Q:
What do I have to do by June 30?
A:
Earn
the CPE you will need to report by December 31 in order to renew your license (or change status). The CPE (fiscal) year runs from July 1 to June 30.
Q:
But what if I'm no longer using my Active status license?
A:
You are still obligated to follow CPE rules, until
after your status change to inactive or exempt becomes effective.
Q:
Why should I worry about earning CPE on time? Why should I care NOW?
A:
Two very good reasons:
- You can't renew your license or change status until you are compliant with CPE requirements, and
- CPE late earning fees accrue monthly, beginning in July with $50, then $25 per month or partial month thereafter.
Imagine this: You wait until late December to sort out your CPE and renew. You discover you can't even renew on time, since you still have courses you need to take to meet CPE requirements. Suddenly a
$100 on-time license renewal turns into a January late renewal of
$325 ($100 license, $50 late filing, $175 CPE late earning). Plus, you can't practice or hold out in January until you get your license renewed. Who wants to start a new year that way? Make sure your CPE is in order now.
Q:
Do I have to
report
the CPE by June 30?
A:
No. You don't need to report until December 31, 2019, or when you renew - whichever comes first.
If you want, you can report as early as you have everything completed, just remember to return to
Online Services to renew in the fall. You can only submit your CPE once through
Online Services. Once submitted, the data is no longer editable. That's why you want to have final, complete, and accurate information for the July 1-June 30 year before you enter it in the Board's CPE reporting system.
Q:
What do I need to earn by June 30?
A:
- If this is the first or the second year that you were required to report CPE, you are only obligated to meet the 1-year requirement of 20 qualifying CPE credits of any type.
- If this is your third year (or beyond), you must meet both the 1-year (min. 20 credits) and rolling 3-year requirements.
Q:
My situation fits item 2 above. How do I know if I'll be in compliance with the rolling 3-year requirements come June 30?
Go to the "CPE Reporting" tab, then refer to the table at the very bottom of the page (below the "Year Ending June 30, 2019" table). If you see any red (rather than green or yellow) squares, you are short credits of that type. The numbers in red squares are the totals you need to reach; the numbers next to them are the credits you have thus far reported that are of the corresponding type. See "Reading the CPE Summary Table" below for more details.
Keep in mind that sometimes a single course can meet multiple shortfalls. For instance, if you are 3 credits short on Group/Blended, 2 short on Technical and 3 short on Ethics, that doesn't mean you need 8 more credits. A single, 3-credit group course in regulatory ethics would fulfill all 3 shortfalls.
But do remember that even if your 3-year totals show you need less than 20 credits in 2019 to reach 120 credits for the 3-year period, you must earn 20 to meet the 1-year requirement. You can't, for example, report "60, 60, and 0" credits in any given 3-year cycle, nor "50, 51, and 19." Every year must have a minimum of 20 credits.
Q:
I looked in Online Services and what I see listed for 2017 and 2018 doesn't match my records [in quantity or categorization]. What should I go by, what you have or what I have?
A:
The issue is that "the Board goes by what the Board has" (what you previously reported to the Board). If there's a discrepancy, you will want to determine why and fix it promptly. Did you forget you carried back some credits to a prior period? Are there credits you earned but didn't report to the Board? Did you realize that the Excel course you took was really Nontechnical not Technical and so is misclassified?
If you determine that it's the
Board's information that needs to be updated, notify the
CPE coordinator in writing (letter or
email) of what
exact changes need to be made. You do not need to submit the course certificates unless requested by the coordinator.
As long as the changes do not put you out of compliance with a prior period, you will not owe any fee for the changes. If the CPE coordinator sees that the changes do put you out of compliance, she will contact you.
Q:
I've got a different question. Where can I find an answer?
A:
Try any of the following:
