Missouri runs two genuinely different renewal cycles depending on whether you hold an individual CPA license or a firm permit — and its CPE requirement runs on a third, separate clock. Here's exactly how each one works, sourced to the Missouri Board's own published rule.
Missouri individual CPA licenses are issued for a two-year period beginning October 1 and expiring September 30 (20 CSR 2010-2.070(1)). The Board's own 2026 Winter newsletter confirms the currently active cycle: the timely renewal window for individual licenses closed September 30, 2025, with a late-renewal window running through December 31, 2025 — placing the current cycle at October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2027. Confirm your own next Missouri CPA renewal deadline here.
Missouri firm permits do not follow the same two-year cycle as individual licenses. They're issued for a one-year period beginning November 1 and expiring October 31, renewed every single year (20 CSR 2010-2.072(2)). The Board's newsletter confirms the current firm-permit cycle runs November 1, 2025 through October 31, 2026 — meaning a firm's renewal deadline can land in a completely different year than its individual license holders' next renewal, even at the same firm.
Here's the part that catches people: even though the individual license itself only renews every two years, CPE compliance is checked on a calendar-year basis — 40 hours per year, including 2 ethics hours, every single year, not just in "renewal years" (20 CSR 2010-4.010(1)(C)). If you fall behind, the rule gives a January 1 through March 1 grace period each year to catch up on the prior year's shortfall. Don't let a two-year license cycle lull you into treating CPE as a once-every-two-years task — it isn't.
Missouri's own newsletter confirms a formal late-renewal window exists (through December 31 for the cycle referenced above) with an added fee — but that window is a penalty period, not a real second deadline, and reinstatement after it closes is a separate, harder process. The safest path is renewing on time in the first place.
Bottom line: if you're a Missouri CPA, track three things separately — your individual license's 2-year cycle, your firm's separate annual cycle (if applicable), and your CPE hours' annual clock. Set a reminder for your Missouri deadline here so you don't have to hold all three in your head.