Alaska CPA Renewal: December 31 of Odd Years -- and Why You Won't Find It in the Statute

Alaska CPA and public-accountant licenses renew every two years, on December 31 of odd-numbered years. That much is easy to find. What's harder to pin down: for an individual license, no statute or regulation states that date at all -- only the Board's own renewal form does. Firm permits are closer to codified (12 AAC 04.280(c) does fix a December 31 deadline), but even that section doesn't name which year is current. Here's exactly what's codified, what isn't, and the one CPE rule that's new for this cycle.

The pattern: every 2 years, always December 31 -- and only half of it is in the regulation

Alaska's current biennial window is January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2027, for both individual licenses and firm permits -- but the two get there differently. For individual licenses, AS 08.04.105(a) states only the general mechanic -- a license is "valid for the remainder of the biennial licensing period during which the initial license was granted" -- never a specific date. We read the Division's complete current compilation of AS 08.04 and 12 AAC 04, all 6 statute articles and all 9 regulation articles, specifically hunting for a codified individual-license date, and found none. The current window for individuals is stated only on the Board's own renewal form (cpa4060.pdf): "regardless of the date of issuance," licenses "expire on December 31 of odd-numbered years." Firm permits are different -- 12 AAC 04.280(c) does codify a December 31 filing deadline for firm renewals -- but even that regulation doesn't name which year is current; that comes from the Board's firm form (cpa4062.pdf) too.

Confirm your own next Alaska renewal deadline here.

The 90-day exception: licensed late in the cycle, your first renewal lands two years later than you'd guess

Both renewal forms disclose the same exception, in near-identical language: a license or permit issued within 90 days of the expiration date is issued to the next biennial expiration instead of the current one -- still a December 31 date, just an odd year further out. Concretely -- someone newly licensed in the last 90 days of 2027 isn't due December 31, 2027; they're due December 31, 2029, a full cycle later. It's a reasonable rule once you know it exists, but it's disclosed only in the fine print of an operational renewal form, not anywhere a new applicant would necessarily look before assuming the nearest date applies to them.

CPE: 80 hours, split 20/year, and a brand-new daily cap

Alaska requires 80 hours of CPE per biennial period (12 AAC 04.300), with at least 20 hours completed in each of the two years -- you can't front-load or back-load the whole 80 into one year. At least 4 hours must be ethics, and Alaska doesn't mandate a state-specific ethics course: AICPA Ethics, Circular 230 Ethics, or general Behavioral Ethics all qualify. Two caps worth knowing: no more than 10 of the 80 hours may come from micro-learning (activities under one hour each), and -- new starting with licensing periods beginning on or after January 1, 2026, meaning the current 2026-2027 cycle is the first one it applies to -- no more than 12 CPE hours may be earned in a single day. If you've earned more than 12 hours in a single day before (a marathon conference day, say), the hours past 12 that day won't count this cycle.

See the full Alaska CPE breakdown here.

The fee: $300 individual / $400 firm -- plan on the full amount

The codified biennial renewal fee (12 AAC 02.340) is $300 for an individual CPA and $400 for a firm permit -- plan on the full amount. On the Board's most recent renewal forms (for the 2026-2027 cycle), licenses or permits first issued on or after January 1, 2025 were prorated to $150 individual / $200 firm -- but that renewal was due December 31, 2025, already past. The form for the next renewal (2028-2029) isn't published yet, so if you were licensed in 2026 or later, don't assume the same proration applies to you until the Board posts it.

Firm permit renewal details here.

If it lapses: fees add up by cycle, CPE jumps to 120 hours, and past 5 years it's over

Miss the deadline and the license lapses immediately, but the fee doesn't jump right away: renew within 60 days and it's still just the standard $300. Past 60 days -- and up to a year -- a $100 delayed-renewal penalty attaches on top of the $300 fee, $400 total. Lapse longer than a year and the fees don't stop at one penalty: the $300 renewal fee is owed for each additional lapsed biennial period, so a multi-cycle gap adds up. A lapse of a year or more also raises the CPE bar sharply -- 120 hours completed in the 36 months before reinstatement, versus the normal 80 hours over 2 years, with no more than 16 of those hours from micro-learning. And there's a hard stop: a lapse of five years or more cannot be reinstated at all -- the cutoff is in the reinstatement rule itself, 12 AAC 04.440(f).

Full Alaska reinstatement math here.

Bottom line: Alaska CPAs renew every 2 years, always December 31 of an odd year, for $300 ($400 for firms) -- but for individual licenses, that specific date is something no statute or regulation states outright, only the Board's own renewal form. Firm permits are the one part that's actually codified -- 12 AAC 04.280(c) fixes the December 31 deadline -- though even that section doesn't name the current year. Get licensed in the last 90 days of a cycle and your first renewal lands two years further out than you'd guess, still on a December 31. Let it lapse, and the cost isn't flat either: no penalty in the first 60 days, then $100 on top of the $300 fee up to a year, a full extra $300 for every additional lapsed cycle after that, a CPE requirement that jumps to 120 hours, and -- past five years -- no path back at all. Set a reminder for your own Alaska deadline here so a 90-day exception or an added-up lapse fee isn't something you find out about after the fact.

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