Montana

Date of Last Revision:    6/1/2022

License Renewal Date
12/31 annually

CPE Reporting Period
1/1 - 12/31 triennial rolling

General Requirement
120 hours

Ethics Requirement
2 hours

Other Subject Area Requirements
60 hours in technical fields of study beginning in 2018-2020 reporting period

Credit Limitations

• Instruction: Instructor credits are limited to 50% of total hours.
• Published materials: Authorship credits are limited to 25% of total hours.
• Reviewer: The maximum credit allowed for serving as a report reviewer under the board's profession monitoring program is 16 hours in any given calendar year reporting period. One hour of credit shall be granted per hour spent reviewing reports.
• University/College: No CPE hours shall be permitted for attending or instructing college or university courses considered to be basic or introductory acocunting courses or exam preparation/review courses.
• Technical Reviewer: Technical reviewer credit is limited to 50% of total hours.
• Nano Learning Programs: Providers of nano learning programs must be recognized by the NASBA National Registry of CPE Sponsors.
   

Credit Calculation

• Instruction: Credit is equal to presentation plus preparation.  Preparation is limited to two times presentation.  Credit may be claimed only once per course within a three year period.
• Partial credit:
  • Group programs and blended learning programs must be a minimum of one hour, but credit may be earned in one-fifth or one-half hour increments after the first full hour is earned.
  • Self study programs must be a minimum of one-half credit initially, but may be earned in one-fifth or one-half hour increments after the first one-half hour is earned.
  • Nano learning is earned at one-fifth credit hour.
• Self Study: Formal self study programs shall receive continuing education credit equal to the amount granted by the sponsor, , if the sponsor is recognized by the NASBA National Registry of CPE Sponsors.  Self study programs are calculated on a 50-minute hour.  All other formal self study programs receive continuing education credit equal to half of the credit amount granted by the sponsor.  Self study courses that are offered by a sponsor that is not recognized by the NASBA National Registry of CPE Sponsors must be at least 50-minutes to receive credit. 
• University/college credit: One semester hour equals 15 CPE hours; Non-credit courses - each classroom hour will equal one qualifying hour.
   

Other State Policies

• Exemption: A nonresident Montana licensee shall be determined to meet Montana CPE requirements by meeting the CPE requirements in the state where their principal place of business is located. If the nonresident licensee's principal place of business state has no CPE requirements for renewal, the nonresident licensee must comply with all CPE requirements for renewal of a license in Montana.
• Montana accepts CPE credits for programs offered by National Registry sponsors.