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CPE Credits for CPAs |
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Every active CPA, whether they’ve obtained the license recently or have been in the profession for years, needs to fulfill their jurisdiction’s CPE requirements. Essentially, the number of CPE credits is the measure that helps a state board determine whether or not a CPA has properly met their CPE requirements.
However, the subject of CPE credits involves many more factors than it seems. You should obtain each CPE credit keeping these factors in mind. If you’re wondering what these factors are, we’re here to help you.
On this page, we’ll discuss all the vital factors related to CPE credits. Once you complete reading it, you’ll be able to embark on your journey to obtain your required credits confidently.
Let’s get started!
In simple words, whenever you complete an approved CPE course, you get a certain number of CPE credits. Depending on the course you complete, you may even get just one CPE credit. At the end of your CPE reporting period, you’re required to report all your credits to your state board accurately.
It’s a must to maintain the details of all your credits for at least five years. In case you’re selected for an audit by your state board, you need to submit all the relevant documentation to it.
If you’re thinking about “how many CPE credits do I need,” the answer is generally, you need to obtain at least 40 credits each year.
If you complete a CPE program that is measured by minutes, then a 50-minute session will allow you to earn one CPE credit. It’s important to note that some state boards allow their CPAs to get partial credits. However, in that case, you can only earn partial credits after obtaining one full credit.
It’s crucial to ensure that all your credits are NASBA CPE credits. Simply put, these are the credits that you get after completing a CPE program from a NASBA-approved CPE sponsor. All state boards accept CPE credits obtained from a NASBA-approved CPE provider.
When it comes to earning CPE credits, CPE sponsors typically require their customers to create an account with them first. For instance, if you choose CPE Credit to obtain NASBA CPE credits, you need to complete the registration process first. For that, you need to visit the CPECredit.com login page and finish the registration process by clicking on the tab that says “NEW CUSTOMER.” Then only you can purchase the courses you want.
CPE reporting periods vary from one jurisdiction to another. It can be anything between annual, biennial, or triennial. State boards that have an annual CPE reporting period require their CPAs to obtain 40 CPE credits each year. State boards that have a biennial or triennial CPE reporting period require their CPAs to earn 80 and 120 credits within two and three years respectively.
However, state boards with a two-year or three-year CPE reporting period have strict rules regarding the minimum number of CPE credits that their CPAs must earn each year. If your state board has this guideline and you fail to get the minimum number of credits in a particular year, you may be considered non-compliant with your CPE requirements.
So, irrespective of the specific jurisdiction you’re licensed in, it’s of paramount importance to have a clear comprehension of your CPE requirements and the guidelines of your state board.
We frequently receive questions that revolve around “how to get CPE credits.” There are various methods to obtain CPE credits. To make them easily comprehensible, we’ve outlined their brief details here.
Just note that most of these methods let you earn credits in a variety of subjects, from core accounting topics to subjects related to Information Technology, such as CPE credits cybersecurity.
These are self-paced courses and can be completed from anywhere. All you need to do is purchase the course you want to take, complete it, and clear the final exam to receive the credits. As mentioned above, you can get anything from one CPE credit to many credits depending on the course you complete.
It’s vital to mention here that the costs of self-study courses greatly vary from one CPE provider to another. For instance, if you desire to obtain some Becker CPE credits, your overall CPE costs may increase quickly. On the contrary, if you join a provider that strikes a balance between quality and affordability, you should be able to get your required CPE credits within a reasonable budget.
However, you can still keep your costs low with the help of a CPE credit discount code. Some third-party companies offer these codes while some CPE providers offer them from time to time. Just research properly and you should get the right code you need to lower your costs.
Coming back to the question of “how to earn CPE credits,” webinars have emerged as the second-most favorite option for a large number of CPAs. These are offered by almost all CPE providers and offer an easy method to get CPE credits.
The number of credits you obtain through a webinar is measured by the duration of the session. For example, if you complete a 50-minute session, you’ll get one CPE credit. While webinars don’t have any final exams, you must prove your active participation to receive your credits.
These programs are held at physical locations, meaning you get to learn in a real classroom environment. While this is an effective method for CPAs who don’t want to take the self-study or virtual route, it may not be the ideal option for CPAs who don’t want to spend time traveling to and from another location.
Another downside of these programs is that they’re generally more expensive than self-study courses and webinars. So, if you’re a cost-conscious CPA, consider this factor as well before choosing this method.
These are the most common methods to obtain NASBA CPE credits. If you want to get more information about these, search online using the phrase “how to offer CPE credits,” and you should find some blog posts shedding light on them.
Let’s see some other methods to get CPE credits. You should note that not all state boards accept these methods. Therefore, remember to see the guidelines before opting for one of them.
Conferences can be both in-person and virtual. However, in either case, attending a conference is considerably more expensive than completing self-study courses, attending webinars, or completing in-person training programs.
However, attending a conference has two major advantages. First, you can earn several CPE credits in one go and second, you get the opportunity to interact with CPAs from a diverse range of industries face-to-face.
You can enroll in a relevant college or university course and get credits to complete it. However, this may not be the right option for CPAs having a hectic schedule.
You can also get some NASBA CPE credits by publishing relevant articles or other materials. You can choose from a wide range of topics but your published materials should help CPAs enhance their professional competence.
Often, state CPA societies conduct events where they need speakers for lecturing and presenting those events. You can obtain some CPE credits by performing the role of lecturer and presenter in them.
Now that you know what CPE credits are and what one CPE credit stands for in terms of duration, let’s take a look at the differences between CPE credits free and paid options.
When it comes to CPE credits free options, you may not be able to find a lot of them. Furthermore, credits in state-specific ethics are hardly available for free. This means it may not be possible to meet all your CPE credit requirements if your state board requires you to earn those CPE credits.
If you want to obtain paid NASBA CPE credits, you can choose almost any method we discussed in the above section. From self-study CPE credits to NetSuite CPE credits, you’ll get a lot of options at your disposal.
For most CPAs, there comes a time when they need to earn some CPE credits within a short period of time. In this section, we’ll discuss the two fastest ways to get CPE credits. While you should use these methods to meet your CPE credit requirements in the eleventh hour, it’s strongly advisable to have and follow an effective study plan right from the beginning of your CPE reporting period.
One notable advantage of self-study courses is that you don’t need to wait to receive your CPE credits. As soon as you complete the final exam, your answers are instantly graded, and you get your credits if you achieve a passing score.
You may also want to complete short courses that let you earn one CPE credit for each. This is because completing a large course and clearing the final exam successfully may seem like a daunting task when you’re in a hurry.
As discussed above, attending a conference gives you an excellent opportunity to get some quick and easy CPE credits. If you have the budget, you can use this method to meet your requirements quickly.
When it comes to obtaining CPE credits and fulfilling your CPE requirements, each state board requires its CPAs to focus on both technical and non-technical fields of study. Before we delve deeper into these, it’s vital to mention that all state boards have specific guidelines regarding the minimum number of credits that must be earned in technical fields of study and the maximum number of credits that a CPA can obtain in non-technical fields of study. You must follow these guidelines to ensure a hassle-free fulfillment of CPE requirements.
Therefore, remember to double-check the specific technical and non-technical CPE credit requirements of your state board.
Let’s see what these fields of study entail.
These fields of study directly focus on improving your knowledge and skills related to the accounting profession and your field of business. While the content of technical CPE varies from one industry to another, it mainly encompasses regulations, laws, and practices. Common technical fields of study include:
Non-technical fields of study help improve your professional competence in subjects that indirectly relate to your field of business. Common non-technical fields of study include:
Both technical and non-technical subject matters can be delivered in different formats as we’ve discussed in one of the above sections. However, if you want to ensure that your CPE credits in both these categories will be accepted by your state board, it’s best to obtain them from a NASBA-approved CPE provider.
Here, it’s important to mention that you can choose non-technical subject matters based on your personal interests and preferences but they must fulfill the requirements of your state board. Or else, you may not be able to comply with your non-technical CPE requirements.
You should also note that ethics CPE is a mandatory requirement in every jurisdiction and it falls in both categories. As you can see above, in the technical category, it’s regulatory ethics and in the non-technical category, it’s behavioral ethics. So, be sure to see the specific ethics CPE credits requirement of your state board.
We hope that this page has thoroughly discussed all the important factors associated with CPE credits. At CPEThink.com, we offer a large number of courses that can help you obtain credits as per your requirements. Starting from one CPE credit to 38 credits, you can choose a course as per your CPE credit requirements.
Browse our course catalog and start earning your credits right away!
CPA professionals continue to choose us as their CPE self-study provider because they know that we provide the tools and resources that are needed to get classes that will fully meet their needs. We don’t compromise and neither should you.
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