News Updates

The Board of Accountancy will hold its next regular Board meeting Friday, April 24, 2026 beginning at 9:00 a.m. virtually through Microsoft Teams.

Date: April 24, 2026, Friday

Time: 9:00 a.m.

Location:
Microsoft Teams Meeting
or if unable to attend virtually
711 Capitol Way S Suite 400
Olympia, WA 98501

Join the meeting here

Or call in (audio only) 
+1 564-999-2000 United States, Olympia
(833) 322-1218 United States (Toll-free) 
Phone Conference ID: 193 532 022

(Other local numbers here)

The purpose of the Board meeting is for the Board to conduct its business. However, to encourage citizen input, the Board's agenda specifically provides an opportunity for the public to give input directly to the Board.

Persons who need special assistance, please contact the Board's Americans with Disabilities Act contact person:
Kirsten Donovan, Washington State Board of Accountancy
PO Box 9131, Olympia, WA 98507-9131
Phone: 360-664-9191 Email: kirsten.donovan@acb.wa.gov
7-1-1 or 1-800-833-6388 (TTY) - 1-800-833-6385 (Telebraille)
(TTY and Telebraille service nationwide by Washington Relay)

We’ve launched a new customer satisfaction survey and invite you to share your feedback. Your input helps us improve our service and better serve you.

Please take a moment to complete the survey.

Your feedback matters to us!

We are proud to recognize the following individuals who were issued CPA licenses between January 1 and March 31, 2026. Their achievement reflects their hard work and dedication, and we welcome them to the profession.

In 2015, the Legislature created a scholarship program from Washington State Board of Accountancy funds. The Board contracted with the Washington CPA Foundation to administer Board funded scholarships to accounting students enrolled at accredited Washington based colleges or universities.

Learn more about the program or apply for a scholarship online through the link below.

https://www.wscpa.org/scholarships

For the 2025-2026 school year the following will be awarded from Board funds:

• 25 – $5,000 Undergraduate program scholarships.
• 10 – $5,000 Undergraduate program scholarship for underrepresented students.
• 30 – $10,000 Graduate program scholarships.

Application submission opened on October 6, 2025, and applications are due by February 10, 2026.

Please pass this information on to any accounting students you know.

If so, this is a reminder that the end of your CPE reporting period is almost here. To qualify for renewal, you must have completed the required Continuing Professional Education (CPE) hours on or before December 31, 2025.

CPE Requirements and Renewal

Licensees have the option to renew in an active or inactive status. Keep in mind, you may not hold out or practice public accounting during the time your license is in an inactive status.

To renew your license in an active status, you must complete:

• 120 hours of qualifying CPE.
• A Washington State Board Approved Ethics course. (These hours count towards the 120-hour total.)
• A minimum of 20 hours of qualifying CPE each year of your CPE reporting period.

CPE limitations for those renewing in an active status are:

•  ​​​​​​​Non-technical subjects: maximum 60 hours.
• Nano learning: maximum 12 hours.
• 60-hour combined maximum total* for:
  • First-time instructor/developer of a CPE course.
  • First-time instructor/developer of a college or university course qualifying for CPE credit.
  • Authorship of published articles, books, or other publications relevant to the profession.

*CPE hours in these categories do not count towards the 20-hour minimum annual requirement.

To renew your license in an inactive status, you must complete:

• A Washington State Board Approved Ethics course.

To renew your non-licensee firm owner registration, you must complete:

• A Washington State Board Approved Ethics course.

CPE Requirements Not Met – CPE Extension

If you do not complete your CPE requirements by December 31, 2025, but will be able to complete them by your expiration date, you may request a CPE extension on your renewal application.

For licensees renewing in an active status, if you did not meet the 20-hour minimum annual requirement for one or more years of your CPE reporting period, you will need to request a CPE extension. You can complete the missed hours in another year of your CPE reporting period or by June 30, 2026.

An individual is only allowed one CPE extension in any two consecutive CPE reporting periods (six-year period), so if you requested and were granted a CPE extension on your 2023 renewal, you are not eligible for a CPE extension with this renewal. You may apply for reinstatement after your license lapses on July 1.  

For information on requesting a CPE extension, please visit our website page, “Not Enough CPE to Renew.”

If you are unable to complete your CPE by June 30, 2026, you are not eligible for a CPE extension and renewal. Your credential will lapse effective July 1, 2026, and will be subject to reinstatement.

CPE Reporting through the CPE Tracker

100% CPE reporting is required. You must log enough completed CPE to show that you have met your renewal requirement. You must individually list each of your completed courses in the CPE Tracker.

While you must log your CPE courses in the CPE Tracker, uploading your CPE documentation (course completion certificates, etc.) to your logged courses is only required when you are requesting a CPE extension or you are chosen for the random CPE audit.

License Issued in 2023

All qualifying CPE hours must be completed after the date your CPA license was issued. You are subject to the 20-hour minimum annual requirement for each year of your CPE reporting period, including the shortened first year between your license issue date and December 31 of that year.

Key Dates to Remember

• CPE requirements must be completed by December 31, 2025.
• Renewal applications will be available online beginning January 1, 2026.
• Renewal applications are due by April 30, 2026, to avoid the late fee.

Log your CPE

Use the link to log into your SecureAccess Washington (SAW) account and log your CPE. The Board recommends logging your CPE periodically throughout your reporting period. 

Questions

If you have any questions, please contact us at customerservice@acb.wa.gov.

Governor Bob Ferguson has appointed Cindy Kay, CPA, as the new Executive Director of the Washington State Board of Accountancy, effective July 1, 2025. Cindy brings a wealth of experience to the role, having previously served on the Board of Accountancy.

“Serving on the Board of Accountancy has been an incredibly fulfilling experience, and I am inspired by the opportunity to lead an agency that plays such a vital role in maintaining public trust and professional excellence,” said Cindy.

The Board is pleased to welcome Cindy to her new position and looks forward to her leadership, industry insight, and public service experience she brings. With a career spanning both the public and private sectors, Cindy is well-positioned to guide the agency into the future.

A native of the Pacific Northwest, Cindy began her accounting career in Arizona, with a Big Five accounting firm. She later spent six years at a Washington State CPA firm, focusing on GAAP compliance and fraud accounting. Her transition into the private sector included senior roles in financial reporting, budgeting, and internal controls for several publicly traded companies.

Cindy later joined the Washington State Department of Transportation, where she served as Director of the Accounting and Financial Services Division.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in business management with an emphasis in accounting from Saint Martin’s University. In addition to her professional achievements, Cindy currently serves as co-chair of the Financial Management Advisory Council for the State of Washington and is a past president of the Washington State Chapter of the Association of Governmental Accountants.

Michael Paquette, Executive Director, CPA, submitted his letter of resignation to Governor Inslee. Mike has decided to go back to the finance world. Mike’s last day with the agency will be July 31, 2024.

We would like to express our appreciation of Mike’s service, leadership, and dedication to the profession, the Board, and the citizens of Washington State.

We wish Mike the best of luck in his new endeavor.

The Washington State Board of Accountancy will hold a special meeting. The meeting is open to the public, but the only agenda item for Board discussion is a closed session for Board deliberation on a proposed Consent Agreement. The public is not permitted in the closed session. At the end of the closed session the agenda includes a public input session.

Date/Time:
Friday, March 8, 2024, at 2:00 p.m.

Location:
Microsoft Teams Meeting

Please see the Board Meeting Agenda & Minutes page on our website for the agenda.

Join on your computer, mobile app, or room device.

Click here to join the meeting

Meeting ID:
229 098 237 039

Passcode:
Dyjtpw

Download Teams | Join on the web

Or call in (audio only)

United States, Olympia:
+1 564-999-2000

United States (Toll-free)
(833) 322-1218

Phone Conference ID:
971 294 415#

Find a local number

At the October 20, 2023, Board meeting the Board voted unanimously to adopt the CPA Exam Score Credit Relief Initiative proposed by NASBA. This initiative was formulated in response to the National Health Emergency and the hardship it placed on CPA Exam candidates.

The Board adopted the initiative “en masse” for all passing Exam section scores for which credit was/will be expired between January 30, 2020, and December 31, 2023. For passing section scores during that time frame, which have not been subsequently replaced by new credits for the same section, the credit expiration dates will be extended to June 30, 2025.

Please be patient, while our Exam Administrator, CPA Exam Services (CPAES), updates the Exam score system to reflect the new expiration dates. This is a large update, and they will be working on it as quickly as possible.

If you already have a Notice to Schedule (NTS) for a previously passed section for which credit will be restored, please email cri@nasba.org. They will work with you to complete the necessary steps related to that NTS.

The Board thanks the Exam candidates who participated in the conversation at the Board meeting. To all Exam candidates, we recognize your hard work and dedication, and in advance thank you for your future service to the CPA profession.

On March 17, 2022, Governor Inslee signed Senate Bill 5519 into law. The purpose of this legislation is to:

• Move the remaining CPA-Inactive Certificate holders to an inactive licensee status to remove the confusion surrounding the CPA-Inactive designation.
• Sync the Washington regulatory approach to CPA title use with that of most other US jurisdictions.
• Make the CPA-Inactive status available to all licensees.

The changes take effect July 1, 2024.

What the changes mean to you if you hold a:

CPA-Inactive Certificate in an active status:

• Your certificate will automatically convert to a CPA license in an inactive status on July 1, 2024.
  • If you are up for renewal in 2024, you will want to be sure to renew your certificate during your renewal period between January 1 and June 30, 2024. The conversion will occur on July 1, and you will be left with more options than if you let your certificate lapse or retire it.
• You may not hold out or practice public accounting during the time in which you are in an inactive status.
• You may continue to renew in an inactive status every 3 years by:
  • Completing a Washington State Board ethics course within your CPE reporting.
  • Logging the completed course in the CPE Tracker.
  • Submitting an online renewal application indicating that you are renewing in an inactive status.
  • Paying the renewal fee.
• You may initially convert your license to an active status by:
  • Meeting the experience requirements of WAC 4-30-070 (without regard to the eight-year limitation indicated in the referenced rule)
    • If you already have approved experience on file with the Board, you do not need to submit an experience affidavit and resume or summary of key job responsibilities.
  • Completing the required Continuing Professional Education (CPE)
    • 120 CPE credit hours, including a Washington State Board Approved Ethics course.
    • The CPE hours must be completed within the 36 months preceding your application date, except the Washington State Board Approved Ethics course, which must be completed within the 6 months preceding the date of application.
  • Logging your completed CPE in the CPE Tracker located in our online services.
  • Uploading acceptable CPE documentation (course completion certificates, etc.) into the CPE Tracker for all CPE claimed.
  • Submitting a conversion application through our online services.
  • No fee is charged for this application.
• After your initial conversion to an active status, you can renew in an active or inactive status, depending on your current needs. See CPA License in an active status below.

CPA-Inactive Certificate in a lapsed, retired, suspended, or revoked status on July 1, 2024:

• Your only option is to apply for an initial license. (Your education, CPA Exam scores, and AICPA Code of Professional Conduct course will still be valid, provided you do not have a Board Order stating otherwise.)
• If you are in one of these statuses, you may want to consider completing the appropriate application to get your CPA-Inactive Certificate back into an active status prior to the change-over.

CPA License in an active status

• Beginning with the 2025 renewal period, you will have two options for renewal:
  • Active Status
    • Complete the 120-hour CPE requirement, including a Washington State Board approved ethics course, within your CPE reporting period (don’t forget your 20-hour minimum annual requirement).
    • Log your completed CPE in the CPE Tracker located in our online services.
    • Submit an online renewal application through our online services indicating that you are renewing in an active status.
    • Pay the renewal fee.
  • Inactive Status
    • Complete a Washington State Board approved ethics course within your CPE reporting period.
    • Log your completed CPE in the CPE Tracker located in our online services.
    • Submit an online renewal application through our online services indicating that you are renewing in an inactive status.
    • Pay the renewal fee. (The fee is the same for both statuses.)
    • You may not hold out or practice public accounting during the time in which you are in an inactive status.
• You are only able to apply for inactive status during your renewal period.
• If you are in an inactive status, you can convert your status to active at any time by:
  • Completing the required Continuing Professional Education (CPE)
    • 120 CPE credit hours, including a Washington State Board Approved Ethics course.
    • The CPE hours must be completed within the 36 months preceding your application date, except the Washington State Board Approved Ethics course, which must be completed within the 6 months preceding the date of application.
  • Logging your completed CPE in the CPE Tracker located in our online services.
  • Uploading acceptable CPE documentation (course completion certificates, etc.) into the CPE Tracker for all CPE claimed.
  • Submitting a conversion application through our online services.
  • No fee is charged for this application