The Best CPE Courses for CPAs |
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Pursuing CPE or Continuing Professional Education is mandatory for all licensed CPAs. Not only does it help them in keeping their license active but also in staying up-to-date with the latest rules and regulations in the industry.
Although the exact CPE requirements can vary from one state board to another, usually, CPAs are required to earn 120 CPE credits every three years. Keeping the importance and total cost of earning these credits in mind, you should do everything you can to have the best CPE experience right from the beginning of your CPE journey.
When it comes to getting the best CPE experience, you need to consider several important factors. From choosing the best CPE subscription for CPA to pursuing the best CPE for CPAs in terms of selecting the right learning method and more, several crucial factors come into the picture.
However, you don’t have to spend hours trying to figure out how to pursue the best CPE for CPA as we’re here to help you. On this page, our team of experts has rounded up all the key factors that’ll help you get the best CPA CPE experience.
So, let’s get started!
When it comes to defining the best CPE for CPAs, you can think of it as a complete and effective learning experience in an affordable manner. For some CPAs, it may mean opting for the best unlimited CPE for CPAs while for others, it may be synonymous with taking the best CPE online courses.
However, regardless of the group you belong to, you need to ensure the presence of several important factors so that you can get the best CPE experience.
First, we’ll discuss CPE subscriptions and then, we’ll take a close look at choosing the best online CPE courses for CPAs.
CPE subscriptions have gained huge popularity because they let you take multiple courses at costs much lower than their actual ones. Once you’ve purchased the subscription, you can access all or a certain number of courses (depending on your subscription) offered by your sponsor for a certain period of time.
Some top CPE sponsors, including CPEThink.com, offer credit-based subscriptions. These subscriptions let you earn a maximum number of CPE credits within their validity periods.
Let’s see the ideal features of the best CPE subscription for CPA.
· It should allow you to access a large number of courses
You should be able to access many different courses using your CPE subscription. Being able to access just one or two hundred courses won’t help much in expanding your knowledge and skills. And when you cannot expand your knowledge and skills, which is one of the key objectives of pursuing CPE, it cannot anyway be considered the best CPE experience.
· Course library should contain a good number of courses on trending and important topics
Needless to say, if the course library doesn’t have courses on important and trending topics, you’ll never be able to pursue the best CPE for CPAs. And the best CPE courses for CPA represent the courses that are on vital topics, created by experienced authors, and let you internalize the topics easily.
· The sponsor should update the courses within a reasonable timeframe
Considering the ever-evolving nature of the accounting field, your sponsor should update its courses as and when required. Programs that contain simply rehashed content cannot be viewed as the best CPE courses. Instead, that should always contain all the latest information, rules, and regulations.
· The subscription should be available at a reasonable price
This is another vital factor that many CPAs prioritize when it comes to choosing the best CPE subscription for CPA. However, cost should never be the only factor that you need to consider when deciding on the right subscription. But you don’t necessarily need to choose a very expensive one to get the best CPE experience.
· Opt for an unlimited package
If you’re at the beginning of your license renewal period, choosing an unlimited CPE package may be your ideal method to get the best CPA CPE experience. When searching for the best unlimited CPE for CPAs, you should opt for one that fulfills all these four factors.
So, these are the factors you need to consider when it’s time to decide on the best CPE subscription for CPA.
Now that you know how to choose the best CPE subscription for CPA, let’s see how to get the best CPE for CPA by choosing CPE courses. You already know that you can two types of CPE courses: in-person programs and online courses.
Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of both these formats so that you can choose the right one to get the best CPE experience.
· In-person programs
If you want to take courses in a physical classroom setting, interact face-to-face with fellow attendees, and build your professional quickly, you may opt for in-person CPE programs. Another benefit of choosing these programs is that you won’t need to pass a final exam at the end of each of them to earn your credits.
As for the downsides, the total cost of attending these programs often becomes a major concern for many CPAs. Apart from the participation fee, you may need to add traveling expenses to the cost. Additionally, if these programs are conducted during business days, you may need to decide between your professional commitments and CPE.
· Online courses
The unparalleled flexibility offered by online courses has made them the key method to getting the best CPE experience. When it comes to the best online CPE for CPAs, you primarily have three options: self-study courses, live webinars, and virtual seminars/conferences. You can choose any of these to pursue CPE from the comfort of your home or office.
Among these options, self-study courses tend to be the least expensive method while virtual seminars/conferences usually sit on the most expensive side. The most advantageous aspect of choosing self-study courses is that you can complete the study materials whenever you want. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the middle of the night or early in the morning, you’re free to plan your study schedule.
So, self-study courses can be your ideal method to get the best CPE experience as long as you’re self-disciplined and can stick to a regular study schedule right from the beginning of your license renewal period. Just be sure to join one of the best CPE providers and the best online CPE courses for CPA. You may also want to purchase the best CPE subscription by applying the factors we discussed above.
On the other hand, live webinars and virtual seminars/conferences are conducted at specific times on specific dates. Therefore, choosing one of these methods may mean having some kind of restriction on your study schedule.
Moreover, attending virtual seminars/conferences usually needs the participants to pay a significant fee. So, if you don’t have a large budget or get your CPE cost reimbursed by your employer, this may not be the ideal method to pursue the best CPE for CPAs.
Whether you choose a bunch of the best CPE programs or the best CPE online courses or the best CPE subscription for CPA, the following tips will help you get the best CPE experience.
· Prioritize the importance of CPE
Basically, CPE is there to ensure that CPAs deliver quality services to their clients. Without it, it’ll simply be impossible to keep pace with the best practices and standards of the industry. So, if you don’t prioritize the importance of CPE, it may not take much time for you to fall behind in your skills. And if that happens, it may cause some irreversible damage to your career.
On the contrary, by prioritizing the importance of CPE in your professional career, you can ensure that your drive to pursue it will never falter.
· Stay fully aware of your state board’s license renewal requirements
Not having a clear understanding of the license renewal requirements of your state board sometimes becomes the biggest obstacle in letting you get the best CPE experience. Simply choosing the best CPA CPE online or knowing the best way to get CPE credits for CPA isn’t enough to be able to pursue the best CPE for CPAs.
Sometimes, CPE requirements vary slightly between states. However, sometimes, there can be major differences between two state boards. For instance, one state board may have an annual license renewal period while the other one may have a triennial license renewal period.
Additionally, significant differences in guidelines can be there between state boards. For example, you may be able to earn all your required CPE credits by taking self-study courses, while another one may not allow you to earn more than fifty percent of your required credits through this method.
Therefore, no matter if you take the best CPE online or in-person programs, be sure to clearly understand your state’s license renewal requirements.
· Join the right sponsor
It’s paramount to join one of the best CPE providers to get the best CPE experience. However, with thousands of sponsors out there, it sometimes becomes quite difficult to find the right one. To help you find one of the best CPE providers quickly, we’ve created the following checklist.
o The sponsor should have approval from NASBA.
o The learning activities of the sponsor should be aligned with the rules and guidelines of your state accountancy board.
o The provider should have a large collection of courses on important and trending topics.
o The sponsor should offer programs in different learning formats, such as self-study courses and webinars.
o The cost of the programs should be affordable and fair.
o The sponsor should have one of the best CPE websites as they generally come with a simple user interface and easy navigation. This becomes extremely important when you decide to pursue the best CPE for CPAs online.
o The sponsor should offer top-notch customer support which can be reached using multiple communication channels.
In the majority of states, you’re allowed to choose from a broad range of learning activities to meet your CPE requirements. Some of the common ones include in-person programs, online programs, accredited college or university classes, and publication of relevant books or educational materials.
But learning styles significantly vary from one learner to another and that makes it very important to find the learning activity right for you. One effective method to do this is to explore multiple options. If required, you may want to continue with multiple options to get the best CPE experience.
· Create a license renewal plan right from the beginning
Thanks to the detailed license renewal requirements, you can create a CPE plan right at the beginning of your renewal period. This will help you avoid unnecessary stress and anxiety at the end of your renewal period. If you know which learning methods will help you pursue the best CPE for CPAs right from the beginning, you should be able to create an effective plan easily.
When creating this plan, remember to consider factors like your CPE budget, your license renewal timeline, and the learning activities right for you. That way, you’ll always be on the right track and not have to worry about how many CPE credits you still need to earn at the end of your renewal period.
So, we’ve rounded up all the vital factors that’ll help you get the best CPE experience. If you’re now searching for the best place to start, CPEThink.com is here for you. Whether you want the best CPE subscription for CPA or self-study courses or webinars to pursue the best CPE for CPAs, we have got you covered. We also have a 100-day, 100% money-back guarantee, which is simply the best in the entire industry.
If you want to learn more about how we can help you pursue the best CPE for CPA, feel free to talk to us.