Indiana CPA Exam and License Requirements

Publication Date :

15 May, 2023

Blog Author :

Edited by :

Reviewed by :

Table Of Contents

Indiana CPA Exam

Indiana CPA (Certified Public Accountant) License confirms your eligibility to practice public accounting in the Hoosier State. Indiana has its own standards for successful licensure. You must pass the CPA Exam, complete relevant experience, and fulfill other Indiana license requirements to enjoy the privileges of working as a CPA in Indiana.

Indiana observes a one-tier licensing approach. Hence, you may directly apply for the CPA license without receiving the CPA Certificate. Moreover, the Indiana Board of Accountancy (IBA) is the approved entity to issue the CPA license.

The U.S. province also partakes in the International CPA Examination Program. Now, let’s view the Indiana CPA exam and license requirements in detail.

Indiana CPA Exam Requirements

Eligibility Requirements
Fees
Required Documents

Indiana CPA License Requirements

Education Requirements
Exam Requirements
Experience Requirements

Continuing Professional Education (CPE)

Indiana Exam Information & Resources

Indiana CPA Exam Requirements

The CPA Exam is a computer-based assessment comprising of four sections. Each of them is four-hour long with a passing grade of 75 points.

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) collaborates with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) to jointly administer the CPA Exam at Prometric test centers.

The examination checks if an applicant possesses the required technical and accounting expertise to enter the CPA profession. You must finish the test within the rolling 18-month period, starting from the date you sat for the first passed section.

All sections include five testlets. They feature task-based simulations (TBSs) and multiple-choice questions (MCQs). Also, BEC contains written communication tasks (WCTs).

Eligibility Requirements

To qualify for the CPA Exam from Indiana, candidates must:

Obtain a bachelor’s degree with 150 semester hours from a state board-approved academic institute.
Meet one of the following two prerequisites.

Prerequisite 1	Prerequisite 2
Earn a graduate degree with	Earn a bachelor’s degree with
Requirement 1	Requirement 1
Minimum 24 semester hours in undergraduate accounting, or Minimum 15 semester hours in graduate-level accounting, or An equivalent combination of both in the following subjects: a. Financial accounting b. Taxation c. Auditing d. Managerial accounting	Minimum 24 semester hours in accounting (undergraduate or graduate-level) including the following subjects: a. Financial accounting b. Taxation c. Auditing d. Managerial accounting
Requirement 2	Requirement 2
Minimum 24 semester hours in business administration & economics courses (except accounting courses) including, a. Maximum 6 semester hours of business & tax law courses b. Maximum 6 semester hours of computer science courses	Minimum 24 semester hours in business administration & economics courses including, a. Maximum 6 semester hours of business & tax law courses b. Maximum 6 semester hours of computer science courses

Note that students currently enrolled in college may also apply for the licensure test. However, they must finish the course and submit the official transcripts within 60 days of sitting for the first CPA Exam section. Students unable to fulfill the degree requirements within 60 days can’t attend the remaining sections.

After fulfilling the educational requirement, submit the exam application, required fees, and documents to CPA Examination Services (CPAES). Please check out the NASBA website for the complete process. Moreover, you may request the NASBA Advisory Evaluation Service before final submission to ensure the transcripts are acceptable.

Fees

Initial applicants must submit an application fee and an examination fee. At the same time, re-examination candidates must submit both registration and examination fees. Please note that both application and examination fees are non-refundable.

Particulars	Examination Fees (non-refundable)	First-time Applicant Fees	Re-examination Candidate Fees
Application fee	-	$170	-
Registration fee	-	-	$85
Exam sections	-	-	-
AUD	$238.15	-
BEC	$238.15	-
FAR	$238.15	-
REG	$238.15	$952.6	$952.6
Total fees	$952.6	$1,122.6	$1,037.6

Candidates can’t withdraw from the exam or request an NTS extension. However, they may get a partial exam fee refund or request an NTS extension under grave situations. Your NTS is valid for six months. So, sit for the applied section(s) within this period.

Required Documents

CPAES requires the submission of these documents:

Documents	Submission Authority
General Requirement	-
Official transcript(s) (maybe submitted electronically)	Academic institute
Conditional Requirement	-
Certificate of Enrollment	Academic institute
Foreign Degree Evaluation summary	NASBA International Evaluation Services (NIES)
Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc.
Foreign Academic Credentials Service, Inc. or,
Josef Silny & Associates, Inc. International Education Consultants
Testing Accommodations Request Form	Applicant

Please note that photocopies of transcripts are unacceptable. Also, the international evaluation summary must not be over two years old.

Indiana CPA License Requirements

After passing the exam, Indiana CPA license applicants must satisfy these requirements:

Particulars	Requirements

Social Security Number (SSN)	Required
Minimum age	18 years
U.S. Citizenship	Not required
Indiana residency	Not required
Education	150 semester hours
Uniform CPA Exam	Pass all 4 exam sections with at least 75 points
Experience	2 years

Apply for the license through IBA. The application form can be submitted online or filled and mailed to the board office. To know the complete procedure, refer to the state board website.

First-time applicants need not pay any application fees, while other applicants must pay $75. Original copies of academic transcripts must be sent directly from the educational institutions.

Education Requirements

You must earn 150 semester hours with a board-recognized academic institute. It remains the same as that of exam-sitting requirements. Kindly check the Eligibility Requirements section to know everything in detail.

Exam Requirements

Indiana CPA licensure applicants must pass all four exam sections within the rolling 18-month period. Each section requires you to pass with at least 75 points on a scale of 0-99. Further information is mentioned in the Indiana CPA Exam Requirements section.

Experience Requirements

Let’s view the Experience requirements.

Particulars	Requirements
Required work experience	24 months
Experience verification	By a licensed CPA
Employment type	Full-time
Qualified service	Accounting
Advisory
Consulting
Financial
Operational
Qualified area	Industry
Government
Non-profit

You may also gain the required experience as an accounting instructor in an authorized four-year academic institution. Experience in fractions of months is acceptable.

Continuing Professional Education (CPE)

Indiana CPAs must renew their accounting license every three years after acquiring 120 CPE credit hours. Please note that the state accepts CPA CPE credits provided for programs offered by National Registry Sponsors.

Here lie all the details.

Particulars	Details
License renewal date	June 30 (Triennially)
CPE reporting period	January 1-December 31 (Triennially)
Required CPE hours	120 hours (at least 20 hours per year)
Ethics requirement	Minimum 4 hours
Other subject area requirements	10% of total accounting & auditing hours
Credit limitations	Instruction	Maximum 50%
Self-Study	Maximum 50%
University/College	Unacceptable unless licensees earned at least a “C” grade in the graduate-level course
Credit calculation	Instruction	Credit = Presentation + Preparation (at least twice of presentation)
Repeat instruction with the same course is unacceptable
Partial credit	Half credits are acceptable after the first hour
University/College	1 semester hour = 15 CPE hours
1 quarter hour = 10 CPE hours

We hope this guide helped you navigate the Indiana CPA licensure process easily. Moreover, remember to keep a tab on the AICPA, NASBA, and the State Board website for the latest updates.

With rigid exam and license requirements, Indiana CPA aspirants may feel a bit overwhelmed. However, you must stay focused and study well. This way, you will be successful in gaining this much-respected title with ease.