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

This page lists what the New York 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.

New York, field by field.

Board of accountancy

New York State Board for Public Accountancy (a State Board of the New York State Education Department, Office of the Professions; the State Boards "advise and assist the Board of Regents and the State Education Department on matters of professional regulation" and the Department issues licences and registrations)

CPE hours & reporting period

Per calendar year: a minimum of 24 contact hours concentrated in one recognized subject area, or 40 contact hours in any combination of recognized subject areas. Education Law § 7409(2)(b): for each calendar year beginning with 2009, the option of a minimum of forty contact hours of acceptable formal continuing education in recognized areas of study or a minimum of twenty-four contact hours concentrated in any one recognized area of study; 8 NYCRR § 70.9(b)(2): "for each calendar year beginning with the 2009 calendar year", forty contact hours in recognized areas of study or "twenty-four contact hours of acceptable formal continuing education concentrated in any one of the following recognized areas of study". MCE Q&A: "Either 24 or 40 contact hours of acceptable formal continuing education completed from January 1st through December 31st of each calendar-year". No carryover: Education Law § 7409(2)(c), "No hourly credits may be transferred from one year to a subsequent year" (except as provided in paragraph b). Attest supervisors: 8 NYCRR § 70.9(b)(3), a licensee who supervises attest or compilation services or signs or authorizes someone to sign the accountant's report "shall be required to complete at least 40 contact hours of continuing education in audit, accounting, and/or attest during the three years immediately prior to the performance of such services", and those hours may count toward the annual requirement in the year completed. Records: certificates of completion are kept "for at least 5 years" (MCE Q&A). Reporting: the registration period is three years (Online Registration Renewal page: a registration certificate "valid for a period of three years (two years for physicians)"); CPE is not reported annually, and on the registration renewal document the licensee affirms compliance "during the calendar years that ended in the most recently past registration period" (MCE Q&A). New licensees: 8 NYCRR § 70.9(a)(2)(i), a new licensee becomes subject to the requirement "on the first January 1st that falls in his or her first registration period".

Ethics CPE requirement

4 contact hours of professional ethics every three calendar years. 8 NYCRR § 70.9(b)(5): for each registration ending on or after January 1, 2012, a registered licensee "shall be required to complete at least four contact hours in professional ethics during the prior three calendar year period." MCE Q&A: "4 contact hours of acceptable professional ethics completed during every three calendar years"; "These 4 credits of ethics may be counted toward your 24 or 40 CPE credits in the calendar year that you actually complete the ethics course." Course approval (MCE Q&A): a licensee licensed in multiple jurisdictions whose principal place of business is New York "must take a New York State specific ethics course"; "If NY State is your principal place of business, only an ethics course that is approved by NYSED is acceptable", and the same applies to a licensee licensed only in New York; a licensee whose principal place of business is outside New York and who is licensed in that state may use a New York-registered sponsor approved for ethics, a NASBA-approved sponsor, or a sponsor approved by the home state's licensing authority. Behavioral ethics is not accepted as professional ethics (MCE Q&A).

CPA firm permit / registration

Yes, registration with the Education Department. Education Law § 7408(3)(a): a firm established for the business purpose of lawfully engaging in the practice of public accountancy under § 7401(1) and (2), or that uses the title "CPA" or "CPA firm" or "PA" or "PA firm", "must register with the department"; a firm practising only under § 7401(3) "may register with the department under this subdivision." 8 NYCRR § 70.8(a): a firm registers if it is established for the business purpose of practice under Education Law § 7401(1) and (2) or uses the title "CPA" or "CPA firm" or "PA" or "PA firm". Registration Q&A: a firm must register if it "Provides any attest or compilation services to NYS clients" or uses the words "Certified Public Accountant" or the designation "CPA" (or "Public Accountant" or "PA") in the firm name. Out-of-state firms: 8 NYCRR § 70.7(a)(1), a firm licensed in another state registers if it offers or engages in practice under § 7401(1) or (2); under § 70.7(a)(2) it may practise without New York registration if its practice is limited to § 7401(3). Forms: Form 6R is filed by a PC, LLC, LLP, partnership or sole proprietorship that needs to register (firm page); partnerships and sole proprietorships file a county DBA certificate where the county requires one before applying (Registration Q&A). Renewal: Education Law § 7408(3)(g), "Firms shall register triennially."; firm page: Form 6T "must be submitted to the Professional Corporations Unit every three years following initial registration on or before the anniversary date of the registration"; Form 6PR (Peer Review, Competency and Annual Statements) "must be submitted to the State Board for Public Accountancy every year in between the firm's registration period"; Form 6C "any year when ownership has changed" (Registration Q&A). Ownership: Chapter 701 of the Laws of 2023 (signed December 8, 2023; effective June 8, 2024) "allows for non-licensees to be minority owners of CPA firms"; firm page: "A registered firm may not have non-licensee owners if the firm's name includes the words" "certified public accountant" or "certified public accountants" or the abbreviations "CPA" or "CPAs"; Registration Q&A: for professional service corporations and professional LLCs, "at least one owner must be a NYS licensed CPA." Foreign PCs and LLCs submit a certified copy of the Application for Authority filed with the NYS Department of State (firm page).

Peer review requirement

Yes, for firms performing attest services, no more frequently than once every three years. Education Law § 7410(1): as a condition to renewal of firm registrations, "unless otherwise exempted by the department, applicants for firm registrations, undergo, no more frequently than once every three years" peer reviews of the firm's attest services; 8 NYCRR § 70.10(a) (applicants seeking a firm registration or renewal participate in a peer review of the firm's attest services) and § 70.10(c)(1) ("no more frequently than once every three years"); § 70.10(c)(4): a firm that begins providing attest services notifies the Department within 30 days with evidence of enrollment and has a peer review completed "within 18 months of the date such services were first provided"; § 70.10(c)(3): a registered firm "that is not required to participate in a peer review program under this section" submits an annual written notification of the basis for non-participation. Mandatory Peer Review page: "Firms that provide any attest services are required to participate in the Mandatory Peer Review Program." (audits, reviews, attestation engagements and agreed-upon procedures); reviews are due "within 18 months of providing its initial attest service and every three years thereafter"; compilation and preparation engagements are not attest services and "Firms that provide only these services are not mandated to participate"; Chapter 364 of the Laws of 2017, effective October 23, 2017, "repealed the exemption from the Mandatory Peer Review requirement for small firms with two or fewer accounting professionals"; "the accepted Mandatory Peer Review Program is the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' (AICPA) Peer Review Program", with PCAOB-standard engagements administered by the National Peer Review Committee; documents are made available through PRIMA within thirty days of issuance or emailed to the Department within ten days of receipt; firms that do not provide attest services return Form 6PR within 30 days of receipt each year; the page cites Education Law § 7410, Commissioner's Regulations § 70.10 and Rules of the Board of Regents § 29.10(j).

Licence renewal cycle

Triennial registration. Education Law § 7409(1)(a) refers to CPAs and PAs "required under article one hundred thirty of this title to register triennially with the department". Online Registration Renewal page: "Upon licensure, you received a registration certificate valid for a period of three years (two years for physicians)."; the second registration period after licensure or reactivation is transitional and "will end with the month prior your date of birth between 2 and 3 years from the date of your first registration" so the Department can adjust the triennial registration cycle; online renewal is open to licensees "in the final 5 months of their current registration period or no more than 4 months past the expiration of their last valid registration period"; the Department mails a renewal application "approximately four months before your registration expires"; inactive status for the new period is free of charge. Firms register triennially (Education Law § 7408(3)(g)).

Mobility / practice privilege

Yes, for CPAs from substantially equivalent states or with substantially equivalent individual qualifications. Education Law § 7406(2)(a): a CPA "licensed by another state which the board of regents has determined to have substantially equivalent certified public accountant licensure requirements, or whose individual licensure qualifications are verified by the department to be substantially equivalent to New York's requirements, and in good standing" may practise in New York if the CPA (1) "holds a valid license to practice public accountancy in the other state" and (2) "practices public accountancy in another state that is his or her principal place of business" (§ 7406(2)(a)(1)–(2)); § 7406(2)(c): an individual with practice privileges who performs services under § 7401(1) or (2) "may only do so through a firm which has obtained a registration under section seventy-four hundred eight of this article"; § 7406(2)(d): the CPA and the employing firm consent to the jurisdiction and disciplinary authority of the Board of Regents, compliance with Article 149, the Regents' rules and the Commissioner's regulations, and appointment of an agent for service of process; § 7406(2)(f)(3): a CPA with specified disciplinary, licensing or criminal history within the last seven years "shall so notify the department, on a form prescribed by the department" and may not practise under the privilege until written permission is received. 8 NYCRR § 70.7(b)(1): such an individual "may practice public accountancy in this state without obtaining a license pursuant to section 7404 of the Education Law"; § 70.7(b)(2): "without notice to the Department", except as provided in paragraphs (6) and (7). No fee for the practice privilege is stated in § 7406 or § 70.7. Pending: Chapter 530 of the Laws of 2025 ("CPA Licensure Pathways and Practice Privilege"), signed November 21, 2025, "will become effective on November 21, 2026"; the Office of the Professions advisory states that until then "the existing licensing pathways will remain in place."