NASBA Registry CPE Requirements

How to reach the regulator directly.

National Registry of CPE Sponsors
National Association of State Boards of Accountancy
150 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 700
Nashville, TN 37219-2417

Tel: (615) 880-4200
Fax: (615) 880-4290

Contact NASBA via Email

The regulator's own published rules and related resources.

NASBA Registry of CPE Sponsors Website

Current 2019 NASBA CPE Standards (Effective December 31, 2019):

• The Statement on Standards for Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Programs - Effective December 31, 2019
• The Statement on Standards for Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Programs - Red-Line indicating changes from the 2016 version
• Fields of Study That Qualify For Continuing Professional Education - December 2019

Previous 2016 NASBA CPE Standards (Effective September 1, 2016 - December 30, 2019):

• The Statement on Standards for Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Programs - September 2016
• Fields of Study That Qualify For Continuing Professional Education - September 2016

Previous 2012 NASBA CPE Standards (Prior to September 1, 2016):

• 2012 Statement on Standards for Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Programs
• NASBA 23 Subject Areas - Prior to 2016

Note from CeriFi CPEdge: The CPE Standards below are based on the latest 2019 NASBA/AICPA revisions. If you wish to review the previous 2016 or 2012 Standards, access them via the links immediately above.

The total continuing education hours required.

Continuing professional education (CPE) is required for CPAs to maintain or improve their professional competence and provide quality professional services. CPAs are responsible for complying with all applicable CPE requirements, rules, and regulations of boards of accountancy, as well as those of membership associations and other professional organizations.

The Statement on Standards for Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Programs (Standards) is published jointly by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) to provide a framework for the development, presentation, measurement, and reporting of CPE programs. The Standards were last revised in 2016.

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

2.1 Professional Competence. All CPAs should participate in learning activities that maintain or improve their professional competence.*

Selection of learning activities should be a thoughtful, reflective process addressing the individual CPA’s current and future professional plans, current knowledge and skill level, and desired or needed additional competence to meet future opportunities or professional responsibilities, or both.

CPAs' fields of employment do not limit the need for CPE. CPAs performing professional services need to have a broad range of professional competence. Thus, the concept of professional competence may be interpreted broadly. Accordingly, acceptable continuing education encompasses programs contributing to the development and maintenance of professional skills.

The fields of study**, as published on NASBA’s website, represent the primary knowledge and skill areas that CPAs need to perform professional services in all fields of employment (refer to “Standards of Approval of CE Activities” below for more information on the NASBA fields of study).

To help guide their professional development, CPAs may find it useful to develop a learning plan. Learning plans are structured processes that help CPAs guide their professional development. They are dynamic instruments used to evaluate and document learning and professional competence development. They may be reviewed regularly and modified as CPAs’ professional competence needs change. Plans include a self-assessment of the gap between current and needed professional competence; a set of learning objectives arising from this assessment; and learning activities to be undertaken to fulfill the learning plan.

**Professional competence. Having requisite technical competence, professional skills, values, ethics, and attitudes to provide quality services as defined by the technical and ethical standards of the profession. The expertise needed to undertake professional responsibilities and to serve the public interest.

The terms “should” and “must” are intended to convey specific meanings within the context of this joint AICPA/NASBA Statement on Standards for Continuing Professional Education Programs (Standards). The term “must” is used in the Standards and applies to CPAs and CPE program sponsors to convey that CPAs and CPE program sponsors are not permitted any departure from those specific Standards. The term “should” is used in the Standards and applies to both CPAs and CPE program sponsors and is intended to convey that CPAs and CPE program sponsors are encouraged to follow such Standards as written. The term “may” is used in the Standards and applies to both CPAs and CPE program sponsors and is intended to convey that CPAs and CPE program sponsors are permitted to follow such Standards as written.

How completed credits are reported to the regulator.

2.3 CPE Credits Record Documentation. CPAs are responsible for accurate reporting of the appropriate number of CPE credits earned and must retain appropriate documentation of their participation in learning activities.

To protect the public interest, regulators require CPAs to document maintenance or improvement of professional competence through periodic reporting of CPE. For convenience, measurement is expressed in CPE credits. However, the objective of CPE must always be maintenance or improvement of professional competence, not attainment of credits. Compliance with regulatory and other requirements mandates that CPAs keep documentation of their participation in activities designed to maintain or improve, or both, professional competence. In the absence of legal or other requirements, a reasonable policy is to retain documentation for a minimum of five years from the end of the year in which the learning activities were completed.

Participants must document their claims of CPE credit. Examples of acceptable evidence of completion include the following:

• For group, blended learning, and independent study programs, a certificate or other verification supplied by the CPE program sponsor.
• For self-study and nano learning programs, a certificate supplied by the CPE program sponsor after satisfactory completion of a qualified assessment.
• For instruction or content review credit, appropriate supporting documentation that complies with the requirements of the respective state boards subject to the guidelines in Standard No. 20 in the "Standards for CPE Program Measurement" section of the Standards.
• For a university or college course that is successfully completed for credit, a record or transcript of the grade the participant received.
• For university or college noncredit courses, a certificate of attendance issued by a representative of the university or college.
• For published articles, books, or CPE programs:
  • a copy of the publication (or in the case of a CPE program, course development documentation) that names the CPA as author or contributor,
  • a statement from the writer supporting the number of CPE hours claimed, and
  • the name and contact information of the content reviewer(s) or publisher.

2.4 Reporting CPE Credits. CPAs who complete sponsored learning activities that maintain or improve their professional competence must claim no more than the CPE credits recommended by CPE program sponsors subject to state board regulations.

CPAs may participate in a variety of sponsored learning activities. Although CPE program sponsors determine credits, CPAs must claim credit only for activities through which they maintained or improved their professional competence. CPAs who participate in only part of a program must claim CPE credit only for the portion they attended or completed.

What happens if the requirement is not met.

2.2 CPE Compliance. CPAs must comply with all applicable CPE requirements.

CPAs are responsible for compliance with all applicable CPE requirements, rules, and regulations of state licensing bodies, other governmental entities, membership associations, and other professional organizations or bodies. CPAs should contact each appropriate entity to which they report to determine its specific requirements or any exceptions it may have to the standards presented herein.

Rule changes the regulator has finalized, with effective dates.

Refer to the specific sections above for more details. The Standards above refer to the December 2019 Revisions.

Effective December 31, 2019: NASBA/AICPA Adopt New CPE Standards

NASBA/AICPA has adopted revisions to the “Statement on Standards for Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Programs” (the “Standards”). These are the Standards that provide the foundation for the development, presentation, measurement and reporting of CPE programs. The Standards were last updated in September 2016. Unless otherwise established by state licensing bodies or other professional organizations, these Standards are to be effective on December 31, 2019.

Highlights of the updated Standards:

• Adaptive Learning Self-Study: Adaptive Learning is a new form of QAS Self Study. It is a self study program that uses a computer algorithm, other predictive analytics tools, or learner‐driven selections to orchestrate interaction with the learner and deliver customized learning activities to assist the learner in meeting the course’s stated learning objectives. CPE credit for an adaptive learning self study program must be determined based on the methodologies detailed in S17‐09 through S17‐17. This new type of 'QAS Self Study' will require pilot testing with a minimum of 7 pilot testers (disregarding any outliers) or Word count formula (which if used, will require that all possible pathways be calculated using word count formula and then dividing by the number of possible pathways to get the average CPE calculation (rounding down in all cases).
• Nano-Learning: Revised Standard now allows inclusion of review questions into nano learning programs. A nano-learning program can now be anywhere from 10 minutes to less than 20 minutes; however, CPE credit remains at 0.2 for all nano-learning programs.
• Element of Engagement: Under the revised Standards, in some circumstances, an element of engagement may not be required in a group live program. In such cases, the sponsor must document the justification. Example: A high-profile keynote speaker lectures at a learning program for 2 hours. In this scenario, it is not be necessary for an element of engagement during this presentation.
• Evaluations: Revised Standards allow Sponsors to use discretion as to when to solicit evaluations. They can be given at the overall program level or at the individual session level.
• Content Review: "Technical Review" has been renamed to "Content Review." Technical reviewers are now called content reviewers.
• Monitoring Mechanisms for Group Internet Based Programs: The revised Standards clarify the number of monitoring mechanisms required for fractional credit amounts.
• CPE Program Measurement: No change to the Standard, but an 'easy to understand' table has been added to the Standards to clarify how the credit calculations work for each delivery type (Group Live, Independent Study, Blended Learning, Self-Study, Nano-Learning).
• NASBA Fields of Study: No new fields of study have been added to the currently existing 20 NASBA fields of study. However, some minor wording updates have been made. The updated fields of study document now clarifies that the sponsor may re-issue a certificate with an alternative field of study when necessary to align to a CPA’s state board of accountancy subject area. Example: “Marketing and Communications” could be changed to simply “Communications” for a NY licensee, since ‘Marketing” is not accepted in New York; however, if/when this is done, the revised certificate should only reflect the portion of credits for the program which are Communications-related and sponsor must retain documentation.
• Numerous other updates to wording and language throughout the Standards (refer to the red-lined version of the 2016 Standards (link provided at top of page) to see all changes made in the December 31, 2019.

Effective September 1, 2016: NASBA/AICPA Adopt New CPE Standards

NASBA/AICPA has adopted revisions to the “Statement on Standards for Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Programs” (the “Standards”). These are the Standards that provide the foundation for the development, presentation, measurement and reporting of CPE programs. The Standards were last updated in 2012.

Highlights of the updated Standards:

• Contain two new instructional delivery methods: "nano learning" and "blended learning."
• Provide for one-fifth (0.2) of CPE credit for nano learning.
• The ability to award one-fifth (0.2) CPE credit (in addition to 0.5 increments per the 2012 Standards) for programs using other delivery methods after a minimum amount of credit has been awarded.
• Require that an “element of participant engagement” be included in group live programs for each CPE credit.
• Revise the definitions of "group live" and "group Internet-based" programs to focus the definitions from how the content is delivered by the instructor to how the content is received by the participants.

The addition of blended learning and nano learning allows greater flexibility and increased CPE options for learners and sponsors.

As part of the revisions to the Standards, NASBA has also updated and revised the fields of study used to define CPE programs. There are 5 new fields of study and 8 fields of study that are retiring.

5 New Fields of Study:

1. Specialized Knowledge
2. Management Services
3. Computer Software and Applications
4. Communications and Marketing
5. Information Technology

8 Retiring Fields of Study:

1. Specialized Knowledge and Applications
2. Administrative Practice
3. Social Environment of Business
4. Management Advisory Services
5. Computer Science
6. Marketing
7. Communications
8. Mathematics

The changes to the fields of study focus on providing categories and descriptions that are more current and relevant than the previous versions. The revised definitions for the fields of study also remove ambiguity. The most significant change includes the retirement of the “Specialized Knowledge and Applications” and “Computer Science” fields of study. These are being replaced with “Specialized Knowledge” and “Computer Software and Applications” which now clearly delineate these subject areas. “Specialized Knowledge” is to consist of only topics that are particular to specialized industries or services.

Implementation:

The Standards are effective September 1, 2016, and CPE sponsors will have until December 31, 2016 to comply with the Standards for programs currently under development. The Standards must be implemented at the next CPE program review or revision date for all other programs. For the NASBA Fields of Study document, the effective date is September 1, 2016, but sponsors have until December 31, 2017 to fully implement the revisions.

January 2012: The Statement on Standards for Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Programs (the "Standards") is updated. The previous update was in 2002. The Standards are published jointly by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) to provide a framework for the development, presentation, measurement, and reporting of CPE programs. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit.

Effective 2012: NASBA/AICPA Adopt New CPE Standards

The previous standards were last revised in 2002. Unless otherwise established by state licensing bodies and/or other professional organizations, these revised Standards are to be effective as follows:

1. For group programs and independent study – July 1, 2012.
2. For self study programs in development as of December 31, 2011 and/or being published for the first time – July 1, 2012.
3. For self study programs already in existence as of December 31, 2011 – March 1, 2014.

For more information on these standards, please visit the NASBA Registry website (www.nasbaregistry.org).