CPE Reporting Periods

Different Regulatory Bodies have different types of reporting periods and due dates, in the article below we will explore the most common approaches

Table of Contents

Reporting Period Lengths
Reporting Period Due Dates
Reporting Period Type: Rolling or Fixed
CPE Reporting Period vs. CPA License Renewal Deadline
Jurisdictions with Flexibility: PCAOB and Yellowbook

Reporting Period Lengths

Annual- Requirements are due every year

Biennial- Requirements are due every two years

Triennial- Requirements are due very three years

Reporting Period Due Dates

The most common due dates are 6/30 and 12/31, some jurisdictions stagger due dates over several months based on licensee last name, date of birth, social security number, or by random assignment. LCvista has all standard due dates as well as several of these nuanced period date rules coded in our tool for our supported jurisdictions and certifications. 

Reporting Period Type: Rolling or Fixed 

Fixed- For a fixed period, Period 2 starts where Period 1 left off, and so and so forth.

Example: fixed three year periods

Rolling-  For a rolling period, the oldest year falls of and the period ‘rolls forward’ to a new year each period; the key feature of rolling periods is that there is overlap. For a rolling jurisdiction means that there will be a reporting period ending every year. One way to look at a jurisdiction with a rolling period is that it is always calculating from the current year back. 

Example: rolling three year periods

Once familiar with the concept of fixed vs. rolling, the quickest way to tell which a jurisdiction is by looking at the reporting period drop-down on the compliance detail/firm compliance.  If there is overlap and a reporting period ending every year, it’s rolling; if there is no overlap and reporting periods don’t end every year, it’s fixed.

CPE Reporting Period vs. CPA License Renewal Deadline

Our system has the ability to track fixed and rolling periods correctly, and will always default to show the credits needed for the closest approaching deadline, however often it might occur. 

Some jurisdictions, such as Missouri, Texas, and Florida, have CPE reporting periods that differ from their CPA License Renewal Deadline. This can be an area of confusion if expecting the dates to always align. LCvista will always display the CPE Reporting Periods/due dates. 

Jurisdictions with Flexibility: PCAOB, YELLOWBOOK, & AICPA EBPAQC

Is fixed or rolling right for our firm?
With PCAOB, Yellowbook, and AICPA EBPAQC firms have flexibility to choose between rolling and fixed periods. You may make this decision based on the period type of the most common State licensure in your organization for consistency in CPE deadlines. 

The following table represents the breakdown of LCvista customers tracking a fixed vs. rolling periods for PCAOB, YB, and EBP firm level jurisdictions:

• This does not include in-firm requirement jurisdictions being used in place of the default PCAOB jurisdiction

• Custom versions of Yellowbook and AICPA EBPAQC are being counted

• Note that Becker has both fixed and rolling of each jurisdiction on their site, so they are included in all numbers above.