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Jurisdiction Updates Due to COVID-19

Written by Admin | Aug 26, 2020

Arizona: We received information from the Board stating that CPE deadline extensions due to COVID-19 will be granted only by individual request. LCVista is not planning to automatically apply any extensions for this jurisdiction at this time.

California: On May 4, 2020, pursuant to the Governor’s Executive Order N-40-20, the Director of the California Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) extended the deadline to complete required continuing education (CE) for licensees of the CBA (and various other DCA boards) whose license expired in March, April, or May 2020. These licensees who have yet to complete their required CE and submit their CE worksheet to the CBA have until November 4, 2020 to do so. https://www.dca.ca.gov/cba/covid-19.shtml

This temporary waiver does not relieve such individuals from timely complying with any other renewal requirements, including completing and submitting the required renewal forms to the governing licensing agency. As a result of this waiver, the Department of Consumer Affairs’ constituent licensing agencies may renew licenses despite noncompliance with the statutory or regulatory continuing education renewal requirements identified above.

CGFM: There is no CPE extension – the standard CPE grace period policy applies.The license renewal deadline has been extended to 6/30/20.

Connecticut: The Connecticut State Board of Accountancy resolved to extend the deadline for all Connecticut CPA license holders to complete their continuing professional education (CPE) requirement to December 31, 2020. This decision was made due to the effects of the ongoing crisis caused by COVID-19 pandemic.

Therefore, for the CPE year ending June 30, 2020, there is no need to request an extension, as all Connecticut licensees have been granted the extension. https://portal.ct.gov/DCP/Occupational-and-Professional-Division/Occupational–Profess/Certified-Public-Accountants

Florida: The Florida Board of Accountancy approved emergency rule 61H1ER20-5 at its meeting on May 15, 2020. The emergency rule waived the additional continuing education hours required when a current active CPA uses the automatic extension process. This effectively moved the June 30 2020 deadline for completing continuing education requirements to December 31, 2020 with no additional hours required. http://www.myfloridalicense.com/DBPR/certified-public-accounting/

Iowa: At a special meeting held on Friday, March 27, 2020, the Iowa Accountancy Examining Board voted to approve the following relief provisions related to COVID-19. The full document may be viewed at the PLB Website: https://plb.iowa.gov/board/accountants

  1. The limit of online self-study has been lifted for the period of time as allowed by the Governor. Now through May 27, 2020, 100% of continuing education acquired may be online self-study. This provision may be extended for a longer period of time. Please check the PLB website for updates. https://plb.iowa.gov/board/accountants
  2. COVID-19 has closed CPA exam sites, creating potential problems for individuals who may lose exam credit as a result. Exam expiration dates will be extended for 90 days for all individuals identified by NASBA as at risk of losing an exam credit due to the closure of the testing centers.

Kansas: Due to COVID-19, the due date for completion of CE necessary for permit renewal and the permit renewal date for 2020 is set for August 31, 2020. If you renew after the August 31, 2020 date, you will be subject to the late fee, and/or if you obtain any of the required CE for your 2020 renewal after the August 31, 2020 date, you will automatically be assessed the 8-hour additional CE penalty which must be obtained before you may renew. The Board does, however, strongly encourage everyone to obtain their CE and renew as soon as possible. https://emma-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/nbsab/26d47e889191a961e06db794ffca494a/2020_Kansas_May_Newsletter.pdf

Maryland: Licenses with expiration dates after March 13, 2020 have been temporarily extended to June 1, 2020. Continuing Education(CE) required for license renewal for licenses expiring on or before October 31, 2020 has been extended to October 31, 2020. This means that you can renew your license in May (for instance), but you still have until October 31, 2020 to complete the CE required for the renewal of your license.

Massachusetts: UPDATE: At its meeting on May 13, 2020, the Board of Public Accountancy voted to issue the following policy: Because of the current declared state of emergency in Massachusetts, all licensees whose individual or firm licenses expire on June 30, 2020 are allowed through September 30, 2020 to renew online without being assessed a late fee. Before renewing online, individual licensees must have completed the required 80 hours of continuing professional education (CPE), including at least 4 hours in ethics, from July 1, 2018 through September 30, 2020, or the license will expire. https://www.mass.gov/doc/emergency-policy-extending-deadline-to-submit-individual-and-firm-license-renewals-proof-of/download

NOTE: The Board had previously determined that there could be no CPE extension due to the unknown length of the State of Emergency.This information is outdated, and the CPE and license renewal deadline are now extended.

Michigan: For the continuing education period ending June 30, 2020, the State of Michigan will recognize all CPE that is taken through all electronic means, including webinars, self-study, e-learning, relative to the fulfillment of CPA license renewal requirements for accounting and auditing (A&A), ethics (including Michigan Specific Ethics) and general education (other hours). https://www.micpa.org/news/2020/03/20/lara-lifts-self-study-cap-for-the-remainder-of-the-cpe-earning-period

Minnesota: Licensees may use CPE earned after June 30 but prior to October 1, 2020, to meet the CPE requirements for the 2021 license renewal period, without accruing late earning (CPE noncompliance) fees. The Board passed the motion at its April 30 Board meeting, in response to the COVID-19 crisis and in accordance with hardship provisions in Board rule. https://boa.state.mn.us/

Mississippi: The Board voted to extend the deadline on the current CPE period from June 30, 2020 until October 31, 2020. This blanket extension will provide our licensees with 16 months to obtain the required 40 hours of CPE. Accordingly, the online CPE reporting due date will be extended from August 1, 2020 until December 1, 2020. Additionally, carryover hours into the subsequent 8-month CPE period (scheduled to end on June 30, 2021), has been increased from 20 hours to a 40-hour maximum. https://www.msbpa.ms.gov/Pages/Home.aspx

New Hampshire: The Board hereby authorizes and approves a waiver of CPE’s required for the triennial or annual period ending June 30, 2020, and to renew the petitioner’s license on a conditional basis subject to the licensee’s completion of the required 120 hours of CPE by October 31, 2020. In the case of a licensee that is unable to complete the required 20 hour annual 2 CPE requirement in a non-renewal year ending on June 30, 2020, those licensees are also granted an extension to October 31, 2020 to complete the 20 hour requirement for the period ending June 30, 2020. https://www.oplc.nh.gov/accountancy/documents/order-continuing-education.pdf

New York: Self study CPE limitations have been removed for several professional designations for the current reporting period. New York CPA licenses do not have a self study limitation, so no update will be made.

Some regulations restrict licensees to a certain percentage of self-study for continuing education requirements. In response to the evolving situation with the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), and for those licensees whose registrations are due to renew March 1 – September 1, 2020, the Department will grant an adjustment to all licensees to complete up to 100% of the continuing education as self-study, so long as it is taken from a Department-approved provider and is in an acceptable subject area for the specific profession. SED is working closely with other New York State agencies and the Governor’s Office to tackle issues relating to COVID-19. Please continue to monitor the Department’s website for updated guidance. http://www.op.nysed.gov/COVID-19.html

North Dakota: The renewal application date has not changed. The due date is June 30, 2020. Failure to renew by July 31, 2020, will result in a $100 late fee. If you fail to renew by August 31, 2020, your certificate will be involuntarily relinquished, and you will no longer be authorized to practice public accountancy.

The deadline for completing your continuing education has been extended by 90 days. The deadline for completing your continuing education for the 2019 reporting period is now September 30, 2020.

If you have completed your continuing education by the renewal deadline of June 30, 2020, you should submit your continuing education form at that time. Please keep in mind if you are using the extension to complete your continuing education hours for the 2019 reporting period, you cannot report those hours during the 2020 reporting period. Licensees may also choose to complete all their required continuing education hours via self-study. https://www.ndsba.nd.gov/

Rhode Island: Rhode Island Board of Accountancy has promulgated Emergency Regulations to ease the burden of compliance with the CPE requirement during the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact of this change would extend time to CPAs renewing June 30, 2020 to complete their CPEs by that date (rather than the earlier December 2019 date). https://dbr.ri.gov/documents/divisions/accountancy/BOA_EmergencyRegulations_5212020.pdf

Texas:The Texas state board is granting a 90-day extension for all licensees. Texas has extended its CPE deadline for licensees with a 4/30/20 expiration date to 7/31/20. Continuing professional education (CPE) extensions will be automatically granted through August 2020 for May, June, and July individual license renewals. Please see http://www.tsbpa.state.tx.us/pdffiles/COVID-19_Licensing.pdf for reference.

  1. If you need to be fingerprinted to meet the new legislative requirement, you may decide to delay your appointment until the heightened safety guidelines have been relaxed. Your license will not be held if your fingerprints are not completed by the end of your upcoming renewal month.
  2. Continuing professional education (CPE) extensions will be automatically granted for 90 days to complete your required credits. However, we still encourage you to complete your CPE as soon as possible. If your in-person CPE courses are being delayed or canceled, please consider online CPE providers and options to bridge any near-term gaps in needed credits.

        3. Payment processing will proceed without interruption. We encourage you to make your requisite renewal payments prior to the end of your renewal month.

Yellow Book: The work of auditors and their ability to complete the hours of continuing professional education (CPE) required by the 2018 generally accepted government auditing standards (GAGAS) have been affected by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In this alert, GAO is providing three exceptions to the GAGAS CPE requirements for circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic. https://www.gao.gov/assets/710/706637.pdf

  1. For 2-year CPE periods that end February 29, 2020, through December 31, 2020, auditors who have not completed the 80-hour or the 24-hour CPE requirements for the 2-year period may have up to 6 months immediately following the 2-year period to make up the deficiency. Any CPE hours completed toward a deficiency in one period may be documented in the CPE records and may not be counted toward the requirements for the next period. Auditors who have not satisfied the CPE requirements after the grace period may not participate in GAGAS engagements until those requirements are satisfied. This modifies existing 2018 GAGAS paragraph 4.44, which allows audit organizations to grant a 2-month grace period.
  2. Exception provided: Auditors are not required to complete at least 20 hours of CPE for a 1-year CPE period that ends February 29, 2020, through December 31, 2020. This is an exception from 2018 GAGAS paragraph 4.17, which requires auditors to complete at least 20 hours of CPE in each year of the 2-year period. 
  3. From the audit organization’s 2-year period in effect on February 29, 2020, auditors may carry over up to 40 hours of CPE, in excess of the 80-hour requirement, to the next CPE measurement period. For 2-year CPE measurement periods ending after December 31, 2020, only CPE hours earned through December 31, 2020 may be carried over. Auditors may not carry over excess CPE earned in prior 2-year CPE periods.This is an exception from 2018 GAGAS paragraph 4.45, which provides that auditors may not carry over CPE hours earned in excess of the 80-hour requirement from one 2-year CPE measurement period to the next. Auditors cannot count CPE hours carried over from one CPE measurement period to the next toward the 24-hour requirement for subject matter directly related to the government environment; government auditing; or the specific, unique environment in which the audited entity operates. CPE hours carried over cannot be used to meet the 20-hour annual CPE requirement.

LCVista will continue to monitor board websites and publications for COVID-19 responses. Please contact us right away if you have heard otherwise so we can share any updates with the LCVista community and respond to any new rules that need to be accounted for.

In the meantime, there have been a few relevant articles published that may be useful for your team:
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