All acceptable continuing education (CE) must be a formal program of learning which contributes directly to the professional competence of a licensee in public practice. Programs in personal growth, self-realization, spirituality, personal health and/or fitness, sports and recreation, foreign languages and cultures, and other subjects which will not contribute directly to the licensee's professional competence are not acceptable CE.

The CBA does not pre-approve or register providers of CE courses other than the Regulatory Review course. It is the responsibility of the provider to ensure compliance with the guidelines in Section 88.1 and 88.2 of the Accountancy Regulations.

Provider Requirements

In order to qualify as acceptable CE the provider of a live presentation program must:

• Require attendance and retain for a period of six years a record of attendance that accurately assigns the appropriate number of contact hours for participants, including those who arrive late or leave early.
• Retain for a period of six years written educational goals and specific learning objectives, as well as a syllabus, which provides a general outline, instructional objectives, and a summary of topics for the course. A copy of the educational goals, learning objectives, and course syllabus shall be made available to the CBA upon request.
• Issue a certificate of completion with verification certified by a program provider representative, such as a signature or seal, to each licensee upon satisfactory completion of the course and retain records of licensees receiving certificates of completion for a period of six years. The certificate of completion also must delineate the subject areas for which the licensee may claim credit. The amount of credit reflected on the certificate of completion shall be calculated in accordance with Section 88.2(a) of the CBA Regulations.

Program Measurements

In order to qualify as acceptable CE a live presentation program must:

• Be measured in 50-minute class hours. A program must be at least one 50-minute class hour in length to be acceptable CE.

• Only class hours will be used to measure the hours of CE, not participant hours devoted to preparation or study time.

Provider Requirements

In order to qualify as acceptable CE the provider of a Group Internet-Based Program (Webcast) must:

• Require and monitor attendance throughout the program by using attendance monitoring devices such as polling, questions, or surveys. The program shall include a minimum of two monitoring events each half hour, at least one of which occurs at an irregular interval.
• Have a live instructor while the program is being presented and a feature allowing participants to send questions/comments directly to the instructor and receive answers during the program.
• Retain for a period of six years a record of attendance that accurately assigns the appropriate number of participation hours for participants.
• Retain for a period of six years written educational goals and specific learning objectives, as well as a syllabus, which provides a general outline, instructional objectives, and a summary of topics for the course. A copy of the educational goals, learning objectives, and course syllabus shall be made available to the CBA upon request.
• Issue a certificate of completion with verification certified by a program provider representative, such as a signature or seal, to each licensee upon satisfactory completion of the course. Satisfactory completion shall at a minimum require responding to at least 75 percent of the monitoring events described in Section 88.1(b)(1) of the CBA Regulations during the period for which continuing education credit is being granted. The certificate of completion also must delineate the subject areas for which the licensee may claim credit. The amount of credit shall be displayed on the certificate of completion and shall be calculated in accordance with Section 88.2(b) of the CBA Regulations.
• Have a written policy to address rescheduling and the granting of partial credit in the event of a technology failure, and make that policy available to the CBA upon request.

Program Measurements

In order to qualify as acceptable CE a Group Internet-Based Program (Webcast) must:

• Be measured in 50-minute class hours. A program must be at least one 50-minute class hour in length to be acceptable CE.

• Only class hours will be used to measure the hours of CE, not participant hours devoted to preparation or study time.

Provider Requirements

In order to qualify as acceptable CE the sponsor of a self-study course must:

• Retain for a period of six years written educational goals and specific learning objectives, as well as a syllabus, which provides a general outline, instructional objectives, and a summary of topics for the course. A copy of the educational goals, learning objectives, and course syllabus shall be made available to the CBA upon request.
• Issue a certificate of completion with verification certified by a program provider representative, such as a signature or seal, to each licensee upon satisfactory completion of the course and retain records of licensees receiving certificates of completion for a period of six years. The certificate of completion also must delineate the subject areas for which the licensee may claim credit. The amount of credit shall be displayed on the certificate of completion and shall be calculated in accordance with Section 88.2(c) of the CBA Regulations.

Program Measurements

In order to qualify as acceptable CE any self-study course, whether in electronic or paper text format, must:

• Grant CE credit equal to the average completion time if the self-study course is designed to use learning methodologies that simulate a classroom learning process by employing significant ongoing interactive feedback to the participant regarding his or her learning process.
• Clearly define lesson objectives and manage the participant through the learning process by:

• Evaluated feedback means a response specific to each incorrect answer to the study questions that explains why the particular answer is wrong, as each one is likely to be wrong for a different reason. Reinforcement feedback means a response to the correct answer of the study questions that restates and explains why the answers selected was correct.
• Require a passing score on a test given at the conclusion of the course.