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Guam CPA Exam Requirements and Guam CPA Requirements for Licensure

The Guam CPA requirements have made it a popular destination for tourists and international accountants alike. But if you want to earn the U.S. CPA in Guam, you need to learn the Guam CPA license requirements.

The Guam Board of Accountancy license requirements are relatively friendly for international candidates. After all, it offers the Guam inactive CPA license in addition to an active license. Therefore, if you don’t have a Social Security Number and have difficulty fulfilling the experience requirements, Guam may be a good choice for you. To know for sure, learn more about the Guam CPA requirements.

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Guam CPA Exam Requirements

To sit for the CPA Exam and get a license in Guam, candidates must meet the following general requirements:

  • Be at least 18 years of age.
  • Be a person of good moral character.

Plus, the Guam Board of Accountancy does not have a residency requirement. Therefore, you don’t need a Social Security Number (SSN) to complete the Guam forms. Instead, you can use your passport number in place of an SSN. (If you need more advice about getting the CPA license without an SSN, click here.)

Guam CPA Exam Requirements: Education

To sit for the CPA Exam in Guam, you must meet the education requirements in one of three ways.

Option 1: Major in accounting from an accredited school

  • Bachelor’s degree or higher with a major in accounting from an institution accredited by AACSB (the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business).

Option 2: Major in business from an accredited school

  • Bachelor’s degree or higher with a major in business accredited by the AACSB or ACBSP (the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs).

Furthermore, your education must include:

  • 24 hours in accounting with courses in auditing and attestation services, financial accounting and reporting, managerial or cost accounting, and taxation.

Option 3: Another accredited degree

  • A bachelor’s degree (any major) from a U.S. college or university.

Your coursework must include the following:

  • 24 hours in accounting with courses in auditing and attestation services, financial accounting and reporting, managerial or cost accounting, and taxation.
  • 24 hours in business courses including 6 hours in economics, 3 hours in finance, and 3 hours in business law.

More about Guam’s CPA education requirements + 150-hour rule

You may sit for the CPA Exam with only a bachelor’s degree, which is equivalent to 120 education hours. However, before you apply for an active CPA license, you’ll need at least 150 hours. You have four ways to get these 150 hours.

  • Graduate degree in accounting.
  • Graduate degree in another field, including 24 hours in accounting in upper-level or graduate courses.
  • Bachelor’s degree from a business school plus additional hours to meet the 150-hour rule, including 24 hours in accounting and 24 hours in business in upper-level or graduate courses.
  • Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college/university plus additional hours to meet the 150-hour rule, including 24 hours in accounting and 24 hours in business in upper-level or graduate courses.

No degree yet?

The Guam accountancy board will allow candidates to sit for the CPA Exam before they finish their bachelor’s degree. In fact, if you’re within 18 months of graduating, you can sit for your first exam section.

However, before you apply for an active Guam CPA license, you’ll need to finish your education.

Additional Information about Guam CPA Exam Requirements

Because you must complete 48 hours of upper-division courses in accounting and business, I do not recommend applying to Guam if you are not an accounting or business major. After all, it’s hard to meet the Guam CPA education requirements if you aren’t studying business or accounting. That is, unless you plan to stay in school for a long while.

Furthermore, if you’re an international candidate, you may need to make up the taxation course. To do so, I recommend taking a U.S. federal taxation course.

Grade transfers

Finally, the Guam BOA does not accept grade transfers from any CPA Exam candidate who has not met Guam’s education requirements prior to sitting for and passing any CPA Exam section.

For example, let’s assume that a candidate registers in one state and passes the CPA Exam. Then, they realize that they cannot fulfill that state’s experience requirement for licensure. So, they decide to try to earn Guam’s inactive CPA license, but they lack a taxation course.

In this case, they CANNOT transfer their CPA Exam credit to Guam and continue pursuing the CPA. Why? Well, they did not meet Guam’s CPA education requirements before they sat for and passed the CPA Exam.

Guam License Requirements

In Guam, you can earn the active Guam CPA license and receive all the privileges and power that comes with it. Or, you can earn the inactive CPA license. With the inactive Guam license, you cannot present yourself as a USCPA Guam licensee. Additionally, Guam does not have a U.S. citizenship requirement, a residency requirement, or a minimum age requirement for either the active or the inactive CPA license.

Naturally, you must meet a more involved set of requirements to earn the active CPA license than the inactive one.

Guan CPA License Requirements: Active CPA License

Here are the requirements to obtain a CPA inactive license in Guam:

  • Moral character reference
  • Fulfillment of the CPA Exam education requirements (150 hours)
  • Completion of the CPA Exam

Plus, you must meet the experience requirements:

  • 2 years of CPA-verified experience providing services or advice using accounting, attest, compilation, management advisory, financial advisory, tax or consulting skills in industry, government, academia, or public practice.

OR

  • 1 year of CPA-verified experience AND 150 hours of education, obtained over a period of 1-5 years of employment.

Additionally, you should note that the Guam state board of accountancy requires that all work is supervised by an “actively licensed CPA in the jurisdiction of licensing.”

The NASBA Experience Verification service is available to those who do not have access to an active U.S. CPA for verification.

Guam Inactive CPA License Requirements

You can apply for the Guam inactive license if you’ve met the education requirements and passed the exam but don’t yet have your work experience.

  • Moral character reference
  • Fulfillment of the CPA Exam education requirements
  • Completion of the CPA Exam

Moreover, you can change your status from inactive to active if you complete your work requirements. This process is similar to those in other jurisdictions, like moving a California CPA from inactive to active.

Guam and International Candidates

Just to clarify, Guam participates in the International Examination Program. So therefore, it doesn’t matter what jurisdiction you plan to apply for a license. If you’re eligible to sit for the CPA Exam in your jurisdiction, you can take it in Guam. CPA candidates from around the globe can take their exams in Guam.

Check out these other websites to learn about Guam’s requirements for international candidates:

* NASBA Guam page

* International CPA Exam administration

Guam CPA Exam and License Fees

When you apply to Guam to sit for the CPA Exam or apply for a license, you must pay the following fees.

And please note that Guam has an additional examination administration fee that other jurisdictions do not have. This surcharge supports the Guam CPA test center. Moreover, this fee is charged for each section of the exam that you take in Guam. However, the fee is different for Guam residents versus non-residents.

Exam section fees

  • AUD: $364.80
  • FAR: $364.80
  • REG: $364.80
  • Discipline section: $364.80

Total section fees: $1,459.20

Additional Guam GPA Exam fees

  • Education Evaluation Application Fee: $130.00
  • Exam application fee: $200
  • Exam registration fee: $100
  • Guam Computer Testing Center surcharge: $70 per section for Guam residents ($280 total) or $140 per section for non-Guam residents ($560 total)

Of course, this cost does not include a CPA review course or travel to Guam and accommodations.

Guam CPA License fees

  • License application fee: $225

Guam CPE Requirements

Guam requires both active and inactive CPA license holders to earn continuing education (CPE). CPAs need to acquire at least 120 hours over the 3 year period before your license renewal. Plus, you need at least 20 hours per year. Basically, that just means that you need to work on your CPE little by little. In contrast, you can’t wait until the last minute before the filing deadline and squeeze in 120 hours in the last few weeks of your 3 years.

In addition, every three years you need:

  • At least 30 hours CPE in accounting and/or auditing topics
  • 6 hours in ethics
  • And 30 hours in personal development courses

Furthermore, to meet these CPE requirements, you should look into my recommended CPA CPE courses. However, I do recommend Becker CPE the most.

Additional Information about Guam CPA Requirements

If you need more information about the process of applying to Guam, you can consult the Guam CPA Exam FAQs and the Guam CPA Exam application form.

Guam Board of Accountancy Contact Information

Guam State Board of Accountancy

335 S. Marine Corps Drive, Suite 101
Tamuning, GU 96913

  • Email: licensing@guamboa.org
  • Phone: 671-647-0813
  • Fax: 671-647-0816

Recommendations for Candidates Who Don’t Yet Meet the CPA Guam Requirements

If you need to take additional steps to satisfy Guam’s requirements, you can learn more about the CPA education requirements. You can also check out states with more flexible CPA experience requirements. Both of these resources include my recommendations.

If you have any questions, feel free to comment below or visit my Facebook page. You can also get even more great information about the CPA process by signing up for my free CPA course below.

About the Author Stephanie Ng

I am the author of How to Pass The CPA Exam (published by Wiley), and I also passed all 4 sections of the CPA Exam on my first try. Additionally, I have led webinars, such as for the Institute of Management Accountants, authored featured articles on websites like Going Concern and AccountingWeb, and I'm also the CFO for the charity New Sight. Finally, I have created other accounting certification websites to help mentor non-CPA candidates. I have already mentored thousands of CPA, CMA, CIA, EA, and CFA candidates, and I can help you too!

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