Failure by an applicant for renewal of a license as a licensed CPA to furnish the evidence shall constitute grounds for disciplinary action, unless the Department in its discretion shall determine the failure to have been due to reasonable cause. The Department, in its discretion, may renew a license despite failure to furnish evidence of satisfaction of requirements of continuing education upon condition that the applicant follow a particular program or schedule of continuing education. In issuing rules and individual orders in respect of requirements of continuing education, the Department in its discretion may, among other things, use and rely upon guidelines and pronouncements of recognized educational and professional associations; may prescribe rules for the content, duration, and organization of courses; shall take into account the accessibility to applicants of such continuing education as it may require, and any impediments to interstate practice of public accounting that may result from differences in requirements in other states; and may provide for relaxation or suspension of requirements in regard to applicants who certify that they do not intend to engage in the performance of accountancy activities, and for instances of individual hardship.
The Department shall establish by rule a means for the verification of completion of the continuing education required by this Section. This verification may be accomplished through audits of records maintained by licensees; by requiring the filing of continuing education certificates with the Department; or by other means established by the Department.
The Department may establish, by rule, guidelines for acceptance of continuing education on behalf of licensed CPAs taking continuing education courses in other jurisdictions.
A new CPA firm or sole practitioner shall not be required to comply with the peer review requirements for the first license renewal. A CPA firm or sole practitioner shall comply with the Department's rules adopted under this Act and agree to notify the Peer Review Administrator by the report date of the initial engagement for services requiring a license under this Act and to undergo a peer review within 18 months of the report date for the initial engagement.
The requirements of this subsection (e) shall not apply to any person providing services requiring a license under this Act to the extent that such services are provided in the capacity of an employee of the Office of the Auditor General or to a nonprofit cooperative association engaged in the rendering of licensed service to its members only under paragraph (3) of Section 14.4 of this Act or any of its employees to the extent that such services are provided in the capacity of an employee of the association.
225 ILCS 450/16