South Dakota CPA CPE Requirements

How to reach the regulator directly.

South Dakota Board of Accountancy
301 East 14th Street, Suite 200
Sioux Falls, SD 57104

Tel: (605) 367-5770
Fax: (605) 367-5773

Email: sdbdacct.sdbd@midconetwork.com

The regulator's own published rules and related resources.

South Dakota Board of Accountancy

The total continuing education hours required.

120 hours.

The detailed rules behind that total -- category minimums, ethics, and other conditions.

A minimum of 20 credit hours must be earned each year.

Limitation on continuing professional education credits.

No more than 24 hours of credit for behavioral or motivational courses is allowed in a three-year renewal period for those individuals engaged in public accounting. There is no limit on personal development courses.

• Common definitions for behavioral courses are manners of action or reaction and motivational courses are reason or reasons for acting or behaving a particular way or a general desire or willingness to do something.
• Personal development is the field of study that covers such skills as communication, managing the group process, dealing effectively with others, interviewing, counseling, and career planning.

How the reporting cycle is structured.

Triennial.

The period is rolling (i.e., each year licensees must have completed 120 hours over the prior three years).

When a reporting cycle begins.

July 1.

How completed credits are reported to the regulator.

Annual report.

Documentation required by CPA or PA. A CPA or PA engaged in sponsored learning activities may claim credit only for activities through which the CPA's or PA's competencies were maintained or improved. A CPA or PA who participates in part of a program may claim credit only for the portion attended or completed.

The following documentation of a CPA's or PA's participation in sponsored learning activities should be retained by the CPA or PA for four years:

1. Name and address of continuing education program sponsor;
2. Title and description of content;
3. Dates of program;
4. Location of program; and
5. Number of credits.

Any CPA or PA claiming continuing professional education provided by informal organizations must maintain documentation as required by the Board.

Documentation for continuing professional education credit. A CPA or PA must document the credit claimed with the following acceptable evidence of completion:

1. For group programs, a certificate or other verification supplied by the CPE program sponsor;
2. For self-study programs using a pilot test, a certificate of completion from the CPE sponsor that has been approved by NASBA's National Registry of CPE Sponsors or NASBA's Quality Assurance Service after satisfactory completion of an examination;
3. For self-study programs using the word count formula, a certificate of completion from the CPE sponsor that has been approved by NASBA's national registry of CPE sponsors or NASBA's quality assurance service after satisfactory completion of the course;
4. For instruction credit, a certificate, program outline, or other verification supplied by the CPE program sponsor;
5. For a university or college course that is successfully completed for credit, a record or transcript of the grade the participant received;
6. For university or college noncredit courses, a certificate of attendance issued by a representative of the university or college;
7. For published articles, books, or CPE programs:
1. A copy of the publication, or in the case of a CPE program, course development documentation, that names the writer as author or contributor;
2. A statement from the writer supporting the number of CPE hours claimed; and
3. The name and contact information of the independent reviewer or publisher.
8. For independent study programs, a certificate of completion from the CPE sponsor that has been approved by NASBA's National Registry of CPE Sponsors or NASBA's Quality Assurance Service after satisfactory completion of the course;
9. Effective December 20, 2018: For nano-learning programs, a certificate of completion from the CPE sponsor that has been approved by NASBA's national Registry of CPE Sponsors or NASBA's quality assurance service after satisfactory completion of the course.

The renewal or reporting deadline.

August 1.

Upon request by an applicant for renewal of a certificate, the board may administratively grant one extension of 30 to 90 days to complete the minimum CPE requirement.

→ Get monthly reminders before this deadline

What happens if the requirement is not met.

Review of continuing professional education credits. Certificate holders are subject to verification of all continuing professional education credits submitted to the board. Annually, the board may randomly select holders of individual certificates who are in the three-year renewal cycle for review of continuing professional education credits. The period to be reviewed may be one to three reporting years prior to the request. The board shall determine the number selected for review each year based on a percentage of the number of individuals holding certificates at the time of the random selection. An individual selected for a review must provide documentation to verify attendance or completion of all courses reported to the board for continuing professional education credit.

If an individual does not meet the requirements of continuing professional education, an adjustment of hours may be made administratively if an audit of continuing education credits creates discrepancies in the individual's total number of hours during a year.

Reduced or prorated requirements for a first renewal.

An individual certificate holder whose initial certificate was issued less than three years before the renewal date shall fulfill the following minimum requirements of continuing professional education:

1. Certificate holders whose initial certificate was issued less than one year before the renewal date: none;
   • Credit earned during this period should still be reported. All credit earned in this period will count toward the initial 20 credit hour requirement for the first year of the initial triennial.
2. Certificate holders whose initial certificate was issued at least one year but less than two years before the renewal date: 20 hours;
3. Certificate holders whose initial certificate was issued at least two but less than three years before the renewal date: 40 hours with a minimum of 20 hours per year.

The continuing education requirement for the first renewal and any subsequent renewal is the number of hours required for a three-year period.

An applicant who holds a certificate of CPA in another state issued over four years before applying for a certificate of CPA in this state must complete 24 hours of CPE in the 12 months before filing the application.

Rules for professionals licensed elsewhere.

Continuing professional education requirement for nonresident certificate holder. The continuing professional education requirement of a nonresident individual certificate holder is considered met if the individual meets the continuing professional education requirement for renewal of a certificate or license in the state in which the individual's principal place of business is located.

The nonresident applicant for an initial certificate or renewal of an individual certificate must demonstrate compliance with the continuing professional education requirements of the state in which the applicant's principal place of business is located by signing a statement to that effect on the initial or renewal application.

The board may verify the continuing professional education status of a nonresident certificate holder on an annual basis with the state board in which the applicant's principal place of business is located. If the state in which a nonresident applicant's principal place of business is located has no continuing professional education requirement for an initial certificate or renewal of a certificate or license, the nonresident applicant must comply with all continuing professional education requirements for an initial certificate or renewal of a certificate in this state.

Who may be excused from all or part of this requirement.

Applicants on Inactive or Retired status are exempt from the CPE requirements.

Extension for completion of continuing professional education:

Upon request by an applicant for renewal of a certificate, the board may administratively grant one extension of 90 days to complete the minimum continuing professional education requirement. The board shall review subsequent requests for extensions and may grant them on a case by case basis for good cause. Good cause includes personal emergencies, acts of God, or administrative errors made by the Board.

Returning Active Certificate Holders:

An applicant for renewal of an individual certificate, in active status whose most recent active certificate has lapsed over 12 months before the application for renewal is submitted must complete at least 24 hours of continuing education in the 12 months preceding the filing of the application for active status.

Once the applicant's individual certificate is renewed, the applicant must fulfill the continuing education requirement for the next renewal in accordance with the following schedule:

1. Certificate holders whose individual certificate was renewed July 1 to September 30, inclusive: 20 hours;
2. Certificate holders whose individual certificate was renewed October 1 to December 31, inclusive: 16 hours;
3. Certificate holders whose individual certificate was renewed January 1 to March 31, inclusive: 8 hours;
4. Certificate holders whose individual certificate was renewed April 1 to June 30, inclusive: 4 hours.

The continuing education required for the second renewal and each subsequent renewal following the lapse is the number of hours required for a three-year renewal period.

An applicant for renewal of an individual certificate whose most recent permit lapsed 12 months or less before submission of the renewal application must complete the continuing professional education requirement the applicant would have had to complete had the applicant's permit not lapsed.

An applicant who holds a certificate of certified public accountant in another state issued over four years before applying for a certificate of certified public accountant in this state must complete 24 hours of continuing professional education in the 12 months preceding the filing of the application.

Rule changes the regulator has finalized, with effective dates.

Refer to the specific sections above for more details on any of the items noted below.

Effective December 20, 2018: The Board of Accountancy has made updates to CPE regulations and now allow CPE to be taken in 'nano-learning' and 'blended learning' programs. Refer to "General Characteristics of Accredited Education" above. As a result of these changes, the South Dakota content distributor has been updated to calculate CPE credits as per the 2016 NASBA Standards, and allow for increments of both .2 and .5 credits. The SD Board has confirmed that self-study programs must be taken from NASBA/QAS sponsors, so the CeriFi CPEdge content distributor has been updated to only accept credits for NASBA / QAS self-study courses. Refer to paragraphas above which are preceded by December 30, 2018 for more details.

Effective January 19, 2015: The Board of Accountancy has made updates to several regulations related to sponsors in order to incorporate the use of word count formula for determining CPE credit for self study courses.

Effective September 5, 2012: The Board of Accountancy has made minor revisions to several CPE rules, by adding new definitions and clarifications to the existing rules.

Effective July 1, 2005: The Board of Accountancy has drafted new CPE rules. The highlights of the rules are:

• Licensees may earn up to 50% of their credit requirements through publications (previously 25%) and may earn up to 60 credits during each three-year compliance period.
• The new requirements not only force CPE sponsors to maintain higher standards, but may affect the location of CPE courses.
• Self study programs should be members of NASBA's QAS program.
• New independent study criteria allows CPE credit for a formalized learning plan.
• Informal organizations may abdicate retention and sponsor requirements to the CPA.
• Formal organized in-firm and interfirm programs must meet group program criteria.
• New record retention criteria for licensees.