Idaho CPA CPE Requirements

Idaho CPAs must complete 80 hours of CPE within any rolling two-calendar-year period, with at least 30 hours and no more than 50 hours in each individual calendar year. Of the 80 hours, at least 4 must be in ethics. There is no A&A mandate and no self-study cap. The rolling structure means compliance is checked every year — not just at a fixed biennial renewal date.

Idaho CPAs have three key annual dates: (1) December 31 — CPE hours for the calendar year must be completed; (2) January 31 — CPE report submitted to Idaho DOPL covering the rolling two-year window; (3) June 30 — annual license renewal deadline ($100 penalty if missed). If selected for CPE audit: documentation uploaded by February 15.

At each January 31 reporting date, Idaho DOPL counts CPE completed across the two most recently completed calendar years. For the January 31, 2027 report: hours from January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2026 are counted. The window shifts by one year every January 1 — so compliance is evaluated annually, unlike fixed-cycle biennial states. Hours from 2025 count toward the 2026 and 2027 reports, then roll off the window for 2028.

Idaho imposes a per-year maximum of 50 hours. No more than 50 hours from any single calendar year may be applied toward the 80-hour rolling total. Additionally, a per-year minimum of 30 hours means each calendar year must contribute at least 30 hours. The result: you must complete 30–50 hours each year, and both years combined must total at least 80 hours. There is no compliant way to "front-load" all 80 hours into a single year.

Idaho requires 4 hours of ethics per rolling two-year period. Any course with "ethics" listed as the Field of Study qualifies. Established licensees are not required to complete a state-specific ethics course — any NASBA-registered provider's ethics course counts. New licensees must complete an additional 2-hour Idaho state-specific ethics course (Idaho Accountancy Act and Rules) during their first calendar year of licensure. Licensees seeking reinstatement must also complete this 2-hour Idaho-specific course.

No. Idaho DOPL does not impose a separate accounting and auditing hour requirement. There is no A&A minimum regardless of whether you perform attest services. Idaho's only subject-matter mandate is 4 hours of ethics per rolling two-year window.

Yes — there is no percentage cap on self-study hours. Idaho CPAs may complete 100% of their 80 required hours through qualifying self-study formats. However, noninteractive self-study courses do not qualify: if a course presents no review questions during the course AND provides no assessment at the end, it does not count for Idaho CPE credit. Qualifying formats include QAS Self-Study, Group Internet-Based (webinars), Nano Learning, and Group Live courses.

Idaho CPAs report CPE annually by January 31 through Idaho DOPL's online licensing portal at dopl.idaho.gov. The report covers the rolling two-year window ending December 31 of the prior year. If selected for a CPE audit, documentation must be uploaded to the portal by February 15 as a single PDF, JPG, or PNG file containing all CPE certificates. Retain certificates of completion and attendance records in case of audit.

Completing fewer than 30 hours in any calendar year creates an automatic compliance failure for the rolling window that includes that year — even if the two-year total would otherwise equal or exceed 80 hours. For example: completing 50 hours in 2025 and 20 hours in 2026 = 70 total hours (below 80) and a per-year minimum violation in 2026. Both violations must be corrected before the January 31, 2027 reporting date. Idaho does not allow retroactive correction of prior-year shortfalls.

Idaho CPA licenses are renewed annually by June 30 through the DOPL online portal at dopl.idaho.gov. A penalty fee of $100 applies if renewal is not completed by this date. License renewal is separate from CPE reporting — both must be completed each year. The January 31 CPE report confirms prior-year compliance; the June 30 renewal activates the license for the coming year.

Both Idaho and Colorado use an 80-hour rolling two-year CPE structure with December 31 completion and no self-study cap. The key difference: Idaho imposes a per-year minimum (30 hours) and maximum (50 hours) — meaning Idaho CPAs must distribute hours across both years within the 30–50 band. Colorado has no annual floor or cap within the rolling window. Idaho's per-year band makes non-compliance easier to trigger accidentally: a year with 25 hours fails the Idaho minimum even if the two-year total is adequate. Colorado CPAs face no equivalent per-year restriction.

A fixed biennial cycle (like Utah's even-year or Nebraska's birth-year biennial) runs from a set start date to a set end date — compliance is only evaluated at the end of that fixed period. Idaho's rolling window shifts by one year every January 1: the oldest year "rolls off" and the newest year "rolls on." This means Idaho compliance is evaluated at every January 31 reporting date — not just once every two years. A CPA on a fixed biennial cycle can complete 0 hours in year one and 80 in year two. An Idaho CPA cannot: the 30-hour annual minimum prevents this regardless of the window structure.