California CPA CPE Requirements

How many CPE hours do California CPAs need?

California CPAs must complete 80 hours every two years, with at least 20 hours in each year.

Reporting period: Biennial on the last day of birth month in odd or even year corresponding to the odd or even year of birth.

NASBA Registry wording: 80 hours 20 hour yearly minimum 40 hours in technical subjects 12 hours yearly minimum in technical subjects.

What is the California ethics CPE requirement?

California requires 4 hours of ethics every two years. Part of the requirement must cover California-specific rules, and the course must be approved by the California board.

NASBA Registry wording: Four (4) hours.

Does California limit self-study CPE?

California places no limit on self-study CPE, so all 80 hours may be earned through self-study courses.

When is California CPE due?

The reporting period ends on the last day of your birth month, every 2 years.

License renewal: Last day of birth month, biennial (matched to birth-year parity).

There is no grace period.

Can California CPAs carry over extra CPE hours?

Excess hours do not carry over to the next reporting period.

Does California require hours in particular subjects?

Subject-area requirements: 40 technical (min 12/year); 24 hours accounting and auditing or government; 8 hours preparation engagements.

NASBA Registry wording: Government Auditing: If the individual engages in planning, directing, conducting substantial portions of field work, or reporting on financial or compliance audits of a government agency, 24 hours of government CPE are required. • Accounting & Auditing: If the individual engages in planning, directing, approving, performing substantial portions of the work, or reporting on an audit, review, compilation or attestation services on a non-governmental entity, 24 hours of A & A are required. • Preparation Engagement: If the individual only performed preparation engagements as their highest level of service, 8 hours of CE specific to preparation engagements or accounting and auditing are required. • Fraud: For licensees who are subject to the A&A,Government or Preparation Engagement CE requirement, an additional four (4) hours of fraud CE, related to the detection and/or reporting of fraud in financial statements, is required. The fraud CE is part of the 80 hours of CE required for license renewal, but not part of the 24-hour A&A or government CE requirement. • Technical: A minimum of 50% (at least 40 hours) must be in technical subject areas such as accounting, auditing, fraud, taxation, consulting, financial planning, business law, economics, management services, statistics, Board-approved professional conduct and ethics course, computer and information technology (except for word processing) and specialized industry or government practices related to public accounting skills.

Are there other California CPE limits?

• Ethics: Courses must be at least one hour in length or, if part of a course covering multiple subjects, have an Ethics component that is at least one hour in length.
• Instruction: The maximum credit for instructors is 50%. Credit for repeat presentations is only allowed if the program material has substantially changed.
• Nontechnical subjects: Subject areas such as behavioral ethics, business management and organization, communications and marketing, computer software and applications, personal development, personnel/human resources and production are limited to 50% max.
• Published materials: The maximum credit for writing articles/books/instructional materials/Uniform CPA exam questions is 50% of the total requirement. Credits for authorship/publications are acceptable as long as the publisher is not under control of the licensee.
• Self-study: Courses must have an interactive delivery method. Self study courses designed to meet the Regulatory Review requirement must have a final exam and be passed with a score of 90 or above to receive credit toward that requirement.
• Technical Reviewer: Credit is allowed on an hour-for-hour basis for performing a technical review of instructional materials for any continuing education program which meets the requirements of subsection (a)(1), Section 88.1 and Section 88.2.

What other California CPE policies apply?

• Learning or teaching the use of accounting software qualifies as general CE in the technical subject area but not as credit for accounting and/or auditing.
• California does not accept CE in the following subject areas: personal growth, self-realization, spirituality, personal health and/or fitness, sports and recreation, foreign languages and cultures, etc.
• California accepts CPE credits for programs offered by National Registry sponsors.