How much continuing professional education a Montana CPA actually needs — sourced the same way every fact on this site is: a board page plus the codified rule itself, never a guess.
Montana active permit holders must complete 120 hours of CPE for the previous rolling 3-year period ending December 31 (permits still renew annually, but the core CPE count is a 3-year rolling total rather than a flat per-year figure), with a minimum of 50% (60 hours) in technical fields of study (effective Jan 1, 2018). Interpretation trap: the mandatory 2 hours of ethics are NOT an add-on -- they are included within/count toward the 60-hour technical-subjects minimum, not in addition to the 120-hour total. Confirmed via the full text of Mont. Admin. R. 24.201.2106 (law.cornell.edu mirror), consistent with the Montana Board of Public Accountancy's own webpage description of the same 120-hour/60-hour-technical/2-hour-ethics structure. New licensees must meet the basic requirement by December 31 of the third year following their year of initial licensure; CPE earned during the initial licensure year does not count toward that first reporting period.
What does it cost to reinstate a lapsed Montana license? →