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

This page lists what the Rhode Island 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.

Rhode Island, field by field.

Board of accountancy

Rhode Island Board of Accountancy (Department of Business Regulation)

CPE hours & reporting period

120 hours of formal CPE per three-year permit period. 400-RICR-00-00-1 § 1.8.1(A)(1): the CPA "must complete a minimum of one hundred twenty (120) hours of formal CPE during the preceding three (3) year period." § 1.8.1(A)(2) defines the period as running "from July 1 of the renewal year through June 30 three (3) years later." No annual minimum is stated in § 1.8.1. A new CPA is not required to complete CPE in the year the certificate is issued and certifies 80 hours for the first renewal cycle (§ 1.8.1(A)(3)). Self-study credit is capped at 80 CPE hours per period (§ 1.8.1(D)(4)(b)). A licensee whose principal place of business is in another U.S. jurisdiction meets the requirement by meeting that jurisdiction's CPE requirements (§ 1.8.1(F)).

Ethics CPE requirement

Not less than 6 of the 120 hours. 400-RICR-00-00-1 § 1.8.2(E): "Not less than six (6) hours of the one hundred twenty (120) hours required hereunder" "shall be devoted to regulatory ethics and behavioral ethics"; a new CPA in the 80-hour first cycle "shall obtain not less than four (4) hours of ethics CPEs of the eighty (80) hours required." The regulation does not name a Rhode Island-specific course.

CPA firm permit / registration

A practice-unit (firm) permit is required to provide attest and compilation services or to use the "CPAs" / "CPA firm" title; three-year term. R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-3.1-9(a): "A practice unit must hold a permit issued under this section in order to provide attest and compilation services" and "to use the title "CPAs" or "CPA firm.""; each in-state office must be registered with the board. § 5-3.1-9(e): permits "shall be valid for a period of three (3) years" and "shall expire on the last day of June of the year in which the permit is scheduled to expire"; "All applications for renewal of permits under this section shall be submitted to the board by February 15" and "All applicants for permit renewal shall satisfy the peer-review requirements prescribed in § 5-3.1-10." § 5-3.1-9(b): a majority of ownership (financial interests and voting rights) must belong to certificate holders and at least one owner must hold an in-state permit. 400-RICR-00-00-1 § 1.7.2(C): "All practice units required to be licensed pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-3.1-9 shall maintain malpractice insurance in the amount of at least two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000.00) as a condition of licensing."

Peer review requirement

Peer review is a condition of renewal of a practice-unit (firm) permit for practice units that perform accounting or auditing engagements, with reviews conducted "no more frequently than once every three (3) years" (R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-3.1-10(a); 400-RICR-00-00-1 § 1.9.1(A)-(B)). R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-3.1-10(a): "The board shall require, as a condition to the renewal of permits for practice units under § 5-3.1-9" a peer review "conducted no more frequently than once every three (3) years"; an equivalent review (for example under the AICPA peer-review programs) that "was substantially equivalent to the review required under this subsection" and "was completed within the three (3) years immediately preceding the renewal period" satisfies it (§ 5-3.1-10(a)(2)). 400-RICR-00-00-1 § 1.9.1(A): "Participation in the program is required of each practice unit licensed or registered with the Board who performs accounting or auditing engagements, including, but not limited to, audits, reviews, compilations, forecasts, projections or other special reports." § 1.9.1(B): peer reviews "no more frequently than once every three (3) years," and on renewal the firm attests and provides proof of compliance with § 5-3.1-10 and § 1.9. § 1.9.1(C): the AICPA "Standards for Performing and Reporting on Peer Reviews" are the Board's minimum standards. § 1.9.1(E): a practice unit that does not perform accounting or auditing engagements "shall certify that fact to the Board on renewal and shall be exempt from peer review requirements"; a practice unit that begins providing these services "must have a peer review within eighteen (18) months of the date such services were first provided."

Licence renewal cycle

Three-year permits expiring June 30; renewal applications are due February 15 of the expiration year. R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-3.1-7(a): "all permits issued by the board shall be valid for a period of three (3) years" and "shall expire upon the last day of June of the year in which the permit is scheduled to expire." § 5-3.1-7(c): "Applications for renewal of a permit under this section shall be submitted to the board by February 15 of the year in which the permit is scheduled to expire" and "shall be accompanied by evidence that the applicant has satisfied the continuing professional education requirements." 400-RICR-00-00-1 § 1.3(A): "Licenses to practice public accountancy in Rhode Island are issued by the Board for three (3) year periods."

Mobility / practice privilege

Yes, without a Rhode Island permit and without notice, subject to an experience condition. R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-3.1-7(g)(1): an individual with a valid CPA certificate or license from a state whose licensure requirements are determined to be substantially equivalent "shall have all the privileges of certificate holders and licensees of this state without the need to obtain a certificate or permit from this state under this section as long as the conditions of this section are met"; "The individual must have one year or more of experience," verified by a licensee; and "no notice or other submission shall be provided by any such individual." § 5-3.1-7(g)(2): an individual licensed in a state that the NASBA National Qualification Appraisal Service has not verified as substantially equivalent has the same privileges after obtaining that service's verification that the individual's own qualifications are substantially equivalent. § 5-3.1-7(g)(3): the individual and the employing CPA firm "hereby simultaneously consents, as a condition of the granting of this privilege," "To the personal and subject-matter jurisdiction and disciplinary authority of the board;" "To comply with this chapter and the board's rules;" to cease offering or rendering services in Rhode Island if the home-state license is no longer valid; and "To the appointment of the board that issued their license as their agent upon whom process may be served."