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New California Board of Accountancy CPE Requirement
Frequently Asked Questions

License renewals after Jan. 1, 2010 are subject to new ethics requirements.

  • Four hours of ethics Continuing Education every renewal period.
  • Two-hour regulatory review course every six years covering the California Accountancy Act, plus California Board of Accountancy regulations and enforcement actions.

License renewals after Jan. 1, 2012 are subject to minimum annual hours of CPE.

  • A Minimum of 20 total hours of Continuing Education (with a minimum of 12 hours in technical subject matter) are required each year of the two-year license renewal period as part of the 80-hour requirement.
    • Technical Credit Options: Accounting, auditing, fraud, taxation, consulting, financial planning, ethics as defined in Section 87(b), professional conduct regulatory review as defined in Section 87.8, computer and information technology (except for word processing), and specialized industry or government practices that focus primarily upon the maintenance and/or enhancement of the public accounting skills and knowledge needed to competently practice public accounting.

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FAQs

My license renewal date is in January 2010, do I need to meet the new CE requirement?
For your 2010 renewal, you need to meet the new ethics requirement, so four hours of ethics if it is a nonreporting year. If it is a PC&E reporting year you will need a two hour Regulatory Review course in addition to the four hours of ethics. The 20 hours per year requirement will be for each year leading up to you 2012 renewal.
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My next license renewal date is in 2011. Do I need to comply with the 20 hours per year requirement?
No, but you will need to be in compliance for your 2013 renewal. And for 2011 you will need to comply with the new ethics requirements.
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My renewal date is June 30, 2010, do I need four hours of ethics or six hours?
If it is your traditional reporting year for ethics, you would need 4 hours, plus a 2 hour Regulatory Review course. If it is not your ethics reporting year (traditional six-year cycle) you need only four hours of ethics.
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My license renewal is Feb. 28, 2010 and I completed my six-year ethic requirement in 2008. How many hours of ethics do I need for 2010?
You need four hours of ethics.
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Does the Foundation’s 8-hour ethics course cover the 2 hours of regulatory review CPE, as well as the 4-hour ethics requirement?
Yes, it covers both.
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What does 12 hours of technical CE mean? Do tax classes qualify?
Tax courses would be considered technical CPE. According to Section 88(a)(1), those classes that qualify for technical credit are: Accounting, auditing, fraud, taxation, consulting, financial planning, ethics as defined in Section 87(b), professional conduct regulatory review as defined in Section 87.8, computer and information technology (except for word processing), and specialized industry or government practices that focus primarily upon the maintenance and/or enhancement of the public accounting skills and knowledge needed to competently practice public accounting.
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What are approved ethics courses for my 2010 license renewal?
The California Board of Accountancy has not yet approved new ethics courses for the four and two-hour requirements. In the meantime, they have said that approved ethics courses such as those offered by the CalCPA Education Foundation will qualify for renewals through Dec. 31, 2011, if the course is completed before Jan. 1, 2011.
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