Accounting Training

Elevate Your Accounting Training Program

 

The true measure of an accounting training program’s effectiveness is how much it enhances an average performer’s ability to identify and solve issues before they escalate. Unfortunately, many training programs produce only small, incremental improvements in staff performance. Consequently, controllership leaders and a few high performers bear the brunt of resolving issues and the stress that comes with it.

 

Why Many Training Programs Are Ineffective

 

• ​Ineffective Delivery Methods: Webinars are a popular training delivery method. Unfortunately, they are effective for only a handful of people within the accounting team, probably the ones that are already high performers. For most of your team, webinars alone are insufficient, and do not result in giant leaps in performance, because:
  - They do not require the participant to actively engage with the training content.
  - And so deprive participants of the opportunity to truly internalize and master the concepts.

 

• Insufficient Depth: Training sessions frequently don't allocate enough time to delve into the details necessary for significant knowledge improvement. For example, a 2-hour quarterly webinar is rarely enough to make a meaningful impact.

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Balancing Between Webinars and Self-Study Courses

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Both webinars and self-study courses have their place within a controllership training program. We think of them as "tools" within a "training toolbox". In order to get the intended improvement in staff performance, it is important to make sure that the right tool is used for the right job.

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Web-based Self-study Courses

For elements of training that are critical to successful performance, we believe that self-study programs specifically tailored for your company are generally more suitable than webinars. A well-designed self-study program includes robust quizzes and, where appropriate, case studies for learners to actively engage with the training content, giving them the opportunity to internalize it. Additionally, it features a well-designed, scored knowledge assessment test to ensure that the learner has indeed acquired the intended knowledge. By contrast, with webinars, you can only “hope” that the participants learned something.

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Here are some of the other benefits of self-study courses:

• Flexible Scheduling: Self-study courses allow learners to study at their own pace and on their own schedule, unlike webinars which are often scheduled at fixed times.

• Efficient: Due to the flexible scheduling, rolling out self-study programs is more efficient than webinars. You can use your company’s existing learning management system (LMS) to deploy the self-study training.

• In-depth Learning: Self-study courses offer structured material that learners can revisit as needed. Webinars do not provide the opportunity to revisit content that a learner didn't quite understand.

• Results-Based: With self-study programs, you get positive confirmation that the learner has acquired the intended knowledge. These courses can be hosted and delivered from your company's LMS, giving you full control and insights into your team's course completion statistics.

• CPE Credit: The tailored self-study courses are eligible for Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credit.

• One-time Investment: Once the tailored self-study courses are initially compiled, there is minimal ongoing effort associated with making updates, if any, as your company’s policies and processes change.

• Staff Onboarding: With self-study courses already assembled, new employees can quickly acquire the critical knowledge they need to succeed in their roles in a structured and orderly manner.

 

Webinars

While self-study courses offer numerous benefits, webinars can be more suitable in certain situations. For example:

• Real-time interaction and immediate feedback.

• Providing timely updates on current developments.

• Show-casing how existing policies applied to recent significant transactions

• Low-impact areas where investing in a self-study course may not be an immediate priority.

 

Webinars provide a platform for live discussions, allowing participants to ask questions and receive answers from experts in real-time. We believe that periodic webinars can be an effective part of the feedback loop for self-study courses, as they allow internal experts to address any questions that may arise from practice or about the self-study content. This interaction then provides valuable input for making updates to the self-study courses.

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Where to Start With Self-Study Course

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Start by identifying areas where increased knowledge would likely result in significant improvements in the accounting staff's ability to identify and flag issues before they become major problems. Accounting policies are a good place to start, but this can extend to other relevant areas for your company, such as process and controls documentation. Then, convert this documentation into self-study courses.

 

A robust self-study training course should include interactive elements such as quizzes that encourage participants to engage with the content at a deeper level than is possible with webinars. While creating such a comprehensive course requires time, effort, and the right expertise, it is an investment that yields substantial returns. By significantly elevating your team's ability to identify and resolve issues, you gain added peace of mind.

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Our "Simply Measurable" Approach

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We believe in two core principles: Simplicity and Measurability.

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Simplicity

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Accounting is inherently complex, but effective training material should simplify these complexities. When you work with us, the first thing we do is to review and, where necessary, re-write source materials such as accounting policies into simple language that effectively communicates complex concepts. We go over and above by using examples, stories, and analogies that participants can relate to in order to ensure that participant fully understand the concepts.

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Measurability

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An effective training program must have objective measures to ensure participants acquire the intended knowledge. That's why we believe that an effective training program should be anchored by self-study courses specifically tailored for your company's policies, procedures, and circumstances.

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Working With Us

 

When you work with us, we do the heavy lifting to convert your accounting policies and process documentation ("source materials") into robust self-study courses with CPE credit. ​We transform source materials into engaging web-based self-study courses, including in audiovisual presentations, that include knowledge-check quizzes and a scored final assessment test with a minimum passing score of 70% to ensure that learner actually masters the course content.

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Ready to Transform Your Training Program?

 

Take your accounting training to the next level. Get in touch by completing the Contact Us form below.