The Certified Bookkeeper’s Guide to - American Institute of ...

The Certified Bookkeeper's Guide to Continuing Professional Education (CPEC)

REQUIREMENTS FOR MAINTAINING CERTIFICATION

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The Importance of Maintaining Certification To ensure maintenance of the high standards required for certification, a Certified Bookkeeper must acquire 60 continuing professional education credits (CPECs) over 3 years from the first of the month following the date of certification, and every 3 years thereafter. Those who fail to meet this standard must retake the national Certified Bookkeeper examination. CPECs may be earned within or outside AIPB as described below. One CPEC is equal to 1 credit hour.

Goals of Continuing Education Because the bookkeeping environment constantly changes, it is essential that Certified Bookkeepers remain current in bookkeeping and in related accounting and tax fields. The goals of the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers' CPEC Program are to assure that Certified Bookkeepers:

1. maintain professional competence 2. continually update their knowledge and skills 3. attain new knowledge and skills

Fees

The fee schedule for opening a CPEC Account and registering CPECs is as follows:

To set up a Certified Bookkeeper CPEC account for the first year

$25

To maintain the account in each subsequent year

$20

To register each CPEC successfully earned

$ 3

General No CPECs will be awarded or maintained until the set-up fee (first year) or maintenance fee (each subsequent year) is received by AIPB. AIPB will inform registered Certified Bookkeepers of their continuing professional education status twice each year (June 30th and December 31st). A Certified Bookkeeper who does not achieve 60 CPECs over the 3-year period will lose his or her Certified Bookkeeper designation and be required to sit again for the Certified Bookkeeper examination. This reexamination is offered one time only. In signing the Certified Bookkeeper's Code of Ethics, you have agreed to the Goals above and are required to maintain the high standards expected of CBs. CPEC hours may be taken from either within or outside AIPB. Procedures for taking continuing education hours are detailed in this brochure.

Receiving CPECs from AIPB Following are CPEC materials approved by the AIPB Certification Advisory Board. Certified Bookkeepers will be notified of new programs that become available.

CBs may register CPECs earned by successfully completing the Certified Bookkeeper preparatory workbook exams. (See page 3).

To receive CPECs for AIPB's other self-study courses, the Certified Bookkeeper must complete and return to AIPB the open-book final examination answer sheet at the back of each workbook and receive a score of at least 70%. (See page 3).

* Those CBs interested in registering The General Ledger CB CPEC Quiz (1 credit per month) must call AIPB at 1-800-622-0121 ext 109 and request to be put on the mailing list to receive the separate monthly CPEC Quiz. You must be an AIPB member to enroll and remain in this option.

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CPEC Code CPEC01 CPEC05 CPEC07 CPEC08 CPEC13 CPEC15 CPEC11 CPEC12 CPEC16

Course The General Ledger newsletter* Mastering Payroll II Mastering Credit and Collections Mastering Financial Statement Analysis Mastering the Sole Proprietorship Tax Return Mastering the Partnership Tax Return Mastering the C Corporation Tax Return Mastering the S Corporation Tax Return Mastering the Statement of Cash Flows

CPECs

CPEC Fee

12 (1/month) $36

7

$21

7

$21

6

$18

10

$30

13

$39

13

$39

13

$39

13

$39

Guidelines for Obtaining CPECs from AIPB Materials

1. Purchase AIPB material, study it and take the open-book final examination provided at the back of each workbook.

2. Submit the final exam answer sheet to AIPB for grading. If you achieve a grade of at least 70%, you will be sent your Certificate of Completion.

3. When you are ready to register the credits to your CPEC account, fill in the CPEC Registration Form, attach copies of the Certificates of Completion, include appropriate payment for the CPECs being registered and mail to AIPB.

4. To register the CPECs for AIPB courses that you took and passed no more than 5 years prior to passing the Certified Bookkeeper examination, attach to the CPEC Registration Form one of the following: ?A photocopy of your Certificate of Completion; ?A photocopy of The General Ledger "Honor Roll" where your name appears for completing the workbook exams (write on the copy the year and month of the issue).

5. Payment for the number of CPECs being registered must accompany the CPEC Registration Form.

6. AIPB will enter the CPECs earned to your CPEC account and send you a notice of acceptance.

You may register the 6 CB test preparatory workbook exams for which you earned Certificates of Completion. Credit is not given for the CB exams at Prometric.

CPEC Code CPEC02 CPEC03 CPEC04 CPEC10 CPEC14 CPEC19

Certified Bookkeeper Preparatory Course CPECs

Mastering Adjusting Entries

6

Mastering Depreciation

7

Mastering Payroll

7

Mastering Correction of Accounting Errors

7

Mastering Inventory

10

Mastering Internal Controls & Fraud Prevention 3

CPEC Fee $18 $21 $21 $21 $30 $9

A full list of AIPB courses with credit value and fee information is on the back of the CPEC Registration Form.

Always use a CPEC Registration Form to register your CPECs.

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Guidelines for Obtaining CPECs from Outside (Non-AIPB) Materials

We fully expect that Certified Bookkeepers will apply outside course and seminar credits to their CPEC requirement. Members of the AIPB Certification Advisory Board will approve or disapprove all hours submitted for CPECs from outside sources.

1. Only courses or programs on bookkeeping, accounting, tax, payroll and related areas that meet AIPB's goals for Certified Bookkeeper CPECs will be considered.

2. During year one of being a CB, only courses or programs completed and passed no more than 1 year prior to passing the Certified Bookkeeper examination are valid for CPEC registration. During subsequent years, you must register completed and passed classes/seminars within a year of their completion.

3. A program, such as a seminar, submitted for CPEC approval must last at least one hour.

4. The course or seminar description must be submitted to AIPB with the "Request for Review of Non-AIPB Materials" Form (enclosed ? make copies for future submissions). The program must be conducted by a qualified instructor whose credentials are available.

5. If you have not yet attended the program, course or seminar, include with the "Request for Review of Non-AIPB Materials" form, a description of the program, (flyer, syllabus, etc.) and the $10 review fee. The appropriate member(s) of the AIPB Certification Advisory Board will review the request and you will be notified of the decision within 3 weeks.

6. If you have already attended the program, submit with the "Request for Review of Non-AIPB Materials" form, proof of attendance/completion and documentation of how the sponsors determined the CPEC value (flyer, syllabus, etc.) and $10 review fee. You will be invoiced for CPEC registration if approved.

7. University and college courses taken for academic credit will qualify only if the program meets Guideline #1 above and the Certification Advisory Board has approved the course. In other words, you must submit the "Request for Review of Non-AIPB Materials" form and the course must have been approved. Approved courses receive 10 CPECs for each semester credit, i.e. a 3 credit course is valued at 30 CPECs. Copies of transcripts must be submitted when registering college courses.

8. The $10 fee must accompany each request for approval. You may make up to two requests on each "Request for Review of Non-AIPB Materials" form.

9. Programs offered by recognized national and state accounting boards will be accepted with their stipulated number of CPECs if the programs meet Guideline #1 above.

10. Correspondence (home study) and other individual study programs that meet Guideline #1 require proof of registration and evidence of satisfactory completion.

EACH CPEC YEAR BEGINS ON THE ANNIVERSARY DATE ON WHICH THE INDIVIDUAL BECAME A CERTIFIED BOOKKEEPER. YOU MUST REGISTER APPROXIMATELY 20 CPECs A YEAR AND MEET THE REQUIREMENT OF 60 CPECs OVER 3 YEARS (SEE PAGE 2) AND EVERY 3 YEARS THEREAFTER.

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