Most international CPA candidates aim for the credentials only instead of actual practicing in the United States.
This means that international students are free to pick a state with the most favorable CPA exam requirement to them.
Having said that, this flexibility could be overwhelming when there are 54 states and jurisdictions to choose from. How should you start? More specifically, which are the most popular states for international candidates?
Updated: September 2010
Popular States For CPA International Students
Here are a few of the popular states together with the reasons:
1. Delaware — Possibly The Only Choice For 3-Year Degree Holders
Delaware is the only state that allow Associate degree holder (equivalent to a 3-year Bachelor degree) to sit for the exam. Candidates who went through the British system often have 3 years in university, and in most (but not all) cases they will only be qualified to sit for the exam in Delaware.
Please note however that associate degree holder will need to accumulate 4 years of relevant working experience in order to get licensed.
- You can find the details here in the Delaware CPA Exam Requirement page.
2. Colorado — Loved By CA Holders; No Working Experience Required
Colorado used to be one of the most attractive states for international students. Not only that the full 150 credit hour is not necessary, members of ICA (international chartered accountants) and ACCA are automatically qualified for the CPA exam.
Unfortunately, on 9th December 2009, the State Board has restricted this rule. Specifically:
- 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.
Don’t worry — it’s not the end of the world for you CA Holders. You just need to step an extra step and get your transcripts evaluated.
- I need to double check, but I think CA is evaluated as equivalent to a 4-year accounting degree in the US, so you are qualified at least for the state of Colorado
- A typical Bcom + CA from India can give you a 90 + 39 credits i.e. more than 120 credits you need to sit for the exam. Please don’t take this as a golden rule because it really depends on which university you attend and (I heard) your grades.
- You can submit the transcripts to one of these foreign credential evaluation agencies. Colorado accepts all of them because they are members of NACES, the agencies’ national association.
Working Experience
- Colorado has a rather strict working experience requirement: it has to be supervised by an active CPA in the US or the CA in the “qualified” jurisdiction as stated above.
- But you can (until something around 2012 — need to check) go through the “education in lieu of experience” rule which allows you to use 150 credit hours to “exchange” for the working experience requirement. Unlike Illinois, you can actually get the full license without any experience.
- Please note that while you can sit for the exam in Colorado without a social security number, SSN is required for ultimately getting the license in Colorado.
You can find the details here in the Colorado CPA Exam Requirement page.
3. California: 150 Credit Hours Not Required
California is another state that allows candidates with less than 150 semester hours to sit for the exam AND get qualified for the CPA license. For people with a typical Bachelor degree (120 semester hours), 2 years of relevant working experience is required.
Similar to Colorado, please note that California needs a SSN to apply for a license. If you are not living in the US or if you are a dependent and don’t have the SSN, California may not work for you.
- You can find the details here in the California CPA Exam Requirement page.
4. New Hampshire: 120 Credit Hours Only But…
New Hampshire is yet another state that allow those with less than 150 credit hours to sit for the CPA exam.
Similar to Colorado, they have a strict working requirement: that you have to work under a direct supervision of an active CPA.
What’s different from Colorado is that they do NOT have the “education in lieu of experience” requirement.
- You can find the details here in the New Hampshire CPA Exam Requirement page.
5. Illinois — (Used To Be) Loved By Those Who Just Want A CPA Certificate
Latest update (July 2010): IL State Board has decided (and approved by IL Governor) to postpone the cancellation of the CPA certificate for 2 years, which means that IL is still a 2-tier state and you can get the CPA certificate (not full license, but good enough for credential purposes) with 150 semester hours and NO experience.
Below is the original information from this website which becomes valid again:
Illinois is still keeping the two-tier system intact, which means that candidates can choose to get a CPA certificate vs license to practice (please click the link to find out the difference).
Candidates who choose Illinois and have the 150 semester hours requirement fulfilled do not need any work experience to get the certificate.
This is good for those with MBA/Master’s degree who don’t plan to get into the accounting field.
- You can find the details here in the Illinois CPA Exam Requirement page.
Please note that Illinois State Board is scrapping the two-tier system effective July 1, 2010. If you haven’t started the CPA application process, consider it a one-tier state. You can get more information on the CPA two-tier system here.
Honestly, I don’t see the reason to go through Illinois once it changes to a 1-tier system.
6. Michigan — Good For CA Holders… Or Not?
Michigan is a state that automatically gives out NTS (your CPA exam admission ticket) to sit for the exam if you have a Chartered Accountant membership certificate.
The catch is, they have an even stricter working experience requirement: that you have to gain 1 year of public accounting experience (specifically 2,000 hours) AND you have to work on at least one audit. In other words, if you are in the tax department in Big 4, you might still not get qualified.
- You can find the details here in the Michigan CPA Exam Requirement page.
Got A Question?
You might want to check out this book on 12 FAQs From International CPA Candidates which I am giving away for free.
All you need is to sign up for this (also free) newsletter specifically written for you as an international candidate so you can learn about how to proceed efficiently towards your goal — getting the most recognized and prestigious CPA qualification in the world.
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Hi Stephnie
I am ACCA affiliate and also holding Bsc. degree of applied accounting from Oxford brookes University. I would like to now appear in CPA exam in USA. Please tell me whether I will be able to get eligibility for appearing in CPA exam in any state of USA.
Hi Stephanie,
I recently applied for the Montana Board for the CPA License..I meet their educational requirements, but they said that since my experience more than 3 years old from the date of applications it is not acceptable.
I am currently working as an Auditor in the Internal Audit department but primarily doing IT Audit not Financial Audits. Do you know if IT audit experience is acceptable for CPA? Also, do you know if the board verifies what exactly you are working with the Company directly or just the person certifying your experience. I am so close to getting a license and after all the hard work I have gone through I cannot let go now..
Please advise..
Thanks
hi stephanie,
I was planning on taking Michigan state board and my credit unit counts more than 150 hrs the problem is…. they need US TAXATION to sit for exam… what other state can you suggest that i go for?
Hi Stephanie,
First off, thank you so much for taking the time creating such a useful web page for people who are interested in taking the CPA exams.
The information above summarizes lots of the pros and cons between some popular states for international candidates like me, however, I’m still kinda overwhelmed. Could you give me your recommendation based on my situation?
I’m a Canadian candidate just graduated from University of Toronto as Accounting specialist, and I am thinking about taking the CPA exams. Somehow, the way we calculate or credits is very different from that in the states, so I have no idea which states will I be qualified to sit for the exam until I sent my transcript to the evaluation institutions. Nevertheless, from my understanding, I will have to choose a state where I want the institution to send my evaluation result directly to. Could you please give me some suggestions and help me solve this co
I will be working in one of the Big 4s in Taiwan, so I assume there will be someone who’s an active CPA that will be supervising me so my experience will be recognized?! Correct me if I am wrong.
I am more inclined to apply for the states which I can get my full license as soon as possible. However, I’m not quite sure whether I need it or not since I don’t see myself practicing in the states in the near future. I’m not quite sure what are the differences between a full license and just passing the CPA exams if I just stay in Asia? And if i were to work in the US some day?
Thanks in advance,
Teresa
Hi Stephanie,
Thanks for your helpful website.
I have quite a unique situation; Am from Africa-Kenya (Obama’s country:-)) and would be grateful if you could give me advice on the way forward. I have a Bachelor of Commerce-finance specialty 4 year degree from my country. I have also completed the CPA (Kenya) exams. I have worked for 4 years in one of the big four (PwC, Kenya) though I recently moved to a different company. My husband will be coming to work in the US and I would like to sit for the CPA US exams and get licensed so as to improve my chances of a decent job. What would be my approach and what is the best State to sit the exams? Also, does my experience and education count?
Thanks!
Hello, I found your website is very helpful. I done my BBA with finance and human resource mgt form india. I did MBA with International business mgt in usa. right now i am on student status in usa and want to apply for CPA exam. So i want to know i am eligible in florida? or i have to take accounting courses. I dont have any work experience in accounting. If i take accounting classes so may be that would be help me to get more knowledge about us accounting.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Hi Stephanie,
I am a Chartered Accountant(India), BCom from Mumbai (first class) and C.S. (inter). Please advice me on the the states which will be best for me to do CPA.
Does any state require, US citizenship as primary criteria?
Hi Stephanie,
I will have 120 credits by June 30th, but I will not receive a diploma until the end of August. Since I got an offer from an accounting firm in China and the work will start in October, I have to leave America in September. Is there anyway I can take CPA Exam in July and August without a diploma?
Thank you very much.
CHANGE IN MI STATE Experience Requirement
Please see the following links. In late 2010, the MI State Board of Accountancy has made it EASIER for us. So you no longer need 1 year of PUBLIC ACCOUNTING experience. Experience in Tax, Industry, Management Advisory etc is also considered! Thats great news – I’m glad I picked MI State!
http://www.michcpa.org/Content/Files/Public/Documents/PublicAct215MemberFAQ.pdf
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dleg/Accountancy_Work_Experience_321867_7.pdf
Hi S!
I’ve majored law and now doing accounting in a corp in USA. Ive been working for a year now.
My case, I never took any business or accounting courses. and I am an international.
In my case, can I take CPA exam in the states? Heard about Maine, but I dont have much information.
Could u kindly give me some advise?
Thanks!
Hi Stephanie,
I am an Indian Chartered Accountant and Masters in Commerce from University of Pune, India. I have 3 years of audit experience with a mid sized Indian CA firm and 1 year audit experience with a big 4 firm in India. I had the following queries:
1. Which state would be best for me to give the exams and get certified?
2. If I give exams from Indiana state, can I get certified in any other state?
3. Will my auditing experience in India be counted for the requirements?
Awaiting your reply..
Thanks in advance,
Ketaki
Hi,
Could you please advice me the application procedure as a candidate intended to write CPA from UAE? especially the education evaluation process, do we need to get the certificates evaluated first and apply in the NASBA website or we can do it together?
Please advice.
Hi Stephanie!
I really appreciate the time and interest taken by you in responding to all sorts of queries. Great work!
My question: I have heard that Delaware’s state requirements will change starting from August 1st 2012 and 3 years Associate Degree (B.Com) holders will no longer be eligible for taking the Uniform CPA Exam. However, will it still be possible to appear for the exam if I am a B.Com (3 yrs) and professionally qualified (ACCA/CIMA/ICAI)??
Also, does the Colorado State still accept applications from 3 years degree holder plus professionally qualified candidates as meeting their minimum educational requirements if the 120 semester hours criteria is satisfied?
Many Thanks!
Hi Stephanie,
I do not have pure accounting experience(work on the border between accounting and IT) and I just need CPA as a credential with no intention to really practice in accounting. I’m a green card holder. And I already have my education evaluated by FACS for the state of Montana and only 18 credits short in accounting, so I’m going to take some courses here and there. You previously mentioned Montana is a 2-tier state. Would you recommend Montana in my situation?
Also after I completed the addional 18 credit, shall I have FACS evaluate again?
Hi Stephanie,
I do not have pure accounting experience(work on the border between accounting and IT) and I just need CPA as a credential with no intention to really practice in accounting. I’m a green card holder. And I already have my education evaluated by FACS for the state of Montana and only 18 credits short in accounting, so I’m going to take some courses here and there. You previously mentioned Montana is a 2-tier state. Would you recommend Montana in my situation?
Also after I completed the addional 18 credit, shall I have FACS evaluate again?
Thanks.
Hi Stephanie
I did foundation course directly from 10+2. I have CA and CWA but no bachelors degree. I took the CPA exam in Colorado and passed in 2008. I finished 1 year work under a CPA. I want to be licensed. Do you know any state that I would qualify for?
Thanks
Ran
Hi Stephanie
I applied for license in Colorado. But they put it on hold as they don’t seem to recognize CA from India meet education requirement. I am anxious. Can I apply in some other state?
Ran
Hi Stephanie,
I’m planning to do CPA. Wanted to know whether i’ll be eligible with a 3 year graduation (BSc) & an MBA (Systems) from India. I’ve 12 years of experience in outside accounting field.
Hi Stephanie
I am in great help of yours. I am planning for CPA, but i don’t know from where and how to start. Recently i am residing in NJ. My visa status is H4. I have 4 years Bachelor Degree (BBA) in Finance (2007) from Nepal and MBA Degree in Finance(2010) from India. I don’t have real working experience but have done couple of internship in banks. I have three state options NJ, PA and Delaware. As by law i am not able to work here in USA so have applied for next MBA. I have sent my documents to WES for evaluation (course by course evaluation) as per the MBA application requirement. I am confuse whether i should go for CPA or MBA right now. whether i am eligible for applying to CPA or not. In future i would like to first gain experience as an audit/ tax officer in industry and later i would also like to practice or own a firm as a certified CPA. Currently we are in NJ but in near future me and my husband is planning to move California. What if i get certificate/ license from NJ/PA/DE and if we move to California, will i would be able to work there or practice as licensed CPA.
I read almost all of your comments and suggestions to people queries. You been great support and help to everyone. I am too hoping same from you.
Thank you.
Rani Gupta Rauniar
Dear Stephanie,
Thank you very much for your updates with regards to cpa.
I would be gratefull if you could advise the proceedings to enrole cpa and proper directives to pss out the papers at the earliest and affordable cost.
I am qualified with BSC.Mathematics, and MBA Finance from Indian university and presently working with Finance department for a multinational company in Kingdom of Bahrain.
I am waiting for your directives.
Thank you,
Sunil
I wanted to know if 150 hrs counts if i dont hold a bachelors degree in accountancy. I hold a bachelors degree in finance with 156 credit points.
Dear Stepahie,
than you for a very usefull information on your website. It was very important for me to get to know that California, where i wanted to apply, requires SSN.
I would like to know in what states I can apply and get a CPA licence if I am not a US citizen and do not have a SSN. All other requirements incl. 2 years of work experiance I fulfill.
Thank you a lot!
Olha
Hi Stephanie! Thanks for getting all this information together, it really does shed some light and some much-needed editorial discretion on this topic.
I have a BA in economics and an MBA with a concentration in financial engineering, and have been working almost 10 years in a finance-related field (I support expert witnesses who testify about financial or economic issues). As part of my development, my firm has asked me to get a CPA. I have no intention of practicing, so I’m only interested in states that will either let me pass the exam and say that I have a CPA for credential purposes, or that will let me satisfy the experience requirement with education instead. Colorado and maybe Illinois seem promising. Any advice on my choice of state? Am I only looking for two-tier states, and if so, which ones do you recommend?
My other issue is that while I have sufficient academic credit hours in total, I think I lack specific coursework, like auditing. Any advice for the easiest way to fulfill that requirement (or do I even need to worry about this if I don’t want to practice?)?
Thanks so much in advance!
Ethan
Hey Stephanie’s
I have 2 years bachelors of commerce degree from pakistan plus I am also a certified internal auditor (CIA)…additionally i have 4 years work experience in relevant field.
Plz guide me if bachelors + CIA fulfill education requirement of any state???
Hi Stephanie,
I’m so glad to have stumbled upon your website, it had shed light and have greatly encouraged me to take up CPA which is something that I always wanted.
I have a 3 year Australian degree in Banking & Finance with 7 years of accounting work experience in a non accounting firm.
I’m currently working in China and planning to sit for the exams in Guam.
However from the state board website, it mentioned that the working experience must be earned under the supervision of a licensed certified public accountant. Fortunately I have a friend here who is a US CPA licensee, will this help?
From your website I believe that Delaware is most suitable state for me to register with, appreciate your advise if there are other alternatives for my situation.
Thanks
Anne
Hi Olha,
Maybe you can check out Illinois because it doesn’t require SSN at all, but you’ll need 150 credit hours. Hope it works for you?
Stephanie
Hi Ethan,
Thanks for your note and your detailed description of your case. Let me see…
Yes Illinois and Colorado sounds good because they don’t require experience if you have enough credit hours.
On the point on how to tackle the fact that you lack specific courses… New Hampshire only requires 12 accounting courses, but then it needs auditing experience which you probably don’t have.
When I think about it, if we are to skip the experience requirement, we can’t really also skip some of the academic requirements — so maybe you’ll have to take a few of those online courses to get it done.
That’s what I did anyway. Would that work?
Stephanie
Hi Anne,
Yes Delaware would work for you with a 3-year degree, but then it probably won’t work when you accumulate your working experience because they require your supervisor to verify your experience, and for 3-year degrees they will need 4 years of experience to get the license.
On the other hand, Indiana does allow you to have your experience verified by a US licensed CPA who is not necessarily your boss. But then they have the “standard” 150 credit hour requirements…
Not sure if that gives you a solution but then at least you can check it out from there.
Good luck!
Stephanie
Dear all,
This comment section is getting too long to benefit other readers… so I am trying something new by using Facebook-powered comment box which is located right after each article.
If you have a question, please go back up and drop a note there. Thank you! Stephanie
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