Getting your CPE credits is a great opportunity to do more than just fulfill your legally mandated continuing education requirements. CPE courses are your chance to learn about trends and subjects that can have a significant impact on your business. We’ve put together a list of four trending topics you should be taking for CPE credit.

Security

Keeping clients’ data secure is one of a tax and accounting professional’s most important duties. Large incidents of data theft (such as those that occurred at Equifax and Yahoo) are reminders of just how important it is to keep client data secure. They’re also a reminder that doing so is difficult and no business is immune.

But difficult doesn’t mean impossible. There are steps that you can take to make your data more secure. Taking CPE courses on data security will help ensure that you’re armed with the most recent tactics and strategies to help keep client data safe.

Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin. Ethereum. Litecoin. There are hundreds of different kinds of cryptocurrencies out there. These blockchain enabled currencies are one of the biggest up-and-coming trends in the finance world. You’ll be dealing with these cryptocurrencies regularly in the near future (if you don’t already). How well do you understand how they work? When evaluating which CPE credits and disciplines are most valuable to your practice, you should definitely consider adding a course on cryptocurrency or blockchain technology so you’re ready when the time comes.

Excel

Excel is one of the most powerful and versatile tools available to accounting and tax professionals. In fact, Excel is so versatile that there’s nearly always some new function or shortcut you could be using to make your work faster, more efficient, more convenient. An Excel focused class will provide one of the most useful CPE credits you will ever earn.

Marketing

It doesn’t matter how good you are at the tax and accounting part of your job if you can’t get enough clients through the door. Marketing is a key (perhaps the key) component of running a successful practice.

Staying on top of trends is particularly important in marketing. Because consumer behaviors and preferences are constantly changing, the decade-old marketing strategies may no longer be effective at driving business. This is one subject where you can never be too well informed.

Want to learn more about tax and accounting trends? Then you’ll like this article by Kurt Avarell Canopy’s CEO and founder: Tax and Accounting Industry Trends that are Here to Stay.