Virginia Board of Accountancy · 18 VAC 5-22
Virginia CPAs must complete 120 hours of continuing professional education over a rolling three-calendar-year period, with a minimum of 20 hours in every year. Two of those hours each year must be a VBOA-approved Virginia-specific ethics course, and CPAs who release or authorize the release of attest, compilation, or financial statement preparation reports need 8 additional hours annually in those subjects.
Virginia's ethics requirement is annual rather than per-cycle, and it is the one area where the VBOA restricts providers. Everything else can come from any sponsor whose course meets stated learning objectives.
One square equals one CPE hour across the rolling three-year period.
| Total CPE hours | 120 hours over a rolling three-calendar-year period |
|---|---|
| Annual minimum | 20 hours in each calendar year |
| Reporting period | January 1 to December 31, measured across the three calendar years prior to and including the current year |
| CPE deadline | January 31 of the following year, for the prior calendar year |
| License renewal | June 30, annually |
| Ethics requirement | 2 hours of VBOA-approved Virginia-specific ethics every year. Providers offering ethics courses must register with the Board. |
| Attest / compilation | 8 hours annually related to attest services, compilation services, or financial statement preparation, for licensees who release or authorize the release of such reports |
| Subject minimums | None beyond ethics and the attest requirement. Non-technical subjects are acceptable if relevant to professional competence. |
| Self-study | All hours may be completed through self-study from approved providers |
| Presentations | Maximum 30 hours |
| Certifications and exams | VBOA-approved CPE for passing exams and obtaining additional designations, capped at 60 hours over the rolling three-year period |
| Carryover | Not permitted |
| Record retention | Four calendar years |
| Non-resident exemption | A non-resident licensee may meet Virginia's requirement by meeting the CPE requirements of their state of active license, provided that state has a CPE requirement including an ethics requirement |
Treating the ethics course as a once-per-cycle item. Virginia requires the 2-hour VBOA-approved ethics course every single year, not once every three years. A CPA who takes it once in a three-year window has missed it twice.
Satisfies the annual two-hour Virginia ethics requirement. The VBOA does not require licensees to obtain CPE from specific sponsors for any other subject, but the Virginia-specific ethics course is the exception: the provider must register with the Board and the course must include the required Board segment.
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Providers offering the Virginia-specific ethics course must register with the VBOA
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Virginia runs three clocks at once: an annual floor, an annual ethics requirement, and a rolling three-year total. Renewal sits on a fourth date entirely.
You can earn 60, 20, and 40 across three years. You cannot earn 80, 0, and 40 — the zero year breaks compliance regardless of the total.
Annual, not per cycle. Plus 8 attest-related hours annually for licensees who release or authorize reports.
Hours must be earned within the calendar year to count toward that year.
The deadline for meeting the requirement for the previous calendar year.
Virginia renews licenses every year even though the CPE total spans three. At each renewal you must be able to show 120 hours across the prior three calendar years.
Virginia is flexible about course sources but specific about proof, and licensees must retain records for four calendar years.
Virginia CPAs need 120 CPE hours over a rolling three-calendar-year period, with a minimum of 20 hours in each year.
Within that, 2 hours each year must be a VBOA-approved Virginia-specific ethics course. Licensees who release or authorize the release of attest, compilation, or financial statement preparation reports need a further 8 hours annually in those subjects.
Virginia uses a rolling three-calendar-year period running January 1 to December 31, covering the three calendar years prior to and including the current year.
It is not a fixed triennial cycle. At any renewal you must be able to show 120 hours completed across the most recent three years.
As each year rolls off the three-year window, the hours earned in that year stop counting, so new hours must be earned to keep the running total at 120.
Under a fixed cycle everything resets on a set date. Under Virginia's rolling window there is no reset — the total can fall below 120 without any new deadline passing.
Virginia CPA licenses renew annually by June 30.
The CPE deadline is separate: January 31 is the deadline for meeting the requirement for the previous calendar year. Renewal and CPE are two distinct obligations on two different dates.
Virginia requires 2 hours of VBOA-approved Virginia-specific ethics every calendar year.
This is annual rather than per-cycle, which makes it 6 hours across a three-year window. A generic ethics course does not satisfy it.
Only for the Virginia-specific ethics course. The VBOA does not currently require licensees to obtain CPE from specific or approved sponsors for any other subject.
Providers offering the Virginia-specific ethics course must register with the Board. For everything else, the test is whether the licensee can demonstrate that the learning objectives were met.
Licensees who release or authorize the release of reports on attest services, compilation services, or financial statement preparation services.
The 8 hours are required annually, not per cycle, and must relate to those service areas.
No. Beyond the annual ethics requirement and the attest requirement for report signers, Virginia sets no technical or subject-matter minimums.
Non-technical subjects such as soft skills are acceptable provided they contribute to professional competence.
No CPE is required during the calendar year in which the license is received, if the licensure application was submitted in the same calendar year the candidate passed the CPA Exam.
If a candidate applies for licensure after the end of the year in which they passed the Exam, they must obtain a minimum of 40 hours of CPE prior to application, including the two-credit Virginia-specific ethics course. From there the requirement builds: 40 hours in the first full calendar year, 80 cumulative in the second, and the full 120 in the third.
No. Virginia does not allow excess hours to be carried forward.
Because the window rolls rather than resetting, hours simply age out after three years.
Yes. A non-resident licensee may meet Virginia's CPE requirements by meeting the requirements of their state of active license.
The exemption applies only if that state has a CPE requirement that includes an ethics requirement. Otherwise Virginia's rules apply in full.
Yes. All hours may be completed through self-study, provided the courses come from approved providers.
Eligible activities also include seminars and conferences, college course credit, nano-learning, making presentations up to a maximum of 30 hours, and publishing material.
Four calendar years, since licensees may be selected for VBOA audit.
Acceptable documentation includes sponsor certificates of completion, official college transcripts, syllabi and signed statements for speaking engagements, and proof of publication for written material.
| Agency | Virginia Board of Accountancy (VBOA) |
|---|---|
| Address | 9960 Mayland Drive, Suite 402, Henrico, VA 23233 |
| Phone | (804) 367-8505 |
| Website | boa.virginia.gov |
| CPE guidance | VBOA — CPE for individual CPAs |
| State society | Virginia Society of CPAs |
This page summarizes Virginia CPE rules for general informational purposes and is reviewed against the Virginia Board of Accountancy's published guidance. Rules change. Confirm your specific obligations with the VBOA 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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