Illinois (IL) CPA Continuing Education (CPE) Requirements

BestCPE (CPE Publications, Inc.) is registered with the Illinois State Board of Public Accountancy (Sponsor # 158-002188 ). Listed below are some of the Illinois CPA CPE requirements that apply to online continuing education. BestCPE designs its courses to meet the credit hour requirement by the Ilinois State Board of Public Accountancy. Please use the official rules from the Illinois State Board of Public Accountancy as the official documentation for any questions related to Illinois CPA CPE.

Illinois Public Accounting Act - Continuing Professional Education

Approved continuing professional education course or program (CPE course), as used in this Part, shall mean a course or program that complies with subsection (d) of this Section.  In addition, courses sponsored or approved by other states or other state CPA societies shall be considered approved.

Recognized educational or professional sponsor, as used in this Part, shall mean:

1)         The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA);

2)         The Illinois CPA Society/Foundation (ICPAS/F);

3)         A university or college approved by its governing board in the State of Illinois, or equivalent public authority governing board if in another jurisdiction, to award accounting degrees; or

4)         The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA).

Sponsor, as used in this Part, shall mean a person, firm, association, corporation or other group responsible for coordination and presentation of an approved CPE course or program.

An approved CPE course or program is an organized program of formal learning that contributes directly to a certified public accountant's knowledge, ability or competence to perform his/her duties as a public accountant.  Those programs and courses will qualify if they meet the following minimum requirements:

The course or program shall include as its subject matter one or more of the following:

A)        Accounting and auditing

B)        Taxation

C)        Management services

D)        Computer sciences

E)         Mathematics, statistics, probability, and quantitative applications to organization

F)         Economics

G)        Finance

H)        Business, securities and administrative law

I)          Business management and employee benefits

J)         Professional ethics for certified public accountants

K)        Auditing public or private sector specialized industries

L)         Administrative practice; e.g., engagement letters, fee structure and personnel management

M)       Effective presentation techniques

N)        Professional Writing

O)        Decision Making

P)         Practice development

Q)        Ethics

All courses and programs shall be developed and presented by persons with education and/or experience in the subject matter of the program to ensure compliance with the standards stated herein.

All programs must include some mechanism whereby the participants evaluate the over-all quality of the program.

All courses and programs shall specify the course objectives, level of knowledge necessary for, and prerequisites to enrollment, if any, course content, any necessary advance preparation, teaching methods to be used, and the number of CPE hours that will be earned.

An interactive self-study course or program is a program that uses interactive learning methodologies that simulate the classroom learning process by employing computer software, other technology or administrative systems that provide significant, ongoing, interactive feedback to the learner regarding his or her learning process.  For reporting periods ending on or after September 1, 1997, interactive self-study programs shall qualify for full credit, except as limited by the provisions of subsection (e)(4).

The sponsors of all courses and programs will provide each participant with a certificate or other proof of attendance, which must include the name and address of the sponsor, the name and address of the participant, the title of the course, the number of hours actually attended in each topic, and the date the course or program was given.  The sponsors shall also provide each participant with an outline of the course subject matter.  If the sponsor is a public accounting firm licensed under the Act, and the course is given in-firm, the sponsor will not be required to provide certificates of attendance to the employees of the firm attending the course.

Credit Hours - Each approved CPE course or program "hour" shall include, as a minimum, 50 minutes of actual class time, exclusive of time devoted by participants to pre-class or post-class preparation or study and shall equal one CPE course credit hour.  Courses that are part of the curriculum of a university, college or other educational institution shall be awarded CPE course credit at the rate of 15 credit hours for each semester hour, or 10 credit hours for each quarter hour of school credit awarded.

A licensee who serves as an instructor, speaker or discussion leader of an approved course will be allowed CPE course credit for actual presentation time, plus actual preparation time of up to 2 hours for each hour of presentation.  Preparation time shall not be allowed for repetitious presentations of the same course, and will only be allowed for additional study or research.  In no case shall credit for actual time of presentation and preparation be given for more than 60 hours during any renewal period.

CPE course credit will be allowed for actual authorship of published articles and books, provided the subject matter of such article or book complies with this Section.  CPE course credit shall be allowed for actual time spent in writing or researching, but in no case shall credit for authorship of published articles or books be given for more than 30 hours during any renewal period.

A correspondence or individual study course shall qualify if it meets all other requirements of these rules, it indicates average completion time on the course material, and it provides some mechanism or process by which to provide evidence of satisfactory completion by the licensee beyond certification by the licensee.  Credit hours for a correspondence or individual study course, other than an interactive self-study course, shall be allowed on the basis of one-half of the average completion time determined by the sponsor.  In no case shall credit for correspondence or individual study courses, other than an interactive self-study course, be given for more than 60 hours during any renewal period.

In addition to the limitations stated in subsection (e)(3), not more than 80 hours during any renewal period may consist of a combination of interactive self-study and correspondence or individual study courses.

CPE course credit will be allowed for programs or courses taken toward the satisfaction of continuing education provisions in other states.

Recognized educational or professional sponsors, as specified in subsection (b), shall be approved upon filing a sponsor application  with the Division and payment of the required fee set forth in Section 1420.40 of this Part.  Such filing shall not prevent the Division from requiring additional information to ensure full and continued compliance with the statute and this Part.  The Division will require the added information when it has reason to believe that there is not full and continued compliance with the statute and this Part and the additional information is necessary to ensure compliance

All other sponsors shall be approved upon application to the Division, payment of the required fee set forth in Section 1420.40 of this Part and upon providing the Division the following additional certification:

1)         That all courses and programs offered by such sponsor for CPE course credit will comply with this Section;

2)         That the sponsor will be responsible for verifying attendance at each course or program and will maintain such records for not less than five years; and

3)         That, upon request by the Division, the sponsor will submit such evidence as is necessary to establish compliance with the requirements of this Section.  Such evidence will be requested when the Division has reason to believe that there is not full and continued compliance with the statute and this Part and that the information is necessary to ensure compliance.

Upon failure of any sponsor to comply with the requirements of this Section, the Division shall issue a written notification to the sponsor that it must remedy its non-compliance prior to providing further approved courses.

All sponsor approvals shall expire December 31 of each year and may be renewed by submitting a renewal application and the required fee set forth in Section 1420.40 of this Part.

The Division shall periodically audit CPE course information submitted by applicants to verify such information, and shall verify such information upon receipt of a written complaint or allegation that a particular applicant or group of applicants has not fully complied with the requirements of the Act or this Part.

Any approved sponsor's courses shall be disapproved if the sponsor fails or refuses to provide information to the Division for ascertaining compliance with this Part as specified in subsections (f) and (g).

Continuing Education Earned in Other Jurisdictions

1)         If a renewal applicant will be earning or has earned CPE hours in another jurisdiction, but is not licensed in that jurisdiction and the course is not presented by an approved sponsor, the applicant shall submit an individual program approval request form, along with a $25 processing fee, to have the program reviewed.  The Committee shall review and recommend approval or disapproval of the programs using the criteria set forth in subsection (d) of this Section.  Applicants may seek individual program approval prior to participation in the course or program.  All individual program approval requests shall be submitted 90 days prior to the expiration date of the license.

2)         If a licensee fails to submit an out of state CPE approval form within the required time, late approval may be obtained by submitting the application with the $25 processing fee plus a $10 per CPE hour late fee, not to exceed $150.  The Committee shall review and recommend approval or disapproval of the program using the criteria set forth in subsection (d) of this Section.

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