In total
40 hours
Over each license year, which ends September 30.
Alabama CPA CPE Requirements
Alabama CPAs must complete 40 hours of CPE every year, by September 30, including 2 hours of professional ethics. Extra hours don’t carry over.
Alabama CPE requirements at a glance
- Required hours
- 40 hours
- Every year.
- Reporting period
- One year
- Ends September 30.
- Ethics
- 2 hours
- Every year. Counts toward the 40-hour total for the period.
- License renewal
- Every year
- You report each course to the board online.
- Self-study
- Accepted
- Alabama’s rules set no cap on self-study hours.
- Carryover
- Not allowed
- Extra hours can’t be applied to a later year.
Still need CPE hours for your renewal? Unlimited self-study CPE covers accounting, auditing, tax and business courses — $149 for the year.
Get Unlimited CPEHow many CPE hours do Alabama CPAs need?
Alabama counts CPE over the year before your license expires. Within that period:
Is ethics CPE required in Alabama?
Yes. Alabama CPAs must complete 2 hours of professional ethics during each license year. Ethics hours also count toward the 40-hour total for the period.
Which ethics courses count?
This Sequoia CPE course meets Alabama’s 2-hour ethics requirement:
- Ethics for Alabama CPAs$39.50 · 2 hours
What subjects qualify for Alabama CPE?
Courses in any NASBA field of study (the field shown on each course certificate) count toward the 40 hours, with a minimum in accounting and auditing and a limit on personal development. Computer software and applications courses on the general use of software do not count toward Alabama’s accounting and auditing hours, though software courses that focus on applying the software in accounting or audit do.
Accounting and auditing
At least 8 of the 40 hours.
Includes Accounting, Accounting (Governmental), Auditing and Auditing (Governmental)
Ethics
Includes Regulatory Ethics
Personal development
No more than 12 of the 40 hours.
When is the Alabama CPE deadline?
Your license expires on September 30 every year. Your CPE is due by then.
The day after your last expiration
Your CPE year starts
Hours you complete from this date count toward your next renewal. Extra hours can’t be applied to a later year.
September 30
All 40 hours due
Finish 40 hours by the date your license expires. Report each course to the board online before you renew; the board may ask for your certificates.
Newly licensed?
The Board’s 2026-2027 registration instructions say that no CPE hours are required for the reporting period, the fiscal year that ended September 30, 2026, of CPAs certified or licensed after October 1, 2025.
Under the rule, a person who elects active licensure within five years of passing the CPA examination must complete at least 40 hours of acceptable CPE within the period ending one year after the September 30 following the date active licensure was first elected.
How Alabama counts CPE credit
The rules that decide whether — and how much — a course counts.
| Rule | What Alabama requires |
|---|---|
| Credit hour | One credit equals one 50-minute contact hour. |
| Self-study | Accepted. Credit is based on program length, with 50 minutes equal to one CPE hour. |
| Approved sponsors | Alabama doesn’t register CPE sponsors. Programs must meet the standards in Alabama’s rules.Sequoia CPE is a NASBA QAS self-study sponsor (sponsor number 121900). |
| Carryover | Not allowed. Excess hours can’t be applied to a later year. |
Keep your certificates for 5 years
You report each course to Alabama online; your certificates are the evidence if the board checks. Keep each certificate for at least 5 years.
Sequoia issues your certificate the moment you pass, and it stays in your account.
Your records must show
- Sponsoring organization
- Delivery method
- Course field of study
- Title of course
- Date completed
- Number of CPE hours
Finish your Alabama CPE with Sequoia CPE.
Self-study courses: learn from a PDF, take the exam online and get your certificate the moment you pass.
NASBA QAS self-study sponsor #121900Try a free sample course
Alabama CPE questions, answered
How many CPE hours do Alabama CPAs need?
Alabama CPAs need 40 CPE hours every year. At least 8 of them must be in accounting and auditing, and no more than 12 in personal development.
When is the Alabama CPE deadline?
Your license expires on September 30 every year. Alabama counts CPE over the year before it expires, and hours beyond the requirement can’t be applied to a later year. You report each course to the board online, and the board may ask for your certificates.
How many ethics hours do Alabama CPAs need?
Alabama CPAs need 2 hours of professional ethics during each license year. Ethics hours also count toward the 40-hour total for the period.
Does behavioral ethics count toward Alabama’s ethics requirement?
Alabama’s rules don’t say whether behavioral ethics courses meet the ethics requirement, so a regulatory ethics course is the safe choice. Sequoia CPE’s Alabama ethics courses are regulatory ethics courses and meet the 2-hour requirement.
Do online and self-study CPE courses count in Alabama?
Yes. Alabama accepts self-study programs. Credit is based on program length, with 50 minutes equal to one CPE hour. Alabama’s rules set no cap on self-study hours. Alabama doesn’t register CPE sponsors. Programs must meet the standards in Alabama’s rules.
Can Alabama CPAs carry extra CPE hours forward?
No. Hours beyond the requirement cannot be applied to a later year (2026-2027 registration instructions, CPE Reporting for the Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2026).
Do I report my CPE to Alabama?
Yes. You report each course to the board online, and the board may ask for your certificates. Keep your certificates for at least 5 years.
What CPE do newly licensed Alabama CPAs need?
The Board’s 2026-2027 registration instructions say that no CPE hours are required for the reporting period, the fiscal year that ended September 30, 2026, of CPAs certified or licensed after October 1, 2025.
Are there exemptions from Alabama CPE?
Alabama’s rules cover four situations: retired or inactive status; returning to active status; health or other good cause; and principal office in another state. The details and their conditions are under Exemptions and special circumstances, below.
Exemptions and special circumstances
Retired or inactive status
Alabama’s CPE requirement applies to CPAs and PAs who hold an annual permit to practice. It does not apply to a CPA or PA who is not in the practice of public accountancy and informs the Board in writing that he or she elects retired status (an individual over the age of 55 who is retired from the practice of public accountancy) or inactive status.
Retired or inactive status means performing none of the duties of public accountancy, including services involving the use of accounting or auditing skills, issuing reports on financial statements, preparing tax returns or advising on tax matters. A retired or inactive CPA or PA may still provide some volunteer, uncompensated services: tax preparation, a government-sponsored business mentoring program, service on the board of a non-profit or governmental organization, or service on a government-appointed advisory body. Retired and inactive CPAs and PAs should place the word "retired" or "inactive" next to their CPA or PA title.
Returning to active status
A CPA or PA who held an active license and elected any other status must, to return to active status, apply to the Board for an annual permit to practice with proof of 40 hours of CPE for each year not on active status, up to 120 hours, all obtained in the three years before the request. At least 20 percent of the hours must be in accounting and auditing and 5 percent in ethics. A licensee who has never elected active status, has elected inactive status for more than five years, and wants to enter the practice of public accountancy must apply to the Board for an annual permit to practice with proof of 40 hours of CPE for each year on inactive status, up to 120 hours.
The Board’s CPE Quick Guide, revised in 2023, gives 25 percent for accounting and auditing; the rule as amended effective October 15, 2026 says 20 percent. Ask the Board which figure it applies.
Health or other good cause
The Board may make an exception from the CPE rules when reasons of health, certified by a medical doctor, prevent a permit holder from complying, or when other good cause exists.
A licensee who cannot meet the requirement by September 30 because of reasonable cause should contact the Board office to set a CPE completion schedule (an extension). A licensee granted an extension cannot register online and must use the paper registration form.
Principal office in another state
A non-resident licensee renewing an Alabama annual permit meets Alabama’s CPE requirement by meeting the CPE requirements for renewal of a certificate in the state where the licensee’s principal office is located, and shows this by signing a statement on Alabama’s annual registration form. The Board’s registration instructions apply this only to an Alabama CPA who holds a valid CPA certificate issued by that state and whose principal office is there.
If the principal office state has no CPE requirement for renewal of a certificate, the licensee must meet all of Alabama’s CPE requirements.
Official sources
This page explains Alabama’s rules in plain language. The Alabama State Board of Public Accountancy is the final authority; confirm details for your situation with it.
Alabama State Board of Public Accountancy · Montgomery, AL · (334) 242-5700
CPE requirements in other states
Contact Information
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