Renewal

CPAs, CPA-Inactive certificateholders, and resident nonlicensee firm owners must renew by April 30 every three-years. To renew:

• Complete the required Continuing Professional Education (CPE) by December 31 prior to the expiration of your license, certificate, or registration
• Submit a complete application with fee and CPE certification by April 30 to the Board.

If your certificate or license was issued by international reciprocity, you must also:

• Request verification from the international issuing body reporting on:
• Status of your credential
• Any disciplinary investigation or action and a description of the allegations

CPA-Inactive certificates, individual CPA licenses, or resident nonlicense firm owner registrations not renewed or retired by June 30 will lapse and are subject to reinstatement.

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Online Renewal

Watch for online renewal. Coming in January 2010...

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Retirement

To retire, notify the Board:

• With the Board's retirement form, before your current certificate, license, or registration expires
• Takes effect immediately
• With your renewal application
• Takes effect July 1

If you retire, you are:

• Prohibited from using the title CPA or CPA-Inactive or exercising the privileges related to those titles
• Not entitled to a refund of any portion of the renewal fee you paid
• Allowed to renew out of retirement (Fillable PDF) at a later date

Retirement Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)

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Lapse

If you do not renew or retire by June 30, your certificate, license, or registration will:

• Lapse and be posted to the Board's web site
• Require reinstatement

You may not use the title CPA or CPA-Inactive or exercise the privileges related to those titles.

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Renewal out of Retirement

To renew your retired CPA-Inactive certificate, license, or registration as a nonlicensee firm owner, you must:

1. Complete the required Continuing Professional Education (CPE)
2. Submit complete application with fee and CPE documentation to the:
   Washington State Board of Accountancy
   PO Box 43113
   Olympia, WA, 98504-3113

Upon approval of this application, your status will be posted to the Licensee Search and your validation will be mailed to your address of record.

• Once your CPA-Inactive Certificate is renewed out of the retired status:
• You are required by Washington state law and Board rule (WAC 4-25-735) to use the title "CPA-Inactive."
• You must print or display the word "Inactive" immediately following the CPA title whenever the CPA title is printed on a business card, letterhead, or other document including documents published or transmitted through electronic media, in exactly the same font and font size as the CPA title.
• You may not use the title "CPA-Inactive" if you are offering accounting, tax preparation or advisory, management advisory, consulting, or similar services to the public.

• Once your CPA license is renewed out of the retired status:
• You may use the CPA title for professional and occupational purposes or for practicing public accounting in Washington State.
• If you perform attest services (compilations, reviews, audit, or other attestation services) or use "CPA" in your firm name, you must comply with the firm license requirements of WAC 4-25-750.

After you renew your retired status, your next CPE reporting period begins on January 1 of the calendar year in which the application is approved by the Board and ends on December 31 of the 2nd calendar year.

• CPE credit hours utilized to qualify for this renewal may not be utilized for your next CPE reporting period. Please refer to Board rule WAC 4-25-793(3).

To view and print a PDF file, you must have the free Adobe Acrobat Reader loaded on your computer. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, download the latest version directly from the Adobe web site.