Revised CPE Standards Approved

State Board Report

February 2012

Standards for continuing professional education program sponsors that cover new formats of program delivery, as well as contemplated offerings, were unanimously approved by the NASBA Board of Directors at their meeting on January 20, 2012. The AICPA Board had approved the joint standards at their previous meeting. NASBA CPE Committee Chair Telford Lodden (IA) announced the Statement on Standards for Continuing Professional Education Programs revisions have an implementation date of July 1, 2012 for group programs and independent study. For self-study programs already in existence as of December 31, 2011, the implementation date is March 1, 2014.

Among the items included in the new Standards are:

• A standard for the development of group internet-based programs was added, covering a delivery method not included in the 2002 Standards.
• Should the program include objective-type questions, then for each CPE credit recommended there must be at least three review questions and five final exam questions.
• The program can provide feedback on the program’s final examination; however, the sponsor must ensure that question bank is of sufficient size to minimize overlap that would answer the questions for a repeat test-taker.
• Sponsors may recommend one-half CPE credits for self-study programs that are equal to 25 minutes.
• As an alternative to pilot testing for determination of the recommended CPE credits for self-study programs, a word count formula can be used.

The new standards can be found on the NASBA’s Learning Market website, and will be added as Appendix B to the Uniform Accountancy Act.