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

This page lists what the Mississippi 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.

Mississippi, field by field.

Board of accountancy

Mississippi State Board of Public Accountancy

CPE hours & reporting period

40 CPE credit hours in each one-year compliance period ending June 30; reported online by August 1; up to 20 hours of carry-over. MSBPA Rule 4.1.1: 'To annually renew a CPA license, an individual must complete and report at a minimum, the 40 CPE credit hours required under this rule accrued during the applicable compliance & reporting period and on forms prescribed by the Board by August 1.' Rule 4.1.2: 'All licensees must report a minimum of 40 CPE credit hours within each one year (twelve month) compliance period ending June 30. Only 20 of the 40 hours may be from carry-over hours as referred to in Rule 4.1.4.' Rule 4.1.4: 'If more than 40 CPE credit hours are accumulated in a one year compliance period, the excess hours up to a maximum of 20 CPE credit hours may be carried over and applied to the CPE requirement for the immediately following one year compliance period.' Rule 4.1.5: an initial licensee 'shall be exempt from earning CPE credit hours during the compliance period in which he obtains a license'. Rule 4.2.2: 'Each licensee shall retain CPE records for a minimum of five (5) years after the end of the applicable one year and the triennial compliance period(s).' Board CPE page: 'All licensees must have a minimum of 40 CPE credit hours for each compliance period ending in June.'; 'a CPA must submit the online reporting form even if the CPE credit hours reported is zero.'; 'Each CPA must maintain his or her CPE records for a minimum five years [4.2.2.].'; 'Self-study type CPE will only be accepted if earned from a sponsor approved by the Quality Assurance Services (QAS) program of the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy.' Board FAQ: 'The online CPE Reporting Form is only open from May to August 1st each year.'

Ethics CPE requirement

4 Board-approved ethics hours every three years, including at least 1 hour on Mississippi law; current triennial period July 1, 2025–June 30, 2028. MSBPA Rule 4.1.3: 'A minimum of three (3) CPE credit hours must be earned in a Board approved Ethics and Professional Conduct course(s) every three years. Also, a minimum of one (1) CPE credit hour must be earned in a Mississippi Public Accountancy Law and Regulations course every three years. No carry-over may be used to satisfy this requirement.' Board CPE page: the requirement 'is a total of four (4) hours for the triennial period beginning July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2028.'; 'A minimum of one of these Ethics CPE credit hours must be in the subject of Mississippi Public Accountancy Law and Regulations.'; 'These ethics CPE hours must be Board approved in order for a CPA to retain the credit.'; the Board publishes a list 'Ethics Approved for Triennial Period Ended June 30, 2028'. Rule 4.1.5: a new licensee is also exempt from the ethics requirement 'for the remainder of that triennial compliance period.' Rule 4.1.9(a): a licensee primarily employed and licensed in a state with substantially equivalent CPE requirements may be excepted on a sworn statement but must still comply with the Ethics, Professional Conduct and Mississippi law requirement unless the state of primary employment has an ethics requirement the licensee meets.

CPA firm permit / registration

Firm permit required for any firm with a Mississippi office that practises public accountancy or uses the CPA title, and for firms without a Mississippi office performing §73-33-17(4) services for a client with its home office in Mississippi; annual registration on or before January 1. Miss. Code §73-33-1(3)(a): 'any firm with an office in this state that practices public accountancy or that uses the title "CPA" or "CPA firm," and any firm that does not have an office in this state but performs the services described in Section 73-33-17(4) for a client having its home office in this state' shall hold a permit; §73-33-1(3)(b): a firm without a Mississippi office may perform an SSARS review or a compilation for a Mississippi home-office client and use the CPA title without a permit 'only if such firm has the qualifications described in subsection (4), complies with the peer review requirements set forth by board rule, and performs such services through an individual with practice privileges under Section 73-33-17'; §73-33-1(3)(c): other services through a privilege holder without a permit if lawful in the home state; §73-33-1(4)(a): the firm 'is wholly owned by natural persons and not owned in whole or in part by business entities'; §73-33-1(4)(b): 'A simple majority of the ownership of the firm in terms of financial interests and/or voting rights hold certified public accountant licenses in any state'; §73-33-1(6): no business organization shall practise public accounting 'unless and until each business organization or office thereof located inside the State of Mississippi has registered with and been issued a firm permit by the State Board of Public Accountancy.' §73-33-7(3): 'On or before January 1 of each year, each certified public accountant firm holding a permit to practice public accounting under Section 73-33-1 shall register with the board and pay a reasonable annual registration fee as determined by the board.' Rule 3.1.4: Mississippi-domiciled firms 'must register with the Board as soon as possible, but no later than 30 days after opening a Mississippi office or beginning a new CPA firm, but in no case shall a CPA firm engage in the practice of public accounting without a firm permit.'; Rule 3.1.5: annual registration on or before January 1 per §73-33-7, with automatic cancellation ten days after certified-mail notice of default; Rule 3.1.7: the Board issues 'an annual firm permit to practice public accounting.' Board fee schedule: 'Those Firms having at least one physical office in Mississippi' $0.00; 'Out-of-State CPA Firms with a Mississippi Firm Permit without a physical office in Mississippi - Annual and Initial' $110.00; 'Out-of-State CPA Firm Late Fee after January 1' $150.00; 'Firm Permit Reinstatement Fee' $200.00.

Peer review requirement

Firms performing report-level engagements must enrol in a Board-approved peer review program and complete a peer review once every three years. MSBPA Rule 3.1.1: public accounting 'must be performed through a CPA firm meeting ownership and other requirements specified herein, including compliance with peer review as outlined in Chapter 5, and duly registered with the Board with a firm permit to practice public accounting.' Rule 3.1.12: 'firms must comply with Peer Review as defined per Chapter 5 in order to register a CPA firm.' Rule 3.1.6(a): 'peer review compliance is required in order to register a CPA firm.' Rule 5.3.1: 'A practice unit which has not performed any engagement as defined in paragraph 1 of this rule during the 12 months prior to registration per Chapter 3 shall be exempt from enrollment in a peer review program but not from registering with the Board.' Rule 5.3.2: 'each ongoing practice unit shall complete a peer review once every three years in order to register with the Board or earlier as may be required by the sponsoring organization.' Rule 5.3.3: 'each new practice unit shall enroll in the program of an approved sponsoring organization within one year from its initial permitting date or the performance of accounting and/or auditing services that require a review.' Rule 5.1: the program covers presentations on which a practice unit issued or should have issued reports, 'including audits, reviews, compilations, agreed upon procedures, forecasts, projections, other special reports', and 'would not include preparation of financial statements by a CPA firm on which no report is required, such as engagements defined in the AICPA Statement on Standards for Accounting and Review Services (SSARS) Number 21, Section 70.' Board FAQ refers firms to 'Chapter 5 of the Board Rules and Regulations regarding Compliance Assurance Program (Peer Review) requirements' and to the Alabama Society of CPAs Peer Review Coordinator for the AICPA Peer Review Program.

Licence renewal cycle

Annual registration on or before January 1. Miss. Code §73-33-7(2): 'on or before January 1 of each year, each holder of a certified public accountant license issued by the Mississippi State Board of Public Accountancy shall register and pay a reasonable annual registration fee in such amount as to be determined by the board.'; the licence of a CPA who fails to register and pay within ten days after certified-mail notice 'shall be automatically cancelled'. MSBPA Rule 2.3.1: 'Each CPA license holder shall be required to register and to pay an annual registration fee on or before the first day of January each year.' Rule 2.3.3: 'a licensee will not be permitted to register a license if not in compliance with the CPE requirements.' Rule 2.3.4: 'Failure to register and pay annual fees by January 1 of each year will result in automatic cancellation of the license.' after a ten-day certified-mail notice. Board fee schedule: 'CPA License Annual Registration Fee' $110.00; 'Late fee if paid after January 1st' $150.00; 'License Renewal on Paper Form' $25.00; 'Reinstatement of CPA License Processing Fee' $200.00.

Mobility / practice privilege

Practice privilege without a Mississippi licence; no notice, fee or other submission. Miss. Code §73-33-17(1): 'An individual whose principal place of business is not in this state; who holds a valid license as a certified public accountant from any state; who has passed all sections of the Uniform CPA Examination; and who has completed the education and experience requirements in Section 73-33-5(2) and (3), shall have all the privileges of licensees of this state without the need to obtain a license from the Mississippi State Board of Public Accountancy.'; such an individual 'shall be granted practice privileges in this state, and may use the title "CPA" or "Certified Public Accountant," and no notice, fee or other submission shall be provided by any such individual.' §73-33-17(2): an individual who on or before December 31, 2025 held a valid CPA licence from any state and had practice privileges in Mississippi 'shall continue to have practice privileges in this state'. §73-33-17(3): the licensee and employing firm consent '(a) To the personal and subject matter jurisdiction and disciplinary authority of the board;' '(b) To comply with this chapter and the board's rules;', to cease offering services in Mississippi if the home licence 'is no longer valid', and to the appointment of the issuing board as agent for service of process. §73-33-17(4): a privilege holder who, for an entity with its home office in Mississippi, performs a Statements on Auditing Standards engagement, an SSAE examination of prospective financial information or a PCAOB-standard engagement may do so only through a firm with a permit under §73-33-1(3). Board licensing page (Rule 2.6 summary): 'Those practicing public accounting in Mississippi under the mobility/practice privilege shall comply with all of the same' Rules and Regulations 'as holders of Mississippi CPA licenses.'