Virginia Law

A. If during the current calendar year a person holds a Virginia license and has not been granted an exemption from meeting continuing professional education requirements by the board pursuant to subsection C of this section, he shall have obtained at least 120 hours of continuing professional education during the three-calendar-year period ending with the current calendar year. For each of the calendar years in that period, he shall have obtained at least 20 hours of continuing professional education, including an ethics course of at least two hours, which conforms to the requirements prescribed by the board. If a person holds an active license in another state and his principal place of business is not located in Virginia and:

1. The other state has a continuing professional education requirement for ethics, he is eligible for an exemption from meeting the continuing professional education requirements of Virginia if he meets the continuing professional education requirements in the other state in which he holds an active license, or

2. The other state does not have a continuing professional education requirement for ethics, he is eligible for an exemption from meeting the continuing professional education requirements of Virginia if he meets the continuing professional education requirements in the other state in which he holds an active license and in addition he meets the continuing professional education requirement for ethics in Virginia as prescribed by the board.

B. If during the current calendar year a person who holds a Virginia license provided services to the public or to or on behalf of an employer has not been granted an exemption by the board pursuant to subsection C of this section and did not hold a Virginia license or the license of another state during one or both of the two preceding calendar years, he shall determine whether he has complied with the requirements of subsection A of this section as follows:

1. If the person became licensed during the current calendar year, he shall be considered to have met the requirements of subsection A of this section for the three-calendar-year period ending with the current calendar year.

2. If the person became licensed during the preceding calendar year, he shall be considered to have met the requirements of the subsection for the three-calendar-year period ending with the current calendar year if during the current calendar year he obtained at least the minimum number of hours of continuing professional education required by subsection A of this section for the current calendar year, including an ethics course of at least two hours.

3. If the person became licensed during the calendar year prior to the preceding calendar year, he shall be considered to have met the requirements of the subsection for the three-calendar-year period ending with the current calendar year if during the current calendar year and the preceding calendar year he obtained at least the minimum number of hours of continuing professional education required by subsection A of this section for each of the years, including for each year an ethics course of at least two hours.

C. If during the current calendar year a person who holds a Virginia license did not provide services to the public or to or on behalf of an employer, including on a volunteer basis, and has been granted an exemption from continuing professional education requirements in writing by the board, he is not required to meet the continuing professional education requirements during the calendar year for which the exemption was granted. Any person who holds a Virginia license to whom an exemption has been granted shall annually affirm and certify to the board his continued eligibility for the exemption. However, in order to begin providing services to the public or to or on behalf of an employer, including on a volunteer basis:

1. He is required to have obtained at least 120 hours of continuing professional education prior to providing services, including an ethics course of at least two hours.

2. The ethics course shall conform to the requirements prescribed by the board for the calendar year in which the person begins providing services.

Continuing professional education obtained during the three calendar years prior to the current calendar year and from the start of the current calendar year to when he begins providing the services shall be considered in determining whether the person has complied with the requirements of this subsection.

D. If a person who has not held the license of any state applies for a Virginia license within the same calendar year in which he passes the CPA examination, he does not need to obtain continuing professional education for that calendar year. If a person who has not held the license of any state applies for a Virginia license after the end of the calendar year in which he passes the CPA examination, he shall obtain continuing professional education prior to applying for the license, including an ethics course of at least two hours.

1. The required minimum number of hours of continuing professional education shall be 40, 80, or 120 depending on whether he applies for the Virginia license by the end of the first calendar year after the calendar year in which he passes the CPA examination, by the end of the second calendar year, or later.

2. The ethics course shall conform to the requirements prescribed by the board for the calendar year in which the person applies for the license.

Continuing professional education obtained subsequent to passing the CPA examination but during the three calendar years prior to the calendar year in which the person applies for the license and from the start of that calendar year to when he applies for the license shall be considered in determining whether he has complied with this requirement.