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Maryland CPA Requirements (Rules on Exam and Licensing)
Maryland has relatively strict rules regarding the accounting courses you need to take for the exam. It will be helpful if your school is teaching in accordance to the Board approved curriculum (see below).
Maryland CPA Requirements
1. Education Requirements to Sit for the CPA Exam in Maryland
- Bachelor’s degree or above with accounting concentration or substantial equivalent.
- 120 semester units from an accredited university or educational institution.
- General 27 semester hours of accounting and a minimum of 21 hours in related subjects plus 3 hours of ethics.
- Specific course requirement — there are two options known as Group I and Group II:
(a) Group I: Accounting and Ethics
- one 3-semester credit hour of the following: auditing, cost accounting or managerial accounting, U.S. Federal Income Tax and ethics.
- minimum of 9 hours in financial accounting.
- minimum of 9 hours in elective accounting courses.
- Please check here for the Board-approved curriculum.
(b) Group II: Business Related Education
- Courses in quantitative methods and computer information/systems may be used to fulfill the requirements for business related courses.
- 21 undergraduate semester hours in 5 of the 9 subject areas: statistics, economics, corporation or business finance, management, marketing, U.S. business law, business communication, quantitative methods, and computer science/information systems.
- Please check here for the Board-approved curriculum.
2. Additional Maryland CPA Requirements to get the License
Education
- Obtain 150 credit hour requirement.
Work Experience
- 1 year of accounting experience (2,000 hours) verified and “endorsed” by a licensed CPA.
- By “endorsement” my interpretation is that the CPA does not necessarily need to be your supervisor; but please check with state board for details.
- The experience must be accumulated within 3 years of the license application.
Ethics Qualification
- Passing of the CPA Ethics Exam administered by the AICPA.
3. Maryland CPA Requirements on Residency & Age
- US citizenship not required.
- Maryland residency not required.
- Minimum age: 18.
4. CPA Exam Fees in Maryland
- Education Evaluation Application Fee: $90.00
- Exam Section Application Fee: $344.80
5. Continuing Education
CPE is needed for license holders. Click here for Maryland CPA CPE requirements.
6. Other Useful Information
- Maryland CPA exam application instructions
- Common mistakes when applying to MD State Board
- MD CPA licensing information (find and click CPA Experience Form)
7. Contact
Maryland State Board of Public Accountancy
500 N. Calvert Street, Room 308
Baltimore, MD 21202-3651
- Email: cpa@dllr.state.md.us
- Phone: (410) 230-6258
- Fax: (410) 333-6314
What if the Maryland CPA Requirements Don’t Work for Me?
You may want to check out these pages to learn about the educational and experience requirements, with my recommendation at the end of the posts:
- CPA educational requirements: Rules, Obstacles and Solutions
- States with more flexible CPA experience requirements
- How to get extra credit hours for the 150-hour rule
If you have questions, feel free to drop a note in the comment section, or visit my Facebook page.
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!
