Becoming a Sponsor
WHO CAN APPLY?
Any individual, company or organization that wants to offer continuing professional education (CPE) credits for U.S. licensed Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) should apply to join the Registry.
There is only one eligibility requirement:
You must have previous experience in developing, presenting, measuring and reporting some type of educational or training program. The program does not need to be offered for the CPA profession or awarded for CPE credit.
Approved sponsors on the Registry must comply with the requirements of the Statement on Standards for Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Programs (Standards). All prospective Registry sponsors must review the Standards before applying for membership.
WHAT DOES BEING AN APPROVED SPONSOR MEAN?
To become a Registry sponsor, you will be required to submit one fully developed program in each instructional delivery method for which you are applying for approval. Instructional delivery methods are the strategies, techniques, and approaches used to present content to learners. The Registry offers approval for 5 instructional delivery methods:
- Group Live
- Group Internet Based
- QAS Self Study
- Nano Learning
- Blended Learning
All documentation for the one fully developed program submitted for each chosen instructional delivery method will be reviewed for compliance with the Standards by the Registry team. As part of the application review process, you may be requested to make modifications to documentation or the CPE program itself in order to comply with the Standards and become an approved sponsor.
While the review focuses on the one fully developed program submitted with the application, approval is not granted on a course-by-course basis. Approval is granted for the respective delivery method for the number of programs (or credits) to be offered in the instructional delivery method for the upcoming year, which is indicated on the application. Approval is granted for one year and must be renewed annually at the sponsor level.
Upon approval, the expectation is that the same requirements demonstrated during the application review process will be implemented to all other programs that are developed and offered to CPAs for CPE credit under your Registry membership. Therefore, if you were required to make modifications to documentation or the CPE program during the application process, those same modifications should be considered and implemented to all other programs offered under your Registry membership.
Each instructional delivery method has its own separate requirements in the Standards. If you seek approval for more than one instructional delivery method, it must be indicated either on the initial application to the Registry or submitted as an Additional Delivery Method application.
SPONSOR AGREEMENT
As a condition of approval to the Registry, the applicant/sponsor must acknowledge the terms and requirements detailed in the Sponsor Agreement, approved by NASBA. The Sponsor Agreement is included in the initial and Additional Delivery Method applications as well as each annual renewal application.