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Pennsylvania CPA Requirements (Rules on Exam and Licensing)
Pennsylvania does not require 150 semester hours of educational requirements to sit for the exam, but the full 150 hours are needed to obtain the CPA license.
Pennsylvania CPA Requirements
1. Education Requirements to Sit for the Exam
- Bachelor degree or above.
- 24 credit hours of accounting courses, including accounting and auditing, business law, finance or tax subjects of a content satisfactory to the board, not necessarily as a part of your undergraduate work.
2. Additional Pennsylvania CPA Requirements to Get the License
Education
- 150 credit hours from an accredited university or educational institution.
- 24 credit hours of accounting and auditing, business law, finance or tax subjects of a content satisfactory to the board.
- additional 24 credit hours in accounting, auditing and tax subjects of a content satisfactory to the board, not necessarily as part of the individual’s undergraduate or graduate work.
Note: the PA State board refers the CPA license as the “CPA certificate”. This is not to be confused with the CPA certificates available in two-tier states.
Work Experience
(Based on the amended requirements “Act 15” effective August 2013)
- 150-credit candidates must complete one year (1,600 hours) of work experience through employment in government, industry, academia, or public practice within 5 years of the date of certification application.
- The experience must be verified by an individual who is currently licensed to practice public accounting as a CPA in Pennsylvania or another state.
*Launched in Apr 2016* The NASBA Experience Verification service is now available to those who do not have access to an active U.S. CPA for verification.
Ethics Qualification
- None required.
3. Pennsylvania CPA Requirements on Residency & Age
- US citizenship not required but Social security number is required
- State residency: none
- Minimum age: 18
4. Fees
- First-timers: $774 + application fee
5. Continuing Education
CPE is required for license holders. Please click here for Pennsylvania CPA CPE requirements.
6. Other Useful Information
- PA CPA exam application through NASBA
- PA CPA licensing application
7. Contact
Pennsylvania State Board of Accountancy
P.O. Box 2649,
Harrisburg, PA 17105-2649
Physical address
One Penn Center, 2601 N. 3rd Street
Harrisburg, PA 17110
- Email: ST-ACCOUNTANCY@state.pa.us, cpaes-pa@nasba.org
- Phone: (717) 783-1404
- Fax: (717) 705-5540
What to do if Pennsylvania CPA Requirements don’t Work?
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 leave a comment below, 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!
