Much like other professionals, CPAs are required to take courses for continuing education. Also known as Continuing Professional Education (CPE), these courses are a must if you want to renew your CPA license. In this post, let’s talk about continuing education and how you can meet the state requirements.
Don’t miss the basics
Requirements for continuing education vary by state. However, most states require CPAs to complete an average of 40 CPE hours each year. You can choose to complete your CPE courses by attending regular classes, live seminars or even self-study. It all depends on your schedule and preference. If you follow textbooks and online courses, you will have to take a test to receive credits. Keep in mind that this is important, because missing credits can mean suspension or revocation of your CPA license. Take a moment to check the state requirements. As an integral part of CPE requirements, most states need CPAS to complete an ethics course, ranging between two and eight hours. Besides other courses, you will find AICPA Ethics CPE Courses on many of the online sites.
Choose the right provider
Honestly, continuing professional education is not just about meeting the standard requirements of the state board/regulating authority. It is more about improving your prospects as a CPA. If you are keen on self-study, you have to find a website that can help in your learning journey. Some of the known names offer all sorts of AICPA based courses for CPAs, depending on interests and compulsory requirements as mentioned by the state’s board of accountancy. Check reviews from other CPAs and go through the contents before making a choice. The courses should be affordable and easy to access, so that you can learn at your convenience.
Follow the ground rules
When it comes to continuing education, you have to maintain a complete set of records for your state accounting board, so that you can track your CPE activity. You will have to keep a note of the basic things like the name of the approved CE program, location, description of the content, dates attended (if applicable) and numbers of hours earned. Don’t wait for the last month to complete the courses, because you may end up with more work. To keep up with your continual education, you just need two hours each week at best, especially if you are too busy for daily studies.
Check online now to find the state requirements!
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