Firms Learn from Rebroadcasted ‘Live’ CPE Courses

LearnLive Technologies is offering CPA firms the opportunity to rebroadcast training and education presentations as “live” NASBA-certified continuing professional education courses.

The company’s LearnLive Connect webcast delivery system enables firms to maximize their instructor time. Many firm instructors are partners who earn high billable rates. The firms can use the system to record content that can be offered with live proctoring and certification by the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy multiple times.

Grant Thornton LLP now offers CPE to its CPAs through LearnLive rebroadcasts, giving its professionals multiple date and time alternatives to accommodate their schedules. Program leaders only need to present a session once. Repeat sessions of the webcasts use recordings of the initial session, so a program leader is not required to present the material a second or third time. Only a resource person is needed to respond to text questions from attendees. The live text chat monitor function in LearnLive Connect allows the rebroadcast webcasts to qualify for CPE credit.

For Grant Thornton, LearnLive also provides the opportunity to convert some face-to-face programs to webcasts or web-based self-study courses.

“In the first year, the firm’s investment paid for itself very quickly, with savings well into six figures,” said Grant Thornton strategic learning director Richard Rykus. “We’ve been able to take classes that were delivered as three- or four-day live, in-person programs, some with over 100 participants, and deliver those virtually to the desktop. When you eliminate costs, including travel, food and lodging, it is very significant.”

Camico, the nation’s largest CPA-directed program of professional and employment practices liability insurance for CPA firms, also provides courses using LearnLive Connect.

“The key for Camico is that we are limited time-wise to our policyholders’ schedules,” said Camico vice president of loss prevention services Suzanne M. Holl. “It is very difficult for multi-office firms to get their staff together. We are also limited to their locations. The flexibility of rebroadcasting enables us to meet our policyholder needs, while reducing their loss of billable hours.”

For more information, visit www.learnlive.com.

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