Acceptable Fields of Study for CPE

Certified Fraud Examiners (CFEs) are required to complete 20 Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits per year, 10 of which need to be fraud-related and two must be ethics-related.    

CPE credits are grouped in the following categories: fraud-related, ethics-related and general. Use the information below to determine the types of CPE that are acceptable by the ACFE.

Fraud-Related CPE

All CPE credit earned through the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) is considered fraud-related.

If you earn CPE credit through another source, and it falls within one of the following categories, it will be considered fraud-related under these ACFE CPE guidelines:

  • Financial Transactions and Fraud Schemes
    • Fraud auditing and forensic accounting
    • Asset misappropriation/embezzlement
    • Financial statement fraud schemes
    • Bribery and corruption
    • Theft of intellectual property
    • Financial institution fraud
    • Check and credit card fraud
    • Insurance fraud
    • Securities fraud
    • Money laundering
    • Consumer fraud
    • Health care fraud
    • Bankruptcy fraud
    • Tax fraud
    • Computer and internet fraud
    • Public sector/government fraud
    • Contract and procurement fraud
  • Law Related to Fraud
    • Individual rights during examinations
    • Civil fraud actions
    • The law related to fraud
    • Testifying as an expert witness
    • Criminal prosecutions for fraud
    • Basic principles of evidence
  • Investigation Techniques
    • Analyzing documents
    • Interview theory and application
    • Covert examinations
    • Sources of information
    • Accessing information online
    • Data analysis and reporting tools
    • Computer forensics
    • Tracing illicit transactions
    • Fraud examination reporting standards
  • Fraud Prevention and Deterrence
    • Theories of crime causation
    • White-collar crime
    • Organizational crime
    • Occupational fraud
    • Fraud prevention programs
    • Fraud risk assessment
    • Fraud risk management
    • Corporate governance
    • Management’s, directors' and auditors’ responsibilities regarding fraud
    • Punishment and the criminal justice system

Ethics-Related CPE

The ACFE accepts ethics training from other organizations as long as the primary course topic is ethics or ethics-related. In general, courses that focus on the following topics will meet this requirement:

  • Accepted Ethics Course Topics
    • Behavioral Ethics
    • Corporate Ethics
    • Ethics and Professional Conduct
    • Ethical Decision-making
    • Ethical Practice in Business
    • Personal Ethics
    • Regulatory Ethics
Some courses may be counted toward both your fraud-related and ethics-related CPE requirements. For example, courses offered by the ACFE in the following topical areas would be considered both fraud-related and ethics-related CPE:

General CPE

If CPE credit does not fall within one of the subject areas listed above, it may be claimed as general (non-fraud and non-ethics-related) credit.

The ACFE will accept CPE credit earned in the categories below as general CPE credit. These categories are the ones set forth by NASBA (National Association of State Boards of Accountancy) as appropriate for CPE credit:

  • NASBA CPE Categories
    • Accounting
    • Accounting (Governmental)
    • Auditing
    • Auditing (Governmental)
    • Administrative Practice
    • Behavioral Ethics
    • Business Law
    • Business Management and Organization
    • Communications and Marketing
    • Computer Software and Applications
    • Economics
    • Finance
    • Information Technology
    • Management Services
    • Personal Development
    • Personnel/Human Resources
    • Production
    • Regulatory Ethics
    • Specialized Knowledge 
    • Statistics
    • Taxes
For a more detailed description of each category, please refer to the NASBA standards for CPE.

Non-education activities such as normal job duties, fraud examination and report writing are not considered for CPE credit.