CPE

CPE Compliance, Record Keeping and Fields of Study

The Accounting Education Institute (AEI) is the official provider of the CPE (Continuing Professional Education) for its CPE events providing CPE record keeping and compliance.  Contact Jim Colville with any questions regarding CPE compliance.

AEI attendees have a wide variety of CPE requirements. We have found that if we follow the procedures for California CPAs as governed by the State Board of Accountancy that we meet the requirements for most everyone else. This means that we only have one set of rules to follow.

The first and most important feature of our webinars is there is always a live presenter, even if a recorded event. There is also a moderator to assist in the entire event. An additional assistant may also be present. The moderator and assistant also help to ensure the session is interactive.

Our system records your event login and logout time meeting the requirement to prove attendance and completion of the full event time (1 hour, 4 hours, etc.) To prove your active participation poll questions randomly pop-up in which you are required to submit to prove your continued activity. There are four such question per hour. These are in the format of questions with multiple choice or True/False answers. Your response is the requirement the “correct answer” is not. The questions range from materials presented, marketing type question, humor type questions, etc.

The “raise my hand” feature allows you to notify the presenter of a question or clarification. There is also a chat feature to enter you question directly. While these are available to the presenter they are typically managed by the moderator and assistant to notify the presenter at a natural break in the information flow.

Upon completion of the webinar an evaluation form is emailed to the attendee within one hour. Typically, it’s sent within 10 minutes.  The evaluation responses are recorded in our online database for ease of analysis. The certificate of attendance is not sent in the evaluation is not received.

Presenters are screened to ensure they’re qualified and evaluations are reviewed in detail to ensure, among other things, the session objectives are met and the attendees feel that their knowledge was increased. In some cases the evaluations and session is reviewed with the presenter.

All CPE records are retained by AEI for a minimum of five years.

For CPAs, most all sessions meet the requirements of the California State Board of Accountancy. Keep in mind that some of the soft topics (usually professional development type topics), may not qualify as they do not increase your technical knowledge. NASBA application is in process. Out of state CPAs–Contact Us to ensure we meet the requirements of your state.

What are Fields of Study and how do they relate to CPE?

• A – indicates the material is Accounting and Auditing in nature. For CPAs it mirrors the A & A classification licensing requirement. A section noted as A designed to meet this requirement. A sessions are not limited to CPAs. All accountants may gain knowledge by attending. Check the topic’s outline for specifics about the topic.
• T – indicates the topic is Technical in nature, typically other accounting, tax and and other non A related topics. This track mirrors the T classification of the State Board of Accountancy.
• P – indicates Professional Development and is non-technical in nature. If you are subject to specific CPE requirements for your company, professional organization or licensing requirements, you may need to review those requirements to ensure these hours qualify.  For CPAs, these sessions most likely do not qualify for CPE.
• Tech –  is technology only. Our goal is to present both new and existing technology and how it helps you with your work and personal lives.  For CPA CPE record keeping, this falls into the same category as T.
• F – indicates the material is designed to meet the Fraud CPE requirements for California CPAs and for CFE’s (Certified Fraud Examiners). Some F sessions can also be used as A&A hours and will be noted as such.  Since Fraud topics are of interest to CPAs, CFE’s, Internal Auditors and others, the attendee CPE requirements may vary. For CPAs please note that the Fraud CPE must “…be specifically related to the prevention, detection and/or reporting of fraud affecting financial statements…”. Not all of the fraud sessions meet this requirement. As such, some topics in F may be labeled as Fraud Related and/or are noted with (T) or (A).The State Board of Accountancy rule for Fraud hours.  Section 87 states: ” ….the licensee shall also complete an additional four hours of continuing education specifically related to the prevention, detection, and/or reporting of fraud affecting financial statements. our four hour fraud sessions are specifically designed to meet this requirement.