CFP® continuing education requirements: Hours, ethics CE and renewal

CFP® professionals must complete 30 hours of continuing education (CE) every two years to keep their certification: 28 hours of general CE and a 2-hour CFP Board Ethics course that CFP Board has pre-approved. For renewal cycles that begin in or after the first quarter of 2027, the total rises to 40 hours (38 general and the same 2 hours of ethics). This guide covers what counts, how to find the right ethics course, how credits get reported and what happens if you miss the deadline.

The CFP® continuing education requirement at a glance

These are the figures CFP Board publishes for CFP® professionals.

• Cycle: CE is due every two years, by the end of your reporting period. That is usually the same month as your certification renewal.
• Hours now: 30, made up of 28 hours of general CE and 2 hours of CFP Board Ethics CE.
• Hours for cycles beginning in or after Q1 2027: 40, made up of 38 hours of general CE and 2 hours of ethics. The change comes from CFP Board’s updated Competency Standards.
• Rollover: today, hours beyond the requirement do not carry over. For cycles beginning in or after Q1 2027, up to 10 hours can roll into the next two-year cycle.
• First deadline: the requirement starts as soon as you are certified, and it is prorated for your first reporting period.
• Annual steps: every year you also submit a renewal application with an ethics declaration and pay the annual certification fee. CE is the extra step in every second year.

Which cycle you are in depends on your own renewal month, so check the dates in your CFP Board account rather than counting from a calendar year.

What counts as general CE

General CE is the 28 hours (38 from 2027) that are not the ethics course. To count, a program has to cover at least one of CFP Board’s Principal Knowledge Topics: general principles of financial planning, professional conduct and regulation, risk management and insurance planning, investment planning, tax planning, retirement savings and income planning, estate planning and the psychology of financial planning.

Credit can also come from teaching or writing, not just taking courses. CFP Board’s own FAQ lists completing programs, attending conferences, authoring publications and teaching as ways to earn it.

A few rules catch people out:

• Pre-accepted programs are the safe route. CFP Board has more than 14,000 programs from over 1,200 CE sponsors in its database, and it recommends choosing from them.
• A program you pick yourself can still count, if it meets CFP Board’s standards: it covers a Principal Knowledge Topic, is taught by qualified people, has current and accurate content and runs at least 50 minutes. A self-study course needs at least 5 assessment questions for every CE hour.
• Some topics never count. CFP Board does not give credit for practice management, public accounting, computer hardware or software, marketing, sales or presentations about a specific company or product.
• No double credit. You cannot earn credit for the same program twice in one reporting period, and one program’s hours cannot be split across two periods.
• CE for other credentials can count. If a course you took for another license or designation meets CFP Board’s standards, you can submit it. CFP Board does not guarantee how many hours it will grant.

The ethics CE requirement

The ethics requirement is a separate 2-hour course, and it is stricter than general CE. It has to be a program that CFP Board has pre-approved and that is specific to CFP Board’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct.

Three details to know:

• A different ethics course does not count. An ethics program that CFP Board has not approved can still earn general CE credit if it meets the standards above, but it will not satisfy the ethics requirement. CFP Board says it makes no exceptions.
• Finding the right one is easy. In CFP Board’s Find a CE Program search, tick the box that limits results to CFP Board-approved Ethics CE. Approved programs are marked with a gold star, and the first line of the course description states that it meets the Ethics CE requirement.
• It is not a pre-certification requirement. Candidates who are finishing the experience or education requirements do not need to take the ethics course before certification, so the ethics course is part of your first CE cycle after certification.

The ethics course is not the only place ethics comes up. Each year’s renewal application includes an ethics declaration, in which you confirm that you follow the Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct and disclose any criminal or civil proceedings, bankruptcy filings, internal reviews and customer complaints. CFP Board checks that information and can open an investigation if you appear to have violated the Code and Standards. If you are still preparing for the CFP® exam, the same Code and Standards are part of what you study, so the ethics CE course will not be new ground.

How to report your CE credits

You do not have to report most credits yourself. CE sponsors must report attendance for pre-accepted programs within 14 days of completion, and CFP Board emails you when credit is applied. It can take CFP Board a few business days to load the records into your account.

You can check your progress at any time by logging in to your CFP Board account and opening your CE summary. If a program is not pre-accepted, or you want credit applied before the sponsor reports, you can report it yourself:

1. Log in to your CFP Board account and open the CE section.

2. For a registered program, search for its CFP Board Program ID or sponsor name, check that the details match, enter your completion date and submit.

3. For a program that is not registered, use the online non-registered CE form described on CFP Board’s CE reporting page. CFP Board charges a non-refundable $60 reporting fee for each one and reviews it within a few business days. Keep the certificate of completion, a program description and, for live programs, a timed agenda, because CFP Board may ask for them. Self-study courses also need proof of a passing score of 70% or higher.

Keep your CE documentation for at least three years after you complete each program.

What happens if you miss the deadline

All CE hours must be reported and processed by CFP Board before your two-year period ends. CFP Board says there is typically a short grace period of about six days for last-minute submissions, but it is not something to plan around. Here is what follows if the requirements are not met by the end of your certification period:

• A $75 late fee applies if any renewal requirement is outstanding on the last day of your period.
• Seven days after expiration, CFP Board marks you as not certified, and you can no longer use the CFP® marks. You get a reminder notice listing what is missing.
• At 45 days, you receive a notice of deficiency.
• At 90 days, your certification is treated as relinquished, and you have to go through reinstatement.

There is no inactive or retired status that pauses CE. Waiver requests for extenuating circumstances are reviewed case by case, in writing, with documentation.

How reinstatement works

If your certification has been relinquished, you can reinstate it. The five steps are to submit the Intent to Reinstate form, pay the non-refundable $100 reinstatement fee, report outstanding CE, complete the renewal application and fee, and pass a background check. The CE you owe depends on how long you have been out:

• Less than one year: the outstanding CE, including the 2-hour ethics course unless you already met the ethics requirement in your most recent period.
• One to five years: the outstanding CE and a CFP Board-approved ethics course completed within the last 12 months or during the 90-day reinstatement process, plus CE accrued at 1.25 hours per month, up to a maximum of 60 hours.
• Five years or more: you must pass the current CFP® exam before you can apply.

You have 90 days to finish the reinstatement steps once your form is approved. It is far cheaper to keep up with CE than to reinstate.

CE for candidates who have already passed the exam

Passing the exam does not mean you are certified yet, because you also need the experience and bachelor’s degree requirements. If you do not finish within 12 months of passing, you begin to accrue a CE requirement at 15 hours per year (1.25 hours per month), starting 13 months after the exam. The accrual stops once the experience and degree requirements are both met, and candidates are not required to take the ethics course. The hours must be completed within six months for the candidate to be eligible for certification.

A simple plan for staying on track

• Take the ethics course early. It is the one requirement with no substitute, so get it done in the first year of the cycle instead of searching for a seat in the last month.
• Spread the other hours. Under the current rule that is about 14 general hours a year, and a conference or a multi-hour program can cover several at once.
• Use the filters. Search by topic, sponsor, live or self-study format, level of complexity and number of credit hours.
• Check your CE summary every few months. Sponsor reports can lag, so catch a missing course while there is still time.
• Plan for 2027. If your next cycle begins in or after Q1 2027, budget for 40 hours and note the new rollover rule.

If you are still earning the credential, our CFP® exam study guide and best CFP® courses pages cover the steps before CE. To weigh the credential against others, read how it compares with CIMA®, CFA® and CGMA, or see the CFP® exam FAQ.

Key takeaways

• CFP® professionals need 30 hours of CE every two years, including a 2-hour CFP Board-approved ethics course. The total becomes 40 hours (2 ethics, 38 general) for cycles beginning in or after Q1 2027.
• Only a pre-approved CFP Board Ethics course counts toward the ethics requirement. Look for the gold star in the Find a CE Program search.
• Sponsors report credits within 14 days. Programs that are not registered can be self-reported for $60 each, and you should keep your records for three years.
• Missing the deadline brings a $75 late fee, a loss of the right to use the CFP® marks and, after 90 days, reinstatement with a $100 fee.