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New York CPE Requirements

New York CPE Requirements


BOARD INFORMATION FOR REFERRALS:

New York State Board for Public Accountancy
State Education Department
Division of Professional Licensing - CPA Unit
89 Washington Avenue
2nd Floor, East Mezzanine
Albany, NY 12234-1000
Phone: (518) 474-3817 ext 160
Fax: (518) 474-6375
Website: www.op.nysed.gov/certified-public-accountants

DO PES COURSES QUALIFY FOR CPE IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK? YES!

Acceptable continuing education activities include:
· Taking a CPE course from a New York State registered CPE provider.
· Taking a CPE course from a NASBA registered CPE provider.
· Taking a CPE course from a CPE provider registered by the State Board of Accountancy in the state in which the course is taken.

For the Ethics requirement, the course must be from a New York State registered CPE ethics provider. (Which PES is).

Our New York Board of Accountancy program sponsor approval for PES is #001043. In addition to the state sponsorship agreement, Professional Education Services, LP (PES) is registered with NASBA (#103592) on the National Registry of CPE sponsors and has issued credits in the state of New York without any problems.

All of our other courses (in other subject areas) are acceptable under our NASBA sponsor registration #103592.

LICENSE RENEWAL INFORMATION:

  • 40 hours per year of acceptable CPE in any recognized areas of study OR 24 hours exclusively in one of the recognized areas (accounting, attest, auditing, taxation, advisory services, specialized knowledge and applications related to specialized industries, professional ethics) - concentration must be in one area of study only. (See below for notes on NASBA vs NY AREAS OF STUDY)
  • Any licensee who supervises attest or compilation services or signs or authorizes someone to sign the accountant's report on financial statements of a client must have completed at least 40 hours of CE in the area of accounting, auditing or attest during the prior three calendar years or in the calendar year in which the service is performed. These contact hours may be counted toward the annual contact CPE hour requirement in the calendar year that they were completed. (See the Board's website under Questions & Answers for additional details).
  • 4 hours of ethics CPE during every three calendar years. PES has a "foundations" ethics course available 4250: Ethics and Professional Conduct for New York CPAs: Foundation Course and a "taxation" ethics course 4550: Ethics and Professional Conduct for New York CPAs: Taxation Course. For additional details regarding the ethics requirement, please see the SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO THE ETHICS COURSE section below and also the new information note regarding dual licensed individuals.

LICENSE EXPIRATION INFORMATION:

  • Triennially based on issuance date (current) and birth month (prior to 1993).

CPE COMPLETION DUE BY:

  • CPE earned each calendar year between January 1st and December 31st.

SELF STUDY CREDIT HOURS:

Credits granted for PES courses are based on the AICPA and NASBA (National Association of State Boards of Accountancy) statement of standards which grant 1 CPE credit for every 50-minutes of study time. New York recognizes the same credit measurement.

MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE SELF STUDY CREDITS: 100%
ACCEPTABLE AREAS OF STUDY:

7 Acceptable areas of study are defined by the Board of accountancy: Accounting, Auditing, Attestation, Taxation, Advisory Services, Specialized Knowledge and Applications related to specialized industries, and Professional Ethics.

DETAILS ON NASBA FIELD OF STUDY vs NY AREAS OF STUDY

Per the BOA website (dated 08.2017): In 2010, NY State provided NASBA the cross walk of subject areas, based on NASBA's CPE tracking system that has more fields of study than NY. The list below provides a breakdown of those NY vs. NASBA subject areas.

  • NY Subject Area: Accounting
    NASBA and PES CERTIFICATES AREAS would be
    - Accounting
    - Accounting/Governmental
  • NY Subject Area: Auditing
    NASBA and PES CERTIFICATES AREAS would be
    - Auditing
    - Auditing/Governmental
  • NY Subject Area: Advisory Services
    NASBA and PES CERTIFICATES AREAS would be
    - Behavioral Ethics
    - Business Law
    - Business Management and Organization
    - Communications & Marketing
    - Computer Software & Applications
    - Economics
    - Finance
    - Information Technology
    - Management Services
    - Production
    - Statistics
    - Personal Development
  • NY Subject Area: Regulatory Ethics
    NASBA and PES CERTIFICATES AREAS would be
    - Regulatory Ethics —> PES ethics courses #4250 and #4550 are Regulatory Ethics for NY.
  • NY Subject Area: Specialized Knowledge
    NASBA and PES CERTIFICATES AREAS would be
    - Personnel / Human Resources
    - Specialized Knowledge
  • NY Subject Area: Taxation
    NASBA and PES CERTIFICATES AREAS would be
    - Taxes

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO CONCENTRATED STUDY:

To complete 24 hours of concentrated work the following courses can be used towards those concentrations. PLEASE NOTE: some of our courses are split (e.g. 12 hours Accounting and 12 hours Auditing) - you can still use those courses towards your concentration - however only the hours that are designated specifically towards that concentration will count towards it.

  • Taxation Only Concentration Courses Are: All PES tax courses are concentrated and okay to take as the specific tax concentration area.
  • Advisory Service Only Concentration Courses Are: You will need to look at our NASBA AREA OF STUDY as listed on the PRODUCT PAGE and on the certificate - then look above at the NASBA FIELD OF STUDY vs NY AREAS OF STUDY - review the NY AREA OF STUDY and it will list the NASBA and PES certifcate area of study. FOR EXAMPLE: Business Law or Finance will be on the PES completion certificate - but for reporting to NY, it will be reported as Advisory Services. So you could take those as a concentrated area of study (or a combination of courses in the NASBA areas of study that are considered advisory services in New York).
  • Accounting Only Concentration Courses Are: For A&A courses, it depends if the course is concentrated ONLY in accounting or auditing, or if it's a combination course. If it is a "combination" course, the portion of the course credits that are "concentrated" can be used towards the concentration.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO ETHICS STUDY:

This requirement can be somewhat confusing. It is explained below however additional questions can be directed to the New York State Board for Public Accountancy at: (518) 474-3817.

Below is a listing of what the CPA may take in order to fulfill their ethics requirement:

  • a) If the CPA fulfills their annual CPE requirement by getting 24 hours of "concentrated study" and wants to fulfill their ethics requirement in that particular year they can either:
    i) take a 4 hour "general" or "foundations" ethic course in addition to their 24 hours of concentrated study equaling a total of 28 hours earned that year or
    ii) take a 4 hour "concentrated" ethics course in the same area of concentration that they completed their concentrated study CPE. Therefore they would take 20 hours of concentrated study plus 4 hours of concentrated ethics for a total of 24 hours that year.
  • b) If the CPA fulfills their annual CPE requirement by getting 40 hours of "general study" and wants to fulfill their ethics requirements in that particular year they can either:
    i) take a 4 hour "general" or "foundations" ethics course which is included in the 40 hours total. Therefore they would take 36 hours of general CPE plus the 4 hours of general/foundations ethics equaling the total 40 hours required or
    ii) take a 4 hour "concentrated" ethics course which is included in the 40 hours total. Therefore they would take 36 hours of general CPE plus the 4 hours of concentrated ethics equaling the total 40 hours required.

Currently PES has a "foundations" ethics course available 4250: Ethics and Professional Conduct for New York CPAs: Foundation Course and a "taxation" ethics course 4550: Ethics and Professional Conduct for New York CPAs: Taxation Course.

  • If the CPA is licensed only in NY state, only an ethics course that is from an approved NY provider is acceptable.
  • If the CPA is licensed in multiple jurisdictions and NY is the licensee's principal place of business, only an ethics course that is from an approved NY provider is acceptable.
  • If the CPA is licensed in multiple jurisdictions and NY is not the licensee's principal place, an ethics course that is provided by any of the following will meet this requirement:
    A NY State registered CPE ethics approved sponsor
    A NASBA approved CPE sponsor
    A sponsor/course that is approved by the authority of the state which is the licensee's principal place of business

If you have any questions regarding your CPE requirements, please call PES at 1-800-990-2731 or your State board. PLEASE NOTE: Since state board regulations are constantly changing, the information contained here is deemed reliable however it is not guaranteed. We encourage you to contact your state board to answer any questions and confirm or clarify any requirements listed here. Information updated 4.3.2024