All Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) need to complete continuing professional education (CPE) to keep their license up-to-date and stay current on industry topics, ultimately providing better services to their clients.
Whereas CPE requirements can feel like a burden on top of an already-packed schedule, they can also provide an opportunity for career growth and specialization. Find out how to make the most of your CPE by following these best practices for CPA continuing education.
#1: Understand your CPA continuing education requirements
Each State Board of Accountancy defines its own CPA continuing education requirements, which all CPAs licensed in that state must complete. Make sure that you understand the CPE requirements for your state, including important details like:
- How many credits you need to complete each year or each cycle
- How often you have to report your CPA continuing education
- If you need to complete credits in specific categories like these or others:
- Ethics
- Technical vs. non-technical
- Accounting and auditing
#2: Take advantage of employer-sponsored opportunities
Many firms will sponsor opportunities for their employees to earn CPA continuing education. Whether it be corporate events that are approved for CPE credit, an internal learning platform that hosts CPE courses, or staff-level training opportunities, find and utilize these chances to learn and earn CPA continuing education (without paying for it!).
If you don’t know about any current offerings, ask your manager. Perhaps your employer would sponsor your individual learning, even if they don’t currently offer a program.
#3: Get creative with earning credits
There are ways to earn CPA continuing education that you may be already doing without realizing that you’re eligible for credits! If you have another professional credential that requires CPE learning—such as a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) or Certified Internal Auditor® (CIA®) certification, or Enrolled Agent (EA) credential—you may be able to count the same credit-earning course toward both requirements. For example, if you have to complete CPA CPE and EA CE credits, you could take IRS-approved courses that meet both Enrolled Agent and CPA credit requirements, cutting down on the total time that you have to invest into CPE.
Another creative, credit-earning option available is to teach. Believe it or not, if you’re an accounting educator, some states recognize your teaching as credit towards fulfilling your CPA continuing education. For example, the Minnesota State Board of Accountancy acknowledges up to 60 credits each rolling, three-year reporting period for accounting courses that you teach or write at the college or CPE level.1 Check with your Board for state CPE requirements and rules around earning CPE credits through teaching.
#4: Use a compliance tracker
With work obligations, personal life, and everything else on your plate, it can be easy to lose track of your CPA continuing education: what you’ve already done, what you still need to complete, and when it’s all due. Remember that CPE reporting periods generally span one to three years, so it’s a lot to track over a longer period.
Using a CPE compliance tracker will make your life exponentially easier. Becker’s personalized CPE compliance tracker tailors to your certification and state requirements, helping you organize all in one place:
- What you’ve already completed
- What you still need to do
- Your due date
- Custom course suggestions to meet your requirements
- External compatibility with other platforms
The CPE compliance tracker is included with Becker’s Prime CPE subscription.
#5: Find learning that fits your schedule
Another important factor to completing your CPA continuing education without added stress is finding coursework that fits your schedule. Look for classes that offer flexibility, as well as options that provide multiple learning methods, so you can find the style that works best for you.
For example, Becker Prime offers:
- On-demand courses
- Live webcasts
- Weekly CPE podcasts
- Downloadable course content
With a variety of courses across learning formats, you can tailor a learning schedule that’s convenient and stress-free, while also offering the content that you need to grow.
#6: Take courses that support your goals (and growth)
Make the most of your requirements by using your CPA continuing education as a chance to specialize your career and advance into higher leadership positions. Take courses that equip you with new skillsets in areas of interest where you want to grow and work.
If you don’t know which specialization is right for you, you can also use CPE to find out! Take courses across a few topic areas to learn which is most interesting to you and where you may like to invest more time and energy.
#7: Get a subscription
Getting a great CPE subscription is the best way to accomplish all these best practices and optimize both compliance and learning. Becker’s Prime CPE subscription includes over 700 on-demand courses, 1,000+ annual webcasts, CPE podcasts, and even current event and premium content courses—all NASBA-approved, within unlimited credit consumption.
Start your Prime CPE subscription and streamline your CPA continuing education with learning that’s on your schedule and worth your time.
Unlock unlimited CPE with a Prime Subscription
Becker makes it easy to meet your CPE requirements, gain new skills, and stay aware of critical updates and changes in the industry!
With Prime, you can access over 1,700 courses for a full year and earn unlimited CPE credits.
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