EXHIBIT A

TMA Certification Program 
Continuing Professional Education Requirements
Reporting Guidelines

What Qualifies for CPE Credits?

Educational programs and activities submitted for CPE hours should be in subjects pertaining to the fields of turnaround management and broadly defined business and law topics, accounting and finance, and taxes. In rare exceptions, some CPE credit may also be granted in cases where the educational program provides skills necessary for the conduct of specific assignments. Activity associated with committee/board meetings, business meetings, or networking/social events shall not receive credit.

I. Group Programs including:

• University and college courses offered either for credit or noncredit. 
• Training programs organized by your company, including courses, seminars, and workshops.
• Programs presented at conferences, conventions, meetings, workshops, and internet or webinar seminars by professional organizations and associations.

II. Personalized Programs including:

• Self-study courses and educational materials, such as workbooks, videotapes, audiotapes, computer programs, study guides, etc., which are acquired from a vendor. 
• Reading business books focusing on accounting, management, human resources, etc.

III. Other Professional Activities including:

• Activities conducted before business-related groups, such as a speaker, group leader, moderator or instructor.
• Developing content related to broad business, legal, accounting and finance, taxes and turnaround management topics that appears before the general public, such as publishing articles and books or appearing on television, radio, or other medium.

How Many Hours of CPE Credit do I Earn?

These guidelines are designed to provide an equitable accounting of CPE credits earned through a variety of educational offerings. 

I. One CPE hour is granted for each 50 minutes of GroupPrograms, as previously defined. Time awarded for conferences and conventions is calculated by adding the minutes spent in various sessions that have been attended and then dividing that total by 50. National TMA programs that have been attended will automatically register CPE credits for CTPs and CTAs. For other programs, including TMA chapter educational programs, it is the obligation of the CTP/CTA to document attendance. Most vendors/organizations have forms prepared to document the minutes or hours of educational content contained in their programs. Company-sponsored programs should document CPE time earned by including a short listing of sessions and their schedules.

II. University or college credit courses relevant to turnaround management earn 14 CPE hours per semester hour and 10 CPE hours per quarter hour. Noncredit courses earn half of what is awarded for credit courses per hour. For example, a course taken for three credits in a semester would qualify for 42 CPEs:

(14 CPEs per semester credit x 3 credits = 42 total CPEs). CTPs/CTAs must report if the course was taken for credit or noncredit and if it was taken in a semester or a quarter. Verification of completion of the course must also be included.

III. Educational efforts in Personalized Programs, as previously defined, should rely on the vendor’s estimate of the average time, in minutes, required to complete the program. These minutes, when divided by 50, equal the number of CPE hours awarded. If such information is not available, the CTP/CTA can substitute the number of minutes actually spent using the program based on his/her own estimate. Courses of study for Personalized Programs must have been completed when the request for CPE credit is made. 

Reading a business book may qualify for five hours of CPE when the submission includes a CPE Reporting Book Review Form (Form 3); one CPE hour may be granted when the CPE Reporting Book Review Form is not returned. 

Total credits granted for Personalized Programs may not exceed 15 in the two-year CPE reporting period.

IV.  CPE hours earned for presentations, as previously defined in Other Professional  Activities, earn one CPE hour for each 50 minutes of presentation time, and two additional CPE hours for advance preparation for each 50 minutes of presentation time the first time the program is conducted. One additional hour is awarded for advance preparation for each 50 minutes of presentation time for subsequent offerings of the same program. A program may not receive credit more than once each year. Thus, during the two-year CPE reporting period, a program could be listed twice.

V. CPE hours earned for published work, as previously defined in Other Professional  Activities, earn one CPE hour for each one hour of effort, provided that the material is published. The CPE award may only apply during the year of publication. Regardless of the amount of time spent on publication activities, no more than 10 CPE hours may be granted in this category during any two-year CPE reporting period.

Reporting and documentation An Itemized CPE Reporting Form (Form 1)should be completed and submitted within 45 days after completing any educational program (other than for attending national TMA programs) for which credit is requested. This form should be accompanied by documentation that supports the credits claimed, including a Certificate of Completion provided by the event sponsor or vendor, as well as a copy of the event program or similar description supporting its qualification.  

In addition, for any programs (other than TMA Chapter events) attended which do not provide a certificate of completion, a Sponsoring Organization Certificate of Attendance Verification Form (Form 2) should be obtained from the CPE event sponsor and submitted with the Itemized CPE Reporting Form (Form 1).