CPA requirements by state
Licensure is state law, and the states stopped agreeing. The classic recipe (150 semester hours, one year of experience, the exam) now coexists with bachelor's-plus-two-years pathways enacted across a growing list of states since 2025. Below: the 20 largest accounting-employment jurisdictions, each with a sourced sheet.
Model-legislation context: AICPA/NASBA additional pathway approved May 2025NASBA · May 2025. NASBA's licensure-pathways list is the authoritative enactment tracker. Requirement rows compiled 2026-08-02; each state page links its board as the source of record.
The table
20 jurisdictions at a glance
| State | License education | Experience | Ethics gate | New pathway |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 150 semester units under the standing rule | 12 months of general accounting experience, signed off by a licensed CPA | PETH exam (Professional Ethics for CPAs), administered by CalCPA | enacted |
| Texas | 150 semester hours on the standing route, or a bachelor's degree plus two years of experience under the SB 262 pathway | One year under the 150-hour route; two years under the bachelor's-degree pathway | Board-approved ethics course plus the Texas Rules of Professional Conduct exam | enacted |
| New York | 150 semester hours, or New York's long-standing 15-years-of-experience alternative | One year of qualifying experience under CPA supervision (more under the experience-only route) | No separate pre-license ethics exam | check board |
| Florida | 150 semester hours | One year of work experience verified by a licensed CPA | No separate pre-license ethics exam; board-approved ethics CPE required each cycle after licensure | check board |
| Illinois | 150 semester hours on the standing route | One year of full-time experience under a licensed CPA | AICPA Professional Ethics exam | enacted |
| Pennsylvania | 150 semester hours on the standing route | One year (1,600 hours) of qualifying experience within five years of application | No separate pre-license ethics exam | enacted |
| Ohio | 150 semester hours, or a master's plus one year of experience, or a bachelor's plus two years under HB 238 | One year on the 150-hour route; one to two years under the 2026 degree pathways | Board-approved course in professional standards and responsibilities (PSR) | enacted |
| Georgia | 150 semester hours on the standing route, or the HB 148 degree-plus-experience routes | One year under the 150-hour route; two years under the bachelor's pathway | No separate pre-license ethics exam | enacted |
| North Carolina | 150 semester hours under the standing rule | One year under CPA supervision, or four years of accounting experience without supervision | Eight-hour North Carolina accountancy law course before licensure | check board |
| Michigan | 150 semester hours | One year (2,000 hours) of qualifying experience verified by a CPA | No separate pre-license ethics exam | check board |
| New Jersey | 150 semester hours, or a bachelor's plus two years of experience under the 2026 pathway | One year under the 150-hour route; two years under the bachelor's pathway | No separate pre-license ethics exam; New Jersey law and ethics CPE required each cycle | enacted |
| Virginia | 150 semester hours, or a bachelor's with accounting concentration plus two years of experience from 2026 | One year (2,080 hours) under the standing route; two years under the degree pathway | Annual VBOA-approved ethics CPE requirement | enacted |
| Washington | 150 semester hours on the standing route | One year (2,000 hours) of qualifying experience verified by a licensed CPA | AICPA Professional Ethics exam with a 90 percent pass mark | enacted |
| Massachusetts | 150 semester hours | One year of public-accounting experience, or equivalent non-public experience | No separate pre-license ethics exam | check board |
| Arizona | 150 semester hours including 36 accounting hours | One year (2,000 hours) of paid or volunteer accounting experience | AICPA Professional Ethics exam | check board |
| Tennessee | 150 semester hours on the standing route, or the 2025-enacted degree pathway | One year (2,000 hours) of experience; two years under the bachelor's pathway | AICPA Professional Ethics exam | enacted |
| Indiana | 150 semester hours on the standing route | Two years of qualifying experience (Indiana requires more than the typical one year) | No separate pre-license ethics exam | enacted |
| Missouri | 150 semester hours | One year (2,000 hours) of accounting experience | AICPA Professional Ethics exam | check board |
| Maryland | 150 semester hours | One year (2,000 hours) of qualifying experience | AICPA Professional Ethics exam | check board |
| Colorado | 150 semester hours including 33 accounting hours | One year (1,800 hours) of qualifying experience | AICPA Professional Ethics exam plus the Colorado Rules and Regulations (CR&R) requirement | check board |
"Enacted" = alternative-pathway legislation signed into law per our write-time check (California, Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia, New Jersey, Virginia, Washington, Tennessee, Indiana). "Check board" = not verified at write time; the state page says so explicitly rather than guessing.
Mobility
If you move: reciprocity in one paragraph
Practice mobility lets a CPA licensed in a substantially equivalent state serve clients across state lines without a second license for most work; relocating your principal place of business generally means applying for a reciprocal license in the new state. The pathway wave complicates equivalence at the margins, which is one more reason the per-state sheets link the board directly. Path overview: how to become a CPA; exam mechanics: the exam page; wage context per state: CPA salary.