Two rhythms keep your credential live.
Your certificate is valid 12 months and re-issued annually on active maintenance. Every third year, CE credits are tested too. Two clocks run at once, and this page keeps them clearly apart.
Two rhythms, one maintenance plan
Maintenance keeps the administration alive. CE credits are what earn the credential forward. Paying does not make someone certified: learning does. Your annual maintenance fee, $89, is the only payment in the cycle.
Every year, and every third year
Both clocks are always shown so you never confuse them. One renews the administration; the other examines the learning.
Maintenance only
Your certificate renews on active maintenance alone. CE credits are not examined. If your maintenance is active on your anniversary, your certificate is re-issued with a new 12-month valid-to date: automatically, no action needed.
Maintenance + CE credits
Both maintenance and your accumulated CE credits are tested. This is the real checkpoint. Meet both and a new 3-year CE cycle begins: credits reset to zero.
Is there a separate recertification fee? No. Your annual maintenance fee is the only payment. The triennial CE checkpoint just checks your CE credits: no additional charge.
If your maintenance lapses mid-year, your certificate stays valid to its printed date. It is not suspended immediately. The consequence lands at your next anniversary, where it is simply not re-issued. The live verification page reflects the lapse in real time; the printed certificate does not.
A rolling 12-month online document
Issued and re-issued automatically by the certification system. Online only: no physical copy as baseline.
Issuance date
When your certificate was issued or re-issued.
Valid-to date
12 months from issuance. Re-issued annually on your maintenance anniversary.
Subject to continued maintenance
Printed on every certificate.
Certificate ID & QR code
Links to a live public verification page showing real-time status.
The consequence fits the failure
A missed payment is administrative. A CE shortfall is substantive. They are handled differently: and never the other way around.
Maintenance lapse
A payment problem. Nothing is examined, and the CE record is never at risk.
- 1Unpaid at a checkpoint: 60 days to pay.
- 2Paid in grace: certificate re-issued, nothing lost.
- 3Grace ends unpaid: lapsed, and still reinstatable.
- 4Reinstatement window: pay within it and the credential is restored, CE record intact, no exam. The verification page shows it as Lapsed throughout.
- 5Beyond the reinstatement window: must re-sit the exam.
CE shortfall
A learning problem. No payment fixes it, at any stage.
- 1Credits short at the triennial checkpoint: 90 days to complete them.
- 2Completed in grace: new 3-year cycle, CE resets, certificate re-issued.
- 3Grace ends unmet: expired. No reinstatement.
- 4The only way back is to re-sit the exam.
- 5No payment path out of a CE failure: ever.
Never offer a payment path out of a CE failure. Never force an exam re-sit for a missed payment inside the reinstatement window.
CE credits reset to zero after each successful triennial checkpoint: a fresh window begins.
When your company holds the seat
The two clocks work the same way whoever pays. What a company adds is a second date, and it can only ever help you.
Your certificate runs to the later date
Hold a seat at a company whose cover is live and your certificate runs to whichever is later: your own year, or your employer’s cover. Renewing the company pushes its certificates out with it. The comparison never shortens one, because a date already printed on a certificate an employer may have seen is not ours to take back.
What you earned stays yours
Leaving the company, or the company letting its cover lapse, costs you nothing you have already earned. Your credential, your CE record and any certificate already issued are untouched. What ends is the library access the seat was paying for. From there the ordinary two clocks apply, on your own maintenance.
How it plays out
Three scenarios showing purchase date, pass date, annual renewal date, CE checkpoint date, and the outcome. They make the two-clock logic concrete.
| Purchase | Jan 2026 |
|---|---|
| Pass | Nov 2026 |
| Annual renewal | Nov 2027 |
| CE checkpoint | Nov 2029 |
Both clocks run from the day you certified (Nov): maintenance renews every year, and the CE checkpoint falls every third. Both requirements met: new 3-year CE cycle begins, CE resets, certificate re-issued. No fee.
| Purchase | Mar 2026 |
|---|---|
| Pass | May 2026 |
| Annual renewal | May 2027 |
| CE checkpoint | May 2029 |
At the triennial checkpoint, CE credits were incomplete. A grace period opened; the member finished their credits within it: new cycle, CE resets, certificate re-issued. No fee.
| Purchase | Jun 2026 |
|---|---|
| Pass | Sep 2026 |
| Annual renewal | Sep 2027 |
| CE checkpoint | Sep 2029 |
Maintenance lapsed mid-year. The certificate ran to its printed valid-to date. It was not suspended immediately. At the next anniversary it was not re-issued. The grace period ended unpaid, beyond the reinstatement window: exam must be re-sat.
Every certification is maintained the same way
There is no separate scheme per credential, and no credential is exempt. Whichever certification you hold — and however many you hold — the two clocks above are the whole mechanism.
The annual maintenance fee
Every certification requires it. Pay it and your certificate is re-issued on your anniversary with a new twelve-month valid-to date, automatically. It is the only recurring payment, and it is never what a CE checkpoint tests.
60 CE credits every three years
Every certification requires them, on the same terms: 60 credits across each three-year cycle, at least 20 of which must be earned at the Academy. Both figures are tested — clearing 60 while missing the 20 does not pass. Credits reset to zero after each successful checkpoint.
More than one certification
The mechanism does not change. One active maintenance plan covers every certification you hold, and each credential is checked on its own terms under the same rules. Holding two does not mean two schemes, two fees or a different standard.
60 days
To pay a missed maintenance fee, counted from your anniversary. Your certificate stays live throughout.
12 months
To reinstate after expiry by paying. Your CE record stays intact and there is no exam.
90 days
To finish outstanding CE credits after a triennial checkpoint. No payment substitutes for them.
Recertification questions
Is there a separate recertification fee?
No. Your $89 annual maintenance fee is the only payment. The triennial CE checkpoint just checks your CE credits: no additional charge.
How does the certificate work?
Your certificate is a rolling 12-month online document. It carries an issuance date, a valid-to date 12 months out, a certificate ID, a QR code linking to a live public verification page, and the line “Subject to continued maintenance.” Each year on your anniversary, if your maintenance is active, it is re-issued automatically with a new valid-to date. You do nothing.
What if I miss a payment?
Your certificate runs to its printed valid-to date. It is not suspended immediately. The verification page reflects the lapse in real time. At your next anniversary there is a grace period to pay. If you pay within it, your certificate is re-issued and nothing is lost. If it expires, you can reinstate by paying within the reinstatement window: your CE record stays intact and there is no exam. Beyond the reinstatement window, you must re-sit the exam.
What if I do not complete my CE?
You have 90 days to finish your credits. If you complete them within it, a new 3-year cycle begins, your CE resets to zero, and your certificate is re-issued. If the grace period ends unmet, the credential expires: and there is no reinstatement. The only way back is to re-sit the exam. No payment fixes a CE failure.
When is my CE checkpoint?
Your triennial CE checkpoint falls on your exam pass anniversary: a personal date, not a shared calendar date. Both clocks start on the day you certify, so they always fall in the same month. The date you bought does not enter into it. Each holder carries two dates.
Does maintenance cover all my certifications?
Yes. One active maintenance plan covers all CIA certifications you hold. But it must stay active. It is what keeps your certificates live between CE checkpoints.
How certification works
About certification
How courses build to credentials, the two tiers, how you qualify, and how you maintain.
ReadExam Policy & Guide
Everything about qualifying, booking, sitting the exam, and earning the certificate.
ReadVerify a Credential
Check any holder’s live status in real time from their certificate ID.
OpenQuestions about recertification?
Our team can help you plan your CE pathway and understand your timeline.