Growth Mindset & Your CPE Requirement: A Path to Development & Adaptability

by Sarah Funk, CPA, CGMA

Cultivating a growth mindset and diligently identifying opportunities for improvement and continuous learning contributes to our professional development and adaptability.  

When you think of learning something new, do our CPE requirements come to mind?  

With my three-year CPA license renewal approaching at the end of this year, I have found the requirement to take a minimum of 20 CPE hours each year to be helpful in keeping me on track in obtaining hours. This also encourages me to explore new areas of interest. There’s always something new to learn!

Amid the ongoing disruption of technology and regulatory changes, the lifelong learning journey of being a Certified Public Accountant extends far beyond merely counting credits to meet compliance requirements. Whether you’re working to learn a little about something new or a lot in your field of expertise, harnessing a growth mindset is essential in our ever-changing world.  

CPE enables us to focus not only on our areas of expertise but also on emerging areas, such as creating Artificial Intelligence (AI) literate workforces—accelerating and transforming the way many of us work. My organization is increasingly leveraging AI tools for process documentation and drafting meeting notes, shifting our efforts from tactical to strategic initiatives and fostering improved collaboration as we find new ways to work. We are gaining momentum in using data trend algorithms analysis to improve decision-making.  

For me, learning often leads me to ask better questions and build sustainable processes and controls to ensure improved completeness and accuracy of financial reporting to appropriately mitigate, monitor and manage risk.

For example, with the evolution in System & Organization Controls (SOC) Reporting available, I find it’s useful to understand the differences between various SOC reports and report types to determine which report is most appropriate to meet my organization’s needs and compliance requirements.  

With increased cybersecurity incidents, SOC reports provide credibility to both internal and external stakeholders, if you obtain the correct report.  

Type 1 reports focus on the design of controls at a point in time, providing less comfort, while Type 2 reports assess the operational effectiveness over a period of time through testing of controls.  User control considerations (UCCs) within SOC reports are also critical to understand as part of the vendor selection process to ensure your organization manages control gaps not covered by third-party organizations.  

Though not part of my day-to-day work, staying up to date on SOC changes through CPE has been helpful in shaping the way my organization evaluates new vendors and gains insights into how to protect data and manage risks.  

Leveraging vendors with the appropriate SOC reports also allowed us to scope and scale controls and processes for a Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard compliance (PCI DSS) audit.  

The work that we as CPAs do is so varied and keeping up to date on new requirements and developments affecting our work is indeed a challenge. Fortunately, we can turn to the WSCPA for CPE to help us meet those challenges. From the Member Exclusive Webinar Series (lunch and learn programs) to FlexCasts to in-person and online conferences, all with a broad breath of topics and speakers, there are thousands of program options in the recently updated online CPE & Event Catalog. If you need help finding a CPE program to meet your needs, reach out to the WSCPA team. They are ready to help you locate a course that is ideal for you.  

graphics: © iStock/Judith Rowe