Arkansas CPA CPE Requirements

Arkansas CPAs must complete 40 hours of CPE in the calendar year before each renewal, or 120 hours over the three calendar years before it. Either way, those hours include 4 hours of professional ethics every three years, among them the 1-hour Arkansas Board Ethics course. Extra hours don’t carry over.

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Arkansas CPE requirements at a glance

Annual CPE hours
40 hours
Or 120 hours over the three calendar years before each renewal.
Reporting period
Calendar year
January 1 – December 31.
Ethics
4 hours
Every three years, including the 1-hour Arkansas Board Ethics course.
License renewal
Every year
You report each course to the board online.
Self-study
Accepted
Up to 80% of your hours may be self-study.
Carryover
Not allowed
Extra hours can’t be applied to a later year.

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How many CPE hours do Arkansas CPAs need?

For each renewal, Arkansas CPAs choose one of two ways to meet the requirement.

Option 1

40 hours

In the calendar year before each renewal.

Option 2

120 hours

Over the three calendar years before each renewal.

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Is ethics CPE required in Arkansas?

Yes. Arkansas CPAs must complete 4 hours of professional ethics every three years, including the 1-hour Arkansas Board Ethics course. Ethics hours also count toward the 40-hour total in the year you complete them.

Which ethics courses count?

This Sequoia CPE course covers the 3 ethics hours beyond the Arkansas Board Ethics course:

Arkansas Board Ethics course

Only the Board offers this course.

The Arkansas Board Ethics course (opens in a new tab)

Does your work add CPE requirements in Arkansas?

Some Arkansas CPAs owe additional CPE because of the work they do.

Practicing public accounting?

Arkansas sets a separate content requirement for licensees engaged in the practice of public accounting: at least 40 percent of their required hours must be in the content subject areas of accounting, accounting ethics, attest or taxation. That is 16 hours under the 40-hour rule, or 48 under the 120-hour rule.

Licensees not engaged in the practice of public accounting need at least 20 percent in those areas: 8 hours under the 40-hour rule, or 24 under the 120-hour rule. Specialized knowledge courses do not count toward these content hours.

Doing attest or compilation work?

Arkansas sets a separate requirement for licensees engaged in any attest or compilation function.

At least 20 percent of their required hours must be in attest and accounting theory and practice: 8 hours under the 40-hour rule, or 24 under the 120-hour rule.

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What subjects qualify for Arkansas CPE?

Courses in any NASBA field of study (the field shown on each course certificate) count toward the 40 hours, with a minimum in content subject areas: accounting, accounting ethics, attest or taxation. Programs in spirituality, personal health or fitness, sports and recreation, foreign languages and cultures, or other subjects that will not contribute directly to the licensee’s professional competence are not acceptable CPE in Arkansas. Neither is any education leading to the requirements for a CPA license, including academic work needed to qualify for the CPA examination and CPA review courses.

Content subject areas: accounting, accounting ethics, attest or taxation

At least 8 of the 40 hours.

Includes Accounting, Accounting (Governmental), Auditing, Auditing (Governmental), Regulatory Ethics and Taxes

When is the Arkansas CPE deadline?

December 31, every year. Arkansas measures CPE by calendar year.

  1. January 1

    Your CPE year starts

    Hours you complete from this date count toward this year. Extra hours can’t be applied to a later year.

  2. December 31

    Annual hours due

    Finish 40 hours by year-end, or 120 over the three calendar years ending then.

  3. December 31

    Renew your license

    Your license expires on December 31 every year. Report each course to the board online before you renew; the board may ask for your certificates.

Newly licensed?

In their first calendar year of licensure, Arkansas licensees must complete a number of CPE hours prorated by the date of initial licensure in order to renew their license. The four-hour ethics requirement, including the one-hour Arkansas Board Ethics course, does not apply until the first full calendar year of licensure.

The Board’s CPE audit page adds that all CPE requirements, including the ethics hours and the one hour of Arkansas Board Ethics, apply in the year immediately following the year of initial licensure. Ask the Board how many hours your first year requires.

How Arkansas counts CPE credit

The rules that decide whether — and how much — a course counts.

Arkansas CPA CPE credit rules
RuleWhat Arkansas requires
Credit hourOne credit equals one 50-minute contact hour.
Self-studyAccepted. Up to 80% of your hours may be self-study. Credit is set at the hours the course provider recommends.
Approved sponsorsNASBA-registered sponsors.
CarryoverNot allowed. Excess hours can’t be applied to a later year.

Keep your certificates

You report each course to Arkansas online; your certificates are the evidence if the board checks. Keep each certificate for at least 5 years after the end of the calendar year you completed it in.

Sequoia issues your certificate the moment you pass, and it stays in your account.

Your records must show

  • Your name
  • NASBA registration number, or E if the sponsor is exempt
  • Sponsoring organization
  • Title of program or description of content
  • Date completed
  • Field of study
  • Hours claimed

Finish your Arkansas CPE with Sequoia CPE.

Self-study courses: learn from a PDF, take the exam online and get your certificate the moment you pass.

Unlimited CPA CPE

$149/ year

1,000+ hours across accounting, auditing, taxation and business. Ethics sold separately.

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Arkansas Professional Ethics

Covers the 3 professional ethics hours beyond the Arkansas Board Ethics course.

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Arkansas CPE questions, answered

How many CPE hours do Arkansas CPAs need?

Arkansas CPAs need 40 CPE hours in the calendar year before each renewal, or 120 hours over the three calendar years before it. The calendar year runs January 1 through December 31. At least 8 of them must be in content subject areas: accounting, accounting ethics, attest or taxation.

When is the Arkansas CPE deadline?

December 31 of each year. Arkansas CPE is measured by calendar year, and hours beyond the requirement can’t be applied to a later year. Your license expires on December 31 every year. You report each course to the board online, and the board may ask for your certificates.

How many ethics hours do Arkansas CPAs need?

Arkansas CPAs need 4 hours of professional ethics every three years, including the 1-hour Arkansas Board Ethics course. Ethics hours also count toward the 40-hour total in the year you complete them.

Does behavioral ethics count toward Arkansas’s ethics requirement?

Arkansas’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 Arkansas ethics courses are regulatory ethics courses and cover the 3 ethics hours beyond the Arkansas Board Ethics course.

Do online and self-study CPE courses count in Arkansas?

Yes. Arkansas accepts self-study programs, with credit set at the hours the course provider recommends. Up to 80% of your hours may be self-study. Courses must come from NASBA-registered sponsors.

Can Arkansas CPAs carry extra CPE hours forward?

No. Hours beyond the requirement cannot be applied to a later year (17 CAR § 236-1203(a)).

Do I report my CPE to Arkansas?

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 after the end of the calendar year you completed them in.

What CPE do newly licensed Arkansas CPAs need?

In their first calendar year of licensure, Arkansas licensees must complete a number of CPE hours prorated by the date of initial licensure in order to renew their license. The four-hour ethics requirement, including the one-hour Arkansas Board Ethics course, does not apply until the first full calendar year of licensure.

Are there exemptions from Arkansas CPE?

Arkansas’s rules cover four situations: hardship and military service; inactive, retired or disabled status; returning to active status; and principal place of business in another state. The details and their conditions are under Exemptions and special circumstances, below.

Exemptions and special circumstances

Hardship and military service

The Board may make exceptions from the CPE requirements for individual hardship, including health, military service, foreign residency or other good cause. No exception is made solely because of age or retirement.

The Board allows a full or partial CPE exemption for an active-duty military service member deployed outside Arkansas, a returning veteran within one year of discharge from active duty, and the spouse of either, on a written request that explains whether a full or partial waiver is sought and why it is appropriate. The license of a deployed uniformed service member, or of the spouse of one, does not expire, and a full or partial CPE exemption is given, until 180 days after the service member returns from deployment.

Inactive, retired or disabled status

Arkansas grants an exception from the CPE requirement to a licensee on inactive status who does not perform for the public services involving accounting or auditing skills (including reports on financial statements), management advisory, financial advisory or consulting services, tax return preparation or tax advice, apart from the activities the law allows an inactive licensee, and who completes an online renewal application and pays the inactive renewal fee every year.

Retired status, which also requires no CPE, may be granted to a licensee at least 55 years old who files the Board’s form stating that he or she has no association with accounting work for compensation. Disabled status, which requires no CPE either, may be granted on a statement and a physician’s letter that the licensee cannot work because of a severe, ongoing physical or mental impairment or medical condition not likely to improve within the next 12 consecutive months.

Returning to active status

A licensee returning to active status from inactive status who last reported CPE to the Board less than three years ago must show 3 1/3 hours of qualifying CPE for each month since then; one inactive for less than a year is treated as never inactive for CPE reporting. After more than three years, the licensee must have the Board approve a proposed program of 120 hours, including 4 of accounting professional conduct and ethics, complete all of it in the 36 months before applying, and show at least one year of verified experience earned within the five years before applying.

The same requirements apply to a retired or disabled licensee converting to active status, and to a person whose license is suspended, revoked or void who applies for active status.

Principal place of business in another state

A nonresident licensee renewing an Arkansas license meets Arkansas’s CPE requirement by meeting the CPE requirements for renewal of a certificate or license in the state of the licensee’s principal place of business, except that every active licensee, wherever resident, must complete the one-hour Arkansas Board Ethics course.

If that state has no CPE requirement for renewal, the licensee must meet all of Arkansas’s CPE requirements.

Official sources

This page explains Arkansas’s rules in plain language. The Arkansas State Board of Public Accountancy is the final authority; confirm details for your situation with it.

Arkansas State Board of Public Accountancy · Little Rock, AR · (501) 682-1520

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