400 R.I. Code R. 400-RICR-00-00-1.8

Current through November 7, 2024

Section 400-RICR-00-00-1.8 - Continuing Professional Education ("CPE")

1.8.1CPE Rules per R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-3.1-4(f)(4) Authority

A. Number of CPE Hours Required for Permit Renewal

1. As a pre-requisite to renewing the CPA permit, the CPA must complete a minimum of one hundred twenty (120) hours of formal CPE during the preceding three (3) year period.

2. At each renewal, the CPA must certify that the CPA has completed such minimum CPE during the past three (3) year licensing period (defined from July 1 of the renewal year through June 30 three (3) years later).

3. CPE Exception for the first year of licensure: A new CPA is not required to complete CPE in the year in which they initially receive their certificate from the Board. Therefore, new CPAs are only required to certify completion of eighty (80) hours for the first renewal cycle, including four (4) ethics credits as required in §1.8.2(E) of this Part.

B. The following guidelines shall apply to the CPE requirement:

1. CPE credit will be calculated using the following time units only:

a. An instruction hour will consist of fifty (50) minutes. One (1) credit will be given for a fifty (50) minute segment. This includes any segment lasting between fifty-one (51) and seventy-four (74) minutes.

b. A half hour will consist of twenty-five (25) minutes. A half-credit (0.5) will be given for a twenty-five (25) minute segment. This includes any segment lasting between twenty-six (26) and forty-nine (49) minutes.

c. Nanolearning. One fifth credit (0.2) will be given for a ten (10) minute "nanolearning" segment. This includes any individual segment lasting between eleven (11) and twenty-four (24) minutes.

2. Only time in actual attendance in the CPE session will be counted. The time needed to prepare or review the subject matter will not be counted.

3. The time required by a lecturer or CPE session moderator for both preparation and presentation will be counted if it enhances his or her professional competence as a practicing accountant. However, credit for such preparation shall not exceed two (2) hours for each hour of presentation. Credit for such preparation and teaching shall not exceed sixty (60) CPE hours for that three (3) year reporting period. Repeated presentations of the same subject matter will not be recognized for CPE credit. A qualified instructor or discussion leader shall have the background, training, education or experience to make it appropriate for that person to lead a discussion on the subject matter. Teaching remotely-delivered CPE will be treated the same as teaching in-person for purposes of CPE calculation provided the session satisfies the requirements for attendees earning credit.

4. Credit may be allowed for published books and articles provided they contribute to the professional competence of the licensee. Credit for preparation of such publications shall not exceed sixty (60) CPE hours for that three (3) year reporting period.

5. CPE credits shall be deemed to be earned on the date the course was taken, not the date the licensee received a certificate of attendance.

6. All courses and programs, however delivered, must contain a formal program of learning in compliance with §1.8.2 of this Part that contributes directly to the professional competence of a CPA or PA after he or she has been issued a permit to practice public accounting. In addition, the course or program must be primarily directed to enhancing the professional competence of accountants or like professionals.

7. Formal programs requiring in-person or remote session attendance will qualify if:

a. An outline is prepared in advance and kept on file.

b. The program will be for a duration consistent with §1.8.1(B)(1) of this Part.

c. The session is conducted under the leadership of a qualified lecturer or moderator.

d. A record of attendance is made and kept on file.

C. Approved CPE program/course delivery methods:

1. In person, classroom instruction;

2. Remotely-delivered instruction; and

3. Self-study courses.

D. Programs which qualify for CPE credit hours:

1. Programs that will qualify for CPE, whether provided in person or remotely-delivered, include:

a. Professional development programs sponsored by recognized national and State professional accounting organizations.

b. Technical sessions at meetings of recognized national and State professional accounting organizations.

c. University or college courses which enhance the professional competency of the accounting profession.

d. Formal organized in-house educational programs.

e. Formal programs of other organizations that relate to the practice of public accounting.

2. The Board of Accountancy may consult with national and State professional organizations, universities and colleges and others in determining the acceptability of the subject matter of courses and sessions and their eligibility for credit.

3. Remotely-delivered CPE Requirements

a. Remotely-delivered CPE (including live/synchronous and on- demand/pre-recorded) will be credited the same as in-person attendance provided that Reasonable and Reliable Attendance Verification Mechanisms are implemented.

b. Reasonable and Reliable Attendance Verification Mechanisms include but are not necessarily limited to:

(1) Requiring a multi-part code with different parts of the code revealed at different points of the presentation;

(2) Using interactive test questions or polling questions; and

(3) Using pop-up screens that require the user to click to affirm continued attendance.

c. Remotely-delivered College Courses

(1) If a higher education course includes "Reasonable and Reliable Attendance Verification Mechanisms," then it is credited the same as "remotely-delivered CPE," which is the same as "in person attendance." However, if the higher education course does not include such mechanisms, then the CPE credit earned will be determined as follows. The actual online class hours (no homework time) must be honestly counted and attested to; and no more than ten (10) hours per academic credit will be accepted. If the higher education course is graded, the CPA must earn a passing grade to earn the CPE credit.

d. There is no limit on the amount of CPE hours that may be obtained through remotely-delivered CPE courses that comply with §1.8.1(D)(3) of this Part.

4. Self-Study Program Requirements

a. The Board may, in its discretion, allow credit for formal interactive correspondence or other self-study programs which provide evidence of satisfactory completion.

b. In determining the amount of credit to be awarded the Board will consider, but not be bound by, the recommendation of the sponsoring organization; provided, however, the maximum credit for such self-study programs shall not exceed eighty (80) CPE hours for that three (3) year reporting period.

c. The licensee shall be required to obtain and present to the Board evidence of satisfactory completion of the self-study course from the program sponsor. Credit will be awarded in the licensing period in which the course is completed.

E. CPE Compliance Recordkeeping and Documentation

1. Every licensee shall be responsible for maintaining documentation of compliance with these Regulations; including proof of attendance for all courses for which CPE credit is claimed.

2. Licensees shall retain documentation of compliance with the CPE requirements for the current renewal period and the preceding renewal period.

3. In addition to the above requirements, the Board may also require a licensee, as part of an audit, compliance investigation, or otherwise, to submit to the Board an official accounting, in a format approved by the Board, of the licensee's completed CPE hours for the preceding three (3) year period. For example, the Board may require a signed CPE compliance table summarizing the licensee's CPE hours for the preceding three (3) year period to include the following information:

a. Sponsoring organization

b. Location of session

c. Title and description of the subject matter

d. Dates attended

e. Number of hours claimed

4. CPAs are subject to disciplinary action by the Board for falsifying their attendance at any CPE, including any remotely-delivered or self-study programs.

F. Recognition of Reciprocal CPE Requirements of other U.S. Jurisdictions A licensee whose principal place of business is in another U.S. jurisdiction and who holds an active license in that jurisdiction ("principal jurisdiction") shall be determined to have met the CPE requirements of this Regulation by meeting the CPE requirements of the principal jurisdiction provided the principal jurisdiction does in fact have CPE requirements and the licensee is not claiming an exemption from said requirements.

G. Request for Special Relief for CPE Compliance

1. The Board expects that CPAs will make every effort to complete their CPEs on the normal schedule, plan accordingly, and request special relief only if absolutely necessary.

2. The Board may in its discretion, on an individual basis, make exceptions for the required CPE completion time (extensions) for good cause shown, such as reasons of health, military service, foreign residence, retirement or for such other reasons as the Board may determine reasonable. A Board-approved extension allows a licensee to apply CPE credits retroactively.

3. State of Emergency Automatic Relief - If the Governor declares a State of Emergency that spans thirty (30) days or more during the last twelve (12) months of a CPA's renewal cycle, an affected CPA may give written notice to the Board that such circumstance has caused an undue hardship in completing the full amount of CPE required by the renewal deadline. Upon receipt of such notice, the Board will automatically approve that the CPA may complete the missing CPE hours (the differential between the hours required and those actually accumulated by the deadline) during the next renewal cycle, in addition to the full amount of hours already required to be completed in the normal course of the next renewal cycle. [For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, those CPAs renewing June 30, 2020, may request to complete the missing CPE hours for the July 1, 2017 - June 30, 2020 term during the July 1, 2020 - June 30, 2023 term. If the COVID-19 State of Emergency persists beyond June 30, 2020, then those CPAs renewing June 30, 2021 for the July 1, 2018 - June 30, 2021 would qualify for the same automatic relief upon providing written notice to the Board.]

1.8.2Continuing Professional Education Subject Areas

A. Educational programs or instruction in the following subject areas will qualify for CPE hours:

1. Accounting and Auditing (accounting, governmental accounting, auditing, and governmental auditing);

2. Technical Business Subjects, which includes:

a. Consulting Services (administrative practice and the social environment of business);

b. Management (business law, finance, management advisory services);

c. Specialized Knowledge and Applications (computer science, economics, mathematics, production, specialized knowledge and applications and statistics); and

d. Taxes.

3. Personal Development and Marketing (communications, business management and organization, personal development, personnel/human resources and marketing); and

4. Ethics (behavioral ethics and regulatory ethics).

B. Accounting and auditing subjects shall include the following subject areas: accounting; governmental accounting; auditing; and governmental auditing.

1. Accounting subjects or courses shall include courses relating to financial accounting instruction relating to the authoritative literature in generally accepted accounting principles in the United States and its international trading partners and the pronouncements of the Accounting Principles Board and its successor agencies and the Financial Accounting Standards Board and its successor agencies; accounting research, planning and supervision; accounting for small businesses, specialized industries and commerce; forensic accounting; financial statement preparation; review and compilation of financial statements and reports, SEC reporting requirements, and preparing and reporting on Other Comprehensive Basis of Accounting (OCBOA) financial statements.

2. Governmental Accounting shall include courses relating to Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) standards of State and local governmental accounting and financial reporting, statements, concepts, and interpretations; Government Accounting and Reporting (Specialized); and Forensic Accounting.

3. Auditing subjects or courses shall include courses relating to auditing research; general auditing theory and practice; auditing and electronic data processing (EDP); substantive audit procedures; independent auditors' reports; study and evaluation of internal control; and forensic auditing. Auditing subjects shall also include courses relating to generally accepted auditing standards in the United States and its international trading partners, including compliance with auditing standards by any authoritative organization issuing auditing standards, including, but not limited to, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the General Accounting Office, the Comptroller General and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

4. Governmental Auditing courses shall include subjects relating to GASB standards of State and local governmental accounting and financial reporting, statements, concepts, and interpretations as well as forensic auditing. Governmental auditing course shall also include courses relating to generally accepted auditing standards in State and local governments, the United States and its international trading partners; and compliance with auditing standards by any authoritative organization issuing auditing standards, such as the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the General Accounting Office (GAO), and the Comptroller General.

C. Not more than twenty-four (24) hours of the one hundred twenty (120) hours required hereunder shall be devoted to Personal Development and Marketing in the following subject areas:

1. Communications

Which shall include courses relating to interview techniques, business writing, business presentations, group dynamics, public relations, group process management and counseling.

2. Business Management and Organization

Which shall include courses relating to the organization and administration of a public accounting practice, management advisory systems (MAS) practice management, management information systems in industry, State and local governments and management planning in industry.

3. Personal development

Which shall include courses relating to principle-centered leadership, career planning and time-management.

4. Personnel and/or human resources

Which shall include courses relating to human resources management in public accounting practice, industry and government.

5. Marketing

Which shall include courses relating to the examination of market analysis methods and their use to develop an organization's product/service mix and the integration of the communication, distribution and pricing strategies to achieve goals including marketing professional services, customer communications and e-business practices.

D. Technical business subjects shall include the following subject areas:

1. Consulting Services

a. Administrative Practice shall include courses relating to MAS practice skills, MAS engagement management, planning and control systems (human resources development and organization) and personal financial planning.

b. The Social Environment of Business shall include courses relating to planning and control systems: manufacturing, marketing, research and development, finance and management information systems, and other management advisory systems.

2. Management

a. Business Law shall include courses relating the legal system with special emphasis upon its relationship to business and the practice of accounting, such as employment law, asset protection, business law for accountants, tax management, collection law, critical legal and tax issues for accountants and legal environment of business.

b. Finance shall include courses relating to specific financial management of an organization including budgeting, asset management, cost analysis, financial management in government, the purchase and sale of a business, and contracting for goods and services in industry.

c. Management Advisory Services shall include courses focusing on key processes, achieving efficiencies, improving cash flow and maintaining profitability including academic practice management, advanced cash and treasury management, activity-based costing, applied project management, risk management and performance management.

3. Specialized Knowledge and Applications

a. Computer Science shall consist of courses relating to networks, communications, the internet, computer hardware, system software, application software involving web browsers, word processing, spreadsheets, database management systems and presentation software.

b. Economics shall include courses relating to the principles of pricing, stabilization, supply and demand, employment theory, fiscal policy banking systems, monetary policy, economic growth and fundamentals of the economy; including microeconomics, macroeconomics, money and banking, and public finance.

c. Mathematics shall include courses relating to the fundamental concepts of mathematical problem-solving including algebra, geometry and calculus.

d. Production shall include courses relating to production scheduling, inventory control, standards for pay and production and quality control including operations management, inventory management and supply operations.

e. Specialized Knowledge and Applications shall include courses relating to a concentrated specialized skill set and specialized industries, such as not-for-profit organizations, health care, and oil and gas; including courses relating to advanced energy options on futures, HIPAA contracts, beginning access, beginning excel, forensic accounting/auditing and business evaluation.

f. Statistics shall include courses relating to multivariate probability distributions, estimation of parameters, hypothesis testing, linear models, analysis of variance, analysis of enumerative data and nonparametric statistics including business statistics, quantitative analysis and probability.

4. Taxes shall include courses relating to compliance and tax planning. Compliance covers tax return preparation and review and IRS examinations, ruling requests and protests. Tax planning focuses on applying tax rules to prospective transactions and understanding the tax implications of unusual or complex transactions including but not limited to: tax research, tax accounting, individual income taxation, partnership taxation, corporate income taxation, corporate tax consideration in industry, tax-exempt organizations, estate and trust taxation, compensation considerations for taxation, real estate taxation, international taxation, State and local taxes, tax practice management and procedures, computers in the tax practice, general taxation and special tax matters.

E. Not less than six (6) hours of the one hundred twenty (120) hours required hereunder shall be devoted to regulatory ethics and behavioral ethics. New CPAs during their first licensure cycle shall obtain not less than four (4) hours of ethics CPEs of the eighty (80) hours required. Ethics shall include courses relating to the necessary ethical background knowledge required to adhere to Rules and Regulations of State licensing bodies, other governmental entities, membership associations and other professional organizations or bodies.

1. Subjects devoted to regulatory ethics will include programs devoted to the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct, including opinions issued thereunder, as well as programs relating to the legal, professional or ethical codes of any authoritative organization or accounting professional specialty organization. The following additional subjects will also be considered within the field of regulatory ethics: public interest and responsibilities, licenses and renewals, SEC oversight, competence - discreditable act, advertising and other form of solicitation, independence, integrity and objectivity, confidential client information, contingent fees, commissions and other considerations, conflict of interest, discreditable acts, full disclosure, malpractice and record retention.

2. Behavioral ethics shall include courses relating to general professional ethics including ethics and professional conduct, ethical practice in business, personal ethics, ethical decision-making and corporate ethics.

3. In promulgating this requirement, it is the hope and intention of the Board that sponsoring organizations will incorporate a professional ethics component into accounting, auditing and technical business programs. The sponsoring organization should specify the hour or one half (1/2) hour value of the ethics content of such programs.

1.8.3CPE Audits

The Board may perform random or for-cause audits of licensees' compliance with the CPE requirements. If selected for an audit, the licensee shall provide documentation of compliance in the format requested by the Board, including proof of attendance, for the preceding three (3) year license period. Failure to produce such documentation may be grounds for disciplinary action by the Board pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-3.1-12, including up to a one thousand dollar ($1,000.00) administrative penalty.

400 R.I. Code R. 400-RICR-00-00-1.8

Amended effective 8/4/2020
Amended effective 4/4/2022
Amended effective 2/19/2023