Some people just do not get on with traditional face-to-face continuing professional development courses. When it comes to keeping accountants in Australia updated on taxation issues, "younger guys are not always engaged in the learning process," as Stephen O'Brien puts it.

Mr O'Brien is head of CPD in Australia for Kaplan, the New York-based learning and development provider, which will next year launch an online tax update product targeted at newer Australian accountants. "They are comfortable in a web-based learning and assessment environment," he says.