Texas State Board of Public Accountancy · Rule 523, 22 TAC
Texas CPAs must complete 120 hours of continuing professional education over a rolling three-year period, with a minimum of 20 hours in every single year. A four-hour ethics course approved by the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy is required every two years, and no more than 60 of the 120 hours may come from non-technical subjects.
Texas does not use a fixed cycle. The reporting period and the license renewal date both end on the last day of your birth month, and the board measures the most recent three years at any moment — so there is no clean reset date and no automatic grace period.
One square equals one CPE hour in the rolling three-year period.
| Total CPE hours | 120 hours over a rolling three-year period |
|---|---|
| Annual minimum | 20 hours in every 12-month period |
| Reporting period | Ends on the last day of the CPA's birth month, measured over a rolling three years |
| License renewal | Last day of the CPA's birth month, annually |
| Ethics requirement | 4 hours in a course approved by the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy, every two years. Providers offering ethics courses must register with the Board. |
| Non-technical cap | 60 hours maximum (50%) in the three-year period |
| Nano learning | 50% maximum in the three-year period. A passing grade of 100% is required. |
| Instruction | 20 hours maximum per year. Instruction of an introductory-level college course is not accepted. |
| Authorship | 10 hours maximum per year |
| Certification programs | 50% maximum in the three-year period (CFP, CIA, CFE and similar) |
| Carryover | Not permitted. Unused hours do not carry forward. |
| Subject area minimums | None beyond ethics and the technical/non-technical split |
| Grace period | None. Texas does not offer an automatic extension for a CPE shortfall. |
Treating 120 hours as a three-year target and ignoring the 20-hour annual floor. Excess hours in one year satisfy the rolling total but do not excuse the following year's minimum, so a CPA can hold well over 120 hours and still fall out of compliance.
Satisfies the full four-hour Texas ethics requirement. Texas requires the ethics course to come from a provider registered with the Board specifically for ethics, which is separate from general CPE sponsorship.
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Texas is one of the few states where the deadline moves with the licensee rather than the calendar. Everything is keyed to your birth month.
Renew and report completed hours through the TSBPA online portal. Renewal is annual even though the CPE total is measured over three years.
Must be met in each one-year period. Overshooting one year does not offset the next.
Runs on its own two-year clock, separate from both the annual minimum and the three-year total.
The board looks at the most recent three years at any point in time. Hours drop out of the window as they age past 36 months.
Texas grants no grace period for missed hours. A shortfall is addressed through the Board directly.
Texas splits every qualifying course into two buckets, and the split is the compliance trap most CPAs hit late in a cycle.
Texas CPAs need 120 CPE hours over a rolling three-year period, with a minimum of 20 hours in each 12-month period.
Both requirements apply at the same time. Meeting the three-year total does not excuse the annual minimum, and meeting the annual minimum does not guarantee the three-year total.
The Texas CPE reporting period ends on the last day of the CPA's birth month and is measured over a rolling three-year window.
Because the window rolls, there is no fixed start date shared across licensees. Hours age out of the window once they are more than three years old.
It means the Board can measure the most recent 36 months at any point, rather than waiting for a cycle to close.
Under a fixed cycle, everything resets on a set date and past shortfalls become moot. Under a rolling window, an hour earned 37 months ago no longer counts, so the running total can fall below 120 without any new deadline passing.
Texas CPA licenses renew annually, on the last day of the licensee's birth month.
Renewal is a yearly action even though the 120-hour total spans three years. Hours are self-reported during renewal, and TSBPA requests supporting records only if a license is selected for audit.
Texas requires a four-hour ethics course approved by the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy every two years.
The two-year ethics clock runs independently of the rolling three-year total and the annual minimum. Providers must register with the Board specifically to offer ethics courses, which is a separate approval from general CPE sponsorship.
Generally no, but there is a narrow exemption for certain non-resident licensees.
A licensee who does not reside in Texas, has no clients in Texas, and is current with the ethics requirement of their state of residence is not required to take the Texas ethics course. Every other Texas licensee needs a Board-approved Texas ethics course.
No more than 60 hours, or 50% of the 120-hour requirement, may come from non-technical subjects in the rolling three-year period.
Non-technical subjects include communications, leadership, management, behavioral ethics, and software applications. At least 60 hours must therefore be technical.
Yes, but nano learning is capped at 50% of the requirement and requires a perfect score.
The passing grade for a nano learning program in Texas is 100%, which is stricter than the standard passing threshold for other self-study formats.
No. Texas does not permit carryover, and hours completed outside the applicable rolling period cannot be applied to renewal.
Hours earned above the annual minimum still count toward the rolling three-year total in the year they were earned — they simply do not reduce any future year's 20-hour floor.
Instruction credit is capped at 20 hours per year, and teaching an introductory-level college course does not qualify.
Authorship and published materials are capped separately at 10 hours per year.
Yes. Successful completion of certification programs such as CFP, CIA, or CFE can count, up to 50% of the requirement in a three-year period.
This cap operates alongside the non-technical cap rather than replacing it.
Texas does not offer an automatic grace period or penalty-hour extension.
Unlike states that grant an automatic extension in exchange for additional hours, a Texas shortfall is handled through the Board directly and can carry disciplinary consequences. Plan to finish hours ahead of the birth-month deadline.
Yes. Texas accepts self-study, including QAS Self-Study formats, from registered sponsors.
Sponsors must be registered with the Board or approved through the NASBA National Registry. Nano learning is treated as its own category with its own cap and passing grade.
Retain the sponsor name, course title, date, delivery method, subject area, and credit hours for every course, along with the completion certificate.
TSBPA audits a sample of licensees each renewal cycle and requests supporting documentation directly. Keep records well past the end of the rolling window they fall in.
| Agency | Texas State Board of Public Accountancy (TSBPA) |
|---|---|
| Address | 505 E. Huntland Drive, Suite 380, Austin, TX 78752-3757 |
| Phone | (512) 305-7800 |
| Fax | (512) 305-7854 |
| Website | tsbpa.texas.gov |
| Approved ethics courses | Board-approved ethics course list |
This page summarizes Texas CPE rules for general informational purposes and is reviewed against the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy's published guidance. Rules change. Confirm your specific obligations with the Board before relying on any summary, including this one. Last reviewed August 2026 by CPE Solutions, LLC dba Professionals Publishing Group, NASBA Registry ID #111907, Texas Sponsor #007931.
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