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Pennsylvania CPA Requirements (Rules on Exam and Licensing)
Pennsylvania changed the rules to become a CPA in 2025, and candidates can now gain the CPA license if they have a bachelor’s degree (120 hours of higher education) if they have at least 2 years of experience.
Pennsylvania CPA Requirements
1. Pathways to Become a CPA in Pennsylvania
In addition to passing the CPA Exam, candidates in Pennsylvania need certain college courses and professional experience to earn the CPA license.
Pathway 1: 150 hours of higher education + 1 year of experience
- You must gain 150 hours of higher education, either via a master’s degree (or higher) OR a bachelor’s degree (worth 120 hours) with 30 additional hours of coursework, including:
- 24 hours in accounting, auditing, business law, economics, technology, finance, or taxation
- 12 hours in additional accounting and auditing or tax subjects
- 1 year of experience (1,600 hours)
Pathway 2: 120 hours of higher education + 2 years of experience
- You need a bachelor’s degree, including:
- 24 hours in accounting, auditing, business law, economics, technology, finance, or taxation
- 2 years of experience (3,200 hours)
2. Additional Pennsylvania CPA Requirements to Get the License
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
- Education Evaluation Fee: $96.00
- Exam Application Fee: $96.00
- Exam Section Fee (per section): $262.64
5. Continuing Education
CPE is required for license holders. Please click here for Pennsylvania CPA CPE requirements.
6. Other Useful Information
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 the 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!
