New Professional Programming from Knowledge Bureau

Knowledge Bureau is pleased to provide new opportunities for practitioners in the tax and financial services to embellish their skills this fall with new programming and special "early bird' tuition rates for online registrants. Enrol by Sept 15 for best pricing of the year.

Students are now invited to participate in the fall and winter program of certificate online courses and instructor-led programs. Graduates will not only be able to demonstrate skills in providing specific services in their chosen field, but will also learn a framework for collaborating with other advisors in providing a complete client service within a holistic wealth advisory practice. 

It is possible to specialize in five specific areas of expertise: tax, bookkeeping, investment & retirement, succession & estate planning, and business services. New for 2014, experienced professionals may challenge the RWM designation in order to join a national network of lead strategists who oversee the activities of an inter-advisory team of professionals.   

MFA™  (Master Financial Advisor) – Professional advisor who demonstrates the mastery to work as a member of a  collaborative wealth advisory service as  a Retirement Income Specialist, Succession and Estate Planning Specialist, or a Business Services Specialist.

Distinguished Financial Advisor™ – Professional advisor who demonstrates mastery to work as a member of a collaborative wealth advisory service as a DFA-Tax Services Specialist™ or a DFA-Bookkeeping Services Specialist™   

MFA and DFA-Specialists are trained to work in their individual practices providing tax and financial services that are integral components of family wealth management. They are positioned to work with others within the professional advisory team and/or under a strategic  Real Wealth Manager™. Designates are equipped to work with multiple generations of the family using a consistent strategy and process shared by the entire team of professional advisors. 

MFA and DFA-Specialists prepare tax returns, books of accounting, and investment, retirement, and succession plans by engaging their clients in a consistent decision-making process to get the financial results they need in both the short and long run.  They are specially trained within their field to follow a Real Wealth Management Plan—a holistic process to accumulate, grow, preserve, and transition wealth with sustainability after taxes, inflation and fees. Three documents are used to provide a deep analysis of decisions required:  personal net worth statements, tax returns, and financial plans for the family as a whole.

Master Financial Advisor

This course of study, consisting of 6 courses, leads to an MFA™ (Master Financial Advisor) designation and is intended for people practicing in the areas of providing services to small business enterprises or individuals requiring financial planning, investment planning, mutual fund and exempt product sales, insurance, and estate planning. The MFA designation signifies completion of advanced training in retirement income planning, estate planning, and investment planning services and, in the case of the Business Services Specialist program, documenting the transactions of a client’s owner-managed business. There are three areas of specialization within this designation you can choose from:

Retirement Income Specialist: The successful candidate will understand and demonstrate how to prepare tax-efficient investment and retirement income plans for investors who are accumulating and growing capital for pre-retirement.  Complex withdrawal strategies to cover after-tax needs in retirement, while continuing to grow and preserve wealth for transition to the next generation, are also taught with cutting edge software & online calculators; all included with the courses.

Succession and Estate Planning Specialist: The successful candidate will understand and demonstrate how to manage risk and then, best transfer capital from a variety of assets, on a tax efficient basis, to the next generation of family members, family business owners, employees or the community. Candidates will be familiar with language and concepts to work with business valuators, insurance and legal advisors.

Business Services Specialist: The successful candidate will understand and demonstrate how to record in professional software, the transactions required to prepare financial statements and T1 and T2 Tax returns for the families of small and medium-sized business enterprises on start-up, throughout the lifecycle of the business – from start-up, to mid-term growth and on transition to the next business owner.

Distinguished Financial Advisor–Specialist

This program, consisting of 6 courses,  leads to an DFA-Tax Services Specialist™ or DFA-Bookkeeping Services Specialist™ (Distinguished Financial Advisor) designation and is for advisors working in the tax and accounting field.  The DFA-Specialist designation signifies completion of advanced training in tax preparation, tax planning, bookkeeping, payroll and managerial accounting services to individuals and business clients. Within this program there are two areas to specialize in:

Tax Services Specialist: The successful graduate will demonstrate competencies in T1 Tax preparation and planning as well as a basic understanding of T2 preparation for micro businesses::

• T1 Tax Preparation: For individual and family filers, low income credit filers, employees, pre- and post-retirees, disabled taxpayers, rental property owners, investors, proprietors including service and inventory-based businesses, professionals, partnerships, farmers, fishers and others, death of a taxpayer, cross-border taxation.
• T2 Tax Preparation:   Specialists will be able to complete basic T2 returns for micro-businesses and small to medium sized businesses.

Bookkeeping Services Specialist: The successful graduate will demonstrate competencies in doing books for proprietorships and micro-businesses, using generally accepted accounting principles to:

• enter transactions into popular bookkeeping software programs;
• prepare and explain the results of financial statements;
• provide expert assistance in preparing government remittances, budgets, payroll; and
• prepare T-slip summaries for owner-managers and their staff.

To learn more about our programming and to receive a free personal educational consultation, call us toll-free at 1.866.953.4769.