The blueprint for professional development: designing continuing education to meet your needs.

• Author: Schuette, Kim

Ohio law provides that, the right to practice as a CPA "imposes a duty to maintain public confidence and current knowledge, skills and abilities in all areas in which they provide service."

The Ohio law goes on to say in the Statement on Standards for Continuing Professional Education Programs that selection of learning activities should be a "thoughtful and reflective process" taking into consideration the CPA's professional plans, current knowledge and capabilities, and needed areas of competencies.

How does The Ohio Society of CPAs help its members fulfill this directive?

"Our mission is to provide diverse, first-rate continuing education programs that are relevant and timely," says Joan McGloshen, the Society's senior vice president, who is responsible for the CPE program. "Meeting the needs of our diverse membership and putting together a well-rounded schedule of courses to meet the demands of a dynamic profession is the goal of our CPE team."

The WIIFM [What's in it for me?] proposition

In a straw poll of members, relevancy was the respondents' No. 1 consideration when selecting CPE, though format, times, locations and cost were also factors.

"Does it directly impact my line of work or not?" asks financial planner Milton E. Fullen, CPA, ChFC, CASL, CLU, of Columbus.

Charlotte M. Johnston, CPA, a sole proprietor in Maineville, says she chooses CPE courses according to practice areas, such as tax or practice management courses. "I appreciate the tax courses like Gear Up most because they are good, in-depth presentations, not 'reading' the code to me and basically giving me executive summary information," Johnston explains.

Other members, including Cleveland CPA Brendan P. Fitzgerald of Sustin, Bartell, Waldman & Fergus, Ltd., select continuing education primarily based on content. Fitzgerald points to specific courses such as Profit-Building Techniques for Small Businesses and Advanced Forensic Techniques for Accountants that provide both technical expertise for himself and benefit to his clients' businesses.

"I don't look for specific practice areas, but rather knowledge that can be leveraged with experience to help clients," Fitzgerald says.

McGloshen agrees that relevancy and staying current drives CPE development. "Just-in-time" courses are created in response to changes and hot issues in the profession. The Society is adept at fulfilling a particular need at a particular time, she says. Recent examples include:

* Developing...