California Board of Accountancy · 16 CCR Article 12
California CPAs must complete 80 hours of continuing education in the two-year period immediately preceding license expiration, including at least 20 hours in each year of which at least 12 must be technical. At least 40 of the 80 hours must be in technical subjects, 4 hours must be ethics education, and a separate 2-hour Regulatory Review course from the CBA's approved list is required every six years.
California's cycle is keyed to your birth month and to whether your birth year is odd or even. The 20/12 annual rule and the separate Regulatory Review requirement are the two provisions that catch licensees who plan around the 80-hour total alone.
One square equals one CPE hour in the two-year period.
| Total CE hours | 80 hours in the two-year period immediately preceding license expiration |
|---|---|
| Annual minimum (20/12 rule) | 20 hours in each year, of which at least 12 must be technical |
| Reporting period | Biennial, ending the last day of the birth month in the odd or even year matching the licensee's birth year |
| License renewal | Last day of birth month, in the odd or even year corresponding to birth year |
| Technical minimum | 40 hours (50%) in technical subject areas |
| Ethics requirement | 4 hours of ethics education per renewal period. Any qualifying ethics course may be used; the CBA does not maintain an approved list for this requirement. |
| Regulatory Review | 2 hours every six years, taken from the CBA's approved Regulatory Review course list. Minimum passing score is 90%. A 4-hour ethics course does not satisfy this requirement. |
| Accounting & auditing | 24 hours if planning, directing, conducting substantial portions of fieldwork on, or reporting on financial statement audits, reviews, compilations, or other attest engagements |
| Fraud | 4 hours of fraud-related CE, required only of licensees subject to the accounting and auditing requirement. These are in addition to the 24 A&A hours. |
| Government auditing | 24 hours if planning, directing, conducting substantial portions of fieldwork on, or reporting on financial or compliance audits of a government agency |
| Instruction cap | 50% of total hours |
| Published materials cap | 25% of total hours |
| Carryover | Not permitted. Hours in excess of the requirement may not be carried forward. |
| Board pre-approval | California does not pre-approve providers or courses, with the sole exception of Regulatory Review courses |
Treating the 4-hour ethics requirement and the 2-hour Regulatory Review as the same thing. They are not interchangeable. Regulatory Review is the only category for which the CBA maintains an approved course list, it must be passed with a score of at least 90%, and it is due every six years rather than every renewal.
Satisfies the 4-hour ethics education requirement due each two-year renewal period. Covers the Accountancy Act and CBA regulations, professional conduct standards, independence, and the ethical obligations that apply to California licensees in practice.
Covers the ethics education requirement only. Regulatory Review credit is available solely through a course on the CBA's approved list, which requires a 90% passing score.
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California does not operate sponsorship agreements; the CBA recognizes courses from NASBA sponsors
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California ties the cycle to the licensee rather than the calendar, and layers an annual sub-requirement on top of the biennial total.
The 80 hours must fall in the two years immediately preceding license expiration.
At least 20 hours in each year of the period, including at least 12 technical hours. This blocks completing all 80 hours in the final year.
Falls in the odd or even year corresponding to the licensee's birth year, so the cycle is individual rather than shared.
Due if more than six years have lapsed since the licensee last completed a Regulatory Review course from the CBA's approved list. This is separate from the 4 ethics hours.
20 hours for each full six-month interval from license issuance to expiration. Under six months, no CE is required.
California layers three additional requirements on licensees doing particular kinds of work, and they interact in a specific way.
California CPAs need 80 hours of continuing education in the two-year period immediately preceding license expiration.
Within the 80 hours, at least 40 must be technical, at least 4 must be ethics education, and at least 20 must fall in each year of the period with at least 12 of those being technical.
The 20/12 rule requires at least 20 hours of CE in each year of the two-year renewal period, including at least 12 hours in technical subject areas each year.
It exists to prevent licensees from completing all 80 hours in a single year. A CPA who earns 60 hours in year one and 20 in year two meets the total but must still show 12 technical hours in each individual year.
The reporting period is biennial, ending on the last day of the licensee's birth month in the odd or even year corresponding to their birth year.
A CPA born in an odd-numbered year renews in odd-numbered years, and one born in an even-numbered year renews in even-numbered years.
California requires 4 hours of ethics education during each two-year renewal period.
Courses covering sexual harassment, workplace harassment, or workplace violence do not count toward the ethics requirement, though they may count toward the 80-hour total. The 4 ethics hours are also separate from the 2-hour Regulatory Review course, which has its own approved list and its own deadline.
A 2-hour Regulatory Review course is required every six years, must be taken from the CBA's approved course list, and must be passed with a score of at least 90%.
This is the only category for which the CBA maintains an approved course list. It is separate from and not interchangeable with the 4-hour ethics requirement. For licensees licensed in 2024 and forward, a Regulatory Review course must be completed between the initial license date and the first license expiration date.
No. Only a course appearing on the CBA's approved Regulatory Review list generates Regulatory Review credit, regardless of how much California-specific ethics content another course contains.
Our 4-hour course satisfies the ethics education requirement. If you are due for Regulatory Review, choose a course from the CBA's approved list separately.
Licensees who plan, direct, conduct substantial portions of fieldwork on, or report on financial statement audits, reviews, compilations, or other attest engagements.
Licensees in this group must also complete 4 hours of fraud-related CE in addition to the 24 accounting and auditing hours.
Four hours of fraud-related continuing education, required only of licensees who are subject to the accounting and auditing requirement.
Content must cover fraud schemes, fraud detection, and the CPA's role in preventing and detecting fraud. These hours are additional to the 24 A&A hours rather than part of them.
Yes, one way only. Meeting the government auditing requirement is considered to have met the accounting and auditing requirement, but meeting A&A does not satisfy government auditing.
Government auditing applies to licensees who plan, direct, conduct substantial portions of fieldwork on, or report on financial or compliance audits of a government agency.
No more than 50% of the 80 hours may come from non-technical subjects such as personnel, management, or communications.
The technical minimum operates as a floor of 40 hours across the period and 12 hours in each individual year.
No. Continuing education hours completed in excess of renewal requirements may not be carried forward to a future renewal period.
Every requirement resets with each new two-year period.
20 hours for each full six-month interval from the date the license was issued to the license expiration date. If the initial period is under six months, no CE is required.
New licensees are generally not required to meet the 20/12 annual sub-requirement or the ethics and fraud minimums on a prorated first renewal. The CBA specifies the exact first-renewal amount in the license approval materials.
Instruction is capped at 50% of total hours and published articles or books at 25%.
Both caps apply against the 80-hour requirement rather than against the technical minimum separately.
No, with one exception. The CBA does not pre-approve providers or courses except for Regulatory Review courses, and it does not operate sponsorship agreements.
The Board recognizes courses from NASBA-registered sponsors. For Regulatory Review specifically, the course must appear on the CBA's approved list.
| Agency | California Board of Accountancy (CBA) |
|---|---|
| Address | 2450 Venture Oaks Way, Suite 300, Sacramento, CA 95833 |
| Phone | (916) 263-3680 |
| Website | cba.ca.gov |
| Regulatory Review courses | CBA-approved Regulatory Review course list |
This page summarizes California CE rules for general informational purposes and is reviewed against the California Board of Accountancy's published guidance. Rules change. Confirm your specific obligations with the CBA before relying on any summary, including this one. Last reviewed August 2026 by CPE Solutions, LLC dba Professionals Publishing Group, NASBA Registry ID #111907.
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