Membership Course Catalog

Empowered learning designed to advance your practice, help navigate challenges, and reach your goals through access to highly relevant education, resources, and practice coaching.

Practice Advancement Courses

Standardize process, modernize technologies, increase efficiencies, generate capacity, and price to your value as you deploy Woodard's Ideal Practice Model™.

Additional courses available within our Practice Advancement Program include marketing strategies, productivity strategies, and practice succession/exit strategies.”

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Client Advisory Courses

Woodard’s Client Advisory courses provide you with the skills, process, and confidence to elevate the impact you have with your clients, and the value of your client relationships.Through an elevated slate of services, you will command higher prices, differentiate your practice, and give your practice a competitive advantage. That said, the ultimate goal (and measurement) of client advisory is the generation of wealth for your clients. Through your advisory services, your clients can discover ways to streamline costs, reduce expenses and better manage their companies.

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Standardize process, modernize technologies, increase efficiencies, generate capacity, and price to your value as you deploy Woodard's Ideal Practice Model™.

Additional courses available within our Practice Advancement Program include marketing strategies, productivity strategies, and practice succession/exit strategies.”

See Course Listings

Woodard’s Client Advisory courses provide you with the skills, process, and confidence to elevate the impact you have with your clients, and the value of your client relationships.Through an elevated slate of services, you will command higher prices, differentiate your practice, and give your practice a competitive advantage. That said, the ultimate goal (and measurement) of client advisory is the generation of wealth for your clients. Through your advisory services, your clients can discover ways to streamline costs, reduce expenses and better manage their companies.

See Course Listings

Practice Advancement Courses

Engineer the highest vision you have for your practice and the harmonization between work and life through Woodard's Practice Advancement courses. Courses focus on all 7 ideals of Woodard's Ideal Practice Model, as well as strategies for enhancing your marketing, maximizing your pricing, increasing productivity, enhancing data security, and increasing practice valuation.

The Ideal Practice: Courses and Workshops

Learn a proven framework for building the ideal practice so you can streamline workflows, standardize process, work with the right clients, employ high-producing teams, modernize technology, and increase profitability.

Course Length: 10 Weeks The Ideal Practice

Begin the process of adopting Woodard's Ideal Practice Model^(TM) with this foundational 10-week course.

During this course you will evaluate and develop strategies around seven key areas of your practice:

Ideal You (Vision and Brand)
Ideal Client (The Ideal Client Profile)
Ideal Services (Your Ideal Slate of Services)
Ideal Technology (Your Ideal Technology Stack)
Ideal Process (Your Ideal Administrative and Production Workflows)
Ideal Engagement (Your Ideal Client Agreements, Client Experience and Pricing)
Ideal Team (Your Ideal Producers - Employed and Outsourced)

Measure your practice based on these 7 ideals and build the framework of a prioritized, strategic practice advancement plan.

This course is applicable to firms of all sizes, and is primarily focused on the Client Accounting Services (CAS) model (a.k.a., professional bookkeeping services).

After you complete this 10-week course, you will deploy each of the 7 practice ideals alongside your peers through a series of Ideal Execution Workshops. These Execution Workshops are available to Advantage and Premium members who have completed this 10-week Ideal Practice Course. Scroll down on this page for more information about the 7 Ideal Practice Execution Workshops.

*PREREQUISITES: There are no prerequisites for this course.

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Course Length: 4 Weeks Ideal You - Execution Workshop

Having a vision provides your business (and life) with meaning, energy and direction. A vision statement is a guiding beacon for when you need to make corrections in order to stay on track to your intended destination. The Ideal YOU workshop will map out (or refine) your vision and growth trajectory and explore the story that brought you to where you are today.

Work with your peers and one of our esteemed practice coaches in this highly interactive workshop:

Connect your unique story and journey to the outcomes you wish to drive in your practice
Discover the "Why" that connects the services you offer to your vision, and elevates your service offering into the "mission" of your practice.
Leverage a purpose statement to cast your vision to your team members and clients and keep your vision connected to the operations of your practice.
Mature your vision into a "brand promise" that informs your strategy, focuses your team, and inspires your clients.

*PREREQUISITES: This workshop is available to Advantage and Premium members who have completed the 10-week Ideal Practice Course.

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Course Length: 4 Weeks Ideal Services - Execution Workshop

Craft a slate of services for your clients that are aligned with your mission (from the Ideal You model). Conduct an inventory of your practice's knowledge and skills to deliver services that are differentiated and provide a unique value proposition.

Work with your peers, alongside one of our esteemed practice coaches, in this highly interactive workshop:

Develop a customized slate of services for your practice
Structure your services into 2-3 service tiers
Package your services into a subscription model while maximizing profitability and measurability
Create a transition strategy to foster the adoption of your tiered services by your existing clients

*PREREQUISITES: This workshop is available to Advantage and Premium members who have completed the 10-week Ideal Practice Course. Note: While not required, we strongly recommend attending the Ideal You workshop and the Strategic Pricing course prior to participating in this workshop.

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Course Length: 4 Weeks Ideal Client - Execution Workshop

Collect the characteristics of your ideal client into a profile that encompasses niche, target market, personality, and leadership styles, and most importantly, aligns with your vision. Score each of your current clients using your ideal profile and develop a plan to curate your base to perfection. Achieving the ideal client base is one thing but maintaining that level of ideal takes intention and dedication. By actively working a maintenance plan, you will establish an ideal client base that aligns with your vision, provides the revenue you desire, and fosters a vibrant team culture.

Define Your Ideal Client Profile
Evaluate Your Current Client Base
Create Transition Strategies
Guard Your Front Door

*PREREQUISITES: This workshop is available to Advantage and Premium members who have completed the 10-week Ideal Practice Course. While not required, we strongly recommend attending the Ideal You and Ideal Services workshops prior to participating in the Ideal Client workshop.

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Course Length: 4 Weeks Ideal Technology - Execution Workshop

Streamline infrastructure, people & process technology, and back-office operations applications, by developing a technology strategy for your practice. In this 4-week workshop you will take a comprehensive inventory of hardware and software in key areas of your practice, identify the gaps and redundancies, and create a path to your ideal technology stack. You'll implement an in-depth vetting process and define technology policies and governance strategies.

Taking an Infrastructure Inventory
Taking an Application Inventory
Vetting Technology
Crafting a Technology Plan

*PREREQUISITES: This workshop is available to Advantage and Premium members who have completed the 10-week Ideal Practice Course.

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Course Length: 4 Weeks Ideal Process - Execution Workshop

Defining your ideal process begins with documenting production workflows and managing to the team wide adoption of those workflows. By doing so, you will

Equip yourself and your team to deliver consistent, high quality services
Increase efficiencies
Reduce errors and omissions
Streamline client onboarding
...and more!

In this workshop, you will create an organizational structure to contain process documentation, explore & share your experience around software solutions designed to manage workflow, and learn the key factors required to develop and maintain a powerful catalog of processes to deploy in your practice.

*PREREQUISITES: This workshop is available to Advantage and Premium members who have completed the 10-week Ideal Practice Course.

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Course Length: 4 Weeks Ideal Engagement - Execution Workshop

What does it mean to have an Ideal Engagement? Explore these key areas that will ensure you have an enjoyable, productive and wealth generating relationship with your client.

Vetting Potential Clients Using Your Ideal Client Profile
Best Practices for Client Assessment
Management Considerations when Building Contractual Agreements
Maintaining Boundaries in Client Relationships and Managing Scope Creep

*PREREQUISITES: This workshop is available to Advantage and Premium members who have completed the 10-week Ideal Practice Course.

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Course Length: 4 Weeks Ideal Team - Execution Workshop

What does it look like to have an Ideal Team? How would this impact me, my team members, and my clients? Explore key areas that will ensure you have a thriving, confident and loyal team who all work together toward mutual growth and client success.

Topics addressed during this workshop include:

Building a Thriving Team Culture where team members adopt the practice’s vision and values
Fostering Meaningful and Honest Team Interactions
Defining Roles and Responsibilities within the Team
Hiring Strategies
- Candidate Identification, Qualification and Assessments
- Conducting Effective Interviews
Maximizing Productions through Team Accountability
- Measurements
- Review Cycles

*PREREQUISITES: This workshop is available to Advantage and Premium members who have completed the 10-week Ideal Practice Course.

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Additional Practice Advancement Courses

Woodard offers practice advancement courses designed to enhance the Ideal Practice, with a focus on strengthening your marketing, pricing strategically, protecting sensitive client information, and increasing team productivity.

Course Length: 4 Weeks Strategic Pricing

Defining the right pricing model is an ever-increasing challenge for bookkeepers, accountants, and CPA firms. Gain the knowledge to effectively and strategically price cyclical bookkeeping, accounting, and advisory services in a proven 3-tiered model that allows for standardization of services, scope-creep management, and simplified client billing.

Developing Your Unique Value Proposition
Determining a Pricing Model that is Fair for You and Your Client
Leading Clients to Accept Your New Pricing Model
Maximizing Pricing Through Advisory Services

*PREREQUISITES: There are no prerequisites for this course.

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COURSE LENGTH: 1 DAY Data Security

Accountants that handle sensitive client data are often the target of cybercrimes. This increased risk is supported by evolving regulatory actions including the IRS 4557 guidelines, cyber security mandates, and the state-based introduction of safe harbor laws. How is your firm managing risk in line with these guidelines? Are you IRS 4557 compliant? Explore the eight most common cyber threats to be aware of and outline a holistic approach to cyber security which covers technology, team training and compliance. Understand the risks and learn how to be secure and compliant in today’s cloud-based environment.

The 8 Cyber Threats Your Firm Needs to Know About
The Tech Your Firm Needs to De-Risk, Survive and Thrive
Training & Compliance - How to Manage the Human Risk
Practical Tips to Secure Your Firm, Including Demo of Practice Protect

*PREREQUISITES: There are no prerequisites for this course.

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Course Length: 10 Weeks Personal and Team Productivity

It is imperative that you find calm in the storm when priorities shift and know how to gather, assess, organize, and prioritize your tasks at hand. With focus and understanding, you can identify the task with the highest return, and see it through from start to finish. Learn how to conquer task overload, achieve and maintain a clean inbox, harmonize work and life, adopt extreme intentionality, and maximize production.

Understanding WHY Your Current Task Management Habits Do Not Serve You
Building Your Productivity System
Practice Readiness - Bringing it To the Team

*This course is for solopreneurs and firms of all sizes.

**PREREQUISITES: There are no prerequisites for this course.

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Course Length: 10 Weeks Marketing Essentials

A solid marketing plan is a roadmap that gives you strategies, costs, and anticipated results. Learn how to create a marketing plan that will take the guesswork out of your efforts and align with your ideal clients at each level of service. Fine-tune your marketing investment through specific measurables to ensure the highest returns. You can realistically aim for a 6-10x return on marketing spend—a high benchmark that is very achievable.

Introduction to Marketing Essentials
Principles of Marketing
Measuring Your Success
Pulling it All Together into a Marketing Plan

*PREREQUISITES: There are no prerequisites for this course.

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Client Advisory Courses

Course length: 10 Weeks Foundations of Advisory

The Foundations of Advisory course lays out the fundamental components of a successful advisory engagement. Learn to advise business owners in how to operate a small business; from client discovery and strategic planning to coaching through plan execution. Offer your clients a roadmap to an intentional, vision-driven, well-oiled machine. Take the mystery out of advisory through systems, tools and processes!

*PREREQUISITES: There are no prerequisites for this course.

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Course length: 1 Day Financial Advisory: Cash Flow Management

Managing cash is the lifeblood of every business, whether just starting out, growing, or declining. When your clients understand the critical nature of cash management, they will look to you for guidance, tools, and support. This course will educate and equip you with critical and essential cash flow concepts that every business needs to maximize profits in a simple, yet powerful way.

*PREREQUISITES: There are no prerequisites for this course.

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Course length: 1 Day Financial Advisory: Financial Measurements Essentials

Creating an effective financial report package for your client can be challenging. This course will enable you to identify key data points your clients find most valuable and to create essential metrics that are easily monitored within an accessible dashboard. Discover a new way to value your services in a sustainable model that allows you to scale your practice.

*PREREQUISITES: There are no prerequisites for this course.

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Course length: 10 Weeks Financial Advisory: The Financial Coaching Model

Most business owners lack the financial insights they need to make wise business decisions. As you complete bookkeeping cycles, it is a natural continuation of your services to assist your client in understanding their business better through these financial insights. Within this course, you will learn key skills and best practices to be an outstanding financial coach, how to understand clients' financial mindset and profit mentality, how to harvest key financial indicators using specific reports and metrics, and how to guide growth decisions using projective “what-if” scenarios.

*PREREQUISITES: There are no prerequisites for this course.

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Course length: 4 Weeks Controllership Services: Spend Management

All businesses need spending management procedures and controls like budgeting, budget enforcement/monitoring, reimbursement policies, spending policies and – in some cases – formal purchase order processes.

Through spend management services, a component of what Woodard’s larger “Controllership Services” category, you will assess your clients’ need for spending controls, determine areas of vulnerability, monitor expense/cost overruns, and enforce policies. For many clients, spend management will be the gateway to a larger advisory relationship because of the tangible, short term return on investment the client experiences by reducing expenses and costs. In other words, spend management is the perfect entry point into value-added, advisory services that requires little specialized training over and above your existing accounting and bookkeeping proficiencies.

During this workshop you will:

Receive models and toolsets for various spend management services you can offer your clients
Align spend management services with your clients' business models and operations.
Learn best practices for deploying spend management services, including assessing clients, pricing clients, and maximizing the financial benefit (i.e., spend reduction) for your clients.
Explore software solutions that will equip you to begin offering spend management services.

*PREREQUISITES: There are no prerequisites for this course.

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Course length: 1 Day Controllership Services: Accounts Receivable Management

Accounts Receivable management is the most important contributor to incoming cash flow, often representing over 40% of current assets for many small to medium-sized companies. This course will equip you to pull your clients back from this dangerous precipice into the safety zone. Learn how to manage your clients' A/R, improve cash flow, and mitigate bad debt so you can provide your bookkeeping clients with a whole new type of conversation—and perhaps open the door to advisory.

*PREREQUISITES: There are no prerequisites for this course.

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Course length: 1 Day Controllership Services: Overview of Fraud and Forensic Accounting

In this one-day workshop you will learn key concepts, methodologies, and career opportunities in fraud and forensic accounting. Through engaging presentations, interactive discussions, and case studies, participants will gain valuable insights into the world of financial fraud and its mitigation.

*PREREQUISITES: There are no prerequisites for this course.

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Course length: 1 Day Controllership Services: Defending Against Email Fraud

Email fraud emerged as the most costly cyber attack, inflicting a staggering $2.4 billion in losses upon US businesses in 2022, as reported by the FBI ICC Annual Report. While AI advancements offer immense potential, they've also opened doors for cybercriminals to execute more sophisticated and convincing attacks. Discover crucial strategies to shield your accounting firm from the rampant rise of email fraud in this one-day class. In a world where cyber threats constantly evolve, staying ahead of the curve is not just an advantage – it's a necessity.

*PREREQUISITES: There are no prerequisites for this course.

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Course length: 3 Weeks Controllership Services: Forensic Techniques for Uncovering Financial Fraud

This 3-week course provides participants with an essential understanding of accounting forensics and fraud detection. Participants will develop the skills necessary to recognize red flags, analyze financial data, and contribute to fraud prevention efforts.

*PREREQUISITES: There are no prerequisites for this course.

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Become a woodard member

Woodard Membership empowers you to advance your practice, navigate challenges, and reach your goals through access to highly relevant education, resources, and practice coaching.