ISACA certifications are very valuable if you are planning to advance your career in IT field. CISA, CISM, CGEIT and CRISC certifications are prestigious certifications provided by ISACA. However, your ISACA certification journey will not end once you get the certification. You must earn CPE credits as per ISACA CPE policy requirements to renew your ISACA certification. In this post, we will examine the ISACA CPE requirements and the most convenient and affordable way of earning online CPE hours.
ISACA CPE Credits Requirements
If you have one of the ISACA certifications, CISA, CISM, CGEIT or CRISC, you must be aware that you have to renew your certification in each three years. There are certain CPE requirements you must comply to renew ISACA certification. There are three fundamental ISACA CPE requirements.
Hint: If you have CISA certification, you can see CISA CPE resources post to learn how you can earn CPEs and renew your CISA certification
1- ) Earn 20 CPE Credits per year: in order to keep your knowledge up to date with changing dynamics of the marker, ISACA requires certified professionals to earn 20 CPE hours each year.
2- ) Earn 120 CPE Credits in each three-year period: once you get the ISACA certification, you must earn minimum 20 CPE hours each year, however, in total, you must earn 120 CPE credits to complete your ISACA certification renewal process. Otherwise, your certification will expire and you will have to re-take the certification exam.
3- ) Pay Annual Maintenance Fee: in order to submit your earned CPE credits, you must pay ISACA annual maintenance fee. This is $45 for ISACA members and $85 for non-members.
Note that, annual CPE credit reporting calendar starts from first of January each year. For instance, if you passed CISM certification exam of ISACA on March, ISACA will expect you to report minimum 20 CISM CPE hours starting from 1st of January next year till end of December and in total 120 CISM CPE credits for three years starting from the next January.
How Can You Earn CPE Credits?
There are various ways to earn CPE credits for renewing your ISACA certification. ISACA accepts a 50-minute continuous CPE activity as one-hour CPE credit. So, keep in mind this ratio when calculating the CPE hours you will report after completing a CPE activity.
Let’s explore the all CPE credit earning options now.
1- ) ISACA CPE trainings or meetings – No Limit:
ISACA as an IT governance association organizes conferences, seminars, workshops, chapter programs or meetings. If you attend these ISACA CPE training or meeting activities, you will earn CPE hours to renew your ISACA certification. There is no up limit of earning CPE credits from this category. You can earn all 120 CPE hours from this category.
2- ) Non-ISACA CPE trainings or meetings – No Limit:
ISACA accepts CPE courses or activities provided by other organizations as well. A CPE training organized in your company, an online CPE training provided by an education provider or workshops you will attend will be counted as CPE hours when renewing your ISACA certification.
Check our CPE Training Video
3- ) Self-study Courses – No Limit:
Actually, this is the most convenient and affordable way of earning CPE hours. Because, you earn CPE credits on your own pace and it is very important especially if you are a full-time working professional. There is an important requirement of ISACA if you are attending self-study CPE courses. The CPE training provider must provide a certificate of completion including the number of CPE hours earned for the course.
In order to ease the ISACA certification renewal process, we have prepared an online CPE training bundle, which you can earn CPE hours 100% online and self-paced.
Online CPE Training Bundle
Our 60 CPE Course bundle contains three courses and each of these courses will provide 20 CPE credits after completion. You can enroll in this bundle to earn 60 CPE credits online and look for other sources to complete remaining 60 CPE credits.
4- ) Vendors’ Sales or Marketing Events – 10 CPE hours annual limit
Vendors organize sales or marketing events to present their products or solutions for enterprise information security. If you attend these events, you will earn CPE credits as well. However, you can earn maximum 10 CPE hours annual by attending a vendor’s activity.
5- ) Teaching – No Limit
You can earn CPE hours by teaching, lecturing or presenting IT governance related topics. There is no up limit of earning CPE hours from this category as well. You will earn five CPE credits for each hour you will teach, lecture or present. For instance, if you are giving a presentation for two hours, you will earn ten CPE hours.
You can teach online or give webinars as well. These will bring you online CPE hours as well.
6- ) Publishing Articles, Books, Posts – No Limit
You can write articles, publish an online CPE related article in a blog or author a book. These will bring CPE credits to renew your ISACA certification as well. Each hour you spend in these activities are considered as one CPE hour. For instance, if you have spent three hours when writing an online CPE article for an IT security blog, you will earn three CPE credits from this activity.
7- ) Other Sources of Earning CPE Hours
The other options you can earn CPE hours are developing exam questions for ISACA certifications, passing IT governance related professional exams, working on ISACA activities, contributing to information security profession and mentoring other information security professionals.
There is a maximum 20 CPE hours annual limit for working on ISACA activities, and 10 CPE hours annual limit for mentoring. Other sources in this category do not have a maximum limit.
How Can I Report Online CPE Credits?
Once you earned CPE hours from any activity, you can report your earned CPE credits online through ISACA website. After you logged in to ISACA website, click on “My ISACA” to go to your profile and then navigate to “My Certifications”. Then, click on manage my CPE and then click on Add CPE button to submit your earned CPEs online.
After submission of online CPE credits, click on save button. ISACA will review your submitted CPE hours and if it complies with the ISACA CPE credits policy, your CPE hours will be issued on your profile for ISACA certification renewal process.
What Should You Do If ISACA Audits CPE Hours Submission?
ISACA may audit your online CPE submissions to check whether they are compliant with the ISACA CPE policy. In this case, you must provide evidence regarding the CPE hours activity you have attended.
For instance, if you have attended in an online CPE training, you must provide the certificate of completion you will get from the online CPE training provider. Certificate of completion must include the online CPE hours earned with the training.
What Happens If I Do Not Submit CPE Credits?
If you do not submit CPE hours as per the ISACA CPE credit requirements, your ISACA certification will be revoked. After your certification is revoked, you will not be able to use designations and benefits coming with the ISACA certification. If your certification is revoked, you must retake the certification exam.
Summary
ISACA certifications are precious and worldwide reputable IT governance certifications. After you get the ISACA certification (CISA, CISM, CGEIT or CRISC) you must renew your certification in each three-year period. You must earn 20 CPE credits each year and in total, you must complete 120 CPE hours for every three-year period.
The most convenient and affordable way of earning CPE credits is attending online CPE training packages. You can enroll in 60 CPE Course bundle and earn online CPE hours to renew your ISACA certification.