MYCPE ONE

Virginia CPAs with an Active license must complete 120 hours of CPE over a rolling three-calendar-year period, earn at least 20 hours every calendar year, and finish a two-hour VBOA-approved ethics course each year. 

If you release reports on attest, compilation, or financial statement preparation work, 8 of your annual hours must relate to those services. You have until January 31 to finish the prior year’s CPE, and your license renews every June 30.

Those are the headline numbers. The details are where Virginia CPAs get caught. The Virginia Board of Accountancy (VBOA) runs random CPE audits every month, it accepts ethics hours only from its own approved list, and on July 1, 2026 it rewrote the Inactive policy and added a new Emeritus status for retirees.

Key Takeaways

  • 120 CPE per three-year rolling period with a minimum of 20 CPE each year, and a 2-hour VBOA-approved ethics course every year.
  • Ethics, it must be VBOA approved list, include the VBOA Segment, and match the listed title exactly.
  • 8 attest hours are conditional: they apply only if you release or authorize the release of attest, compilation, or financial statement preparation reports that year.
  • Keep certificates for the four calendar years before the current year, and be audit ready.
  • New in 2026: Emeritus status for retired CPAs and a revised Inactive policy, both effective July 1, 2026.

The 10 Factors That Shape Virginia CPE Requirements

Factor 1: How Does Virginia’s Rolling Three-Year CPE Period Work?

Virginia measures CPE over a rolling three-calendar-year period. At any point, the VBOA looks back at the three calendar years before the current year and checks for 120 hours. Renewing by June 30, 2027, you are affirming compliance for 2024, 2025, and 2026. 

The next year, 2024 drops off and 2027 joins the window. Each calendar year’s hours count toward three separate reporting periods. That is why Virginia has no carryover provision. The rolling structure already gives extra hours a longer shelf life.

Factor 2: Why Does the 20-Hour Annual Minimum Matter So Much?

The 20-hour floor is a separate test from the 120-hour total. You can hit 120 hours over three years and still be out of compliance. A CPA who completed 60 hours in 2024, zero in 2025, and 60 in 2026. Total 120 hours are complete, but they missed the 2025 annual minimum requirement. 

Your two ethics hours count inside the 20, so the annual minimum is really 18 hours of other CPE plus your Virginia ethics course.

Factor 3: What Is the Virginia Ethics CPE Requirement?

Every Virginia CPA must complete a VBOA-approved ethics course of at least two hours every calendar year. These are essential Virginia CPA CPE Requirements that must be met to maintain compliance. 

  • Approved sponsors only. The VBOA publishes a yearly list of approved ethics providers and courses. The course you take must match the title on its list exactly. If not the list, it would not count toward the ethics requirement. 
  • The VBOA Segment. Each approved course includes a Board-produced segment that covers current Virginia regulatory issues. It changes every year, so last year’s course does not satisfy this year’s requirements. 
  • Separate from the AICPA ethics exam. The one-time AICPA ethics course for initial licensure does not replace the annual Virginia course. 

The 2026 list covers regulatory ethics, behavioral ethics, Yellow Book ethics for government auditors, and AI ethics. 

MYCPE ONE listed as MY-CPE LLC dba MYCPE ONE is on the 2026 VBOA-approved ethics provider list with three courses listed on: 

Note: the 2026 ethics course must be completed by January 31, 2027. Sponsors cannot deliver the prior year’s course after that date.

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Factor 4: Who Needs 8 Hours of Attest-Related CPE in Virginia?

Under 18VAC5-22-140, a CPA who releases or authorizes the release of reports on attest, compilation, or financial statement preparation services during a calendar year must earn at least 8 hours of CPE related to those services in that same year. 

Two points are worth getting right: 

  • The trigger is report release, not engagement work. Partners and managers who sign or authorize reports are in scope. Check your role each year, since it can change with a promotion. 
  • The 8 hours are not extra. They count inside your 20-hour annual minimum and your 120-hour total. 

Missing the 8 hours in a single year is a separate line item in the VBOA penalty guidelines, and missing it in more than one year of the same reporting period draws a higher penalty.

Factor 5: When Is the Virginia CPE Deadline?

Virginia’s CPE year runs from January 1 to December 31. The VBOA then gives a grace window: any CPE you complete by January 31 of the following year can be applied to the prior year’s requirement. 

That window helps if you fall short in December, but treat it as a safety net, not a plan. An hour applied to the prior year should also not be counted toward the current year. Pick one and record it that way in your tracker. 

The same January 31 cutoff applies to the annual ethics course, so a CPA who skipped ethics in 2026 has until January 31, 2027, to fix it.

Factor 6: How Does Virginia CPA License Renewal Work?

Individual Virginia CPA licenses renew every year by June 30. The renewal window opens March 1, the fee is $60, and paying by check adds a $25 processing fee. 

At renewal, you affirm that you meet the VA CPE requirements. You do not upload certificates unless the VBOA selects you for an audit. That affirmation matters: a false certification of CPE at renewal is its own violation. 

If you miss June 30, your license moves to Expired status on July 1. Reinstatement costs $350, and you cannot use the CPA title or provide attest or compilation services until the license shows Active again. Inactive and Emeritus licensees still renew every June 30.

Factor 7: What CPE Do New Virginia CPAs Need?

CPE for initial licensure depends on when you passed the CPA Exam:

When you applyCPE needed with the application
Same calendar year you passed the exam0 hours
1st calendar year after passing40 hours plus that year’s VBOA ethics course
2nd calendar year after passing80 hours plus that year’s VBOA ethics course
3rd calendar year or later120 hours plus that year’s VBOA ethics course


Once licensed, you owe no CPE for the calendar year your license is issued. The standard 120/20/2 rule applies after that. Separately, Virginia removed its 150-semester-hour licensure rule on January 1, 2026 and now offers three education and experience pathways. That change affects how you get licensed, not your ongoing CPE obligation.

Factor 8: What Counts as Qualifying CPE in Virginia?

Apart from the ethics course, the VBOA does not require you to use specific sponsors. It accepts CPE, CE, CEUs, CLE, QAS self-study, and college credit, as long as the learning is relevant to your work as a CPA with proper documentation. Well courses from a NASBA-registered sponsors with certificates is a reliable source though. 

Credit is based on 50 minutes = 1 CPE hour. Some activities carry their own rules or caps:

CPE activityHow credit worksLimit per rolling 3-year period
Live seminars, conferences, webcastsBased on contact timeNo cap
Self-study (QAS)Must be reviewed by subject matter expertsNo cap
Nano-learningMinimum 10 minutes; 10 minutes = 0.2 CPENo cap in VBOA guidelines
College courses1 semester hour = 15 CPE; 1 quarter hour = 10 CPENo cap
Presenting or teachingUp to 2x contact hours, first presentation only30 hours
Published articles or booksActual research and writing time, after independent review30 hours
Certifications and exams5 CPE per hour of exam time60 hours


What to do: if you lean on teaching or certification credit, add a running total for each capped category so you do not count hours the VBOA will reject.

Factor 9: How Do Virginia CPE Audits Work, and What Happens If You Fall Short?

The VBOA selects licensees for random CPE compliance reviews every month. CPAs tied to an open investigation or enforcement case can also be selected. If you are picked, you upload proof of all required CPE for the reporting period to NASBA’s CPE Audit Service. Acceptable proof is a completion certificate showing the sponsor’s name, your name, the course name, the date, and the hours earned. 

The VBOA does not accept receipts, registration confirmations, cancelled checks, outlines, slide decks, or sign-in sheets. Penalties scale with the size of the shortfall and how it was found. Selected first-offense outcomes from the VBOA CPE violation guidelines:

Deficiency (first offense)Self-reportedFound in audit
Fewer than 5 hours shortNo actionAdvisory letter
More than 5, up to 10 hours shortAdvisory letterReprimand
Missed one year of VBOA-approved ethicsAdvisory letterReprimand
Missed the 20-hour annual minimumReprimandReprimand and $250
Missed the 8 attest hours in one yearReprimandReprimand and $250


Note: Waivers and deadline extensions exist but are rare. The Board generally limits them to extreme medical hardship or active military deployment, and you must ask before the deadline.

Factor 10: How Do License Status and Reciprocity Change Your CPE Obligation?

Your CPE obligation depends on your license status and where you primarily work. 

Out-of-state CPAs. If you hold an Active license in another state and your principal place of business is outside Virginia, the VBOA accepts your home state’s CPE compliance. You still need either a VBOA-approved ethics course or an ethics course your home state accepts, and you select “CPE reciprocity” if audited. 

Inactive and Emeritus. Both statuses changed on July 1, 2026. The key rule for both: you are exempt from CPE only after the VBOA approves you in writing, starting with the calendar year of the approval notice, not the year you applied.

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Conclusion

Virginia CPA CPE requirements are simple at the top level but the risk sits in the details. 120 hours in a rolling three years, 20 hours a year, and two hours of VBOA-approved ethics. The annual minimum hours impact here. The exact-title ethics rule and the conditional 8 attest hours rule slow down the speed. 

Get the ethics course done early, track hours by calendar year, and keep certificates for the four calendar years. The annual minimum of 20 hours is tested on its own. Payment records and registration emails are not acceptable proof, so keep CPE certificates secure.

FAQs

Virginia CPAs with an Active license need 120 CPE hours over a rolling three-calendar-year period, with at least 20 hours in each calendar year. The 120 hours include a two-hour VBOA-approved ethics course every year.

Every Virginia CPA must complete a VBOA-approved ethics course of at least two hours each calendar year. The course must include the VBOA Segment and must come from a sponsor on the Board’s approved list.

No. If Virginia is your principal place of business, only a course on the VBOA’s approved list counts, and the course title must exactly match the Board’s listing. A generic ethics course or another state’s ethics course will not satisfy the requirements.

CPE runs on the calendar year, January 1 to December 31. The VBOA gives you until January 31 of the following year to finish the prior year’s hours, including the annual ethics course.

Virginia has no carryover provision. Instead, the rolling three-year window means hours earned in one year count toward three different reporting periods, as long as you also meet the 20-hour minimum every year.

Imtiaz Munshi, CPA

Imtiaz Munshi, CPA

CFO, AZSTEC LLC

Imtiaz Munshi, CPA (US), is the CFO at Azstec, LLC and a trusted advisor to high-net-worth entrepreneurs. A seasoned tax planner and a business strategist with his 25 years of experience, he helps businesses grow smarter and stronger. Imtiaz specializes in guiding entrepreneurs and enterprises through complex financial decisions with clarity and confidence. His passion lies in simplifying strategy, optimizing tax outcomes, and driving sustainable growth. Through his work and thought leadership, Imtiaz continues to empower CPAs and business owners to stay ahead in an evolving financial landscape shaped by AI, ESG, and data-driven change.

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