Washington (WA) CPA Continuing Education (CPE) Requirements

The Washington State Board of Accountancy does not endorse or pre-approve CPE courses or require registration by individual providers of CPE. Listed below are some of the Washington State CPA CPE requirements that apply to online continuing education. BestCPE designs its courses to meet the requirements of the Washington State Board of Accountancy. Please use the official rules from the Washington State Board of Accountancy as the official documentation for any questions related to Washington State CPA CPE.

Current CPE Requirements

The CPE requirements for licensees and CPA-Inactive certificate holders are described briefly below (WAC 4-25-830):

Program Requirements :

Programs must be formal. Formal means attendance is recorded and outlines are prepared in advance. Programs must be at least 50 minutes in length and conducted by a qualified instructor.

Qualifying programs contribute to the professional competence of a CPA. Professional development programs of the AICPA and state societies; technical sessions at meetings of the AICPA, state societies and chapters thereof; appropriate university or college courses; formal organized in-firm programs; other educational programs sponsored by trade or professional associations; and commercially offered programs are usually acceptable as long as they meet the professional competence and formality criteria. For additional information, see WAC 4-25-830.

CPE Program Sponsors :  

Effective January 1, 2000 the Board does not maintain agreements with CPE Program Sponsors.   Over the last ten years program sponsors have done an excellent job of providing qualifying CPE classes to Washington CPA's and CPA-Inactive certificateholders.  Monitoring activities have not identified a single unacceptable course.  Therefore the Board repealed WAC 4-25-813--Continuing Professional Education--Program Sponsor Agreements on October 29, 1999 .

Subject areas  

Programs dealing with the following general subject areas are acceptable so long as they meet the standards in subsection (1) of this section:

Technical subjects include:

(i) Auditing standards or procedures;

(ii) Compilation and review of financial statements;

(iii) Financial statement preparation and disclosures;

(iv) Attestation standards and procedures;

(v) Projection and forecast standards or procedures;

(vi) Accounting and auditing;

(vii) Management advisory services;

(viii) Personal financial planning;

(ix) Taxation;

(x) Management information services;

(xi) Budgeting and cost analysis;

(xii) Asset management;

(xiii) Professional ethics (other than those programs used to satisfy the requirements of WAC 4-25-830(3));

(xiv) Specialized areas of industry;

(xv) Human resource management;

(xvi) Economics;

(xvii) Business law;

(xviii) Mathematics, statistics, and quantitative applications in business;

(xix) Business management and organization;

(xx) General computer skills, computer software training, information technology planning and management; and

(xxi) Negotiation or dispute resolution courses;

Nontechnical subjects include:

(i) Communication skills;

(ii) Interpersonal management skills;

(iii) Leadership and personal development skills;

(iv) Client and public relations;

(v) Practice development;

(vi) Motivational and behavioral courses; and

(vii) Speed reading and memory building.

Subjects other than those listed above may be acceptable provided you can demonstrate they contribute to your professional competence. You are solely responsible for demonstrating that a particular program is acceptable.

Self-study programs  

Credit for self-study programs is allowed in the renewal period in which you completed the program as established by the evidence of completion provided by the program sponsor.

Interactive self-study programs:  

The amount of credit allowed for interactive self-study is that which is recommended by the program sponsor on the basis of the average completion time under appropriate "field tests." In order to claim CPE credit for interactive self-study programs, you must obtain evidence of satisfactory completion of the course from the program sponsor.

Noninteractive self-study programs:  

The amount of credit allowed for noninteractive self-study is one-half the average completion time as determined by the program sponsor on the basis of appropriate "field tests." To claim CPE credit for noninteractive self-study programs, you must obtain evidence of satisfactory completion of the course from the program sponsor.

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