Yellow Book CPE Requirement Revisions

The General Accounting Office (GAO) has rescinded certain portions of par. 46 of the Interpretation of Continuing Education and Training Requirements, in that they have deleted the inclusion of taxation in the listing of subjects and topics that would always satisfy the 80 hour CPE requirement for auditors performing GAGAS audits.

Auditors should complete, every two years, at least 80 hours of CPE that directly enhances the auditor’s professional proficiency to perform audits and/or attestation engagements, in other words, generally taxation CPE would not meet this requirement. If a firm believes that taxation CPE is relevant to a particular GAGAS engagement, they should clearly document the rationale for believing so.

See further discussion at the AICPA Peer Reviewer’s Alert 04-02 available at the AICPA Web site. (.PDF)

Peer reviewers are still responsible for determining whether firm personnel meet the 24 hour governmental CPE requirement, but they must also now determine whether firm personnel meet the revised 80 hour requirement during system reviews.