Washington CPA Exam Requirements

Washington does not require a lot of accounting coursework, but the full 150 semester hours is required to sit for the exam.

Please note that 1 year of public accounting experience is required to get the license, i.e. accounting work in government, business and academia may not be qualified.

Washington CPA Exam Requirements

1. Education Requirements To Sit For The Exam:

• Bachelor degree or above
• 150 semester units from an accredited university or educational institution
• Accounting courses: 24 semester units, of which 15 should be in “upper division” (i.e. 3rd and 4th year classes):
  • Introductory/Elementary Accounting
  • Intermediate Accounting
  • Advanced Accounting
  • Cost/Managerial Accounting
  • Audit
  • U.S. Federal Taxation/ Accounting law (this does not include business law)
  • Accounting Information System
• Business courses: 24 semester hours, which can include the following:
  • Macro- and Micro-economics
  • Budgeting
  • Investments
  • Business law
  • Statistic (no more than 6 undergraduate semester hours)
  • Money & Banking
  • Finance course
  • Management and administration,
  • Accounting courses in excess of the required 24 semester hours

2. Additional Requirements To Get CPA License:

Education:

• Same as the exam requirement

Work Experience:

• 1 year of public accounting work experience
• At least 2,ooo hours of work experience
• Role can be in accounting, attest, management advisory, financial advisory, tax, tax advisory or consulting
• The experience has to be supervised by an active CPA licensee
• Additional CPE courses are required if the license application has passed the CPA exam for more than 4 years.

Ethics Qualification:

• Passing of the CPA Ethics Exam administered by the AICPA

3. Residency & Age Requirements:

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

4. Fees

• First-timers: $784.51 (4 part CPA exam fees for online application) + $155 (initial application fee) = $939.51
• Repeaters: exam fees + $72-131 repeat application fees

5. Other Useful Information:

• Washington CPA Exam Application Instruction
• Useful info on educational requirement from Washington State Board website
• WA CPA Licensing Information

6. Contact:

Washington State Board of Accountancy
PO Box 9131
Olympia, WA 98507-9131

• Email: wboa@castleworldwide.com
• Phone: 360-753-2585
• Fax: 360-664-9190

Can’t Get Qualified In Washington?

Don’t give up, as you may well be qualified to register through other states and sit for the same CPA exam. With the recent Substantial Equivalency (CPA reciprocity) rule CPAs from most states can practice across the country.

• Feel free to check out the non-WA CPA Exam Requirements here.

Your Next Step

Now that you have begun the process of applying for the CPA exam, it’s time to compare the CPA Exam review courses. The earlier you start, the better you can get prepared and pass the exam.  You can also drop me a note on Facebook here if you have specific questions regarding CPA exam requirements. Good luck!

* 1 semester = 1.5 quarters. Photograph courtesy of papalars

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