Time Frame

• While individual states set their CPA standards for continuing education, Minnesota, for example, requires its CPAs to earn 120 credit hours every three years, with a minimum of 20 hours annually.
  
  

Types

• The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy has set the standards for continuing professional education units (CPEs) as knowledge and skill areas needed by CPAs to perform professional services. The areas are divided into 23 subject areas such as accounting, auditing, business law, marketing and behavioral ethics.
  
  

Documentation

• To prove completion of appropriate continuing professional education units, documentation must be provided. Examples include transcripts of a grade for a course taken through a university or community college, a certificate of completion provided by a CPE program sponsor or a copy of a publication the CPA authored.