Essential Things You Need To Know About Texas CPA Ethics |
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Once you become a CPA in the “Lone Star State,” it opens the door to a range of opportunities in front of you. Whether you want to work with a large organization or work independently, there’s no shortage of opportunities for CPAs.
However, to expedite your growth and outshine the competitors, you must keep yourself up-to-date with the latest accounting rules and regulations and maintain an active CPA license. And to accomplish this goal, you’ve to fulfill Texas CPA CPE ethics requirements. In this post, we’re going to discuss all the important things you need to know about ethics for Texas CPAs and the best ways to choose the right sponsor for online Texas CPA ethics programs.
Please Note: These courses are approved by the Texas Board of Accountancy.
In Texas, all CPAs are required to earn four CPE credits in ethics every two years. It’s important to note that the sponsor of your Texas CPE ethics program needs to be registered with the Texas state board of accountancy. You can take a look at the approved programs here.
You should also keep in mind that while you need to earn 120 CPE credits in a 3-year cycle to meet your CPE requirements in Texas, you’ve to fulfill the ethics requirements every two years. Also, you may not be able to claim over fifty percent of your required CPE credits in a three-year reporting cycle if you complete the Texas CPA ethics program from a non-registered sponsor.
Here’re the course objectives of online Texas CPA ethics programs in a nutshell.
· To help Texas CPAs understand the intent of the rules and regulations of professional conduct when delivering professional accounting services.
· To educate Texas CPAs in professional accounting ethics.
· To help CPAs in implementing ethical judgment when determining public interest and interpreting the rules. CPAs need to prioritize public interest over self-interest, even if it means the loss of business.
· To help CPAs understand the implications of professional conduct in different kinds of practices.
If you do a quick Google search using the key phrase “Texas CPA ethics programs,” you’ll get a large number of options, including in-person and online Texas CPA ethics programs. Now, the question is, which format should you choose? Let’s take a closer look at both options.
· In-person programs
Perhaps the biggest disadvantage of in-person Texas CPA ethics programs is that you may need to travel to and from another place to take them, and that too on a scheduled time. If you’re working full time, it can be a really difficult task to maintain that routine. While earning four CPE credits in ethics may not sound like a tough job at all, when you need to do it alongside meeting other CPE requirements, it may become one.
The next thing you should consider is the cost aspect. In almost all cases, the cost of online Texas CPE ethics programs tends to be significantly cheaper than in-person programs on ethics for Texas CPAs. And if you join a sponsor that offers subscription programs, the cost will become even lower.
· Online programs
Keeping the cost aspect aside, one of the major benefits of taking self-study online Texas CPA ethics programs is unmatched flexibility. No matter if you want to complete the study materials early in the morning, late at night, or over the weekends, you’re free to do that.
All you need to have is a computer or laptop and a stable Internet connection. You don’t need to worry about maintaining the pace with your peers or attending a live webinar at a scheduled time. Also, there’re sponsors that offer the course materials in downloadable PDF versions. Once you’ve downloaded the materials, you won’t even require at Internet connection to go through them.
When it comes to Texas CPA approved ethics courses, there’re two types of programs that are commonly offered by the sponsors.The first one is self-study programs, and the second one is webinars. Both of these formats come with their own advantages and disadvantages. Let’s try to understand them.
· Self-study programs
In almost all cases, self-study Texas CPA ethics programs tend to be the most cost-effective option of pursuing CPA ethics. As mentioned earlier, if you take them as part of a subscription program, the cost will be significantly reduced.
For instance, at CPEthink.com, we offer six different types of subscription packages. All of these will let you access all our self-study ethics programs alongside other courses. If you choose one of our unlimited packages, you can access our entire course library for one or two years, depending on your plan. You’ll also get unlimited attempts to clear the final exam at the end of each course.
Maintaining self-discipline is perhaps the most difficult task when you take self-study Texas CPA ethics programs. However, if you can do it diligently, there shouldn’t be any difficulty in doing that.
There’s one more thing that you should keep in mind that’s to clear the final exam with the required passing score. When it comes to earning credits from self-study courses, it’s a must to pass the final exam to earn credits. While we give you unlimited attempts to clear it, you’ll only receive the credits when you pass it.
· Webinars
Do you prefer to learn in a classroom setting? Do you like to have your queries cleared immediately by an instructor? If your answer is a “yes” to any of these, choosing live webinars to earn your Texas CPA ethics credits may be the right option for you.
However, there’re a few important things that you need to consider when choosing this option. First, you’ll have to attend the webinar at a pre-scheduled time. If you cannot make it, your money will get completely wasted. Second, if there’re any technical issues on your end and you cannot participate in the webinar properly, you may not be able to earn any credits.
You should note that when it comes to earning credits from live webinars, there’re a few conditions that must need to fulfill. First, you need to be present for at least fifty minutes during a sixty-minute webinar. Second, you must answer a certain number of questions and polls to prove active participation. If you fail to meet any of these, you may not be able to earn the credits.
Lastly, the cost of attending live webinars typically tends to be higher than taking self-study ethics for Texas CPAs. And as ethics courses tend to be costlier than many other CPE courses, this is an important thing to consider when choosing your option.
If you’ve already taken a look at the list of CPE sponsors approved by the Texas state board of accountancy, perhaps you got the feeling that choosing the right sponsor for Texas CPA ethics programs isn’t an easy task.
To help you out, we’ve listed some dos and don’ts that you may want to follow when choosing your sponsor.
· Verify proper accreditation
As mentioned earlier, be completely sure to take your Texas CPA ethics online program from a sponsor approved by the Texas state board of accountancy. You can also complete the course from a non-registered provider, but in that case, there’ll be other considerations that you need to take care of. Therefore, to be on the safe side, it’s always advisable to take the courses from a registered provider.
· Choose a sponsor with a large course catalog
To keep your CPA license active in Texas, you’ll also need to fulfill other CPE requirements alongside the ethics ones. It means you’ll also have to take other courses to earn those credits. So, it’s best to join a CPE provider that offers different types of CPE courses, from technical and non-technical to ethics.
There’re two major advantages of doing this. First, you won’t have to join multiple sponsors to earn credits in different categories. And most likely, you already know that joining multiple sponsors doesn’t only mean verifying the credentials or reviewing the quality of the course materials, it’ll also become more difficult to manage your CPE credits.
Second, if you choose a provider that offers bundled CPE courses or subscription packages, you may be able to earn all your required CPE credits in a cost-effective manner. For example, we offer two unlimited subscription packages where you can earn virtually an unlimited number of CPE credits.
It means you can meet your entire Texas CPE requirements, including Texas CPA ethics, by choosing one of them. And right now, we offer a large course catalog of more than 700 courses in different formats, so you can rest assured of being able to choose the courses according to your personal and professional requirements.
· See customer reviews
Verifying the customer reviews is one of the most important things that you need to see when choosing programs on ethics for Texas CPAs. Ideally, you should choose a provider that has got a mix of both positive and negative reviews.
However, if you see that a sponsor has received lots of negative reviews, it’s advisable to avoid that one. By taking a thorough look at the reviews, you’ll be able to judge the quality of the study materials and the customer-friendliness of the provider.
· Choose a sponsor that offers multiple learning formats
Learning styles vary from one student to another. That’s why we always suggest that CPAs should join a sponsor that offers multiple learning formats, including self-study Texas CPA ethics programs and live webinars on other topics.
This will help you choose the format according to your learning preferences. For an easier topic, you may be able to comprehend the topics by going through text-based course materials. On the other hand, you may need the help of a live instructor to grasp more difficult topics. When you choose a provider that offers multiple learning formats, you won’t need to join multiple sponsors to take multiple sponsors.
Here’re the things that you should avoid when choosing when choosing the sponsor for Texas CPE ethics programs.
· Choose a sponsor that offers courses at surprisingly low costs
If you’ve already searched online for Texas CPA ethics programs, most likely you’ve come across several results that say something like “the most cost-effective program” available in the market. Before you join one of those sponsors, it’s very important to assess the quality of their course materials against the prices on offer.
If you join a provider only for the sake of low cost and the course materials turn out to be of poor quality or simply rehashed content, you won’t be able to get the most of your time, money, and effort. And the situation may become even more complicated if you enroll for a long-term package such as a year-long subscription.
Therefore, instead of going solely by the cost aspect, you should join a provider that strikes a decent balance between cost and quality.
· Choose a new sponsor
Pursuing CPE isn’t a cheap affair, and Texas CPA ethics programs often cost more than courses on many other CPE topics. Therefore, it’s wise to choose a sponsor that has garnered a good reputation in the industry.
The probabilities of going something wrong will be much lower with an experienced provider than a new one in the industry. Another major advantage with experienced sponsors is that they’re more likely to have gathered a significant number of customer reviews. So, it’ll be much easier for you to assess the quality of such a sponsor.
We hope that this guide has been helpful in letting you understand the essential aspects of Texas CPA ethics and other valuable factors related to it. If you want to start right away, you can take a look at our online Texas CPA ethics programs. If you’ve got some more questions, feel free to contact us.
Cpethink.com features the best internet reputation and reviews of any online CPE sponsor. However do not take our word for it, go to https://www.cpethink.com/cpe-reviews or see here for some of our latest buyer reviews.
These are reviews several of our existing and previous clients have given.