Getting the Most Out of Training

Quite often clients and other CPAs ask me about good training classes for accounting and for specific software so I thought I’d share my thoughts on this topic.

Free Training

Most software publishers have free videos on their website or a link to u-tube.  QuickBooks even has an option on the help menu called “Learning Center Tutorials”.  Most videos and tutorials are short and can be viewed multiple times. You can also type the name of your software and the word video into your internet browser to search the internet for additional videos that are posted on U-Tube or other sites.

Short Classes and Webinars (Recoded & Live)

When looking for targeted information, short classes and webinars are an excellent source of training.  For example if you are interested in reports,  budgets, online features, annual updates of new features,  or other specific areas webinars or short classes at conferences or seminars are an excellent sources.  To find out about these options check with your industry groups, software publisher website, or get recommendations from colleagues.  I personally teach webinars for K2 Enterprises   but there are other venues that you can also check.

Full or Half-Day Day Live Classes

When looking for good overview, check on full or half day classes.  These classes cover a lot of material and will give you a good overview.  One  of the benefits of attending a live class in person vs online is that you get a chance to network with peers and get an insight of how they are addressing the issues you are all facing each day.  Take time to listen to their questions and network at breaks, this is a huge resource that I see is quite often overlooked.  I usually do not recommend hands-on classes since this type of class can only proceed as fast as the slowest student.  However, I would recommend that you bring you laptop to the session so you can look at specific features mentioned if desired.  I teach classes for   K2 Enterprises  and one of the benefits of this company is that you can download the practice files to follow along or work with at a later date.  When choosing a vendor, check your industry groups and the software publisher for classes.  When selecting a class be careful to take a good look at the session description of what will be taught, don’t be satisfied with words like basic, or advanced, make sure you’re interested in at least the majority of the specific topics covered.