Peer reviews now count for CPE in Maryland

More on peer review

Get answers to all of your questions in our peer review resource center. Visit it here. >

Good news for CPAs and CPA firms that must undergo peer review: Effective Jan. 1, 2008, you can now receive continuing professional education credit for your peer review.

Maryland’s State Board of Public Accountancy is awarding the following levels of credit for peer reviews:

eight hours of CPE for a completed report review;
12 hours of CPE for a completed engagement review; and
16 hours of CPE for a completed system review.

The hours will be allotted by the peer review team captain to the individual or firm personnel.

“The MACPA has been working for years to apply CPE credit to peer reviews, and we are pleased and appreciative that the State Board is now doing so,” said MACPA Executive Director Tom Hood. “This is a huge benefit to all of our peer reviewed members, but particularly to sole practitioners and small firms. When you compare the cost of peer reviews to the cost of CPE, they are essentially receiving their peer reviews for free at the engagement / report level.”

All Maryland CPAs or firm permit holders who perform audit / attest, compilation or review services must undergo a peer review every three years. Advocates have long maintained that peer review is a form of continuing education since it teaches CPAs how they can more effectively comply with professional standards. It also helps restore faith in the free-market system by providing the public with additional assurance that CPAs are maintaining quality and complying with professional standards.