CPA Requirements

What It Takes–A Guide to Becoming a CPA

What Is a CPA?

A CPA is a certified public accountant and is licensed by the state. In California, to earn the prestige associated with the CPA license, individuals are required to demonstrate their knowledge and competence by passing the Uniform CPA Exam, meeting high educational standards and completing a specified amount of general accounting experience.

The two most important goals to focus on in your quest to become a CPA are passing the Uniform CPA Exam and meeting licensing requirements.

Learn the Steps to CPA Licensure

The Path to CPA

Check out AICPA’s “This Way to CPA”

Check out the California Board of Accountancy’s Educational Requirements

• A bachelor’s degree;
• 24 semester units in accounting-related subjects;
• 24 semester units in business-related subjects;
• 150 semester units (or 225 quarter units) of education;
• Passing the Uniform CPA Exam;
• Passing the Professional Ethics Exam for CPAs; and
• One year of general accounting experience supervised by a CPA with an active license.

CALIFORNIA CPA EXAM & LICENSE REQUIREMENTS 2021

Learn how you can become a licensed CPA in the state of California.

Everyone in business regards the CPA with the highest esteem. The CPA exam is one of the most difficult professional tests, and those who pass it are rewarded throughout the world of business and finance. CPAs are found anywhere that money is changing hands. They consult with small, individually owned businesses, they work with government agencies, IT departments—and they are even CFOs of major corporations. To become a CPA, you must first satisfy the requirements of your state. The following will tell you how to satisfy the California Board of Accountancy (CBA) and become a CPA in California.

To become a CPA in California, you needn’t be either a resident of the state or a United States citizen. You can also be of any age. However, to receive your license you must have either a Social Security number or an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. California also has specific educational, experience and ethics requirements—these on top of passing all four parts of the state CPA examination.

Educational Requirements

The educational requirements for California CPAs includes a minimum of 150 semester hours of undergraduate work that culminate in a bachelor’s degree. As part of these 150 hours, you must have 24 hours of accounting subjects, 24 hours of business subjects, 20 hours of accounting study subjects, and 10 units of ethics.

The 24 hours of accounting subjects include these areas of study:

• Accounting
• Auditing
• External or Internal Reporting
• Financial Reporting
• Financial Statement Analysis
• Taxation

If those specific terms are not part of your course descriptions, the following also qualify under the California Board’s rubric:

• Assurance
• Attestation
• Bookkeeping
• Cost
• Peachtree
• QuickBooks
• CPA Review—from accredited institutions only

When you submit your transcripts, your coursework will be reviewed to ensure that it meets the exacting standards of the Board. If you are a current student, you might want to discuss this issue with your advisor to be certain that your work will qualify. Most accounting departments are aware of state requirements, particularly those in either of the California public university systems.

To satisfy the business subject requirement, your coursework needs to have included these areas:

• Business Administration
• Business Law
• Computer Science/Information Systems
• Finance
• Mathematics
• Business Communications
• Management
• Economics
• Marketing
• Statistics

To satisfy California’s accounting study requirements, you can count only three credit hours from any of these areas:

• English
• Journalism
• Physical, Life or Social Sciences
• Foreign Languages
• Engineering, Architecture or Real Estate

If you have completed a Master of Accounting, Taxation or Laws in Taxation degree it will satisfy the accounting study rubric.

The CBA will need to receive official, sealed transcripts from every educational institution you have attended. Prior to sending the transcripts, review your record with your advisor and make sure that you have completed all of the required coursework. If you are attending a California institution, your academic advisor should be familiar with the Board’s requirements. No matter what state you are in, your college or university must be fully accredited by a regional or national accrediting agency.

The CPA Exam

The CPA exam is a prerequisite by the Board for applying for full licensure. This is a standardized test administered through the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and includes four parts:

• Financial Accounting and Reporting
• Auditing and Attestation
• Regulation
• Business Environment and Concepts

You can take each part separately and over a wide span of time, allowing you to prepare for each portion individually. Keep in mind that many people need to retake the test, so take time to prepare and don’t worry if you need to try again.

Experience Requirements

To be fully licensed as a CPA, the CBA also requires that you have verifiable work experience. You must have 12 full months of experience in accounting, attest, compilation, management advisory, financial advisory, taxes or consultation. Your experience may take place in any type of accounting firm, whether public, private or governmental.

The Board will need a Certificate of General Experience (CGE) form filled out by your supervisor. There are separate forms for either public or private accounting. For the non-public form, if your signatory is not the owner of the firm then his or her supervisor must also sign.

Your first year of qualifying experience must include 500 hours of attest. This work must include:

• Planning an audit
• Application of auditing procedures to the transactions on the financial statements
• Preparation of written explanations of the work and conclusions
• Preparation and reporting of full disclosure financial statements

To document your attest experience, the Board needs a Certificate of Attest Experience (CAE). This form, like the CGE, has both a public and a non-public version. Your signatory for this form must be licensed and have the authority to perform attest services.

Ethics Exam

California only accepts scores from the PETH (Professional Ethics for CPAs) exam to fulfill the ethics requirement for CPA licensees. This test must be completed and passed within two years of your application for a license. The exam is administered by the California CPA (CalCPA) Education Foundation and includes items covering these topics:

• Business ethics
• Philosophy of professional conduct
• Code of Professional Conduct
• Independence, integrity and objectivity
• Commissions and fees
• Advertising
• Tax services
• Accountancy Act and CBA Regulations

To learn more about attaining your CPA credentials in California, please visit theCalifornia Board of Accountancy website.

California CPA Requirements: What You’ll Need to Become a CPA

Becoming a CPA in California can be a lucrative and fulfilling career choice, but there are a number of specific criteria you’ll need to meet before you can get certified.

To become a CPA in the state of California, you will have to go through the CPA application process, pass the CPA exam, and meet all of the California Board of Accountancy (CBA) requirements. 

These state-specific requirements apply to your level of education and experience. You will also have to pay the CPA exam cost and other fees set by the board. 

As you study for the CPA exam, you want to be sure you know all of the California CPA requirements so that nothing holds you back from accomplishing your goals. 

This article will review CPA license requirements in California and explain how to become a CPA in California.

California CPA exam requirements set by the California CPA board determine your eligibility for the Certified Public Accountant designation. 

If you want to schedule the CPA exam in California, make sure you check all of the right boxes. 

To become a CPA in California, you must:

1. Meet all of the education requirements, which include how many credit courses you need and in what subjects. These standards will be listed in more detail below.
2. Apply to take the CPA exam, which will include sealed transcripts and an application fee.
3. Submit fees and schedule a CPA exam.
4. Take and pass the CPA exam by scoring at least a 75 on all four sections within 18 months.
5. Pass the professional ethics exam, required in some states for certification.
6. Practice general accounting in a supervised setting for one year.

Let’s look a little more closely at each of these crucial steps.

California CPA education requirements

California requires people who want to take the CPA exam to meet certain educational criteria. 

California CPA education requirements include a bachelor’s degree, plus 150 semester units of additional education. The California Board of Accountancy must accept credits from the institution you’ve attended. 

Here is a detailed breakdown of the specific education requirements in CA for the CPA:

24 semester hours in accounting courses. Here are some examples of courses that may be accepted by the board for this requirement:

• Auditing
• Internal and external reporting
• Taxation
• Financial statement analysis
• Financial reporting
• Accounting

24 semester hours of business courses. Here are some examples of business courses that may be acceptable to the CBA:

• Administration
• Communications
• Business law
• Economics
• Computer science
• Finance
• Statistics
• Mathematics

20 semester hours in accounting that includes:

• Six semester hours in accounting
• 14 semester hours in business
• Nine semester hours in business and/or accounting

10 semester hours in ethics. These may include courses such as:

• Morals
• Fraud
• Legal Environment of Business
• Professional responsibilities
• Auditing
• Business leadership

No more than three semester hours or four quarter hours in general, foundational courses such as religion and philosophy.

To learn more about the specific courses that are acceptable to the board, you view the Uniform CPA Examination Handbook for the California Board of Accountancy. 

There is some nuance to what courses are acceptable. For example, on the CalCPA website, it explains that excess accounting course hours can be used toward business-related course requirements. 

The CBA will not review your transcript before you submit an application. If you have questions, you can reach out to the Initial Licensing Unit of the CBA here on their website. 

Your bachelor’s degree must be completed by the time you sit for the CPA exam.

International candidates should also reach out directly to the CBA. The board will review foreign credentials through a separate service, to ensure that the equivalent education has been achieved.

Age and residency requirements

California CPA requirements do not include a restriction on age or residency. You simply must meet all of the other requirements to be eligible to become an accountant in this state.

California CPA exam fees

There are state-specific fees to take the CPA exam in California. California CPA requirements require applicants to pay for the following:

• $100 fee for first-time applicants
• $100 fee for transfer applicants
• $50 fee for repeat applicants

Once your application has been received and approved, you will be able to select your exam sections. 

From the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA), you will receive a payment coupon. You can submit the payment coupon and fee to NASBA. 

The fees for the CPA exam itself in California are:

1. Auditing and Attestation (AUD): $193.45
2. Business Environments and Concepts (BEC): $193.45
3. Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR): $193.35
4. Regulation (REG): $193.45

Lastly, you will have to pay separately for the California ethics exam. This fee is $150.

California CPA exam schedule

There are four testing windows nationally in which to take the CPA exam. California CPA requirements allow you to schedule in any of these four testing dates:

1. January 1-March 10
2. April 1-June 10
3. July 1-September 10
4. October 1-December 10

The dates you choose should be strategic and align with your plans to study for the CPA exam.

Prometric testing centers in California are located in:

• Fresno
• Alameda
• Camarillo
• Fair Oaks
• San Francisco
• San Jose
• San Bruno
• Glendale

Room and board should be considered as you budget for the CPA exam, especially if you do not live within easy driving distance of one of these test centers.

CPA license requirements in California

After you have successfully passed all four sections of the CPA exam, your journey is not quite over. The state board of accountancy has a few more hoops that you’ll need to jump through before becoming an official CPA. 

These include certain experience requirements that you must meet before you are licensed. 

Once you are licensed, you will also have to renew semi-annually, and take continuing education courses throughout your accounting career.

California CPA experience requirements

California CPA experience requirements mandate one calendar year of accounting employment. This must be supervised in the state at a firm. 

A CPA who carries an active accounting license must directly supervise your work. The exact specification is 500 hours of attestation or auditing work. 

Once this is complete, you are eligible to be a licensed accountant in California.

California CPA license renewal

As you practice accounting in California, you will have to submit for semi-annual license renewal. California CPA license renewal follows this process:

• CPA/PA licenses will expire every other year, on the last day of a licensee’s birth month.
• A license renewal application must be submitted and postmarked by the night it expires.
• 90 days before your license expires, you will be notified by mail.
• The fee for renewing a CPA license in California is $250.
• To renew, you must take a qualifying continuing education (CE) program. The CBA’s requirements for CE include 80 hours in acceptable subjects, such as ethics, auditing, accounting, fraud, regulatory review and more. There are both technical and formal education components to this requirement.

If you are seeking to obtain a license in the state of California based on another state’s credentialing, it will require you to submit a new application. 

California CPA reciprocity requires absolute compliance with in-state policies and standards. Out-of-state licensees may be able to forego re-applying if they have practiced public accounting for at least four years.

California CPA ethics exam

The California CPA ethics exam is a 50 question test. To pass, you must score at least 90. 

This exam covers the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct, as well as the California Accountancy Act and Accounting Rules and Regulations. 

There is a 300-page study book that will be provided. It is estimated that it should take you 16 hours to read the book.

You have six chances to pass the California CPA ethics exam. It must be completed within one year. Your results are valid for two years while you complete all other licensing requirements.