Alaska CPA CPE Requirements

How to reach the regulator directly.

Alaska Board of Public Accountancy
550 West 7th Avenue, Suite 1500
Anchorage, AK 99501-3567
Tel: (907) 269-8160
Fax:(907) 269-8156
Email: BoardOfPublicAccountancy@Alaska.Gov

The regulator's own published rules and related resources.

Alaska Board of Public Accountancy

The total continuing education hours required.

80 hours.

The detailed rules behind that total -- category minimums, ethics, and other conditions.

Annual Requirement:

Licensee must complete at least 20 hours of the minimum 80 hours within each year of the two-year period.

• If a licensee completes the minimum 80 hours of CPE but fails to comply with the "at least 20 hours per year" requirement, the licensee shall complete an additional 8 hours of credit before or within 180 days after the permit is renewed.
• The additional 8 hours may not be used to satisfy the CPE requirements for subsequent permit renewal.
• For additional information, refer to the "Enforcement" section below.

Ethics:

Effective December 25, 2015: For licensing periods beginning January 1, 2016 and thereafter: At least 4 hours of the minimum 80 hours of approved continuing education required must cover ethics.*

• *NOTE: January 19, 2016: The sentence in the AK rule above was updated by deleting the last phrase of the sentence "and Alaska's statutes and regulations relating to the accountancy profession." As a result of this deletion, CeriFi CPEdge Learning has confirmed with the AK Board that it is now permissible for an AK licensee to take any ethics course of their choosing provided it is an “approved nonacademic continuing education program” (refer to the section below) and it is clearly an ethics course. As an example, a licensee could now take an ethics course on California Rules and Regulations if the course is clearly ethics.

Prior to December 25, 2015: At least 4 hours of the minimum 80 hours of approved continuing education required must cover ethics and Alaska's statutes and regulations relating to the accountancy profession.

Approved Nonacademic Continuing Education Programs:

The following programs are approved by the board if they are in Board-approved subjects and meet the Board-approved program criteria requirements (refer to "General Characteristics of Accredited Education" below):

1. professional development programs of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, national professional accounting organizations, state accounting societies, or organizations listed by the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors;
2. technical sessions designed as formal educational programs at meetings of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, national professional accounting organizations, state accounting societies, or organizations listed by the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors;
3. formal, organized, education programs that focus primarily on the enhancement of necessary skills and knowledge in the subjects of accounting, auditing, tax, consulting, financial planning, professional conduct, and specialized industry or government practices;
4. college or university short courses not carrying academic credit;
5. other accounting, industrial, or professional programs.
• No more than 16 hours out of the 80 required hours may be in "other accounting, industrial, or professional programs."

How the reporting cycle is structured.

Biennial.

January 1 of even-numbered years to December 31 of odd-numbered years.

When a reporting cycle begins.

January 1 of even-numbered years.

How completed credits are reported to the regulator.

Renewal application / affidavit.

The renewal or reporting deadline.

December 31 of odd-numbered years.

→ Get monthly reminders before this deadline

What happens if the requirement is not met.

Licensees are subject to a random mandatory audit of continuing education. If you are selected for the audit, you will be notified in writing and allowed 30 days to submit proof of continuing education claimed for the concluding licensing period.

Failure by an applicant for renewal of a permit to practice to furnish the evidence of completion of the continuing education requirement in a timely fashion constitutes grounds for revocation, suspension, or refusal to renew the permit unless the board determines that failure to have been due to reasonable cause or excusable neglect.

Penalty Credits: An applicant for renewal of a license to practice as a certified public accountant who meets the continuing education requirements of (a)(1) of this section [i.e., completes no less than 80 total hours] but fails to meet the continuing education requirements of (a)(2) of this section [i.e., 20 hours within each year of the two year period] shall complete eight hours of approved continuing education in addition to the hours required. The applicant shall complete the additional eight hours of approved continuing education either before or within 180 days after the license is renewed. The additional eight hours may not be used to satisfy the continuing education requirements for subsequent license renewal. The board will renew the applicant's license only if the applicant signs a statement agreeing to comply with the requirements of this subsection within the time schedule authorized by the board under this subsection.

• January 12, 2016: Note from CeriFi CPEdge: When a licensee earns 80 or more hours of CPE in the two-year biennial period, but fails to earn at least 20 hours in either Year 1 or Year 2 of the biennial, CeriFi CPEdge will apply the 8 penalty credits to the AK status report. CeriFi CPEdge will not apply penalty credits to the AK status report when less than 80 credits are earned. The AK Board has confirmed with CeriFi CPEdge that in such case, the licensee is out of compliance.

Reduced or prorated requirements for a first renewal.

Licensees do not have a CPE requirement during the renewal period during which they were initially licensed to practice.

• New licenses issued within 90 days of the end of the renewal period will be issued to the next biennium; however, when such licenses are due to renew, licensees must show that they have met the CPE requirements for their first full two year period.

Who may be excused from all or part of this requirement.

Licensees not engaged in public accounting or those licensees who hold an inactive license.

Licensees exempt due to "reasonable cause or excusable neglect" including but not limited to:

• Chronic illness
• Retirement
• Military service
• Hardships as individually determined by the Board.

Notwithstanding the typical CPE rules, for the compliance period during which a licensee is reactivated / reinstated, the licensee shall complete at least:

• 10 hours of CPE for each full calendar quarter between the date the permit was reissued and the next renewal date, OR
• 80 hours of CPE between the date the permit was reissued and the next renewal date.

Inactive Licenses:

A certified public accountant who holds an active license and who is not in active practice may renew their license "inactive" at the time of renewal by completing the renewal form and paying the inactive license fee. Inactive licenses are subject to renewal. It is illegal to practice on an "inactive" license.

To resume the active practice of public accounting, an individual with inactive status must reactivate the individual's permit by completing the current renewal form, paying the appropriate fee and providing proof of continuing education.

Reinstatement:

An individual whose license to practice has been lapsed for less than one year may apply for reinstatement of the license by submitting the applicable renewal fee and, if the license has been lapsed for more than 60 days, the delayed renewal penalty fee, and a complete renewal application on a form provided by the department. Among other requirements, the renewal application must include certification that the applicant has met the continuing education requirements as required by the Board.

Licenses that have lapsed more than one year and less than three years may apply for reinstatement by paying the fee for the entire period the permit has been lapsed and documenting completion of 120 hours of continuing education during the 36 months immediately before the date of application for reinstatement.

A license that has lapsed more than three years may apply for reinstatement by documenting to the satisfaction of the board that the individual's failure to renew the permit was excusable, paying the required fee, documenting completion of 120 hours of approved continuing education during the 36 months immediately before the date of application for reinstatement and documenting that the continuing education completed included successful completion of a current ethics course and examination published by the AICPA.

Rule changes the regulator has finalized, with effective dates.

Refer to the specific sections above for more details on any of the items noted below.

Breakdown of Specific Requirements:

Ethics: Effective December 25, 2015: For licensing periods beginning January 1, 2016 and thereafter: At least 4 hours of the minimum 80 hours of approved continuing education required must cover ethics.*

• *NOTE: January 19, 2016: The sentence in the AK rule above was updated by deleting the last phrase of the sentence "and Alaska's statutes and regulations relating to the accountancy profession." As a result of this deletion, CeriFi CPEdge Learning has confirmed with the AK Board that it is now permissible for an AK licensee to take any ethics course of their choosing provided it is an “approved nonacademic continuing education program” (refer to the section below) and it is clearly an ethics course. As an example, a licensee could now take an ethics course on California Rules and Regulations if the course is clearly ethics.

General Characteristics of Accredited Education:

Effective December 25, 2015: Credit Calculation: Fifty (50) minutes of instruction constitutes one hour. No credit is awarded for class preparation.

• UPDATE from CeriFi CPEdge: October 2018: While the AK Board has not specifically addressed this issue internally, the Board has confirmed that they 'would likely accept CPE credits based what appears on the certificate (.2, .5, 1.0, etc.).' As a result, the AK content distributor has been updated to calculate credits based on the 2016 NASBA Standards which include both one-half and one-fifth credit increments.
• NOTE: January 19, 2016: The AK rule above was updated by deleting the sentence "Credit is given only for full hours of instruction and not for a fraction of an hour." As a result of this deletion, CeriFi CPEdge has received the following note from the AK board: "The Board has not completed any audits of CPE since the change was made. For sure, 1/2 (one-half) hours will be accepted; they have not reviewed any nano hours yet." As a result of this note, the CeriFi CPEdge content distributor has been updated to allow for 1/2 increments for CPE, beginning at 1/2 hour (i.e., and not requiring a full hour first).

Credit for Writing:

Effective January 1, 2012: The board will award continuing education hours for a published article or book written by a licensee if the licensee complies with this section and the board finds that the act of authorship improved the author’s competency as a certified public accountant. To obtain continuing education hours for a publication, the licensee must apply on a form provided by the department designating the number of hours requested and submit it with a biennial renewal application. The author may only receive hours for books or articles originally published within the preceding biennial licensing period. The board will review each submitted application on an individual basis, and will not award a licensee more than 20 hours per biennial licensing period. A licensee applying for publication hours must submit a copy of the publication, an affidavit setting out the number of hours spent in researching and writing the publication, the date of publication, the publisher, and in the case of an article, the periodical in which it appeared. The board may award up to three hours for an article over 500 words that was published in a magazine, journal, newspaper, or other periodical. The board may award more than three hours for a larger publication, such as a book or extensive research article based on the time and effort required to produce the publication.

Breakdown of Specific Requirements:

Effective January 1, 2008: Credits gained from alternate providers (i.e. those who are not NASBA, AICPA, state society based, or college providers) are limited to 16 credit hours per period.

For licensing periods beginning January 1, 2006 and thereafter: At least 4 hours of the minimum 80 hours of approved continuing education required must cover ethics and Alaska's statutes and regulations relating to the accountancy profession.