Maryland

BOARD INFORMATION FOR REFERRALS:

Maryland State Board of Public Accountancy
500 N Calvert St., Room 308
Baltimore, MD 21202-3651
Phone: (410) 230-6258
Fax: (410) 333-6314
Website: www.dllr.state.md.us/license/occprof/account.html

DO PES COURSES QUALIFY FOR CPE IN THE STATE OF MARYLAND? YES

The board has no formal sponsor registration requirements for courses or providers. PES is a member of NASBA and has issued credits in Maryland since 1992.

LICENSE RENEWAL INFORMATION:

• 80 hours every 2 years.
• In general, personal development courses are not accepted.
• 4 hours of ethics CPE required. PES courses #4705: Ethics and Professional Conduct for Maryland CPAs, #4205 or #4325 can be used to meet this requirement.

LICENSE EXPIRATION INFORMATION:

• Registrants must register biennially from the date of issuance.

CPE COMPLETION DUE BY:

• License expiration date.

SELF STUDY CREDIT HOURS:

Credits granted for PES courses are based on the AICPA and NASBA (National Association of State Boards of Accountancy) statement of standards which grant 1 CPE credit for every 50-minutes of study time.

MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE SELF STUDY CREDITS:

Registrant may claim up to 50% of total hours for a formal self-study program in any renewal period.

ACCEPTABLE AREAS OF STUDY:

Per state regulations... "a wide range of education programs are 'recognized' by the Board as being of value in fulfilling the continuing professional education requirement. The overriding consideration in determining whether a specific program qualifies is that it contributes directly to the professional competence of an individual after the individual has been licensed to practice certified public accounting. Education programs which qualify are those which are formal programs of learning as defined below:

a) for a program to qualify for CPE credit, it must meet the following criteria:

• principally not repeat material to the licensee; and
  
• the knowledge gained from the course(s) must reasonably be directly usable by the participant to produce, as a practicing CPA, a service or product for a client. This generally eliminates areas of general administration, the marketing of a CPA's services and areas of self-improvement that have only an indirect connection to a CPA's service or product.

b) Courses in accounting, auditing, taxation, financial planning, and management advisory services are acceptable if they directly contribute to the professional competence of an individual after the individual is licensed to practice as a CPA.

c) It is possible that courses in general business related subjects may be acceptable, but only if they meet the professional competence standards.

Note: For each course taken for CPE, it remains the responsibility of the licensee to demonstrate that the program contributes directly to the licensee's professional competence as an active CPA.

If you have any questions regarding your CPE requirements, please call PES at 1-800-990-2731 or your State board. Updated 5/13/2008.

(PLEASE NOTE: Since state board regulations are constantly changing, the information contained here is deemed reliable however it is not guaranteed. We encourage you to contact your state board to answer any questions and confirm or clarify any requirements listed here.)

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