Common Questions

Every course page lists its fee, and that fee covers the whole program rather than a single session. The LACPA Certification Program is priced as one package covering all four exam subjects, and each of those subjects can also be taken on its own at its own fee. Because these are coaching programs, the plan is shaped around your starting level and the pace you actually learn at, so tell us your goal and we will confirm the right program and its cost before you commit. Organizations training a full team get a tailored rate.

The duration shown on each course page, a one-week or multi-week program, is a guide rather than a fixed timetable. This is coaching, so the number of sessions and the pace are set around your current level and how quickly each topic lands, which means two people on the same program can finish on different schedules. The aim is that you leave genuinely able to apply the material, not that you sat through a set number of hours. Tell us where you are starting from and we will map a realistic timeline with you.

It starts with where you actually are. Before a plan is set we look at your goal, your experience, and any exam date you are working toward, then build around the gaps that matter for you. Topics you already handle move quickly, and the ones holding you back get the time they need. That is the difference between coaching and a fixed syllabus, and it is why durations are guides.

Either works. The LACPA Certification Program covers all four exam subjects together: managerial accounting, IFRS, auditing, and Lebanese law and taxation. Each of those four is also a full course on its own, with its own fee, which suits anyone resitting a single paper or shoring up one weak area. If you are sitting the whole exam, the complete program is the better route: it is taught as one coordinated track rather than four separate starts, and it costs about 20% less than buying the four subjects one by one.

All four subjects the LACPA exam tests: managerial accounting, IFRS, auditing, and Lebanese law and taxation. They are taught as one coordinated track, so your study plan runs across the whole syllabus instead of treating each paper as an unrelated course. The program page lists every subject with what it covers, and each links through to its own page.

LACPA requires a university degree in accounting and a period of supervised traineeship under a LACPA member, normally three to five years, before full membership. Under the association's bylaws, trainee members sit the professional exam after their first year of traineeship and must pass it within five years of that first year. Requirements can change, so confirm your own position with LACPA before you plan a sitting; we check it with you at the start of the program.

LACPA sets the exam calendar and publishes it on lacpa.org.lb; its published past papers include a December sitting, so a winter session is typical, but always confirm the current dates with the association. Most candidates need several months of structured preparation across the four subjects, which is why the program is planned as one track rather than four separate courses. Tell us your target sitting and we will map the timeline backwards from it.

Either. The program runs in person at our Hamra office in Beirut and live online in the same cohort, so a candidate outside Beirut, or working full time, follows exactly the same plan with the same instructor.

Both. Sessions run in English or Arabic, whichever you think in under exam pressure, and the Lebanese law and taxation material is worked against the statutes as they are written.

You prepare for that paper alone. Each of the four subjects is also a full course on its own, so a candidate carrying one paper resits with focused preparation at that subject's fee rather than repeating the whole program. LACPA's own rules on resits and the five-year window apply, and we will check them with you.

Registered CPAs must complete at least forty hours a year of continuing professional development through LACPA training, seminars and conferences, abide by the association's bylaws, pay the subscriptions and join the retirement fund. The license is the start of an obligation, not the end of one, and the program is built to leave you able to practise, not only to pass.

No. The single-subject fee is not credited against the full program, so adding subjects one at a time works out more expensive than enrolling in the complete program from the start. If you already know you are sitting all four papers, take the full program. If you are only sitting one or two, the individual subjects are the cheaper route. Tell us which papers you are preparing for and we will tell you straight which option costs you less.

One set prepares you for a paper, the other for the work. IFRS for LACPA Exam and Auditing for LACPA Exam cover what the LACPA papers actually set questions on, practised against past-style exam scenarios. IFRS Mastery and Modern Auditing with AI and Technology are the wider practitioner programs, built around the standard of work you produce day to day rather than around an exam. If you are sitting the LACPA exam, take the exam track. If you want to be better at the job, take the practitioner one. Plenty of people eventually do both, in that order.

One is for the job, the other for the paper. Lebanese Accounting Law in Practice covers the law as you meet it at work: which rules govern the books you keep, the filings you sign off on, and the advice you give, worked through real company cases. Law and Taxation for LACPA Exam covers similar territory the way the examiners frame it, with short statutory questions and longer applied cases, as one of the four subjects inside the LACPA Certification Program. Sitting the exam, take the exam subject. Wanting to be right in practice, take the practitioner course.

No licence, and no exam plans needed. It is built for anyone whose work runs into Lebanese accounting and tax law: accountants and finance staff at any level, bookkeepers, office and administrative managers, and owners who sign off on their own books. What it assumes is that you work with accounts day to day, not that you hold a credential. If you are preparing for the LACPA exam instead, the Law and Taxation for LACPA Exam subject is the one built for that.

Most programs run live online so you can join from anywhere, and several are also available in person in Beirut. Every session is live and interactive, never pre-recorded, so you can ask questions and work through real cases as they come up.

Not for the foundational programs. Advanced tracks such as the LACPA, CPA, CMA, CFA, and CIA preparation assume a working knowledge of accounting or finance, and the Financial Controller and Finance Manager tracks assume you are already working in the field. Because the coaching adapts to your level, being strong in some areas and rusty in others is normal and gets handled in your plan rather than being a problem.

Yes, you receive a certificate of completion for each program. For the exam-preparation tracks - LACPA, CPA, CMA, CFA, and CIA - the real goal is passing the official certification exam itself, which is set and awarded by the body that owns the credential, so the coaching is built around exam readiness rather than around our certificate.

No, and we would rather say that plainly than let anyone assume otherwise. Our exam preparation is independent: Balance Brightness is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or accredited by CFA Institute, The Institute of Internal Auditors, or any other examining body, and none of them set, review, or approve what we teach. What we do is coach you through the syllabus, the problem solving, and the study plan. Registering for the exam itself, and the fees that go with it, you handle directly with the body that administers it. The same is true of every certification track we run.

Practical coaching in accounting, taxation, and finance, plus independent preparation for the LACPA, CPA, CMA, CFA, and CIA exams. LACPA preparation is available either as the complete program or one exam subject at a time. Topics include Lebanese tax filing, payroll and NSSF, IFRS, financial analysis, and auditing, along with accounting software such as Dolphin and OMEGA. There are also two career tracks for people moving up rather than sitting an exam: the Financial Controller Track and the Finance Manager and AI Track.

They point at two different jobs. The Financial Controller Track is about control and accuracy: reporting oversight, internal control design, the close, cash flow, and the governance a Controller signs off on. The Finance Manager and AI Track is about planning and decisions: financial planning and analysis, budgeting, treasury and working capital, management reporting, and the AI tools now doing the heavy lifting in forecasting, variance analysis, and fraud detection. If your work is making sure the numbers are right, take the Controller track. If it is making sure they are used well, take the Finance Manager track. Tell us the role you are aiming at and we will say which one fits.

Accountants and finance professionals sharpening their practice, candidates preparing for a certification, students and career changers entering the field, and organizations training their finance teams. Because each plan is built around the individual, a mixed-experience group and a single specific goal are both workable.

Open any course page and choose Register. You will pick whether you are enrolling as an individual or an organization, then continue to complete your enrollment. If you are not sure which program fits, contact us first and we will point you to the right one.

A consultation. Tell us your goal, your experience, and any exam date you are working toward, and we will tell you which program fits and what a realistic plan looks like. Book it from the contact page or call us on +961 3 877 480.

Yes. We run free live webinars on accounting, tax, and professional growth. They are a straightforward way to see how the coaching works and to ask questions before enrolling in a full program. The Webinars page lists what is coming up.

Yes. We design in-house programs around your systems, your industry, and the level your team is actually at, delivered live online or in person. See the For Organizations page, or contact us with your team size and goals and we will scope it with you.

Mahmoud Chehade, a certified trainer with 30 years of experience across accounting, taxation, auditing, and finance, including leading finance for multi-million-dollar companies across the UAE, Riyadh, and the wider GCC. He has trained more than 500 professionals.

Our office is in Beirut: Modca Bldg (same building as Byblos Bank), 8th Floor, Hamra Main Street, Beirut. In-person sessions run there, and everything else runs live online, so being outside Beirut is not a constraint.