South Carolina CPE Requirements
BOARD INFORMATION FOR REFERRALS:
South Carolina Board of Accountancy
110 Centerview Drive
Columbia, SC 29210
Phone: (803) 896-4770
Fax: (803) 896-4554
Website: https://llr.sc.gov/acct/
DO PES COURSES QUALIFY FOR CPE IN THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA? YES!
The board requires that all self-study courses must be taken from sponsors approved as a NASBA QAS provider. Professional Education Services, LP (PES) is registered with NASBA QAS (#103592) on the National Registry of CPE sponsors and has issued credits in the state of South Carolina without any problems.
LICENSE RENEWAL INFORMATION:
- 40 hours each year.
- ANNUAL ETHICS REQUIREMENT: 2 hours / annually. The course may be general ethics / regulatory ethics or behavioral ethics. The course does not need to be developed or presented by any specific entity. Any PES general ethics course can be used to fulfill this requirement.
- Maximum of 12 hours issued / reported for any one day.
- There is NO limit on the number of self-study credits that can be earned. 100% of CPE can now be completed via self-study courses. Self-study courses must be from NASBA QAS sponsors.
- Special note regarding the 12 hour / day limitation: as it relates to self-study courses - per a discussion with the Board of Accountancy they stated that they understand that self-study courses are done over a period of time and then submitted for certification. For example: a single, 20-hour self-study course that was completed over a period of time, may be submitted and the certificate would be dated on a single day and therefore the 20 hours earned would exceed the 12 hour / day maximum. However, because it is a self-study course, this would be acceptable. If you have any questions, please contact the Board of Accountancy for clarification and confirmation.
- Retired CPA Status: Retired CPA designation renewal requires 20 hours of CPE including 2 hours of ethics.
LICENSE EXPIRATION INFORMATION:
CPE COMPLETION DUE BY:
- Completed by 12/31 and reported by 1/31
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. South Carolina recognizes the same credit measurement.
MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE SELF STUDY CREDITS: 100%
ACCEPTABLE AREAS OF STUDY:
The original 23 acceptable areas of study as listed by NASBA (now that NASBA has changed to 20 areas, those areas are acceptable).
NASBA FIELD OF STUDY SYNOPSIS: All of the NASBA fields of study are acceptable for SC CPE, therefore all fields of study on PES certificates can be reported to the SC Board.
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 4.22.2025