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New Mexico CPA Requirements on Exam and Licensing
The New Mexico State Board accepts either public or non-public accounting experience, but only US CPA can verify your experience.
New Mexico CPA Requirements
Note to international candidates: there are certain consultancy companies or forums in India that recommend New Mexico as the state board of choice for BCOM + CA candidates. I personally don’t think it works, and you can see a real example of a complicated case here. Please double check if you don’t want to get in this position.
1. Education Requirements to Sit for the CPA Exam
- Bachelor’s degree or above from a regionally accredited institution – a minimum of 120 semester hours
- 30 semester units of accounting courses, of which a maximum of 3 units out of these 30 units can be from business law.
2. Additional New Mexico CPA Requirements to Obtain the CPA License
Education
As of January 1, 2026, New Mexico allows two paths to the CPA license, depending on the amount of work experience you have. That is, you can apply for the CPA license if you have 120 hours of education and 2 years of experience. However, if you only have 1 year of experience, you’ll need 150 hours of education (a bachelor’s degree with 30 hours of additional coursework or a master’s degree).
Work Experience
In New Mexico, the work experience requirement depends on the level of your education.
- Bachelor’s degree holder + 30 additional credit hours (150 hours of higher education): 1 year of experience
- Bachelor’s degree holder only (120 hours of education): 2 years of experience
- Master’s degree holder: 1 year of experience
Ethics Qualification
- Passing of the CPA Ethics Exam administered by the AICPA.
3. New Mexico CPA Requirements on Residency & Age
- US citizenship not required.
- New Mexico residency not required.
- Minimum age: 18.
4. CPA Exam Fees in New Mexico
- Education Evaluation Application Fee: $96.00
- CPA Exam Application Fee: $106
- Exam Section Application Fee (per section): $262.64
- CPA license fee: $175
5. Continuing Education
CPE is needed for license holders. Click here for New Mexico CPA CPE requirements.
6. Other Useful Information
7. Contact
New Mexico Public Accountancy Board
5500 San Antonio Dr. NE, Suite A
Albuquerque, NM 87109
- Email: accountancy.board@rld.nm.gov
- Phone: 505-476-4622
- Fax: 505-222-9845
What if the New Mexico 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!
