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In order to receive your initial California CPA License, you must complete the following:
A baccalaureate degree or higher conferred by a degree-granting college or university (or foreign equivalent evaluated by a California Board of Accountancy (CBA)-approved foreign academic credentials evaluation service) accredited by a United States regional institutional accrediting agency or national accrediting agency.
150 total semester units including 24 semester units of accounting subjects, 24 semester units of business-related subjects, 20 semester units of accounting study subjects, and 10 semester units of ethics study. You can find the specific education requirements that make up a portion of the 150 hour requirement on this tip sheet provided by the California Board of Accountancy (CBA).
Courses earned at college and universities on a quarter unit calendar must be multiplied by a factor of 2/3 to convert to semester units. For example, 4 quarter units is equivalent to 2 and 2/3 semester units.
Applicants must provide the CBA with satisfactory evidence of having completed a minimum of 12 months of general accounting experience. Specific guidelines on what kind of experience is accepted can be found on page 7 of the CPA Licensing Applicant Handbook.
Applicants must pass the following exams
Possess a valid United States Social Security Number of Individual Taxpayer Identification Number.
All applicants must have a criminal background check conducted by the California Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Once the CBA has received your application and fee, CBA staff will provide an acknowledgement email that includes instructions to complete the fingerprinting process.
Got a licensure question? You can submit your own question.
