Financial Management Under
Sarbanes Oxley

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act changed the regulatory landscape – and created an urgent need for CPA Firms and Corporate Accounting Departments to update their knowledge and skills.

One of the nation’s leading universities sought to help its Accounting and Corporate clients stay ahead of the curve, by offering a 10-week Distance Learning/Virtual Classroom course on the topic.

The University’s professors were experts in the subject matter. They had taught it successfully to students in a bricks-and-mortal classroom. But their lecture-based format didn’t translate well to a Virtual Classroom/Distance Learning format, and their Accounting/Corporate clients were complaining. That’s when the University called us in to help.

Our analysis showed a two-fold problem:

• The course was set up to teach the many facts and rules related to this subject matter. But the audience was not satisfied with learning facts and rules. They wanted to know how to apply the facts and rules to their specific situations.
• Professors knew how to “sell” their material in a bricks-and-mortal classroom. But they did not know how to exploit the strengths of the University’s Virtual Classroom technology.

There was some good news in our analysis, as well. These professors were excited about learning new technology, and quite willing to adapt their materials and teaching style to fit a new format.

Because of their attitude, this project was easy!

• We did a gentle re-purposing of the teaching materials, adding in graphics and illustrations for visual interest, as well as interactive sequences such as q&a opinion polls, review exercises, problem sets and case studies. The interactive sequences broke up the lectures, and helped the professors get a real-time reading of the pulse of their audience.
• We also worked with the University’s virtual classroom technical staff to coach the professors on the use of distance learning technology. As they became more comfortable, they were more willing to step out of the pure-lecture format, and more willing to use the interactive sequences that we had built for them.

Special Skills/Software

• Distance Learning repurposing/design and development:
  The University specified PlaceWare/LiveMeeting/NetMeeting for this course.
• Slides, Instructor Guides and Participant Guides:
  All materials were created using PowerPoint with a PlaceWare plug-in. Slides were used to present the content and structure of the program. The Instructor Guide provided detailed how-to on introducing the slides, integrating the interactive elements, and keeping the presentation on track. A downloadable Participant Guide was available to learners who wanted it for note-taking or reference.

University was pleased to offer a professional-quality course that highlighted its extensive expertise in the financial realm.

Professors were justifiably proud of participating in a course that was cutting edge in both content and presentation.

Accounting and Corporate Finance Departments were able to offer their staff the high-level learning experience they required, in a consistent, convenient package.

For more information about this project, please contact us.