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Helping a Big 4 Firm transform existing content into CPE-eligible self-study eLearning

Posted on May 1, 2015 by

Client challenge(s)

With thousands of employees spread all over the U.S., this Big 4 U.S. firm has come to us with quite a few challenges over the course of our partnership, including:

  1. Offering CPE for missed events QUICKLY without sacrificing quality: When we first met this firm, they were facilitating a lot of webinars to a wide and varied audience. However, when you’re dealing with a firm of thousands of people, not every person can attend every live webinar session you host. They needed a way to quickly convert the webinar recordings into CPE-eligible eLearning. While they had the in-house talent to get the job done, they knew their processes and internal review cycles would take 3-6 months, and they wanted the training released in weeks (or less!).
  2. Converting existing instructor-led content (ILT) or video into high quality eLearning with MINIMAL disruption to their Subject-Matter Specialists (SMS): As one of the biggest firms in the world, this Big 4 firm does a lot of training on a lot of different topics (not just audit, accounting, and tax). Regardless of the topic, there is one universal truth this firm faces: their SMSes are tight on time. They’re busy serving clients and earning revenue for the firm. Creating or reviewing training materials is not a revenue-generating activity and therefore, not their top priority. This firm was looking for a way to minimize the involvement of the SMS team to the greatest extent possible and save their time for more important tasks for the firm.
  3. Creating content that is accessible by ALL: Taking the lead on diversity and inclusion is a top priority for this firm. While eLearning is becoming more accessible every day, there are still challenges when creating eLearning that is screen-reader friendly. This firm wanted a solution that was completely accessible via a screen reader, without sacrificing the content or the CPE-eligibility.

Our solution(s)

To address the challenges this firm faced, we worked with them to create a number of solutions which we are continuing to improve upon and innovate with each iteration as our relationship continues to evolve. Just a few of the more notable solutions include: 

  1. Converting existing content into CPE-eligible eLearning: Using Articulate Storyline or Rise 360, our team worked to develop a repeatable, efficient, visually-appealing template for the various types of conversions. Having these templates keeps the process, the cost, and the timeline predictable and consistent from project to project, and allows us to minimize the time involved with converting:
    1. Recorded webinar to eLearning
    2. Instructor-led training to eLearning
  2. Acting as the CPE-Sponsoring Organization: One of the biggest challenges of offering CPE-compliant training to learners is the accreditation requirements and administrative process. We can help our clients save tons of time by serving as the CPE-sponsoring organization for the content we create. This shifts the administrative burden of compliance off their shoulders and onto ours, allowing them to breathe a much-deserved sigh of relief!
  3. Creating Accessible Course Indexes (ACIs): Throughout our relationship with the client, we have developed a completely accessible solution for visually-impaired learners that is navigable by a screen reader and utilizes basic software, like PDF and Google Forms. This allows the course to be created quickly and efficiently, and can be tested by anyone on any computer operating system. It also allows for greater compatibility with a wider field of screen readers. 

Their transformation

Since we’ve started working with this Big 4 firm, we’ve programmed and served as the CPE-sponsoring organization for 45 eLearning courses (and that list continues to grow)! What is truly remarkable is the breadth of topics covered by our eLearning. It isn’t simply accounting or audit training. Topics we’ve covered in eLearning include how to use various software, ESG Reporting, accounting under U.S. GAAP/IFRS, auditing, taxes, growing revenue for the firm, IT audit considerations, SEC updates, asset and wealth management, and more! Because of our knowledge of the public accounting profession and our experience in instructional design, we’ve been able to help them tackle topics that are not normally ones we cover. This has allowed the client to leverage us for a wide variety of content AND save their subject-matter specialists hundreds of hours of time across the entire firm, which allows those SMSes to better serve their client-base.

They’ve also found a team in GAAP Dynamics that can help them get content out to their learners under incredibly tight deadlines! We’re talking full development and testing cycles done in weeks, not months! And that is a game-changer for firms looking to convert content and get it to their learners ASAP!

Interested in changing your existing content into engaging and CPE-eligible training lightning fast? Let’s talk!