CPE Requirements
Arkansas
Date of Last Revision: 5/5/2025
License Renewal Date
1/1 annually
CPE Reporting Period
1/1 to 12/31 annually
General Requirements
40 hours
- (Required to report 40 hours for the current renewal year but allowed to “look back” to include the past 3 yrs totaling 120 hours if you are deficient in current reporting year.)
Ethics Requirement
- Four (4) hours in the area of accounting professional conduct and ethics during the 36-months immediately preceding the expiration date of their current license.
- One (1) hour of ethics must be on Arkansas State Board of Public Accountancy specific laws and rules. This requirement may be satisfied by completing a free, web based course via the Board's website or attending group training taught by a board member, board staff member, or a designee of the Board, and will count towards the 4 hour ethics requirement.
- Licensees who received their initial license during the current calendar year are exempt from the ethics requirement until their first full calendar year of licensure.
Other Subject Area Requirements
- At least 40% of hours in the following subjects: Accounting/Attest, Accounting Ethics or Tax (if public accounting).
- At least 20% of hours in the following subjects: Accounting/Attest, Accounting Ethics, or Tax (if not public accounting).
Credit Limitations
- Independent study, self-study and authorship credits: Credits from these types of courses shall not exceed 80% of the total CPE hours required.
- Independent study: This type of CPE must be approved in advance by the Board.
- Instruction: Repetition of the same material in the same year will not be granted credit.
- Instruction for College/University courses: Courses taught must be upper level college courses and may only be used for CPE one time in a three-year period.
- Other Certification Exam courses: CPE credit is not given for academic courses or exam review courses used to qualify to take the CPA exam or acquire the CPA certification.
- Published Material: Articles, books or CPE Programs may be eligible for self-declared credit if the material contributes to the professional competency of the licensee and was formally accepted for publication in writing prior to the effective date of the renewal period.
- Group Study: Minimum of 8 hours based on 40-hour rule or 24 hours based on 120-hour rule is required.
- Self-Study: Must be QAS, NASBA Registry, or state board approved.
- Nano Learning: 4 hours maximum per year of a reporting period
Credit Calculation
- Instruction: A lecturer or discussion leader shall be granted credit for preparation and presentation of a program for twice the number of CPE hours available to participants.
- Instruction for College/University courses: Credit for teaching college or university courses is limited to the number of CPE hours available to participants.
- Partial Credit: Half hour credits are allowed after first hour of credit.
- Nano Learning: 4 hours maximum per year of a reporting period.
- University/College credit: Each quarter hour equals 10 CPE hours; Each semester hour equals 15 CPE hours. A non-credit course is computed by contact hours
Other State Policies
- Program sponsors must be members of NASBA's or the Board's Registry, approved by another State Board, or fall into one of the following categories for automatic approval:
- AICPA and other national/state CPA professional organizations/associations
- Accredited universities or colleges
- Firms, both accounting and industrial offering in-firm education programs
- Governmental entities
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Programs in the following subject areas are not acceptable continuing education: spirituality, personal health and/or fitness, sports and recreations, or foreign language and cultures and other subjects which will not contribute directly to the professional competence of the licensee.
Full/Partial Exemption
A full or partial exemption from continuing education requirements may be allowed for the following licensees:
- An active duty military service member outside of the State of Arkansas;
- A returning military veteran within one (1) year of his or her discharge from active duty; or
- the spouse of a person under (1) or (2) above
In order to receive a full or partial CPE exemption, a qualifying individual must submit a written request for an exemption to the Board.
CPE Reciprocity
- Principal Place of Business: May meet Arkansas's CPE requirements by meeting the CPE requirements of the Principal Place of Business.
- Licensee must be a non-resident licensee.
- Licensee must still fulfill one hour of Arkansas Specific Ethics.
- Licensee may be asked to demonstrate compliance with an audit.
- If Principal Place of Business has no CPE requirements, licensee must comply with Arkansas CPE requirements.
View Arkansas State Board Contact Information
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