Virginia CPA CPE Requirements: How Many Hours, By When

• 20-hour minimum in each 1-year period (you can't front-load the whole requirement into a single year).
• 2 ethics hours, required once every year (counts toward the total above, not an add-on).

This applies to Active licensees. Under 18VAC5-22-90(C), a licensee who provides no services to the public or to or on behalf of an employer, including on a volunteer basis, and holds a written Board exemption (the VBOA's Inactive status) owes no CPE for that year, but must have obtained 120 hours, including a 2-hour ethics course, before resuming services. Under 18VAC5-22-90(A)(1)-(2), a licensee whose principal place of business is outside Virginia and who holds an active license in another state is eligible for an exemption by meeting that state's CPE requirement, plus Virginia's ethics requirement if that state has none. Under 18VAC5-22-90(B), a CPA who held no Virginia or other-state license in one or both of the two preceding calendar years is treated as compliant for the year they become licensed, and needs only the 20-hour annual minimum, with ethics, for each later year until three years have passed. Confirm with the VBOA which applies to you.