As CPAs, most of us can attest to the fact that our time is a very limited resource. This usually means that keeping up with our CPE requirements takes a backseat to our client or stakeholder work. The Encoursa team will always strive to make continuing professional education management a less painful process for CPAs and other financial professionals who maintain a certification.

As you are aware, each state accountancy board has varying CPE reporting requirements. In this post, we will highlight the New York State Accountancy Board requirements. 

General Requirements
In general, CPAs in New York are required to complete either 24 or 40 hours of continuing education each calendar year (see the specific rules below). CPAs are also required to complete a minimum of 4 hours of professional ethics CPE once every three calendar years. These 4 credits may be counted toward the 24 or 40 hours of CPE in the calendar year that the ethics training is completed.

For detailed questions and responses related to the general requirements, see the New York Public Accountancy website at: http://www.op.nysed.gov/prof/cpa/

Subject Area Requirements
If you are concentrating CPE in only one of the seven subject areas below, then only 24 hours are required each year. If you are completing CPE in a combination of the subject areas below then 40 hours are required. The subjects in which CPE must fall into are: 

1. Accounting
2. Auditing
3. Attestation
4. Taxation
5. Advisory Services
6. Specialized Knowledge and Applications Related to Specialized Services
7. Professional Ethics

It is important to note that CPE credit will not be given for courses that focus on the marketing of professional services or improving profitability of an accounting firm or practice. 

Encoursa offers an four hour on-demand course that is registered with the NY Board of Accountancy and meets the New York CPE ethics requirement. You can view more details and register for the course through this link: https://encoursa.com/self-study-courses/8nzr4mzx/professional-ethics-for-new-york-cpas

License Renewal Date
Although the reporting period is based on the calendar year (January 1st to December 31st), the license renewal date in New York is based on the month that the license was originally issued. 

Other State Policies
New York is very strict about continuing education providers. Courses taken inside the State of New York must be taken with entities sponsored by either the NY State Board or the NASBA (National Association of States Boards of Accountancy) organization. Courses taken outside the State of New York must be sponsored by the NY State Board, NASBA, or the state board in the state where the course was taken. 

Unlike most states, the New York Board does not allow “rollover” CPE credits. If you go over the number of hours required in any given year, these hours cannot be applied to subsequent reporting years.