Colorado CPA Exam Requirements

Colorado CPA Exam RequirementsColorado is one of the few states that do not have the “150 hour rule” to qualify for a CPA license. Having said that,  if you do have 150 semester hours the experience requirement for the certification can be waived.

Colorado CPA Exam Requirements

1. Education Requirements To Sit For The Exam:

  • Bachelor degree or above
  • Accounting course: 27 semester hours (including 3 hours in auditing covering US GAAS)
  • Business courses: 21 semester hours (no more than 6 for each subject)

** Important ** As of 9th December, 2009, a new rule has enacted to restrict the “unique” educational requirements in Colorado:

  • The State Board is no longer accepting Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) certificates as evidence of having met educational requirement.
  • Chartered Accountant (CA) qualifications from Australia, Canada, Ireland, Mexico and New Zealand (part of the U.S. International Qualifications Appraisal Board (IQAB) MRA agreement) is accepted; but those from other jurisdiction (e.g. India) is no longer accepted.
  • Check out the new Colorado CPA Exam Requirements alert here.

2. Additional Requirements To Get CPA License:

Additional education beyond Baccalaureate degree may reduce experience requirement for certification.

Candidates can choose either:

  • 1 year of experience in “public accounting” ** under the direct supervision of a CPA, or Chartered Accountant (only from IQAB member countries i.e. Austrialia, Canada, Ireland, Mexico and New Zealand); or
  • 150 semester hours including 45 semester hours of accounting and 36 hours in business administration.

** you can verify this requirement in Colorado State Board website, under the licensing section(1st question and under subheading “experience”)

Ethics Qualification

3. Residency & Age Requirements:

  • US citizenship not required
  • Colorado residency not required
  • Minimum age: none

4. Fees:

  • First-timers: $823 (4 CPA exam fees) + $150 (initial application fee) = $973
  • Repeaters: exam fees + $65 to $110 repeat application fees

5. Other Useful Information:

6. Contact:

Colorado State Board of Accountancy
1560 Broadway-Suite 1340
Denver, CO 80202

  • Email: accountants@dora.state.co.us, cpaes-co@nasba.org
  • Phone: 303-894-7800
  • Fax: 303-894-7692

How About Other States?

Check out the other states’ non-Colorado CPA Exam Requirements here. You can also drop me a note on Facebook here if you have specific questions regarding CPA exam requirements.

* 1 semester = 1.5 quarters
** Photograph courtesy of ishrona.

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{ 71 comments }

SJC

Hi Srilakshmi,

May I ask you ..after passing the CPA exams did Delaware gave you CPA Certification ? Now are you looking for license so that you could be in public accounting ?

Thanks,
SJC

Ritesh Jain

Hi Stephanie,
Really need your advice. I am currently living in India and i just wanna clear CPA. I don’t have interest in applying for the licence and practicing in India. Do i need to submit both the affidavit for SSN and affidavit for eligibility?
Desperately waiting for your guidance.

Regards,
Ritesh Jain

geetanjali

hello deepti
i also have passed ICSI my mail id is geetanjali.m.sharma[@]gmail.com pls give me ur mail id if possible ….

Milind

Hi Stephanie,

I must appreciate the way you are helping out CPA students.

I am a B.Com Graduate (3 yrs)+ Chartered Accountant from India(residing in India).
I sent all of my documents to FACS for evaluation to get registered under CO.
But unfortunately i came to know that CO doesn’t recognize CA’s from India anymore.
I intend to work in public accounting in US.
So please suggest a state where i can get registered with minimal licensure requirements.

Stephanie

Hi Milind,

If you intend to work in public accounting in US, then you can apply to Michigan because they allow Indian CA cert holders to take the CPA exam.

But then you will have to accumulate at least one experience of a financial audit in order to get the license. Since you plan to work in public accounting anyway, this should work. Good luck! Stephanie

Trushar

Hi Stephanie,

I am confused with CPA requirements of different states.
Can please advise me on the basis of my education and experience.
I did my B.Com (3 years) Graduate and Chartered Accountant from India.
I moved in Canada seven years ago and I finished CGA designation from Certified General Accountants of Ontario, Canada.
Presently I am working in public practice (C.A. Firm) in Toronto last 5 years under Supervision of Canadian C.A.
I also heard that now a days Colorado doesn’t accepting CA’s designation from Indian or non-participating countries.
Should I eligible for Colorado for CPA exam requirement and later on licensing requirement on the basis of my education and experiences?
If not please also suggest me other states with minimal education requirement for CPA Exam and later on licensing.

Thanks

Stephanie

Hi Ritesh,
Yes, since you get everything approved you can simply fill in the credit hours as evaluated by FACS. From now on the application should be easy! Stephanie

On your second question… do you have a SSN? If yes, then put in the SSN number; if not, fill in the affidavit for eligibility.

Looks like you may have the SSN — please note that I *think* Colorado allows you to sit for the exam without a SSN but will grant you a license with a SSN. This is one of the few points that my readers and I get conflicting advice… but looks like for the majority of us, the version stated above (i.e. SSN required for the ultimate license) is correct.

Please call in and check for yourself as well. Stephanie

Milind

Hi Stephanie,

Thanks for the suggestion.
I have heard that Maine also recognizes Indian Chartered Accountants.
Is it true??
Which is preferable Michigan or Maine in terms of eligibility for CPA exams for Indian CA’s??

Milind

Stephanie

Hi Trushar,
I think you can try checking with Michigan state board and see if they accept working experience that is supervised and verified by Canadian CAs. If it does, then you are all set because (1) they allow Indian CA holders to sit for the exam; and (2) they need public accounting experience that you have. Again, the next thing to check is to make sure your Canadian experience is verifiable.

Good luck! Let me know how it goes.
Stephanie

Stephanie

Dear all,
Since this comment section is getting too long to benefit other readers, I would like to redirect your questions to these pages:

1. For state specific questions (including specific state’ qualification and licensing rules):
Please go to CPA exam requirements by state, click on the state you are interested in, and add a comment there.

2. For general questions from international candidates:
Please check out this page written for you first, and click away / leave comments from there!

Finally, if you have a question specifically for Colorado CPA exam requirements, then please scroll back up and find the heading “Your comments are most welcome” and drop a note for me there. Thanks!

Stephanie