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Virginia CPE Courses for CPAs

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Your Ultimate Guide to Virginia CPE

Once you pass the Uniform CPA Exam and obtain your license to work in Virginia, you should start planning on how to pursue Virginia CPE in the most efficient manner. This is because similar to all other states, non-compliance with your Virginia Board of Accountancy CPE requirements can cause some irreversible damage to your professional career.

With that in mind, we’ve created this page where you’ll get all the important information related to Virginia CPE requirements for CPA.

Let’s start with the fundamental guidelines.

 

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What Are the Fundamental Guidelines for Virginia CPE?

As an active Virginia CPA, you’re required to comply with these guidelines:

  • Virginia Board of Accountancy has an annual license renewal period. Your license will expire on June 30th every year.
  • The board has a triennial CPE reporting period.
  • You’re required to earn 120 CPE credits every three years to meet your Virginia CPA CPE requirements. Note that, it’s a rolling three-year period. This means every annual registration period, you need to be able to demonstrate that you’ve obtained 120 CPE credits during the past three-year period.
  • You’re required to obtain at least 20 CPE credits each year. And you’ll need to earn them between January 1st and December 31st.
  • Each year, you must earn two credits in Virginia CPE ethics.
  • If you authorize the release of or release reports on financial statement preparation services, compilation services, or attest services for entities or persons based in Virginia, you’re required to earn eight CPE credits each year in compilation or attest services.

What Are the Detailed Virginia CPE Requirements Related To Ethics?

As a Virginia CPA, you’re required to obtain two Virginia ethics CPE credits in compliance with these guidelines:

  • You must take your Virginia CPE ethics course from a sponsor approved by the VBOA.
  • The Virginia CPE ethics course has to be pre-approved by the Virginia Board of Accountancy. It also needs to contain the VBOA Segment video.
  • You’re free to choose different topics and courses to fulfill your Virginia ethics CPE requirement. For instance, you can take a course as per your preferences or a course specific to your line of work. However, the sponsor of the course has to be approved by the VBOA.

What Are the Other Policies Related To Virginia CPE Requirements for CPA?

Here’re the other important policies that you need to keep in mind when pursuing Virginia CPE.

  • The VBOA offers a grace period of one month. This means January 31st is your deadline for obtaining your CPE for the last calendar year.
  • The board considers a CPA eligible for CPE reciprocity if their primary place of business isn’t in Virginia but they have an active license in another state. If the person fulfills their home state’s CPE requirements, the VBOA accepts this as compliance with Virginia CPE requirements.

However, the CPA must obtain at least two credits by completing an ethics course that meets the VBOA requirements. Alternatively, the CPA needs to complete an ethics course that’s acceptable to the board of accountancy of the person’s home state.

  • If you don’t hold a license in any state and apply for a license in Virginia within the same calendar year in which you pass the CPA exam, you aren’t required to pursue CPE for that calendar year. However, if you don’t hold a license in any state and apply for a license in Virginia after the calendar year in which you pass the CPA exam, you need to pursue CPE before applying for the license. And this includes obtaining at least two CPE credits in ethics. In this case, you need to keep these two things in mind:
    • The required minimum number of CPE credits can be 40, 80, or 120. It’ll depend on whether you apply for a license in Virginia by the first calendar year’s end after the calendar year in which you pass the CPA exam, by the second calendar year’s end, or later.
    • The ethics course needs to comply with the requirements of the VBOA for the calendar year in which you apply for the license.
  • The VBOA doesn’t make it mandatory for Virginia CPAs to pursue CPE from NASBA-approved providers. However, it advises that all sponsors should follow and understand NASBA CPE provider standards.
  • The VBOA doesn’t specify fields of study. Therefore, you can choose subjects specified in the NASBA fields of study to meet Virginia CPE requirements for CPA.
  • You can earn all your Virginia CPE credits by taking self-study courses.

What Are the Credit Limitations Pertaining To Virginia CPA CPE Requirements?

Regardless of the Virginia CPE tracking method you want to use, be sure to keep the following credit limitations in mind.

  • If you provide formal presentations or instructions, you’re allowed to earn a maximum of 30 CPE credits in a three-year reporting period.
  • For authorship of published material, you can obtain a maximum of 30 CPE credits in a three-year reporting period.
  • You can also meet the Virginia Board of Accountancy CPE requirements by successfully clearing certification examinations. However, in that case, you’re allowed to earn a maximum of 60 credits in a three-year reporting period. It’s also important to note that you’ll only receive credits for the year in which you’ve cleared the exam and received the certification. Click here to see the exams passing which you can earn Virginia CPE credits.

What Are the Methods to Calculate Credits When Pursuing Virginia CPE?

  • For formal presentations or instructions, your credits will be equal to presentation and preparation. If you provide instruction or presentation on the same material, you’ll only receive credit if the material has been changed significantly.
  • You’re allowed to obtain partial credits of any amount.
  • If you take college or university programs to meet Virginia CPE requirements, you’ll get 10 credits for one quarter hour. And for one semester hour, you’ll get 15 credits.

What to Do If You’re Selected for a CPE Audit When Fulfilling Virginia CPE Requirements

Besides taking Virginia CPE courses, it’s essential to maintain good records of all your completed CPE activities because VBOA regularly conducts CPE audits to ensure that CPAs are fulfilling Virginia CPE requirements.

If you’re selected for a CPE audit, you need to use NASBA’s CPE Audit Service system to submit your CPE documentation and records to the VBOA. This system is designed to be used by state boards of accountancy, CPE sponsors, and CPAs.

Here, it’s important to mention that when you’re selected for a CPE audit, the use of the CPE Audit Service doesn’t ensure that you’re in compliance with your CPE requirements. The VBOA will make the final decision regarding this.

The best thing about CPE Audit Service is that even if you aren’t selected for a CPE audit, you can use it as a Virginia CPE tracker to ensure that you’re in compliance with your Virginia CPE requirements for CPA.

What Are the Learning Activities You Need To Focus On When Meeting Virginia CPE Requirements for CPA?

As mentioned above, the VBOA allows you to choose from NASBA’s fields of study to pursue Virginia CPE. And NASBA’s fields of study are divided into two main categories: technical and non-technical.

In this block, we’ll discuss the fields of study that fall under each of these categories.

Technical Fields of Study

Subjects that fall under technical fields of study are directly related to the accounting profession and the field of business of the CPA. Mastering these subjects when fulfilling your Virginia CPE requirements should help you enhance your technical competence.

Here’re the brief overviews of technical fields of study.

  • Accounting (non-governmental)

This field of study helps you improve your knowledge and skills to maintain, prepare, or report an entity’s financial records. It also helps you understand the procedures and principles of financial reporting and accounting, as well as, how to analyze, verify, and report financial records.

Some of the related subjects include accounting research, forensic accounting, financial statements and reports, SEC practice, and accounting services for small businesses.

  • Accounting (governmental)

The governmental sub-area helps you gain the same kind of knowledge but applies to a governmental contract or entity. Two of the subjects related to this field include forensic accounting (associated with a governmental contract or entity) and governmental accounting and reporting.

  • Auditing (non-governmental)

This field of study helps enhance your knowledge required to carry out an independent and thorough examination of statements, records, data, performances, and operations of an entity for a particular purpose.

Some of the related subjects are auditing and reports, auditing research, planning and supervision, forensic analysis and evaluation, and substantive audit procedures.

  • Auditing (governmental)

The governmental sub-area of auditing helps you gain the same type of knowledge but applies to a governmental contract or entity for a specified purpose. Two of the related subjects include government auditing (general & specialized) and forensic analysis and evaluation (associated with a governmental contract or agency).

  • Business law

Mastering this field of study helps improve your knowledge of the relationship between the legal system and business and accounting. Some of the subjects you can focus on include business law, employment law, legal and tax issues, and collection law.

  • Finance

This field of study helps enhance your skills in an organization’s financial management including buying and selling businesses, asset management, financial planning and analysis, etc. Some of the related subjects include financial management, budgeting and cost analysis, quantitative analysis, and financial planning and analysis.

  • Economics

You can learn the rules of macroeconomics, microeconomics, public finance, and money and banking by mastering this field of study. Some of the relevant subjects are employment theory, economic growth, monetary policy, fiscal policy banking systems, and supply and demand.

  • Regulatory ethics

This area helps you develop your ethical background required to adhere to the rules and regulations of governmental entities, state licensing organizations, membership associations, etc. Some of the subjects you can focus on include conflict of interest, confidential client information, licenses and renewals, and professional conduct.

  • Management services

This field of study involves an entity’s business processes, maintaining profitability, achieving efficiencies, and improving cash flow. Some of the related subjects include performance management, enterprise risk management, and project management.

  • Information technology

Some of the subjects related to this field include cloud computing, artificial intelligence, data analytics, disaster recovery plans, and cyber security. If you take a Virginia CPE course that focuses on information technology’s application in auditing, accounting, or tax, it’ll be categorized into the respective practice’s field of study.

  • Taxes

This field of study is further divided into two sub-fields: tax planning and tax compliance. Tax planning focuses on comprehending the tax implications of complex or unusual transactions and applying tax guidelines to prospective transactions. Tax compliance focuses on IRS examinations, tax return preparation and review, and ruling requests and protests.

Some of the relevant subjects include corporate income taxation, individual income taxation, special tax matters, partnership taxation, and state and local taxes.

  • Statistics

This area incorporates business statistics, probability, and quantitative analysis. Some of the related subjects are analysis of variance, linear models, nonparametric statistics, and hypothesis testing.

  • Specialized knowledge

This field of study comprises subjects that are applicable to specialized services or industries. Note that if you take a course that focuses on these specialized industries’ auditing, accounting, or tax content, it’ll be classified as a course in that field of study.

Non-Technical Fields of Study

Non-technical fields of study may not be directly related to the accounting profession and the field of business of the CPA. However, you must consider them as important as technical fields of study when fulfilling Virginia CPE requirements to enhance your overall competence.

Here’re the brief details of non-technical fields of study.

  • Business management and organization

This area covers an organization’s management including administrative practices, organizational structures, and management planning. Some of the relevant subjects are professional liability insurance, management planning in industry, and time and billing.

  • Behavioral ethics

Some of the subjects related to behavioral ethics include ethical practice in business, ethical decision-making, and personal ethics.

  • Computer software & applications

Mastering this field of study helps improve your knowledge of computer software and applications that you use when offering professional services. Two of the related courses include courses related to QuickBooks, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. and courses related to business process software’s architecture and technical aspects.

Again, if the course focuses on the software’s application in auditing, accounting, or tax, it’ll be categorized into that respective field of study.

  • Communications and marketing

This area is designed to help you become an effective communicator. Some of the subjects you can focus on include interviewing techniques, business presentations, customer communications, and business writing.

  • Personnel/human resources

Two of the subjects related to this area are human resource management’s functional areas and attracting, developing, motivating, and retaining employees.

  • Production

This field of study involves production management including inventory control, quality control, scheduling, etc. Some of the related subjects include supply operations, inventory management, and operations management.

  • Personal development

Some of the subjects relevant to this area are time management, leadership, and career planning.

Wrapping Up

We hope that this page has been helpful in providing you with all the vital information related to Virginia CPE. If you want to learn about how the expert team at CPEThink.com can help you fulfill your Virginia CPE requirements in the most efficient manner, contact us today!

 

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