Illinois CPA CPE Requirements: Rules and Recommended Courses

Illinois CPA CPE requirements

To maintain active status, all CPA licensees in Illinois have to fulfill a CPA CPE requirement on a triennial basis. Here is a summary for your reference:

Illinois CPA CPE Requirements

CPE credits have to be accumulated by September 30, and the reporting is done every 3 years.

Within these 3 years, CPAs need to:

  • Fulfill a minimum of 120 hours of accounting continuing education
  • Maximum of:
    • 80 hours of self-study
    • 24 hours of personal development (non-technical) courses
  • Minimum 4 credit hours of ethics
  • As of January 1, 2020, a minimum of 1 hour of sexual harassment prevention training every 3 years

You may also fulfill the requirements through other experiences:

  • Maximum 60 hours from teaching in colleges or formal CPE courses
  • Maximum 30 hours of authoring in a related field
  • Maximum of 10 hours for participating on a technical committee of a professional association
  • Board-approved firm training

Non-verifiable courses (those without AICPA/NASBA-approved sponsors) are limited to 60 hours.

Further Information

You can contact the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) for further questions:

  • Address: 320 W. Washington Street, 3rd Floor, Springfield, IL 62786
  • Phone: (217) 785-0800

Where Can I Take These Accounting CPE Courses?

My recommendation is Becker CPA CPE. I’ve discussed other CPA CPE courses on this site too.

About the Author Stephanie Ng

I am the author of How to Pass The CPA Exam (published by Wiley), and I also passed all 4 sections of the CPA Exam on my first try. Additionally, I have led webinars, such as for the Institute of Management Accountants, authored featured articles on websites like Going Concern and AccountingWeb, and I'm also the CFO for the charity New Sight. Finally, I have created other accounting certification websites to help mentor non-CPA candidates. I have already mentored thousands of CPA, CMA, CIA, EA, and CFA candidates, and I can help you too!

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