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Thomson Starts Research Certificate

Ken Koskay, Thomson ReutersThomson Reuters has launched a program designed to teach more research skills to tax professionals. Crafted for entry-level workers and those re-entering the workforce, the Checkpoint Learning Tax Research Certificate Program will require between 34 and 40 hours to complete. Those involved in the program can earn 22 hours of Continuing Professional Education Credits.

"What this is about is building those foundational skills that will help you succeed in doing tax work," says Ken Koskay, SVP of Thomson's Learning Solutions operations. He explained it requires more hours to complete the effort than the 22 hours of available CPE because credits are not awarded for the required case study at the end.

Those coming out of universities generally do not receive much training in tax research. Koskay recalls his own first year out of college with what was then a Big Eight accounting firm. "One of the first assignments was to research a couple of different trust arrangements, working with high-net worth individuals," he says. "I had never even been introduced to that. "

The courses are not just assembled from available offerings from Thomson. "It is content that we already had that we expanded further for developing tax research competency," says Koskay. "We have transformed content to make it more meaningful for a certificate program and more targeted for the certificate program.

The program is comprised by three webinars, each presented by a tax research expert; an interactive online course, "Tax Research Using an Online Research Platform"; and the final assignment, "The Tax Certificate Research Case Study." For the last part, 30-day free access to Thomson's Checkpoint research platform is provided. The case is tailored to the learner's practice area-corporate taxation or public practice. Case studies are designed by Jennifer Kowal, a professor of law at Loyola University and directory of that school's Tax LLM Program. The total cost is $599.

The case studies are not graded online. "They will be graded by tax professionals and feedback is provided," Koskay says.

The certificate, awarded to those who successfully complete the work, is not designed to provide career advancement or serve as a marketing tool, although it is possible it could be used in those ways."What I hope they would get is a whole bunch of knowledge, that results in competency development," says Koskay.

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