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How to survive an audit?

Survive an audit by starting your session on time, keeping control of your audience, ensuring your content is educational, and following the course outline.

Presenting Live CE and Surviving a Course Audit
The States DOI’s want to ensure their regulations and requirements are being followed by all instructors, as well as make sure their licensed agents are receiving quality continuing education offerings from the individual instructors.


To make sure you are compliant with all requirements, and possess the skill to survive an audit from a State DOI or their representative, Quest CE has provided a few basic rules to follow:

  1. Start your session on time. The states are notified of your starting time by Quest CE, and therefore schedule their audits accordingly. If you are not presenting as scheduled, you run the risk of encountering compliance or regulatory issues.

  2. Keep control of your audience. The states expect all attendees to provide you with their full attention during your CE presentation. This means no newspapers, cell phones, computers, etc. For a person to successfully receive CE credit for course attendance, they must attend the full session and be attentive enough to retain the presented information.

  3. Continuing Education (CE) is to be educational-not entertainment. Many states frown on the idea of a free lunch. If you are serving a lunch as part of your meeting, serve it before or after your presentation to reduce the chance of food-related distractions. Again, all attendees must present you with their full attention, and a distraction caused by food may result in some attendees’ loss of attendance credit. Education is the focus – not food.

  4. Follow the course outline. The course you are presenting was filed and approved by the State. Part of the filing and approval process with the State was the submission of a sound, well designed course outline. When an auditor shows up to your CE session, they will already have a copy of this state-approved outline and use it as their point of reference. Because this is their reference point, the curricula must follow the outline as closely as possible. If you are unsure you have the correct course outline, please contact Quest CE or your Program Administrator.

  5. Most State Auditors will announce themselves prior to you starting your course. Don’t panic – you have received the required material for your offering from Quest CE – you know the material – your audience views you as the expert, and you must now calmly proceed with your presentation. Most auditors will discuss any issues with you prior to departing the seminar location. The auditors are not there to intimidate or find fault, but rather to provide constructive feedback on your presentation of the course material and your control of your audience.

  6. Lastly. If you are ever audited, advise Quest CE or your Program Administrator immediately following the seminar. The sooner we know of an audit, the better prepared we can be to create the best possible, required response.