The best CPE courses for CPAs keep a license current without swallowing your evenings. In North Carolina, the State Board’s CPE rule now calls for 2,000 minutes a year, including 50 minutes of ethics from a NASBA registry sponsor.
So what separates the providers? Mostly format and cost per credit, because every finalist here is a registered sponsor.
Five providers made the final ranking, and the matcher and price chart below help you choose between them.
Top CPE Subscriptions for Busy CPAs
The strongest three of the 14 CPE providers we compared for licensed CPAs.
Becker CPE
Illumeo
Surgent CPE
Match Your License Renewal to a CPE Provider
Pick a yearly budget, a preferred format and the renewal problem you most need solved. Only the four ranked providers that sell unlimited plans can be matched.
Pick one option in each row and a provider appears here.
Best CPE Courses for CPAs, Rated on Four Measures
Quick Tip
Ratings here weigh catalog, platform, support and price rather than sales claims. Long-form notes, an image and pros and cons sit inside every card, and ticking Compare on a few cards slims the chart to that shortlist.
Becker CPE
Every major CPE format under one login, with a tracker that follows your state rules.
Tax Prime+ $1,099 a year · NASBA Registry sponsor 107294 · Flex Pay on 2-year Prime
When I tested Becker CPE, it felt like the CPA review side of the company: tidy, well organized and quick to get around. The catalog mixes on-demand courses, live webcasts with Q&A and podcasts that count for credit, so a commute or an errand can chip away at your yearly hours. Many instructors bring two decades or more of practice, and it shows in how they handle technical material.
The compliance tracker is where Becker earns its premium. You pick your state, see how many credits are still outstanding and add certificates earned somewhere else, which matters because CPE is counted in 50-minute hours and you have to keep proof of each one. Becker also lists more than 50 state board ethics courses, so the ethics slice of a renewal rarely sends you elsewhere.
It suits CPAs whose firm covers the bill, or anyone who wants webcasts, recordings and audio in one subscription. If you only need a modest number of hours, the Essentials or Select tier covers the core catalog for less than Prime.
Against Illumeo, Becker wins on live webcast volume, podcasts and state ethics coverage, which suits CPAs who want a single tool for the whole renewal. Illumeo makes more sense when recorded courses are all you need and the yearly bill matters most.
- Three Ways to Earn Credit: Webcasts, recordings and audio podcasts
- Deep Catalog: 700+ on-demand courses and 1,000+ webcasts a year on Prime
- State Ethics Coverage: 50+ state board ethics courses
- Compliance Tracker: Maps credits to your state and accepts outside certificates
- Trusted Name: The same company behind a leading CPA exam review
- Costly Top Tier: Prime runs well above Illumeo and Lambers
- Tier Gaps: The full webcast calendar and newest courses sit in the Prime tier
$440 Off Becker Tax Prime + CPE Subscription
Illumeo
Thousands of recorded courses plus a tracker, for less than any rival subscription.
NASBA Registry sponsor 109504 · refunds within 30 days of purchase
Illumeo is built around value. The entry plan opens an on-demand library of more than 1,600 courses, new titles arrive every week, and a CPE tracker comes included, which is uncommon at this end of the market.
Two details stood out in the review notes. Instructors answer questions even on recorded courses, and AI recommendations surface related courses so less time goes into searching. Every course carries learner ratings, and titles that rate poorly are removed, which keeps the catalog average around 4.5 stars.
Live learning is where Illumeo falls behind. Webinars follow a fixed weekly schedule, usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and the yearly count is a fraction of Becker or Surgent. Each course also ends with a final exam you must pass to receive credit.
Illumeo beats Lambers on library size, tracking and topics beyond tax, which suits CPAs building finance, analytics or leadership skills. Lambers is the better fit if you want plain tax lectures with state ethics included.
- Low Yearly Price: Unlimited on-demand CPE at the cheapest subscription price here
- Deep Recorded Catalog: More than 1,600 titles even on the cheapest tier
- Tracker Included: CPE tracking built into every individual plan
- Quality Control: Learner ratings, and weak courses get removed
- Ask the Presenter: Instructors reply to questions on recorded courses
- Rigid Webinar Days: Live sessions run on set weekdays
- Final Exams Required: You must pass an exam at the end of each course for credit
Illumeo Promo Code: Get 10% Off Any Course
Surgent CPE
More live webinars than any other provider here, on weekdays and Saturdays.
2,000+ webinars a year, Saturdays included · NASBA Registry sponsor 103212
Surgent is the live webinar specialist. More than 2,000 webinars run every year with sessions daily, Saturdays included, so a live option almost always fits around client work.
Beyond the webinars, the PLUS plan opens more than 10,000 credits across live, on-demand and self-study formats, along with a few gamified courses such as Max the Tax. The games add variety, although the selection is small and not every CPA will use them.
The trade-off is cost. Surgent’s unlimited plans sit near the top of the market, close to Becker Prime, and plans can renew automatically, so check the renewal setting if you expect to switch or scale back later.
Against Becker, Surgent wins on sheer webinar volume and Saturday sessions, which suits CPAs who stay focused only with a live presenter. Becker is the stronger choice for podcasts, a richer compliance tracker and more state ethics options in one place.
- Webinar Volume: 2,000+ live sessions a year
- Flexible Timing: Daily sessions, including Saturdays
- Credit Ceiling: PLUS opens 10,000+ credits
- Three Plan Styles: Self-study, webinar-only or everything
- Gamified Options: A few game-style courses for variety
- Steep Yearly Cost: PLUS sits near Becker Prime
- Auto-Renewal: Easy to miss if you plan to change providers
Surgent Promo Codes: 35% Off Sitewide
Lambers CPE
Plain, instructor-led tax video with state ethics included.
State-specific ethics in the library · NASBA Registry sponsor 119329
Lambers has trained tax professionals for decades and is best known for its enrolled agent review. Its CPE follows the same approach: instructor-led video lessons split into short chapters, each followed by a review quiz, with a notes panel and a tools section beside the player.
The All Access library adds PDF courses and seasonal live webinars that run from about April to December and do not end in a final exam. State-specific ethics courses are part of the library, which covers a requirement many CPAs scramble to meet near renewal.
The platform looks dated next to Becker or Illumeo, and there is no adaptive learning or gamification. Access is also limited to one or two years rather than rolling on indefinitely.
Lambers beats Illumeo for CPAs who want straightforward tax lectures and exam-free live webinars at a budget price. Illumeo is the better pick for a bigger library, a stronger tracker and topics outside tax.
- Budget Pricing: The All Access library costs far less through the special-offer page
- Experienced Instructors: Subject experts teach every video
- Simple Format: Straightforward lectures with review quizzes
- Exam-Free Webinars: Seasonal live sessions without a final exam
- State Ethics: State-specific ethics courses included
- Old-School Interface: Few of the tools newer platforms offer
- Term-Limited Access: One or two years, then you renew
Exclusive Offer – 10% Off Lambers CPE Courses
Gleim CPE
Pay by the hour when you are only a few credits short.
About $6 to $8 per credit hour at 20 hours or more · NASBA Registry sponsor 103071
When I tried Gleim CPE, the pricing model stood out before anything else: you buy a block of hours instead of a yearly subscription. That makes one or two missing credits cheap to cover.
Course choice is thin. The materials reviewed held roughly 61 courses across tax, accounting and auditing and ethics, far fewer than any other finalist. Each course follows the same QAS self-study path: a presentation, an outline with study questions, a qualified assessment and then the certificate.
There are no live sessions in the standard catalog, and state ethics choices are narrow. Once you need more than a handful of hours, an unlimited plan from Illumeo or Becker usually costs about the same and offers far more choice.
Gleim beats every subscription here on cost for a CPA who needs only one to four hours. Illumeo is the better value as soon as your yearly need climbs past a few hours.
- Low Cost for Small Needs: Cheapest way to cover one to four hours
- No Big Upfront Bill: Buy only the hours you need
- Free Trial Course: Sample the platform before paying
- Familiar Brand: Long-running name in accounting education
- No Live Sessions: Self-study only in the standard catalog
- Small Library: About 61 courses, with few state ethics options
- Weak Value at Volume: Unlimited plans win once you need 40 hours
CPE Subscription Showdown: Price, Credits and Formats
All five finalists by plan type, formats, library size, live sessions, tracking and NASBA sponsor ID, with each row’s strongest value shaded green.
CPE Platforms Outside Our Top Five
Each of these five has a narrower audience than our finalists. For tax-heavy or association-based credit, these sources are worth a look too: TaxBook, Thomson Reuters, Tax Speaker and NATP.
Which CPE Subscription Fits Your Practice?
Scan the tiles for your situation, since each one points to the review worth reading next.
Inside the Numbers on Each CPE Card
A provider’s headline score is the plain average of the four categories below. Every chapter lists the specific checks we ran.
A course only helps if your board accepts it, so we confirmed every finalist on the NASBA National Registry of CPE Sponsors and noted the delivery methods it is approved for. Registry sponsors follow the CPE standards that AICPA and NASBA publish jointly. We then looked at catalog breadth across tax, accounting and auditing, ethics and business topics, and at how often new courses appear.
The AICPA measures CPE in 50-minute hours and expects members to complete 120 hours every three years, so a provider should make that record-keeping painless. We checked how fast you can filter by field of study, whether certificates download cleanly and whether a tracker accepts credits earned elsewhere. Card screenshots come from inside each provider’s course area wherever one was available.
Live credit matters for CPAs in states that limit self-study and for anyone who focuses better with a presenter. We counted live sessions per year, looked at evening and weekend coverage, and noted whether instructors answer questions on recorded courses.
Sticker prices mean little until you divide them by the hours you actually need. We priced each plan against a typical 40-hour year and against a small top-up of a few hours, then weighed access length, renewal terms and any refund promise.
Course counts without context. Thousands of courses mean little if your board will not accept the format. Testimonials on sales pages. They are hand-picked. Commission status. Gleim CPE generates no revenue for this site and still ranks fifth.
How These CPE Provider Scores Were Built
Final Verdict
The right CPE provider depends on how many hours you need, who pays and whether you learn better live or on your own time.
Becker CPE is the best CPE course for most CPAs, pairing every major format with a compliance tracker that keeps even a multi-state renewal in order. Get started with Becker CPE.
If you pay your own way and like recorded courses, Illumeo delivers the most CPE per dollar of any provider here. Go to Illumeo.
If a live presenter keeps you engaged, the deepest webinar calendar on this list is worth the higher price. Try out Surgent CPE.
Lambers CPE is the budget route for tax-focused video and state ethics, and Gleim CPE makes sense only when you are a few hours short. Check your state board’s ethics rule before you buy.
FAQs
What is the best CPE course for CPAs?
Becker CPE is the best CPE course for most CPAs, because it combines live webcasts, on-demand courses, podcasts and a state-aware compliance tracker in one subscription. If recorded courses at the lowest annual cost matter more to you, Illumeo is the stronger choice.
How many CPE hours must a CPA log each year?
It depends on your state board, and the NASBA requirements lookup summarizes the rules for every jurisdiction. AICPA members also owe 120 hours over each three-year period, which averages out to 40 hours a year.
Do CPE courses have to come from a NASBA registry sponsor?
Every state accepts registry sponsors to some extent, and some, North Carolina among them for ethics, require one. All five finalists here are registry sponsors, but your state board still has the final word on individual courses.
Is an unlimited CPE subscription cheaper than paying per course?
For most CPAs it is, since a yearly plan covering 40 or more hours usually costs less than buying the same hours course by course. Hour blocks such as Gleim CPE only come out ahead when you need a handful of credits.
Can you earn CPE credit for free?
Yes, sponsored webinars on CPA Academy and free trial courses from providers such as Gleim cost nothing. Free options rarely add up to a full year, so most CPAs still pay for the bulk of their hours.
How can a busy CPA fit CPE into a full schedule?
Podcasts, short nano courses and Saturday webinars all let you earn credit outside client hours. Our video on fitting CPE into your schedule walks through four ways to do it.
Further Guides for Planning Your CPE Hours
- CPE Requirements for CPAsWhat every license demands
- North Carolina CPE RequirementsThe NC rules, explained
- Becker CPE ReviewIs Prime worth it?
- Illumeo CPE ReviewBefore you subscribe
- Lambers CPE ReviewWho the format suits
- Becker vs Gleim CPESubscription or hour blocks?
- CPE Requirements for CMAsHold the CMA too?
- Best EA Continuing Education CoursesFor enrolled agents
- How to Get a CPA LicenseLicensure, step by step
- North Carolina CPA RequirementsLicensure in NC
- CPA SalariesWhat the license pays
- CPE Coupon CodesEvery CPE deal we track
- Becker CPE Coupon CodesCurrent Becker CPE offers
- Illumeo CPE Promo CodesCurrent Illumeo offers
- Surgent CPE Coupon CodesCurrent Surgent CPE offers
- Lambers CPE Coupon CodesCurrent Lambers CPE offers
- Becker Coupon CodesAcross Becker courses
- Surgent Coupon CodesAcross Surgent courses
- Lambers Coupon CodesAcross Lambers courses
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