The Standards for Continuing Professional Education (CPE)

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

The Statement on Standard for Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Programs (2024) (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.

Revised Standards Approved, Effective Date January 1, 2024

NASBA and the AICPA approved revisions to the Statement on Standards for Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Programs (Standards). The Standards revisions were approved by NASBA in October and by the AICPA in December.

In addition, the NASBA Board approved and the AICPA Board took a position of support on the revised NASBA Fields of Study document. The NASBA Fields of Study document is referenced in the Standards and provides guidance on the classification of CPE credits into acceptable subject matter areas.

The following documents are available for download:

Process for Review and Evaluation of the Standards

Implementation and Application of the Standards
The Standards are intended to be an “evergreen” document. As questions arise related to implementation and application of the Standards, the questions will be presented to the CPE Standards Working Group.

Authoritative interpretations will only be issued by NASBA's CPE Committee, upon the recommendation of the CPE Standards Working Group, in limited cases when the matter is not addressed in the Standards, cannot be addressed specifically with the sponsor, or cannot be addressed in the Best Practices. All interpretations issued by NASBA's CPE Committee will be reviewed and considered by the Joint AICPA/NASBA CPE Standards Committee upon the next revision of the Standards.

Future Standards Revision Process
Every two years from the effective date of the Standards, the Standards will be reviewed in their entirety by the CPE Standards Working Group. If the Working Group determines that revisions or modifications are required, then the Working Group will make its recommendation to NASBA's CPE Committee and then to the Joint AICPA/NASBA CPE Standards Committee. In the limited situation when an interpretation has been issued by NASBA's CPE Committee, the interpretation will be reviewed and considered at that time by the Joint AICPA/NASBA CPE Standards Committee.