On-Line CE

[Chief]

Do any of you have experience with Teach U Comp, Inc based in East Lansing, Mi. I have received manyh emails from them offering unliited CE programs for $99 a year.
How do get your required CE each year?

[thomtax]

I have not used them, but I am using Taxation Circles, a similar type setup.

I usually get my CE through 3 or different ways.

1 - I take advantage of the FREE IRS webinars and telephone forums.
2 - I use on line courses through Taxation Circles
3 - I use some of Drake courses.
4 - I attend 1 - update seminars.

This gives me well over the required minimums for IRS and NAEA, but - especially with all the changes - I feel that I need it just to know what is going on.

LT

[erchess]

My reaction

Teach U Comp used to claim that EAs could get CE for courses having to do with computers and software such as Quickbooks and Excel. So I don't trust them for TAX stuff. OTOH the CDs I bought to brush up on accounting and learn QB were reasonably priced and appeared first rate. It isn't the seller's fault that I did not complete them.

I completely agree with Roberts on the idea that keeping up with the field takes a good deal of continuing education for which I get no credit.

BB you might check out Client Whys and Fun CPE - I am very impressed with both outfits. The latter even let a friend of mine who said she wanted to learn this business have free access to an introductory course. She never did anything with it but that is not the fault of anyone but her. (This was several years ago when increased IRS regulation of our business was a rumor out there on the horizon and I at least had never heard of an RTRP.) She got a promotion into management with her retail store employer and is actually making a living without being a tax professional. I still like the very nice people at both of these companies.

[Roland Slugg]

This may be old news to most, but some may not know that Deloitte offers FREE web casts that qualify for CPE credit. You can learn more and register on its web site. Most are 1 hour long, but a few are 90 minutes. There are usually two or three each month that pertain to taxation, so it's easy to accumulate 20~30 hours this way each year. The tax web casts almost always start at 2:00 ET ... 11:00 PT.

[oceanlovin'ea]

TaxslayerPro

Chief, Are you still using TaxslayerPro? They have offered us FREE CPE's this year. I think you have to sign up before the end of the month. But check out their website. I am going to take advantage of it. It is online courses.

I also usually go to 1 NCPE seminar each year. I went to Level 1 on Senior issues this year. It was very interesting. I go to 1 update seminar at the end of the year. Last year I went to Jim Hasselbeck's seminar in Tallahassee in December. I was thoroughly impressed. The accommodations for the seminar were the nicest I have ever been in. So I will do that again this year.

I haven't been to IRS forum for several years. But I found I always learned something new. You just have to be a little choosy about which sessions you attend.

I have been to GAEA convention a couple of times. Really good program.

If I find out where Beanna Whitlock is going to be a speaker, I will go to that one for sure.

Linda, EA

[thomtax]

This may be old news to most, but some may not know that Deloitte offers FREE web casts that qualify for CPE credit. You can learn more and register on its web site. Most are 1 hour long, but a few are 90 minutes. There are usually two or three each month that pertain to taxation, so it's easy to accumulate 20~30 hours this way each year. The tax web casts almost always start at 2:00 ET ... 11:00 PT.

Roland

Could you share the link to sign up for these webinars?

LT

[mactoolsix]

Roland

Could you share the link to sign up for these webinars?

LT

http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/Insights/Browse-by-Content-Type/dbriefs-webcasts/index.htm

[Roland Slugg]

Link to Deloitte Web Casts

The above link works fine, but the one I prefer is: http://www.usdbriefs.com/calendar/thyme/thyme/index.php

It's in "calendar" format. Both work, and you can access either one from the other ... or others.

[DonPriebe]

Deloitte CPE for EA's?

The boilerplate on the Deloitte website http://www.deloitte.com/us/dbriefs/cpe says they are registered to grant CPE credit by the NASBA, but does not say that they are on the IRS list of CPE grantors. So it looks like the CPE is valid for CPAs, but not for EAs. Which doesn't mean that we can't still watch and learn.

[Chief]

Thanks,Erchess for your suttestions

I just completed the Clients Why self study for the CE rerqjuirements. They were excellent programs. I like them because they were self study.

[JohnH]

Has anybody tried Platinum Professional Services? They offer 15 hrs of CE to meet the 2012 RTRP requirements for $27.95. All of it online and self-paced. They also offer other courses and some state-specific CE as well.

http://www.platinumprostudies.com/

[DonPriebe]

I completed their EA 1040 CPE course in April. $27.95 for 24 hours including the two hours of Ethics. IMHO, if you just want to buy some CPE, they are the place to go. If you want to learn something or be challanged, try elsewhere.

As someone else suggested on another forum, you can use the cheap CPE to fulfill your requirements, then also take the expensive CPE in areas you care about.

[JohnH]

Yep.
Exactly what I did.
Got the requirement out of the way from the comfort of my living room.
It was very easy to complete it using nothing but the iPad and my Tax Book.
Now I can focus on the important stuff with no pressure.

Incidentally, here's a suggestion to anyone who uses Platinum (and maybe this applies to other online CE as well). Go directly to the quizzes, answer all the questions you know, and store those answers. Then read the written material related to that quiz. Your antenna will be up for the answers you need as you read. Then you can return to the quiz and answer the remaining questions. That helped me to move through the course much quicker, and my studying was more focused.

[DTS]

Has anybody tried Platinum Professional Services? They offer 15 hrs of CE to meet the 2012 RTRP requirements for $27.95. All of it online and self-paced. They also offer other courses and some state-specific CE as well.

http://www.platinumprostudies.com/

I used Platinum before I became an EA and my wife continued using them until she had to quit working. Very good. Fed 16 hrs CA 4 hrs for CTEC. If memory serves, they could not offer EA courses (that may have changed by now), so I stopped using them, but would look over my wife's courses with her. Not sure about their RTRP courses.

[astroantics]

Platinum Course

Went to their website. They are offering a 24 hour CPE course for EA's. Price is $37.95. I'm going to order the course to complete the requirements. Then I'll just take specialized courses that I'm interested in.