How to Join ACPEN
as an Affiliate
ACPEN has been delivering the finest in CPE, via satellite for live group presentations, and over the web for both individual, live group credit, as well as for in-house use since 1997. We work with the cooperation and support from more than 40 State CPA Society and Association network affiliates. Their efforts and resulting success in serving their members in a cost effective way has been the basis for the Accounting Continuing Professional Education Network’s continued growth. From the start, ACPEN was designed as a cooperative that would benefit CPA societies, minimize their financial risk and administrative efforts, and reward their participation with excellent financial returns. We have concentrated on maintaining and growing these cooperative relationships.
Original Opportunity: Group Sites
First, a state CPA society or association can join our CPE broadcast network by sponsoring group sites where members can participate in excellent CPE in a small group setting (15 to 35 persons) and interact with the faculty in several ways. Using satellite or internet technology, hosting these group sites, at various locations around your state, allows you to expand your offerings and the reach of live group CPE events without the added risk or expense of program development.
There are two ways to become an ACPEN affiliate sponsoring group sites. First you can commit to specific sites and pay a fixed signal fee per site (no per person royalty!). We would advise you on site placement and assist in locating facilities that would support the technology. This is our most successful model as it generates the best return for the affiliate. There is also an alternative in which we join you in committing to these sites as a partner. In this approach we would identify and manage the viewing sites around the state while you would promote, register the students, and print the books from our print master. After a certain number of registrations, typically 4 or 5, to cover the site costs, we would pay you a per person commission for all registrants or split the proceeds, depending on the exact division of labor. This is one way to test the waters without a monetary commitment, both as to the network fee and the viewing site rental cost. This also avoids the ongoing management of viewing sites, since BPN handles this.
Additional Opportunities: Promoting Live Webcasts
ACPEN programming is also available as live webcasts. This option allows you to reach out to your members with high quality CPE, online, and generate revenue without a heavy investment on your part, in program development and the necessary internet technology. The webcast curriculum includes the full day courses that ACPEN produces, as well as shorter events, often produced by other state societies and distributed through the ACPEN network to affiliates. This provides a wide range of high quality programming.
ACPEN on-line programs are offered, via the internet as live webcasts, for sale through affiliate web pages, for the benefit of the state society as well as ACPEN, itself. Our delivery methodology allows for live, internet-based group study credit, through BPN’s NASBA Registry membership. As part of the relationship we set up and maintain a web page that mimics the state society’s, with all appropriate web presence and support features (ie. web page set up, tech support, e-commerce, accounting etc.) at no start up cost to the state society. The state society markets ACPEN courses and shares in the revenue from each sale (30% to 40% depending on the extent of the state society’s participation in ACPEN) and can add your own streaming on line offerings as they are available or developed (for a 60% share). The individual webcast option, allows an affiliate to ensure that all financial professionals in ACPEN states have the opportunity to conveniently view ACPEN events from their own desks.
Additional Opportunities: On-Site Curriculum
ACPEN programs are available for use by firms as group study on-site programs, either as live events on the date of an ACPEN webcast or archived, using a DVD of the live event at the convenience of the firm.
Firms and corporations with compatible satellite downlink equipment or broadband internet access can receive live ACPEN broadcasts and participate in the live event. We can help you set up a unique page to show these offerings or the society can simply add a link at an existing “In house” area. An affiliate can field inquiries and pass them on to BPN for completion or the inquiries can come directly to us through the affiliate’s marketing efforts. In either case, we will pay the affiliate a royalty on the sale of about 25%, again, depending on the society’s ACPEN involvement.
BPN coordinates each on-site event, ensures compliance with CPE accountability, issues CPE certificates, maintains records of participants, and sets pricing in cooperation with the affiliate.
Conclusion
All of these CPE choices allow an affiliated organization to confidently expand its offerings both as to content and delivery format without any significant cost or risk. The affiliate’s major role is marketing the various opportunities selected. BPN supports the technology required in every case and ensures the educational value and quality of the content presented. By adding one or all of the opportunities, an affiliated organization can present a larger product line for the service of members’ needs for quality CPE.