Last week, we announced that Roger CPA Review and Missouri Society of CPAs (MSCPA) partnered together to create the Community Learning Program: a program that will help CPA Exam candidates through the CPA Exam and licensing process. We interviewed Kathy Meyer, CPA, the CFO of MSCPA, as she gave great insight as to why this program will be beneficial to CPA Exam candidates, CPA organizations, and the CPA profession as a whole. This week, we continue the interview in Pt. 2 of our article as Kathy Meyer talks about how the model for a Community Learning Program can help impact the way candidates take the CPA Exam and beyond.
How do you think working with Roger CPA Review will aid in professional development of your members and/or the profession, especially as we face the 2017 CPA Exam changes?
A lot of candidates are nervous about that; the unknown is a little scary. But getting Roger CPA Review to help explain the changes will be very beneficial to our members. Roger CPA Review’s instructors will be able to help them focus on the changes and what to do to be ready for them.
Another advantage is that Roger CPA Review is helping educate our staff about the new changes. I will be sitting in the classes to learn more, and also encouraging our other staff to do the same so that we can better help serve our members and answer their questions.
What is your advice for other state societies looking to incorporate a similar Community Learning Program model?
We collaborate with other state CPA societies. We share ideas and best practices on many initiatives. This program will be no different. We’ll tell them about our experiences and the feedback we receive from our members. We’ll encourage other state CPA societies to emulate the program as it best fits into their strategies.
What do you see this program evolving into in the near or distant future?
It will likely lead to group study events and additional networking opportunities. It could become a great stepping stone to providing other benefits for our members and potential CPAs by soliciting their own input about their CPA Exam journeys.
Any final thoughts?
A community learning program such as ours is something that I personally as a CPA have not yet seen. I know it would have helped me tremendously back in the day when I was taking the exam.
We have a strong concern about candidates who sit for one section of the exam, fail it, and then give up. Part of this program includes getting those candidates to attend a session so we can instill confidence in them again. We can help them figure out where they fell short and give them the support and guidance to take it again. I see Roger CPA Review being a huge part of this—motivating people and giving them different avenues to succeed.
It will also help CPA Exam candidates to know that they are not alone. I’m hoping that our partnership with Roger CPA Review will give candidates an entirely new experience and perspective about what it means to take the CPA Exam and become a CPA.
We’d like to thank Kathy Meyer for her time during this interview and Missouri Society of CPAs for partnering with us to create this great program. We look forward to working with them as well as all the CPA Exam candidates!