Newly licensed CPAs must take continuing-education classes starting in 2020

Newly licensed certified public accountants (CPAs) will be subject to mandatory continuing professional education (CPE) requirements under a new state law that takes effect Jan. 1, 2020.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Dec. 21, 2018 signed into law a bill eliminating the three-year exemption from mandatory CPE for newly licensed CPAs and public accountants. 

That’s according to information posted on the website of the New York State Society of CPAs (NYSSCPA).

As a result, newly licensed CPAs in New York will need to earn up to 120 credit hours of CPE during their first three years of licensure, starting on Jan. 1, 2020. Specifically, the legislation will require new CPA licensees to earn either 24 credits a year in a concentration, such as audit or taxation, or 40 credits a year in general CPE. 

Whatever ethics CPE regulations are in effect on that date will also apply to the newly licensed in New York, per the NYSSCPA website.

The society lobbied for the legislation as part of an effort to ensure that new CPAs “remain competent” in new and emerging skill sets that clients and employers “have come to expect” in the age of blockchain and artificial intelligence. 

The New York State Assembly approved the legislation 144-0 on June 19, 2018, and the New York State Senate approved it as well, 60-0, the next day. The bill was sponsored by Assemblyman Albert Stirpe Jr. (D–Cicero) and by Sen. Pamela Helming (R–Canandaigua).

Ethics CPE

The New York State Board for Public Accountancy on Oct. 24, 2018 approved regulatory language implementing new ethics CPE requirements. If the New York State Board of Regents accepts the language, New York state-licensed CPAs will be required to complete two credits of ethics CPE every year, rather than the current four credits every three years, the NYSSCPA said. 

In addition, two out of six credits every three years will have to include a New York State-approved ethics course, while the other four credits can be in a variety of ethics topics, including behavioral ethics. Currently, all four credits must be in a New York state-approved course.

If accepted by the board of regents, the regulatory language approved by the public accountancy board will appear in Section 70.9(b)(3) of the regulations of the Commissioner of Education. 

That section reads: “For each registration ending on or after January 2, 2020, a registered licensee who is subject to the continuing professional education requirement shall be required to complete at least two credits in ethics every calendar year period; including, at a minimum, a two-credit NYS approved ethics course must be completed every three calendar years. The two credits of ethics may be counted toward the annual requirement in the calendar year that they are taken,” per the society’s website.

After some NYSSCPA members sought clarification about the effective date of the changes, the society said it reached out to the public accountancy board. The board responded that it would be “premature” to provide such clarification now, as the Board of Regents has not yet reviewed these changes. 

If the Board of Regents does accept the changes as regulation amendments, the public accountancy board will provide examples and clarification at that time, via frequently asked questions posted on its website. 

So, for now, the NYSSCPA says CPAs should continue to adhere to the current regulations for ethics CPE.