Pennsylvania CPA Requirements

The path to Pennsylvania licensure as a certified public accountant (CPA) has long included 150 academic credits. However, Pennsylvania CPA requirements may be headed for reforms that make the profession more accessible.

Pennsylvania's plan could jump-start its efforts to address a need for more accountants. O*NET Online projects a faster-than-average 7% job growth rate for accountants and auditors in Pennsylvania from 2020-2030.

A bachelor's degree in accounting in Pennsylvania is an excellent place to start your licensure journey, especially when factoring in the potential changes on Pennsylvania's horizon. You can also follow other paths — learn about your education options and Pennsylvania CPA requirements with this licensure guide.

Education Requirements for Becoming a CPA in Pennsylvania

Like most other states, Pennsylvania CPA requirements have traditionally included 150 academic credits. Since most bachelor's programs comprise 120 credits, CPA candidates must obtain 30 additional credits to qualify for licensure.

The elevated credit requirements help emerging CPAs build strong skills, but they also tend to lower student enthusiasm for the CPA path. Amid a nationwide shortage of accounting talent, legislatures and accounting professional organizations throughout the United States have begun advocating for changes.

In Feb. 2025, Pennsylvania introduced a bipartisan bill backed by the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA). Under the proposal, Pennsylvania CPA requirements could introduce an alternative licensure path that exchanges the 30 additional credits for an extra year of work experience.

Concentrations, Courses, and Credits

As of March 2025, Pennsylvania's CPA requirements include a firm prerequisite for 150 academic credits. You must also satisfy the following conditions:

• You must hold a bachelor's degree or higher.
• Your degree must come from a properly accredited institution or a school recognized by Pennsylvania's State Board of Accountancy.
• You must have at least 24 semester credits (or equivalent) covering accounting, auditing, business law, economics, finance, taxation, or technology subjects.
• In addition to those 24 credits, you need 12 additional credits in accounting, auditing, or taxation coursework.

Notably, the Pennsylvania State Board of Accountancy specifies that you do not need to complete your accounting and business course content requirements in an undergraduate or graduate degree program.

This policy allows you to hold a bachelor's degree or higher in any area and still meet Pennsylvania CPA requirements if you have the necessary accounting and business credits.

Pennsylvania also allows candidates to sit for the Uniform CPA Examination with 120 credits, including at least 24 credits in the accounting and business content areas specified in the third bullet point in the above list.

Under the legislation Pennsylvania proposed in Feb. 2025, CPA candidates would have a path to licensure with a bachelor's degree and 120 credits comprising a specific amount of accounting and business coursework.

Pennsylvania Experience Requirements

To meet Pennsylvania's CPA requirements, you need to accumulate professional experience in one or more of the following areas:

• Accounting
• Attestation or compilation
• Financial or management advisory services
• Taxation or financial consulting services

You must gain all experience through paid employment in private industry, public practice, government, or academia. A licensed CPA must supervise and document all experience on the Pennsylvania State Board of Accountancy's Verification of Experience form.

Under Pennsylvania's existing model, you must accumulate at least 1,600 hours of experience over at least 12 calendar months. For licensure purposes, this is considered one year of full-time work. Furthermore, you must complete all the necessary work experience no more than 60 months before you apply for initial CPA licensure.

If Pennsylvania adopts the law proposed in 2025, the state will thereby introduce an additional, alternate pathway allowing candidates to qualify for licensure with 120 credits and two years of work experience instead of one.

CPA Exam Requirements

As in every other state, Pennsylvania CPA requirements include passing scores on all sections of the CPA exam. Every CPA candidate in the United States must pass the same exam, but eligibility standards for taking the test differ among jurisdictions.

The information in the subsections below applies specifically to Pennsylvania.

Eligibility to Take the Exam

As a Pennsylvania candidate, you can apply and sit for the CPA exam when you have 120 semester credits, including at least 24 credits in any combination of:

• Accounting or auditing
• Business law
• Economics or finance
• Technology
• Taxation

However, your content area requirements remain subject to Pennsylvania State Board of Accountancy approval. Pennsylvania's accounting board does not specifically require you to take the exam within any particular time frame after meeting the educational requirements.

In addition, you must be at least 18 years old to sit for the CPA exam in Pennsylvania. The state also requires that you meet its "good moral character" standards, requiring you to submit a Moral Character Reference Form when applying for the exam.

The form requires signed statements from three references attesting to your good moral character. At least one of your references must be a licensed CPA.

Applying for and Scheduling the Exam

Before sitting for the CPA exam in Pennsylvania, you must complete two steps. First, you must apply to take the exam. During this step, National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) officials review your credentials to confirm your eligibility.

When NASBA deems you eligible, you can complete the second step of scheduling the exam. NASBA sends a Notice to Schedule (NTS) with a list of available exam dates and times for the examination section(s) you wish to take. You must act on your NTS within the specified time frame, or it will expire.

Apply for authorization to take the exam through NASBA's Pennsylvania portal. NASBA will ensure you meet the requirements listed in the previous section by reviewing your application form and academic transcripts. At this stage, you must:

• Have all schools listed on your application form forward sealed academic transcripts directly to NASBA's CPA Examination Services (CPAES)
• Submit a completed Moral Character Reference Form
• Complete an international evaluation through CPAES if you completed any education outside the United States
• Include a Testing Accommodations Request Form, if necessary

You must apply to each exam section individually, and you can take the sections in any order upon receiving the associated notices. However, you must pass all four sections within 18 months to meet Pennsylvania CPA requirements. When you apply to the exam's Discipline section, you can specify your choice of the three available specialization areas.

As of March 2025, the following fees apply:

• $93 application and education evaluation fee
• $355.64 examination fee per section

Under this fee structure, your minimum total for applying and taking all four CPA exam sections would be $1,515.56.

After Passing the Exam

The Pennsylvania State Board of Accountancy does not specify a time frame within which you must apply for your initial CPA license after meeting all requirements. Your CPA exam results will not expire if you pass all four sections within the rolling 18-month period, which begins on the date you sat for the first exam section you passed.

Upon meeting all Pennsylvania CPA requirements, you can apply for your initial license through the Pennsylvania State Board of Accountancy. The board will review your application to confirm that you meet its standards, and a $65 application fee applies.

You can verify your CPA license to a client or employer through the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's license verification service.

Maintaining Licensure

In Pennsylvania, CPA licenses expire each odd-numbered year on Dec. 31. The board notifies you in writing of a pending license expiration 2-3 months in advance.

The Pennsylvania State Board of Accountancy will send the notification to the most recent address you have on file. Thus, you must promptly inform the board if your address changes.

A $100 renewal fee applies, and you must also complete at least 80 hours of continuing professional education (CPE) each two-year licensing period. Your CPE must include:

• At least 20 hours in each calendar year of your licensing period
• At least 24 hours of accounting and attestation if you provide attestation services as part of your professional duties
• At least four hours of professional ethics
• Study of accounting, attestation, advisory services, management, professional skills development, specialized accounting applications, or taxation for the remaining balance of CPE hours

You must document your CPE through certificates of completion, academic transcripts, signed statements, or other methods acceptable to Pennsylvania's accountancy board. For full details on Pennsylvania CPE requirements, consult Chapter 11 of the state's CPA regulations.

Pennsylvania allows CPA licensing by reciprocity. If you hold a valid CPA license issued by another state, you can transfer it to Pennsylvania through the reciprocity process without retaking the CPA exam.

Pennsylvania allows non-CPAs to hold ownership stakes in CPA firms based in the state. However, businesses operating as CPA firms are required to hold their own licenses, which are legally separate from the individual licenses held by the CPAs who work for the company.

Questions About Pennsylvania CPA Requirements