| CPE Opportunities Available for Everyone
Tax preparers have different views on continuing professional education (CPE). Some people have
serious time or money constraints. They want to get done with CPE as quickly and easily as possible.
Others use CPE to learn new skills or polish up old ones. And then there’s the group that likes to
tie their CPE in with travel and take the opportunity to go to resorts or on cruises, basically
taking a learning vacation. In which group do you fit?
Inexpensive CPE Options
The easiest way to save money on CPE is to not travel. You can still get high quality CPE at your
home or office. There are many companies that offer computer based CPE, either delivered by CD or
as a web download. If you look around the Internet, you can even find CPE for free. Gleim, a company
used by many EAs, including many at Drake, to study for the EA exam offers four hours of online CPE
as a free introductory offer. Visit www.
taxingsubjects.com/cpe for more information.
For those of you who prefer to have something tangible to study from, there are many paper-based
options for CPE. Trade magazines, like EA Journal, provide a CPE exam in each issue that allows
you to earn two hours of CPE for just $35 ($45 for nonmembers).
Drake offers free CPE just for evaluating our software or attending a software demonstration seminar.
Contact Drake at 800.890.9500 or info@drakesoftware.com
to find out more about free CPE.
Learn New Skills
In addition to many fine CPE opportunities offered by private companies, local accounting organizations
offer excellent CPE courses. Many state EA and CPA societies offer a wide variety of classes taught at
various times of the year. You don’t even have to be a CPA or EA to attend! Attending CPE locally can
allow you to save some money, get some state-specific information, network with fellow tax preparers,
and support your local societies, all while learning valuable information. Find a list of the state
societies offering CPE at
www.taxingsubjects.com/cpe.
Travel
In last April’s issue of Taxing Subjects, we discussed some exotic travel opportunities for CPE.
Getting a chance to piggyback some vacation time with your CPE experience is sometimes the only way a
tax preparer (and their long suffering spouse) gets a vacation. In addition to all the opportunities we
listed in that issue, there are a number of other opportunities to travel and still receive CPE, some
of them downright reasonable. The Nationwide Tax Forums offered by the IRS can offer a chance to travel
and earn CPE credits.
Drake customers can attend our Update Schools and gain CPE while learning about the software and tax
law changes. The price is very reasonable and the food is always good. Contact Drake at 800.890.9500
for more information.
No matter which CPE group you belong to, there is a way of earning your CPE credits that will match your
needs and your budget. Even people that are not licensed tax professionals can benefit from taking some
CPE classes, whether these classes are in person, online, by CD, or through books. To make life a little
easier for you, we have gathered a list of some CPE opportunities and put them online at
www.taxingsubjects.com/cpe. Good luck
and good learning!
From April 2006
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