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Texas CPE Courses for CPAs |
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Texas has unique competitive business advantages that you won’t find in any other state. With zero personal or corporate tax and a reasonable regulatory environment, the Lone Star State has become the Best State for Business, based on polling of approximately 700 business owners and CEOs.
Needless to say, this leads to steady employment growth for professionals from all walks of life, including CPAs. As a CPA, whether you work for a small business, a large organization, or work as an independent service provider, you can have significant growth opportunities throughout your career.
However, to stand out from your fellow accountants, it’s a must to prioritize improving your knowledge and skills in the field. And that’s exactly where pursuing Texas CPE appears to be your only option.
Apart from allowing you to keep your CPA license active, meeting your Texas CPA CPE requirements on time will help you experience a number of benefits. Some of these include industry recognition, a great salary, the ability to change industries swiftly, and more.
However, Texas CPE requirements CPA are slightly more complex than many other states. This is the reason we decided to create this ultimate guide to Texas CPE requirements for CPA. Here, we’ve tried to answer all your questions related to Texas CPE requirements in an easily comprehensible manner.
Let’s get started.
When it comes to pursuing CPE in Texas, these are the general requirements that you’re required to meet.
· Texas has a triennial CPE reporting period. Note that this is a rolling period, which means that each year that you register, it’s a must to show that you’ve completed 120 CPE hours during the last three-year period ending with your license expiration date.
· During the three-year license renewal period, you’re required to earn 120 CPE credits. And each year, you need to earn a minimum of 20 CPE Texas credits.
· Every two years, you’re required to earn 4 credits in CPE Texas ethics. Note that the sponsor you choose for pursuing Texas CPE ethics has to be registered with the Texas state board of accountancy. However, if you’re a licensee who doesn’t live in Texas, doesn’t have any clients in the state, and meets the ethics requirements of their state of residence, you aren’t required to fulfill the Texas ethics CPE requirements.
Perhaps you already know that fields of study are divided into two sub-groups: technical and non-technical. Let’s see the subjects you can choose from each of these sub-groups when pursuing Texas CPE.
· Technical fields of study
Technical subjects are directly related to the accounting profession.
o Auditing (general)
o Auditing (governmental)
o Accounting (general)
o Accounting (governmental)
o Finance
o Economics
o Business law
o Management services
o Information technology
o Regulatory ethics
o Taxes
o Statistics
o Specialized knowledge
· Non-technical fields of study
Non-technical subjects are designed to help improve your ability to deliver professional services.
o Communication & marketing
o Business management & organization
o Behavioral ethics
o Personal development
o Computer software & application
o Production
o Personnel/HR
Note that except the “personal development” field of study, you may be able to re-classify other ones if they help you become more professionally competent.
Similar to many other states, Texas also has credit limitations regarding the maximum number of credits you can earn through different methods of meeting your Texas CPA CPE requirements. Let’s take a look.
· Non-technical courses
In a three-year reporting period, you’re allowed to earn up to 50% of the credits required to fulfill your Texas CPE requirements CPA.
· Published materials
If you want to earn your Texas CPE credits as a reviewer or author of published books and articles, you can earn a maximum number of 10 credits each year.
· Instruction
In Texas, you can choose to meet some of your Texas CPE requirements for CPA by instructing course materials. However, you’re allowed to earn up to 20 credits each year and the board doesn’t accept instruction of a basic-level college course.
· Nano learning
You can earn a maximum of 50% of the required credits in a three-year reporting period through nano learning. Note that in this method, you need to earn a 100% passing grade.
· Other certifications
Texas state board allows CPAs to meet their Texas CPE requirements by successfully completing certification programs. These programs may include Certified Fraud Examiner, Certified Internal Auditor, Certified Financial Planner, other related financial securities licenses, and/or related financial certifications.
Here’re the methods you should use to calculate your Texas CPE hours with regard to different methods of pursuing CPE in Texas.
· College/university
Similar to other states, you can fulfill your Texas CPE requirements by enrolling in accredited university or college programs. In that case, you’ll receive 10 CPE credits for one quarter hour and 15 CPE hours for one semester hour.
· Instruction
In this method, your credits will be equal to three times of the actual hours the presentation. However, if you choose to instruct the same course repeatedly, you’ll only receive credits if the course material has undergone significant changes. If multiple instructors are involved, each of them will get proportional CPE credits.
· Partial credits
If you take self-study Texas CPE courses, initially, you must receive at least one-half credit (25 minutes). However, once you’ve earned your first full credit (50 minutes), you may receive one-half credits (25 minutes) or in one-fifth increments (10 minutes).
If you choose blended learning and live programs, you must receive one full Texas CPE credit (50 minutes) initially. After that, you may receive credits for 10 minutes (one-fifth) and 25 minutes (one-half).
If you choose nano learning to meet your Texas CPE requirements, you’re only allowed to receive one-fifth credit (10 minutes).
Here’re three policies of the Texas state board that you need to keep in mind when fulfilling your Texas CPA CPE requirements.
· Provider approval
All sponsors, including those listed in NASBA’s National Registry of Sponsors, have to be registered with the Texas state board. So, whether it’s pursuing ethics CPE for Texas CPAs or taking other Texas CPA CPE courses, be very sure to follow this guideline.
· Non-registered provider
If you earn Texas CPE credits from a non-registered CPE provider, you must submit them to the board using a specific form. On that form, you’ll have to justify the reasons for claiming your CPE credits and how they’ll benefit your employer or you. It’s also important to note that in any three-year reporting period, you aren’t allowed to claim more than 50% of the credits required to meet your Texas CPE requirements CPA.
· CPE reciprocity
If you’re a licensee, who doesn’t reside in Texas, you may fulfill your Texas CPE requirements for CPA by fulfilling the CPE requirements of your principal place of business. However, if your principal place of business doesn’t have any CPE requirements, then you must fulfill Texas CPE requirements.
At the beginning of this post, we briefly discussed the overall benefits of pursuing Texas CPE. In this section, we’ll discuss four real-life benefits of fulfilling your Texas CPA CPE requirements on time.
· Professional competence
Perhaps the most recognizable benefit of pursuing CPE Texas is that it helps you become more competent in a highly competitive landscape. Undeniably, learning eventually leads to competence. But your capacity to retain information quickly deteriorates when you don’t get the opportunity to brush up on your skills and knowledge.
For instance, pursuing Texas CPA ethics CPE helps you strengthen your ethical side which eventually strengthens your position in the industry. This also helps you stand out from your peers who don’t take the importance of Texas CPE ethics courses seriously.
· Better employability
Usually, licensed CPAs don’t need to worry about job security. However, improved professional competence helps you experience better employability. By choosing technical vs. non-technical CPE Texas courses thoughtfully while following the guidelines of the state board, you can enhance both your technical and non-technical competence.
Whether you want to reach a senior position in your present organization or start your own accounting firm, these courses can greatly help you in achieving your goals. You may also be able to switch industries quickly as per your personal preferences.
· Networking opportunities
Another notable benefit of pursuing Texas CPE is that it sometimes leads to new career opportunities and professional connections. Through networking with other CPAs, you may uncover new professional opportunities. You can also receive valuable tips from other CPAs for advancing your career.
Some professional organizations host conferences and seminars on a yearly basis. By attending these events, you can earn Texas CPE credits while interacting with professionals from different sub-fields of the accounting industry.
· Increased salary
Increased salary is another significant benefit that you should be able to gain by meeting your Texas CPE requirements diligently. This is true that not all organizations prioritize CPE for salary increases. But it may act as the deciding factor when the competition is between just two employees.
For a large number of Texas CPAs, the cost is one of the most difficult aspects of meeting Texas CPE requirements CPA. This cost can greatly vary depending on the continuing education method you choose. However, there are three main factors that contribute to the total cost of your CPE.
These include the cost of CPE programs, your state registration dues, and AICPA membership fees. Now, let’s see how these factors contribute to your CPE cost.
· Cost of CPE programs
Depending on your chosen CPE method, your total cost of pursuing Texas CPE can easily go up to a few thousand dollars, and that too just in one reporting period. On the other hand, you can bring down this cost to just a few hundred dollars by joining an affordable yet reputable CPE sponsor like CPEThink.com and by taking self-study courses to meet your Texas CPE requirements for CPA.
· State registration dues
The cost of renewing your CPA license is partly dictated by the state in which you’re licensed. Note that some state boards charge steep registration fees while others set relatively lower amounts. Furthermore, state boards keep on modifying their registration fees in a somewhat regular manner. But the fact is this aspect of your CPE cost is outside your control. If you want to work as a licensed CPA in a particular state, you’ve to pay its registration dues at the time of renewing your license.
· AICPA membership fees
Although having an AICPA membership isn’t mandatory for renewing your license, it can open the doors to several professional opportunities. Additionally, some large accounting firms prefer to recruit CPAs with this membership.
AICPA has different tiers of memberships depending on a CPA’s status, role, and industry. However, regular AICPA membership fees start from $315 per year. And this amount will get added to your total CPE cost. But this is also another aspect of CPE that’s beyond your control.
As you can see, what you can control is the cost of CPE programs. And that’s the reason you should join an affordable sponsor like CPEThink.com. Just make sure that your sponsor offers a balance between quality and affordability.
You may also try to take some free CPE courses to meet your Texas CPA CPE requirements. This’ll help you earn some Texas CPE credits for free and test the quality of your chosen sponsor. If you become satisfied with its quality, you can confidently proceed with its paid programs.
For nearly two decades, we, at CPEThink.com, have garnered an unparalleled reputation for providing CPAs with top-quality CPE courses at affordable prices. We also have a 100%, 100-day money-back guarantee which is the best in the entire industry.
If you want to embark on your Texas CPE journey right away, start browsing our collection of CPE Texas courses. If you wish to learn more about how we can help you meet your Texas CPA CPE requirements, feel free to talk to us.
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