How to become a CPA

Three requirements, one license: education (150 semester hours classically; a bachelor's plus two years of experience in a growing list of states since 2025), the four-section CPA exam, and verified work experience. Licenses come from state boards, so the exact recipe depends on your state.

1. Meet the education requirement: most boards allow exam candidacy at 120 semester hours with accounting coursework; the classic licensure requirement is 150 hours.
2. Apply through your state board or NASBA, receive your Notice to Schedule, and sit the four exam sections: AUD, FAR, REG, plus one discipline (BAR, ISC or TCP).
3. Pass all four within the rolling credit window (30 months in most jurisdictions from the first passing score).
4. Complete verified experience: one year under the 150-hour route in most states; two years under the newer bachelor's-degree pathways.
5. Clear your state's ethics requirement (exam or course, where required) and apply for the license.

Exam structure and windows: NASBA▸NASBA · CPA Evolution, 2024. Section detail and pass rates: the exam page.

The fifth year of education (150 hours against a 120-hour bachelor's) has been the profession's entry tax for three decades, and it is now optional in a growing list of states. AICPA and NASBA approved model legislation in May 2025 adding a bachelor's-plus-two-years pathway▸NASBA · May 2025, and states began enacting it: Ohio first (routes effective January 1, 2026), with Virginia, Georgia, New Jersey, Texas and others following; NASBA maintains the authoritative list of jurisdictions that have signed new pathways into law. Per-state positions, including which claims we verified at write time, are on requirements by state. If you are choosing where to sit, this is now a real variable: the same career can cost a year less education in one state than its neighbour.

• Time: four to six years of education (route-dependent), one to two years of experience that usually runs concurrently with early career, and an exam most candidates spread across 12 to 18 months.
• Exam fees: application and per-section fees vary by jurisdiction; boards publish their own schedules, so budget from your board's fee page rather than a national average (none is published).
• The payoff side: median accountant-and-auditor pay was $83,680 in May 2025 BLS data▸BLS OEWS · May 2025, with the 90th percentile at $144,090; the earnings detail is on CPA salary.