.
Carol Smith
I find that to stay current and competent in both taxation and audit as well as other areas of accounting and software, I end up taking twice the amount of hours that are required by our state society. I used to be big six and now run a small cpa firm. I want to not only stay current but learn more to help my clients.
Gary Bolinger
Butch and David: Thanks for your comments. When I talk about killing the CPE hour, your comments are right on point. The focus must be “re-aligned” sot eht the focus is on competency development and not the number of hours earned. Everyone learns (and develops competency) at different rates of speed. The important thing is development of the competency and not the number of hours (or minutes) one spends learning. As to the “critical competency” of anticipation, take a look at a recent blog by David Griffiths https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/can-you-anticipate-wildfires-david-griffiths-phd?trk=mp-reader-card
Butch
I worked for two Big 8 firms where continuing education was taken very seriously. When I attended my first CPE seminar held by a State Society I immediately noticed a profound difference. Like David Tate stated in his post, the people there (including the instructor)were there to secure the necessary hours. Attendance at subsequent seminars confirmed this time and time again.
David Tate
It comes to this now. For years, instructors have tried every trick in the book to make a shorter day for continuing education. A recent course had working breaks (?) and working lunch (?)to get through by 3:00 P. M. Now it has been legitimized. I thought were were going to these classes to learn, not just secure required credits.
Tom Hood
Rick,
Great recap and thanks for the mentions. We believe that learning is one of the most effective ways for CPAs to gain and keep a competitive advantage. We are truly excited about the “future of learning” and will be releasing an exciting new competency-based, on-line curriculum to develop the critical competency of “anticipation” on May 4th in Maryland. Stay tuned…