Bryan Kesler, CPA ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Bryan Kesler, CPA is a CPA Practice Advisor Top 20 Under 40, Licensed Certified Public Accountant, and founder of Kesler CPA Review, Community and Mentorship Platform. Full Bio >> | Contact Bryan
If you would like a more detailed checklist to make this process even easier, please download your Free CPA Exam Application Checklist PDF below:
California's (CA) CPA exam requirements have been updated effective 1/1/14:
The board of accountancy now requires 150 credit hours and an accounting concentration to become a licensed CPA in California. For international students, you will be required to provide a social security number (SSN) in order to become a licensed CPA. Be sure to follow each caption below to ensure that you are qualified to sit for the exam.
Disclosure: Please note that I do my best to keep these requirements up to date but seeing as there are more than 50 states and nations with individual requirements it is difficult for me to keep up with them all. Please verify each requirement with your state board of accountancy to ensure 100% accuracy!
Need help signing up for the CPA exam? We've got you covered. We are offering a free CPA Exam Strategy Session where you can get all the help and support you need. Come join us and take the first step towards achieving your goals!
CA now requires:
* 150 hours to sit for the CPA exam
* 4 year bachelor degree or above
* You can sit for the CPA exam prior to graduation with approval
CA requires 24 accounting credit hours (minimum grade of "C") for undergrad.
The following are qualifying courses:
* Accounting
* Auditing
* External or Internal Reporting
* Financial Reporting
* Financial Statement Analysis
* Taxation
To sit for the CPA exam, CA requires at least 24 hours of business credit hours
The following are qualifying courses:
* Business Administration,
* Business Communications,
* Business Law
* Business Management
* Computer Science/Information Systems,
* Economics,
* Finance,
* Marketing
* Mathematics
* Statistics
* Business
Refer to the Business Course Requirements above
California has special ethics requirements for CPA Candidates:
* California requires the Professional Ethics for CPAs (PETH) to be taken and it must be completed within 2 years after your submission of a license application.
You are NOT Required for California to be US Citizen to sit for the CPA exam, but require an Social Security Number (SSN) to become licensed.
California does NOT require you to be a resident, employee, OR have an office in the state for you to take the CPA exam.
California does not have a minimum age requirement to sit for the CPA exam
California has fairly standard exam fee rates. If you need to re-take a part there is a $50.00 re-application fee that you will have to pay.
Initial Application Fee:
$50 first time fee
There are new requirements that went into effect on 1/1/2014
General requirements include:
* 1 year of accounting related experience (attest, compilation, management advisory, financial advisory, tax, or consulting)
* 500+ attest hours are needed if you want to sign attest reports
* Part time work is accepted and 170 hours is equivalent to one month of full-time employment
Public Accounting Experience Requirements include:
* Supervision by an "individual who holds an active license or comparable authority to practice public accountancy in any state or country."
Non-Public Accounting Experience Requirements include:
* Supervised and verified by a US CPA
* Second signature from direct report of your supervising US CPA
Out-of-State Experience Requirements include:
* The board of accountancy of the state where you worked must verify in written form that your supervisor held an active license during that time period and was eligible to practice public accounting.
California Board of Accountancy
2000 Evergreen Street, Suite 250
Sacramento, CA 95815-3832
Web: http://www.dca.ca.gov/cba/
Phone: 916-263-3680
Fax: 916-263-3677
Email: examinfo@cba.ca.gov
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Bryan Kesler, CPA is the founder of Kesler CPA Review & Ultimate CPA Exam Guide which earned him a spot on CPA Practice Advisor's Top 20 Under 40.
He has helped thousands of CPA candidates pass the CPA exam since 2013. You can contact him via email bryan@cpaexamguide.com
The #1 regret I have when I first started my journey to becoming a CPA is not doing a better job planning.
I wasted hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars because of the planning mistakes I made before I even started studying.
I don't want you to make the same mistakes I did so I'm putting on a free CPA Exam Strategy Session HERE
Working with me on our free strategy session you will walkaway with a step-by-step plan of attack that you can implement.
AND you will avoid all the rookie mistake that I made that cost me so much.
You will also understand exactly what type of study materials you need to invest in and how to use them smarter.
The CPA exam is unlike any exam you have taken and requires a bit more effort upfront to plan and schedule.
