Michigan CPA Requirements

Michigan requires certified public accountants (CPAs) to meet specific education, experience, and exam criteria to obtain a license. The CPA career path typically begins with a bachelor's degree in accounting or a related field.

CPAs are in demand in Michigan. Accountants and auditors ranked fourth among the top 50 high-wage, high-growth professions in the Michigan Center for Data and Analytics' Hot 50 Job Outlook through 2032 report.

Start your journey to an in-demand career with strong earning potential by learning about Michigan's CPA requirements.

Education Requirements for Becoming a CPA in Michigan

Like many other states, Michigan has different educational requirements for CPA examinees and license-seekers. You need 120 semester credits to sit for the CPA exam as a Michigan candidate and 150 credits for a CPA license.

To bridge the 30-credit gap, you can:

Accelerated bachelor's-to-master's accounting programs offer an efficient pathway by helping you save up to one year on your education requirements. Consider these programs if you want to meet Michigan CPA requirements as quickly as possible.

Concentrations, Courses, and Credits

Your 150 credits must include at least 24 accounting credits and at least 24 general business credits.

The 24 accounting credits you use to qualify for CPA licensure must combine to cover the following topics:

• Accounting information systems
• Auditing and attestation
• Cost accounting or managerial accounting
• Financial accounting and reporting
• Government accounting or fund accounting
• Taxation

Your 24 general business credits must cover subjects other than accounting, as Michigan does not allow CPA candidates to use accounting courses to meet general business education requirements. Instead, qualifying business coursework may include any of the following:

• Business communications, ethics, law, or management
• Economics
• Finance
• Information systems or technology
• Marketing
• Quantitative methods or statistics

If you want to sit for the Uniform CPA Examination as a Michigan candidate, slightly different standards apply. You must still meet the 24-credit accounting and business concentration requirements, but you only need 120 credits and a bachelor's degree rather than 150 credits.

Michigan Experience Requirements

Michigan's CPA requirements for professional experience are straightforward. You need at least 2,000 qualifying hours earned in no less than one year and no more than five years. A licensed CPA must supervise and document your work using Michigan's CPA Experience Form.

You can accumulate 2,000 hours by working in private industry, a public accounting practice, academia, or government. However, your work duties must focus primarily on technical accounting, auditing, compliance, taxation, or management advisory services to qualify.

Michigan does not accept non-professional work experience such as:

• Administrative support services
• Appraisals
• Bookkeeping
• Industrial engineering
• Recruitment

Also, you cannot use paraprofessional experience unless you have obtained that experience performing accounting-related duties at a public accounting firm.

CPA Exam Requirements

Michigan CPA requirements include passing scores on all four sections of the challenging CPA exam. All states use the same exam, but eligibility standards differ among jurisdictions. The information below explains CPA exam requirements in the Great Lakes State.

Eligibility to Take the Exam

State law specifies the following eligibility standards for the CPA exam in Michigan:

• You must hold a minimum of a bachelor's degree from an accredited postsecondary institution.
• Your qualifying education must cover at least 120 semester credits (or the equivalent).
• You must have at least 24 semester credits or the equivalent in both accounting and general business.

Michigan accepts Advanced Placement, College-Level Examination Preparation, and pass/fail credits, along with credits from correspondence or online courses if awarded by an accredited postsecondary institution.

If you were educated outside the United States, you must submit your academic transcripts for a substantial equivalency evaluation. Michigan accepts foreign credential evaluations performed by NASBA International Evaluation Services or any organization in the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services.

Michigan has no specific age, Social Security number, citizenship, or state residency requirements, and you do not need to take the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' ethics examination.

Applying for and Scheduling the Exam

You can apply to take the CPA exam through the Michigan portal of the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) website. The process consists of two main stages: applying for approval and scheduling the exam.

When applying, you must submit official academic transcripts from all postsecondary institutions you have attended. If available, you can have your school(s) submit official transcripts electronically. Otherwise, you must submit hard copies in an envelope bearing the school's registrar seal.

You can start the application process if you have not completed your qualifying educational program. However, you must submit a signed authorization from a school official indicating that you will meet your program's graduation requirements within 60 days of the date you sit for your first CPA exam section.

As of March 2025, the following fees apply:

• $93 application fee (educational evaluation fee)
• $355.64 examination fee per exam section

You will receive a Notice to Schedule (NTS) after NASBA approves your application and you have paid the necessary fees. Your NTS remains valid for six months, allowing you to schedule a date and time to take one or more sections of the CPA exam.

The CPA exam covers four sections, including a Discipline section with a choice of three specializations. Michigan requires licensure candidates to pass all four exam sections within a rolling 30-month period, beginning on the date they pass the first exam section.

After Passing the Exam

Your CPA exam results will not expire if you pass all four sections within the mandated 30-month window. When you meet all Michigan CPA requirements, you can apply through the accountancy portal of the state's Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) agency.

As of March 2025, a $300 fee applies to your initial license application unless you are a military veteran or qualify for a waiver. To verify your CPA license to a client or employer, you can use LARA's license verification service.

Maintaining Licensure

To maintain your Michigan CPA license, you must renew it every other year by July 31. The renewal window opens annually on July 1.

Michigan also offers a 60-day late renewal window, which opens annually on Aug. 1. If you do not renew your license by July 31 or the closure of the late renewal window, you may face penalties that potentially include license revocation. An additional $20 fee applies for late renewals on top of the regular $200 renewal fee.

Like other states, Michigan requires CPAs to complete continuing professional education (CPE) to renew their licenses. To satisfy these requirements, each CPA must complete at least 40 CPE hours per year.

Your 40 CPE hours must include:

• At least eight hours of accounting or auditing
• At least two hours of ethics
• At least one hour of Michigan-specific professional ethics every other year

You are excused from CPE requirements during your first year of practice as a licensed CPA.

Michigan's CPA license reciprocity program allows you to renew an out-of-state CPA license through Michigan's LARA system as long as you satisfy the CPE requirements of the state that issued your credential.

You can hold an ownership stake in a Michigan CPA firm without a CPA license. However, at least a simple majority of the firm's controlling owners must be licensed CPAs in good professional standing.

Questions About Michigan CPA Requirements