Virginia CPA CPE Requirements — December 31, 2026 Triennial Deadline

120 CPE hrs / 3 years

20 Min. hrs per year

4 VA Ethics hrs / period

60 Max self-study hrs

Dec 31 Renewal deadline

Virginia CPE at a Glance

The Virginia Board of Accountancy (VBOA) requires every active CPA licensee to complete 120 CPE hours over each 3-year license renewal period, with all hours completed by December 31 of the renewal year. Virginia's CPE cycle is triennial — but with an important annual floor: no calendar year within the 3-year period may have fewer than 20 CPE hours.

Virginia licenses are renewed on a rolling triennial basis. Your specific renewal deadline depends on when your license was first issued. All renewals, however, close on a December 31 cycle. Confirm your exact renewal period end date by logging into your VBOA account at boa.virginia.gov.

Key distinction — triennial total, annual floor: Virginia's 120-hour requirement is measured over 3 years, but the 20-hour annual minimum means you cannot "bank" all 120 hours into one or two years. Every calendar year must reach at least 20 hours. A CPA who completes 60 hours in Year 1 and 60 hours in Year 2 with zero hours in Year 3 is out of compliance — even though the triennial total is technically met.

Virginia-Specific Ethics CPE: The 4-Hour Requirement

Virginia mandates 4 hours of Virginia-specific ethics CPE per 3-year renewal period. This is not a generic professional ethics course — the content must explicitly address:

Virginia Board of Accountancy regulations and statutes (Title 54.1 of the Code of Virginia)
AICPA Code of Professional Conduct as applied to Virginia licensees
Virginia-specific professional conduct standards and disciplinary history

Ethics course tip: The VSCPA (Virginia Society of CPAs) offers an VBOA-approved 4-hour Virginia ethics course that satisfies the full triennial requirement in a single session. Complete it in Year 1 of your renewal period — availability is best in spring and early fall. Do not substitute a generic "CPA ethics" course; VBOA auditors verify Virginia-specific content.

What counts as Virginia ethics CPE?

VSCPA Virginia-specific ethics course (VBOA-approved)
AICPA ethics courses covering Virginia Board regulations (confirm VBOA acceptance)
Courses explicitly addressing Title 54.1 of the Code of Virginia and VBOA rules
Does NOT qualify: General business ethics, corporate governance training, or ethics courses without Virginia-specific regulatory content

Annual Minimum: 20 Hours Per Year

Virginia's 20-hour annual floor is a hard requirement, not a suggestion. VBOA evaluates CPE compliance on both the triennial total and the per-year minimum. The floor applies to every calendar year within the 3-year renewal period — including Year 1 and Year 2, not just the final year before renewal.

Practical implication: if your renewal period is January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2026, you must complete at least 20 hours in 2024, at least 20 hours in 2025, and at least 20 hours in 2026 — with a combined total of 120 hours across all three years.

Annual floor trap: A CPA who completes all 120 hours in the first two years (60+60) but does nothing in Year 3 fails the annual minimum for Year 3, even though the triennial total is met. You must close every year above 20 hours.

Self-Study Limit: The 50% Cap

Virginia caps self-study CPE at 50% of the 120-hour total — a maximum of 60 hours over the 3-year renewal period. The remaining 60 hours must be interactive instruction: group-live seminars, interactive webinars, or other formats requiring real-time participation.

What counts as interactive (non-self-study)?

In-person VSCPA seminars and conferences
Live webinars with polling, Q&A, or group discussion elements
University courses taken for graduate credit
Employer-sponsored in-house training with a live instructor
Firm CPE sessions with live presenters and participant interaction

What counts as self-study?

On-demand online courses (pre-recorded, no live instructor)
Reading-based CPE modules with a final assessment exam
Self-directed software tutorials from NASBA-registered CPE sponsors

Watch delivery method labels: Certificates must show whether a course is group-live, group-internet (interactive webinar), or self-study. Some platforms mislabel recorded webinars as "interactive." Review each certificate carefully. If the delivery method is missing, contact the provider for an amended certificate before your renewal deadline.

Approved CPE Providers for Virginia

Virginia accepts CPE from providers registered with the NASBA National Registry of CPE Sponsors and from providers directly approved by the Virginia Board of Accountancy. Check the NASBA Registry at nasbaregistry.org or contact VBOA to verify approval before enrolling.

VSCPA Virginia Society of CPAs — primary in-state provider, VBOA-approved ethics course

AICPA National, NASBA-registered, wide catalog including ethics

Surgent CPE Self-study + webinars, NASBA-registered

Becker CPE Self-study platform, NASBA-registered

CPE Depot / CPA Academy Free webinars, NASBA-registered

Illumeo On-demand self-study, NASBA-registered

Big 4 / national firms Internal CPE programs — confirm NASBA or VBOA approval

University courses Graduate-level credit courses qualify

Attest and A&A CPE for Virginia CPAs

Virginia CPAs who perform attest services (audits, reviews, compilations) face a specific A&A sub-requirement within the 120-hour total:

8 hours of A&A CPE per year if you perform attest services — this is a Virginia-specific carved-out requirement, not just a best practice recommendation.
A&A CPE must cover accounting and auditing technical content: financial statement standards, audit procedures, compilation and review standards, or related regulatory guidance.
A&A hours count toward your 120-hour triennial total and the 20-hour annual minimum — they are not in addition to those totals.

Yellow Book note: Virginia CPAs performing governmental audits or federal program audits must also comply with Government Auditing Standards (Yellow Book), which requires 80 hours of CPE per 2-year period — with at least 24 hours in governmental auditing subjects. This requirement runs concurrently with Virginia's CPE requirement but is tracked separately.

Practical approach: Virginia attest CPAs typically structure their annual CPE as 8+ hours A&A, 1.33 hours Virginia ethics (to average 4 hours over 3 years), and the remaining balance in technical and professional development subjects.

Carryover Policy: Limited 20-Hour Carry

Unlike some states that allow no carryover, Virginia permits a limited carryover: up to 20 excess CPE hours completed in the final year of a renewal period may be applied to the first year of the next renewal period. Key rules:

Only hours from the final calendar year of the renewal period are eligible for carryover.
Maximum carryover is 20 hours — any excess above 20 is forfeited.
Carried-over hours cannot be used to satisfy the annual 20-hour minimum floor in the new period's first year. They supplement the total but do not replace the requirement.
Ethics hours completed in a prior period cannot be carried over to satisfy the next period's ethics requirement.

Record Retention Requirements

Virginia CPAs must retain CPE documentation for 5 years from the end of the renewal period. Each certificate should show:

Provider/sponsor name (and NASBA registry number, if applicable)
Course title and subject area
Delivery method (group-live, group-internet, self-study, etc.)
Date of completion
Number of CPE hours awarded
Your name or verification of completion

VBOA selects licensees for CPE audits on a random and risk-based basis. If selected, you will need to produce all supporting documentation within the timeframe specified in the audit notice. Certificates without delivery method classification are a common audit finding.

6-Step Triennial CPE Plan for Virginia CPAs

Verify your renewal period in January of Year 1: Log in to your VBOA online account and confirm your renewal period end date and total CPE obligation. New licensees or those returning from inactive status may have prorated amounts. Note the annual 20-hour minimums for each year of the period.
Complete Virginia ethics CPE in Year 1: Schedule and complete the 4-hour VSCPA Virginia ethics course (or an equivalent VBOA-approved course) early in your first renewal year. Availability is best in spring. Do not defer ethics to Year 3 — Virginia-specific ethics courses are less available in Q4 as CPAs scramble to complete hours.
Book attest/A&A hours in Q1–Q2 each year: If you perform attest services, schedule your 8 hours of A&A CPE before summer. VSCPA's spring A&A update programs and AICPA's audit-focused webinars offer the widest selection in Q1 and Q2. Treat A&A CPE as mandatory scheduling, not optional fill.
Hit 20 interactive hours each year: Aim for 20 or more group-live or interactive webinar hours per year to maintain compliance and stay well within the 50% self-study cap. Spread interactive hours across the year rather than stacking them in December.
Use self-study budget for flexible fill: Fill your remaining annual hours with self-study courses from NASBA-registered platforms. Keep a running total by year to ensure no year falls below 20 and the triennial total tracks toward 120. Retain all completion certificates showing delivery method.
Audit totals by November 30 of renewal year: In Year 3, count all hours from all three years by November 30. Confirm each year exceeds 20 hours, the triennial total approaches 120, ethics is satisfied, and attest A&A is current. Enroll in VSCPA webinars or online self-study courses to close any gap before December 31. Do not wait until the final week — platform outages and availability issues peak in late December.

Virginia vs. Neighboring States: CPE Comparison

Virginia CPAs who also hold licenses in Maryland, North Carolina, or Washington DC face different rules in each jurisdiction. CPE taken once generally satisfies multiple states, but each state's minimums, ethics requirements, and deadlines apply independently.

State	Total Req.	Cycle	Annual Min.	Ethics	Self-Study Cap	Deadline
Virginia	120 hrs/3 yrs	Triennial	20 hrs/year	4 hrs VA-specific/period	60 hrs (50%)	Dec 31
Maryland	80 hrs/2 years	Biennial	None stated	4 hrs/period	40 hrs (50%)	Jun 30
North Carolina	40 hrs/year	Annual	40 hrs/year	2 hrs/year	20 hrs (50%)	Dec 31
Washington DC	80 hrs/2 years	Biennial	None stated	4 hrs/period	40 hrs (50%)	Dec 31
Tennessee	80 hrs/2 years	Biennial	None stated	2 hrs/2 years	40 hrs (50%)	Dec 31

Multi-state tip: Virginia + DC is a common dual-license combination for CPAs in the Northern Virginia / DMV metro area. DC also uses a December 31 deadline with an 80-hour/2-year biennial cycle — structurally different from Virginia's triennial system. Track each state's cycle separately. CPE hours taken from a NASBA-registered provider typically count for both, but each state's ethics requirement must be met with state-specific content.

Common CPE Audit Triggers in Virginia

VBOA selects licensees for CPE audits based on random selection and compliance signals. These mistakes commonly draw scrutiny:

Annual minimum violation: Any year below 20 CPE hours is an automatic compliance failure, even if the triennial total exceeds 120 hours.
Self-study over 50%: Claiming more than 60 self-study hours over the period triggers review. Count self-study hours cumulatively across all three years.
Missing delivery method on certificates: Certificates without a delivery method classification cannot be categorized as self-study or interactive. VBOA may disallow hours without this field.
Non-Virginia ethics content: Ethics courses without explicit Virginia Board of Accountancy regulatory content are routinely rejected. The course description must reference VBOA rules or Virginia statutes.
Non-NASBA providers: CPE from unregistered sponsors may not qualify. VBOA can disallow entire blocks of hours if the sponsor is not NASBA-registered or VBOA-approved.
Attest A&A shortfall: CPAs who perform attest work and cannot show 8 hours of A&A CPE per year face heightened scrutiny, especially in post-peer-review audits.

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Frequently Asked Questions: Virginia CPA CPE

How many CPE hours do Virginia CPAs need?

Virginia CPAs must complete 120 CPE hours over each 3-year license renewal period. There is also a minimum annual floor: no calendar year within the 3-year period may have fewer than 20 CPE hours. The renewal period runs on a rolling triennial cycle aligned to the license expiration date, and the deadline for each period is December 31.

What is the CPE deadline for Virginia CPAs?

The CPE deadline for Virginia CPAs is December 31 of the year in which the license renewal period ends. Virginia uses a rolling 3-year (triennial) cycle. CPAs should confirm their specific renewal period end date with the Virginia Board of Accountancy (VBOA) at boa.virginia.gov.

Does Virginia require ethics CPE?

Yes. Virginia CPAs must complete 4 hours of Virginia-specific ethics CPE per 3-year renewal period. The ethics content must specifically cover the Virginia Board of Accountancy regulations and the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct as it applies to Virginia licensees. General business ethics does not satisfy this requirement.

What is the annual CPE minimum for Virginia CPAs?

Virginia requires a minimum of 20 CPE hours per calendar year within the 3-year renewal period. Even though the total requirement is 120 hours over 3 years, no single year may fall below 20 hours. This prevents CPAs from completing all 120 hours in one or two years and doing nothing in the remaining year.

How many self-study CPE hours can Virginia CPAs count?

Virginia allows up to 50% of the 120-hour requirement — a maximum of 60 hours over the 3-year period — to be completed through self-study courses. Self-study courses must be from NASBA Registry-registered sponsors or VBOA-approved providers and must include a final assessment.

Which CPE providers are approved for Virginia CPAs?

Virginia accepts CPE from providers registered with the NASBA National Registry of CPE Sponsors and from providers approved by the Virginia Board of Accountancy (VBOA). VSCPA programs, AICPA courses, university courses for graduate credit, and programs from national firms also qualify. Always verify NASBA registration before enrolling.

Do Virginia CPAs need extra CPE for attest or audit work?

Yes. Virginia CPAs who perform attest services must complete at least 8 hours of accounting and auditing (A&A) CPE per year. This A&A sub-requirement is in addition to meeting the annual 20-hour floor and the 120-hour triennial total. CPAs performing Yellow Book audits face the additional requirement of 80 hours of CPE per 2-year period under Government Auditing Standards.

Can Virginia CPAs carry over excess CPE hours to the next renewal period?

Virginia allows a limited carryover: up to 20 excess CPE hours completed in the final year of a renewal period may be carried forward and credited to the first year of the next renewal period. Hours carried over cannot be used to satisfy the annual 20-hour minimum floor — they supplement but do not replace it.

What happens if a Virginia CPA misses the December 31 CPE deadline?

Failure to complete the required 120 CPE hours (and meet the annual 20-hour minimum each year) by the December 31 renewal deadline can result in license suspension or non-renewal by the VBOA. CPAs who discover a shortfall should contact VBOA promptly. Virginia does have a reinstatement process but it involves additional fees and documentation.

Does Virginia have a separate CPE requirement for new CPA licensees?

Virginia new licensees entering mid-period have a prorated CPE requirement for the initial partial renewal period. The standard 120-hour triennial requirement with 20-hour annual minimums applies for all subsequent full renewal periods. New licensees should confirm their exact prorated obligation with VBOA.

How does Virginia CPE compare to Maryland or North Carolina for border-state CPAs?

Virginia (120 hrs/3 years, 20-hr annual min, Dec 31 deadline) uses a triennial cycle. North Carolina requires 40 hours per year with a December 31 deadline — an annual cycle. Maryland requires 80 hours over 2 years with a June 30 deadline. Multi-state CPAs must meet each state's requirements separately, though CPE hours taken once typically count for all states where the provider is NASBA-registered.

Where do I find the VBOA-approved Virginia ethics CPE course?

The VSCPA (Virginia Society of CPAs) offers a VBOA-approved 4-hour Virginia-specific ethics course that satisfies the full triennial ethics requirement in one sitting. The AICPA also offers ethics courses that cover Virginia Board regulations and are accepted by VBOA. Confirm that any ethics course explicitly addresses Virginia statutes and VBOA regulations before enrolling.