CPA Admission Procedure

The application procedure is essentially similar for both U.S. and international candidates alike. Likely candidates are expected to select the U.S. jurisdiction to which they will apply, contact the Board of Accountancy (or its agent) in that jurisdiction to get application materials, submit completed applications and required fees as instructed, and once considered qualified, plan the examination. Special arrangements such as making reservation for an evaluation of the educational credentials by an agency approved by the board for international students are clarified in accountancy board application instructions.

Students who are not sure of the jurisdiction to which they should apply may wish to analyze the requirements of several Boards of Accountancy before deciding on the jurisdiction. The NASBA’s official website www.nasba.org provides all the contact information for all boards.

• The educational requirement for students wising to acquire the licensure as certified Public Accountants require
• At least one hundred fifty semester hours of college education
• Graduation from an accredited college or university with a baccalaureate or graduate degree in accounting or the satisfactory completion of a course of study which the board has declared as significantly the equivalent of an accounting degree, including related courses in other areas of business administration.
• Both a major in accounting, or a course of study substantially equivalent to a major in accounting must include 24 semester hours in accounting at the undergraduate or graduate level from an accredited college or university,
• Including elementary principles of accounting and at least one course in each of the following; intermediate or advanced accounting, auditing, taxation and cost accounting.
• A degree in accounting or a course of study substantially equivalent to a major in accounting, must also include 24 semester hours in business courses, other than accounting courses at the undergraduate or graduate level.

A course may not be audited, but must appear as semester or quarter hour credit on an official transcript.