Why choose training from Corporate Compliance Seminars?

History of CCS

Corporate Compliance Seminars (CCS) was founded in 2004 with a practical purpose: to provide auditors, accountants, compliance professionals, and information technology specialists with training they could apply directly in the workplace.

 

CCS emerged during a period of major change in corporate governance and financial reporting. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 had transformed the responsibilities of public companies, audit committees, executives, internal auditors, and external auditors. Organizations urgently needed professionals who understood not only the new requirements, but also how to translate them into effective internal controls, audit procedures, documentation, and sustainable compliance programs.

 

The company’s founders, John C. Blackshire, Jr. and David S. Marshall, brought extensive experience in auditing, financial systems, internal controls, information technology, fraud prevention, and organizational improvement. CCS combined the capabilities of Blackshire’s The Accountware Group, Inc. and Marshall’s Infotech Global Audit and Security, Inc. This combination gave the new training organization a foundation in both financial and information-technology controls.

 

Blackshire’s professional roots in the field extended back well before CCS. He founded The Accountware Group in 1986 to help organizations select and implement financial systems, improve business processes, evaluate internal controls, and manage technology-related change. His experience included financial management, software development, internal auditing, external auditing, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, and the design and assessment of business and information systems.

 

Marshall contributed extensive experience in internal auditing, information-technology auditing, cybersecurity, fraud examination, regulatory compliance, and professional education. Through Infotech Global Audit and Security, he worked with organizations ranging from developing businesses to multinational companies. His work included hundreds of audits, security assessments, fraud investigations, and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance activities.

 

Together, the founders recognized a weakness in much of the professional-training marketplace: too many programs merely repeated standards or presented abstract theory. CCS was designed to provide something different—training led by practitioners who had performed the work, encountered control failures, investigated problems, and helped organizations correct them.

Building a Foundation in SOX, COSO, and Internal Auditing

CCS initially concentrated heavily on the subjects creating the greatest challenges for organizations in the years following Sarbanes-Oxley. These included internal control over financial reporting, management’s assessment responsibilities, audit evidence, documentation, testing, information-technology general controls, fraud risk, and audit-committee oversight.

 

The company developed classroom seminars and workshops addressing the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the COSO Internal Control—Integrated Framework, PCAOB auditing standards, COBIT, information-technology controls, governance, risk, and compliance.

 

CCS also provided customized training and consulting assistance for organizations facing specific control or audit challenges.

As the regulatory environment evolved, CCS updated its programs. The release of the revised COSO Internal Control—Integrated Framework in 2013, for example, required organizations and auditors to reconsider how they evaluated control design, the five COSO components, the 17 principles, entity-level controls, fraud risk, and the effectiveness of internal-control systems. CCS training materials published in 2015 show the organization actively teaching auditors how the revised framework affected risk assessment, control selection, testing, deficiency evaluation, and audit quality.

 

This early work established a principle that continues to guide CCS: professional education should explain both what a standard requires and what the professional must actually do.

Expanding the Scope of Professional Education

Over time, CCS expanded beyond its original concentration on Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. Its curriculum grew to address the broader responsibilities of internal auditors, external auditors, compliance officers, risk professionals, accountants, financial managers, investigators, and information-technology professionals.

 

Programs were developed in areas including:

• Internal-audit fundamentals, leadership, planning, fieldwork, and reporting

• COSO internal controls and enterprise risk management

• PCAOB auditing and quality-control standards

• GAO Green Book and Yellow Book requirements

• IT general controls, COBIT, cybersecurity, NIST, and CMMC

• Fraud examination, forensic accounting, and financial-crime prevention

• Procurement-to-payment and vendor-management controls

• Banking and insurance regulation

• Audit-committee governance and oversight

• Ethics, communication, conflict resolution, and other professional skills

• ISO management systems and compliance auditing

• Artificial intelligence and its effect on auditing, controls, and governance

 

CCS also built relationships with experienced instructors who could contribute specialized knowledge. The organization’s professional faculty has included auditors, accountants, fraud examiners, cybersecurity specialists, investigators, consultants, and former industry executives. This expanded faculty allowed CCS to address specialized subjects while preserving its practitioner-led approach.

From Classroom Seminars to Flexible CPE Delivery

For many years, CCS was primarily identified with classroom training, conferences, workshops, and customized onsite programs. These events allowed participants to interact directly with instructors, discuss organizational problems, examine case studies, and learn from the experiences of other professionals.

 

As technology changed professional education—and especially as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted in-person conferences—CCS significantly expanded its live, instructor-led webinar capabilities. The company did not simply convert its courses into passive recordings. It developed an extensive schedule of live online programs designed to retain instructor interaction while making training available to professionals regardless of location.

 

Webinars made it possible for CCS to offer shorter, highly focused programs as well as multi-day academies. Organizations could register individual employees, enroll groups, or arrange private online sessions tailored to their risks, industry, and training objectives.

 

As demand for classroom education returned, CCS reestablished and expanded its in-person offerings. Today, the company provides a combination of live webinars, destination-city seminars, multi-day academies, customized onsite training, and private virtual programs. Current schedules include training opportunities in cities throughout the United States.

Maintaining Professional CPE Standards

CCS is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy as a sponsor on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. Its National Registry sponsor identification number is 108983. NASBA currently lists CCS as approved for both Group Live and Group Internet Based delivery methods.

CPE credit is awarded using the National Registry’s 50-minute-hour standard. This recognition supports professionals who must meet continuing-education requirements established by state accountancy boards and professional organizations.

Registration, however, is only one measure of training quality. CCS has continued to emphasize current content, clearly defined learning objectives, knowledgeable instructors, meaningful participation, and practical application. Courses are regularly revised to address changes in professional standards, regulatory requirements, technology, enforcement actions, fraud schemes, and industry practices.

CCS Today

More than two decades after its founding, Corporate Compliance Seminars remains focused on the purpose that shaped the organization in 2004: helping professionals understand risk, evaluate controls, perform better audits, meet regulatory expectations, and strengthen the organizations they serve.

 

The delivery methods and subject matter have evolved substantially. Sarbanes-Oxley and COSO remain important, but the modern curriculum also addresses cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, financial crime, regulatory change, governance, audit quality, and emerging technology risks.

 

What has not changed is the company’s commitment to practical education. CCS courses are built around the realities of professional work—what regulators require, what auditors must evaluate, where organizations commonly fail, and what professionals can do to produce better results.

 

For CCS, continuing professional education is not simply about earning credits. It is about developing the knowledge, judgment, tradecraft, and confidence required to protect organizations, improve accountability, and add measurable value.

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