Thomas Coghlan

Founder
The CPE University

Biography

Thomas Coghlan, CMA is the Founder of CPE University, LLC, (www.thecpeuniversity.com) an accounting and finance education firm that develops and facilitates training on a wide range of managerial accounting, ethics, performance management, analytics, and internal control topics. Tom is one of the top Certified Managerial Accountant (CMA) exam instructors in the United States, and has helped thousands of CMA candidates prepare for the exam since 2004. Tom is a frequent speaker at Continuing Professional Education seminars and conferences, and has co-authored articles published in Strategic Finance and International Journal of Business Intelligence Research.

Tom’s career has been at the intersection of accounting, technology, and decision making, with key roles in a variety of industries. Tom has a diverse set of experiences, including:

  • Founder of Appitur® Co. (www.appitur.com), the provider of a mobile platform for training companies that enables their students to maximize their study time.  Appitur's platform provides app and web interfaces that allows users access to study materials and performance metrics.   
  • Co-founder and Vice President of Client Services for FirstQuarter, Inc., a business intelligence firm. With responsibility for business development and project delivery, Tom led projects for clients that included Johnson & Johnson, Del Monte, Alcon, Analog Devices, and Stantec,
  • Chief Financial Officer and Director of Information Technology for a $250 million multi-national business unit of Imperial Chemical Industries, a UK based chemical company. At ICI, Tom led a team located in North America and Europe responsible for financial reporting and analysis, operational analysis, budgeting and forecasting, and allocation of capital.
  • Controller for the US business of Leeds and Northrup, a process control company, where he was responsible for operational analysis, budgeting, financial reporting, accounts payable and payroll.
  • Business Fellow for the Center for Business Analytics at Villanova University School of Business where he developed consulting practice that utilized undergrad and graduate students managed by professionals to solve business problems using analytics. Clients included Exelon, the Project Management Institute (PMI), Dun and Bradstreet, and Swift Capital.
  • Instructor at the Villanova University School of Business, where Tom also developed and taught over 50 graduate and undergraduate courses in accounting and analytics.

Tom has a BS degree in Business Administration from Drexel University, and an MBA from LaSalle University. He is a Certified Managerial Accountant (CMA), and passed the Certified Public Accounting (CPA) exam in Pennsylvania. 

Tom can be reached at tcoghlan@thecpeuniversity.com and at 484-686-6926.