CPE Standards Out for Comment

State Board Report

August 2011

Following more than a year of careful consideration and input from continuing professional education (CPE) sponsors, State Boards, state societies, NASBA and AICPA staff, and other interested parties, recommended revisions to the CPE Standards by the AICPA/NASBA CPE Standards Committee which were presented by CPE Advisory Committee Chair Telford Lodden to the July NASBA Board of Directors’ meeting. The document was approved by the NASBA Board for an exposure period ending October 13, 2011. Comments received during the exposure period will be considered by the AICPA/NASBA CPE Standards Committee and included in a final document to be approved by the NASBA and AICPA Boards at their fall meetings. Once approved, the revised standards will be amended to the Uniform Accountancy Act. The Standards were last revised in 2002 and provide a framework for the development, presentation, measurement and reporting of CPE programs.

Mr. Lodden explained that the standards are basically for the guidance of CPE sponsors, rather than individual CPAs. The revisions include clarification of existing standards, material that was previously in the CPE Registry’s “Frequently Asked Questions,” and guidance for new and forthcoming CPE formats.

Among the additions are:

• Sponsors may recommend one-half CPE credits for self-study programs (equal to 25 minutes).
• Use of a word-count formula is permitted as an alternative to pilot testing for determining the recommended CPE credits for self-study programs.
• If objective-type questions are used, at least three review questions and five final exam questions must be included per CPE credit.
• Providing feedback on the final examination is permitted; however, the sponsor must ensure that the question bank is of sufficient size to minimize overlap for the typical repeat test-taker.

Overall, the Committee believes the revised standards are organized to be more user-friendly, with a table of contents that has key word descriptions. The exposure draft can be found here. Comments should be sent to jluttrull@nasba.org by October 13, 2011.