PRACTICAL PD
Courses for Accountants

Practical PD offers popular courses as self-study videos, webinars, and in-person seminars and conference sessions that nearly 18,000 have taken. The sessions are offered directly as well as through partners, usually professional accounting bodies. They are geared toward all types of accountants, but particularly controllers, CFOs, directors of finance, treasurers and accounting managers, as well as accountants in public practice who advise clients. The tips and topics are also useful for financial leaders from large corporations, owner-managed businesses, Not-For-Profit organizations, public accountants and those in the public sector.

In Practical PD courses you will learn practical, relevant tips you’ll apply directly in your job. Practical PD provides nitty-gritty tips that a veteran accountant has learned from experience. They will help you report key business indicators, get the most from your bank, minimize costs, navigate ethical dilemmas, manage staff, relate to colleagues and more. Attendees appreciate our innovative approach. We steer away from generalities, instead, we emphasize useful, specific tips. Accountants are interested in payback.  We believe all our courses should eventually pay back much more than the course cost, with real cash savings, in addition to many less measurable benefits.  Expect the unexpected in our courses: tips, slide surprises, jokes and prizes, awarded in unusual ways.

All our courses qualify for professional development hours for Canadian CPAs.  You will have to verify with your organization, if you are with another professional body, but we can provide quizzes and proof of attendance, or viewing.

You’ll find our real-world approach engaging, thought-provoking and fun.  All courses were created and are presented by Stephen Priddle, CPA, CMA, CA, who is an active CFO.  

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What participants say about Practical PD courses:

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Videos

• Yes it was pre-recorded but you make it as if we were there

• I completed viewing the course.  Great presentation and very informative.  The course material and presentation exceeded my expectations and give a rating of 10+.  I highly recommend this course to all CPA’s

• I've followed a few other videos offered by CPA and yours definitely stood out.

• I found it very refreshing to have some insights on how I could improve my "game". A lot of topics you bring up are aspects of our daily life at work, but are not thought at university or CPA program. 

• You are a great speaker / entertainer!

• The course is packed with a lot of practical tips (and funny jokes about lawyers) that I am sure will become helpful during my career. 

• I like your setup, having the slides take a big part of the screen, and your image in the corner, works great. I like your style, with the humour & all, keeps it fun

• I have to deal with at work & I think this seminar led me to have a good idea as to how to approach this

• ​I like your training videos, they are actually useful and are engaging enough that people actually want to listen. Very nice after just having finished another 7 hour training session (source shall remain unnamed) that was pretty much a dud

Webinars

• Thanks for the props, giveaways, stories and thorough presentation

• It is not easy to keep one’s attention for a 7 hour webinar – but you did it

• Interesting and kept us alert … much better than a regular presenter

• I just found the course very engaging and it was my first zoom online course (took the course live before)

• You have done a great job of adapting to the new reality of distance learning! 

• Very good, just the right length, great instructor as I never lost interest and the delivery was engaging. Great! and I want to follow other courses by you!!!

• Thank you so much for a wonderful webinar. You made it enjoyable and fun to watch.

• I am very glad I attended, you were by far the BEST teacher, engaging and dynamic throughout

• I wasn’t sure how an 8 hour course would go on Zoom but I was quite impressed with how well it went.  There were exchanges and questions, very good.

• Kept our interest for the whole time

• Yes I found it very informative. All day webinar long, but it was a great seminar. 

• I would like to thank you for making the presentation engaging and entertaining. As I know you are aware, these seminars can be pretty long and dry, which is why bringing some fun and humour to the day was a pleasant surprise

In-class

• Thank you for the training yesterday. I have been looking for years for a course that would provide “street smart” advice that can be easily put in application

• Best instructor ever! Felt energized throughout the whole seminar. Spent two hours after the seminar writing down action plans

• Very good and much better that I was expecting, the description on the CPA website, doesn’t do the course justice

• Exceptional content, exceptional delivery, great dynamic presentation A+

• Great opportunity to hear how to become a good CFO

• Great back and forths between participants and lecturer

• Usually PD seminars are dull - this lecturer was a refreshing change and stimulates interest

• It by far exceeded my expectations and provided a great deal of very useful information that I think will be benefit me throughout my career

• Like all round approach – HR, financial, etc.

• Good stories, good use of projector, good humour, very good instructor, kept the course fun and entertaining

• Practical across different industries and the real world examples were appealing

• Interesting business discussions; humorous anecdotes

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All sessions are webinars except November 30 below, which is in-person.

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Click on the webinar dates below for more information on the course page.

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December 9, 2022 Webinar - Practical Foreign Exchange Management

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December 12-13, 2022 Webinar - Practical Tips for Not-For-Profit Financial Leaders

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December 14, 2022 Webinar - Contract Review Tips for Accountants

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December 19, 2022 Webinar - Ethics - Where the Rubber Hits the Road

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December 20, 2022 Webinar - Practical Work Solutions from Case Discussions

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December 21, 2022 Webinar - Ethics - More Than Just the Code of Conduct