2010-2011 Federal Tax Update
OnDemand Webcast Courses

The 2010-2011 Federal Tax Update OnDemand Webcast is a unique self-study product. Review the following information to help you get the most out of each course. IMPORTANT: Please remember that you'll have access to course materials until 9/30/2011, so any CPE you wish to complete for credit must be completed before 9/30/2011.

Download the Manual:
The course manual in pdf format is yours to keep. Feel free to save it to your computer, print it out, and use it any way you see fit. Active bookmarks and hyperlinks make the manual an invaluable resource for the tax season. Many clients use the "Find" function of their Adobe Reader to quickly search out the topics they're the most interested in.

Before you begin the 2010-2011 Federal Tax Update, you may wish to print out the course manual. Follow along in the manual as you watch Vern's course. The course manual is full of information that Vern doesn't necessarily cover during the Webcast, but the review questions and final exam will draw from information covered in the manual.

Watch a Course:
After you purchase the OnDemand Webcast, click the "Watch Course" link under the course title to begin. The course will play automatically.

If you wish to pause a course at any time, simply push "pause" if you plan to return soon. If you plan to resume a course in a day or two, push "stop." You can always log in again; the course is yours for a year, or until you successfully complete the final exam. When you do stop a course, take notes on where you want to begin again: use the chapter titles in the upper middle of the screen to jump ahead to that section. You can also scroll through the course using the "rewind" and "forward" buttons, much like you would with a video or DVD.

Another great asset of the online environment is that you can use the attached web browser (the lower half of the screen) like you would any web browser. We have set it up so that the manual will move to the appropriate place at given times during the lecture. However, you may search the Internet at any time during the course. Throughout the manual, you may see hyperlinks (for example, to the IRS home page). Feel free to pause and link to the site to see the details about the topic Vern is discussing. Push "play" to begin the course again. Either use the back button to return to the manual, or wait for the manual to refresh at the next topic change.

If you have trouble viewing the course, visit our "Troubleshooting" link. If you're still experiencing problems after trying the troubleshooting recommendations, please call our office at (800) 822-4194.

Please note that after 20 minutes of inactivity – whether watching a course or taking a review test – the presentation will time out, and you'll need to restart the presentation. For the final exam, you can save your progress at any time.

Take a Review Test:
For a superior educational experience, review tests have been integrated into each course. Keep your eyes out for the hyperlinks that will appear below Vern that say "Click for Review Test." These hyperlinks are programmed at different times throughout each course and will appear for 30 seconds at a time. Once you click the hyperlink, a pop-up window will appear with review questions covering both Vern's presentation and the material in the course manual. Click the pause button in the upper left corner of the pop-up window to pause the course and then take the review test. When you've answered all the questions, your score will be posted at the top of the screen. Because it's a review test, each question will display your answer and an explanation of why your answer is correct or incorrect. Further, each question has a hyperlink to the discussion in the manual about its subject; click "Go to Manual" to revisit that section. Click "Close This Window" when you're done with the review test. You'll be returned to the course; just push the "play" button below Vern to resume the presentation.

Please note that after 20 minutes of inactivity the program will time out, and you'll lose your answers. We recommend taking review tests when you have enough time to finish them in one sitting.

Take the Final Exam:
When you feel ready to take the final exam for CPE credit, click the "Take Exam" link under the course title and follow the directions to access the exam. You'll have three chances to earn a passing score of 70% or higher. After passing the exam, you can print your certificate of completion immediately, and it will also be e-mailed to you. Please note: If you wish to view your test results (which questions you answered incorrectly and the correct answers), you'll need to submit the course evaluation and click on the "View Results" link on the following page. This is the only link where results are viewable. You can print these out for your information, but they're not accessible once you proceed past that page.