Georgia: CPE, firm permit and peer review rules for CPAs.

This page lists what the Georgia board of accountancy publishes for a CPA and a CPA firm: CPE hours and the reporting period, the ethics requirement, whether a firm permit or registration is required, whether peer review is required, the licence renewal cycle, and whether an out-of-state CPA may practise under a practice privilege.

It is built for owners of small accounting and bookkeeping firms, especially those licensed in one state and serving clients in another. Every entry is a snapshot of what the cited source published on the verification date; it is a research starting point, not licensing advice.

Georgia, field by field.

Board of accountancy

Georgia State Board of Accountancy.

CPE hours & reporting period

Two official texts of Rule 20-11-.02 differ. (1) The Board's website publishes 'Approved Rule 20-11 Continued Professional Education as of January 1, 2024' (PDF; its header reads 'Draft Revised CPE Rules and Regulations'): an applicant for renewal 'must have completed eighty (80) credits of acceptable continuing professional education, of which at least 50% of the credits of continuing professional education reported shall be in technical fields of study, during the CPE reporting period'; 'A minimum of 20 of the 80 credits will be earned in each year' (Board-published 20-11-.02(1)); the CPE reporting period is 'the two-year period immediately preceding each biennial renewal date' (Board-published 20-11-.01(3)(a)); a licensee certified for one year but less than two at first renewal needs 40 credits, 50% technical, and one licensed less than one year needs none (20-11-.02(2)); up to 15 non-technical credits in excess of the prior period's requirement carry over, and 'No carryover credits can be used to satisfy the technical fields of study credit requirement' (20-11-.02(4)); licensees aged 70 or over are exempt (20-11-.02(5)); the Board may relax the requirement for hardship or health (20-11-.02(6)); records are kept five years (20-11-.04(4), in both versions). The Board's CPE page applies this version: 'After the first renewal period, the CPE requirement is 80 hours every two years'; 'A minimum of 20 hours must be earned in each year'; 'If licensed less than one year, no CPE is required for your first license renewal'; 'The new CPE rules as of January 1, 2024 are available here'; 'There is no limit on the number of self-study CPE hours you may take'. (2) The codified Rule 20-11-.02 on rules.sos.ga.gov ('Current through Rules and Regulations filed through September 17, 2026'; last history entry 'Amended: F. Mar. 24, 2016; eff. Apr. 13, 2016') reads: '80 hours of acceptable continuing professional education, of which 16 hours shall be in accounting and auditing subjects, during the two-year period immediately preceding each biennial renewal date'; 'A minimum of 20 of the 80 hours will be earned in each year'; first renewal after one to two years of licensure, 40 hours including at least 8 in accounting and auditing; up to 15 hours carry over but 'No carryover hours can be used to satisfy the accounting and auditing hours requirement'; age-70 exemption; no technical-percentage or ethics language. The codified 20-11-.01 has no paragraph (3). Which text governs could not be resolved from official sources.

Ethics CPE requirement

Board-published Rule 20-11-.02(3) (as of January 1, 2024): 'Completion of four (4) ethics CPE credits including one (1) credit specific to the laws, rules and policies of the Board are required during the CPE reporting period.' Board CPE page: the Georgia-specific credit 'is required to be a Board approved program'; 'The Board will send out a list of qualified courses for the Georgia Specific Ethics credit'; the other three credits may be 'any other Ethics credits (behavioral or regulatory)'; the 40-hour first-renewal requirement includes '4 hours of Ethics with 1 hour GA specific Ethics'. The codified Rule 20-11-.02 on rules.sos.ga.gov (current through filings of September 17, 2026) contains no ethics requirement.

CPA firm permit / registration

Georgia public accounting firm licences are biennial: 'Licenses will expire on June 30 of each even numbered year' (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 20-8-.01(4)); renewal requires compliance with the peer review provisions under O.C.G.A. § 43-3-17 (20-8-.01(5)); 'The late renewal period begins July 1st and ends September 30th' with a $250.00 late fee (20-8-.01(6)); a reinstatement application after September 30 'must be accompanied by a reinstatement fee of $1,150.00' (20-8-.01(7)). A firm with no physical Georgia office that performs an audit or other SAS engagement, an SSAE examination of prospective financial statements, or a PCAOB engagement 'for a client that specifies a location in this state' to which the service is directed must obtain a biennial licence (20-8-.01(1), which the Board describes as implementing O.C.G.A. § 43-3-16(b)(1)(C) in Policy No. 11); a firm with no Georgia office may perform compilation or review services, or use the 'CPA' or 'CPA Firm' title for other services, without a licence through an individual holding § 43-3-18 practice privileges if it meets the ownership and peer review conditions (20-8-.02(1), (2)). Board FAQ: 'All Firm licenses expire on June 30 of each even-numbered year'; 'If the legal and/or ownership structure of the firm changes, a new license/application is required for the new entity'. Board firm-renewal page: 'Your license expires June 30, 2026'; 'Late renewal begins July 1 to September 30, 2026'; 'A $250 late fee is imposed during late renewal after the expiration date of your license'; the renewal upload includes 'Peer Review Acceptance Letters if applicable'. Site banner: 'Late Renewal of CPA Firm license by 9/30/2026.' Board Policy No. 2 (adopted January 13, 2016): 'Any CPA Firm operating with a lapsed license shall be fined $2,000 per renewal period missed + reinstatement fee'. The statutory licensing requirement for firms with a Georgia office (O.C.G.A. § 43-3-16) was not read on an official statute site.

Peer review requirement

A firm that issued an attest or compilation report within the 24 months before its licence expires must submit with its renewal application evidence of satisfactory completion of a Board-approved peer review completed within the 36 months before expiration (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 20-13-.02); a firm that issued no such report in that window submits written confirmation of that fact; a firm without a satisfactory review in the prior 36 months submits its peer review documents and a letter explaining the noncompliance, and the Board may deny renewal, waive the requirement, renew with a limited licence or renew with conditions (20-13-.02); documents submitted are confidential under O.C.G.A. § 43-3-29 (20-13-.02). A firm licensed two years or less at renewal is exempt from submitting evidence, and the Board may waive or modify the requirement for hardship on a written request received before the licence expires (20-13-.05). The Board adopts the AICPA 'Standards for Performing and Reporting on Peer Review' as minimum standards and registers administering organisations (20-13-.03); Board Policy No. 20 (adopted November 18, 2015) recognises reviews administered by Administering Entities for the AICPA Peer Review Program, including state CPA societies, the New England Peer Review and the National Peer Review Committee. Firm licence renewal is conditioned on peer review compliance under O.C.G.A. § 43-3-17 (20-8-.01(5)).

Licence renewal cycle

Biennial. Individual licences 'will expire on December 31 of each odd numbered year' (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 20-10-.02(1)); 'Applications for biennial renewal must be submitted on or before the expiration date of December 31' (20-10-.02(3)); 'The fee for biennial renewal is $100.00' (20-10-.02(6)); applications in the four-month penalty period after expiration carry a $100.00 penalty fee (20-10-.03); reinstatement thereafter requires a $300.00 fee and evidence of 'Forty hours of continuing professional education for each year since the last renewal' (20-10-.04). Board FAQ: 'All individual CPA licenses expire on December 31 of each odd-numbered year'; 'Georgia only has "Active" or "Lapsed" statuses for licensees'. Board Policy No. 2 (adopted January 13, 2016): 'Any CPA operating with a lapsed license shall be fined $1,000 per renewal period missed + reinstatement fee'. The Board's licence-services page showed the individual renewal window closed and firm renewal open on 2026-10-14.

Mobility / practice privilege

Yes, by rule and Board policy. 'An individual whose residence and office location is and remains outside this state' 'may elect to exercise substantial equivalency practice privileges in this state' under O.C.G.A. § 43-3-18(b) 'without the requirement to obtain a license, certificate, or registration with the Board or pay a fee', provided the individual holds a current, unencumbered CPA licence from a state that 'grants similar practice privileges to license holders in this state' (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 20-3-.09(2); Board Policy No. 11, adopted November 18, 2015). An individual with practice privileges who performs an audit or other SAS engagement, an SSAE examination of prospective financial statements, or a PCAOB engagement for a client that specifies a Georgia location may do so only through a firm licensed under O.C.G.A. § 43-3-16 (§ 43-3-18(b)(4), as quoted in Policy No. 11). 'The Public Accountancy Act of 2014 does not provide for the issuance of temporary licenses for the practice of public accountancy by nonresidents' (Policy No. 11). The statute text (O.C.G.A. § 43-3-18) was not read on an official statute site.