Pennsylvania CPA Exam and License Requirements

Publication Date :

13 Nov, 2021

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Pennsylvania CPA Exam

Pennsylvania CPA (Certified Public Accountant) License is an official permit that accredits accountants in the state of Pennsylvania. You must fulfill Pennsylvania-specific exam, education, and other requirements to earn your initial CPA license.

Know that it is a one-tier state. Hence, no CPA certificate is issued upon completing the CPA Exam successfully. Instead, you obtain the accounting license straightaway after completing all the necessary prerequisites.

The Pennsylvania State Board of Accountancy (PSBOA) is responsible for the licensure and certification of CPAs. Moreover, the Keystone State also engages in the international administration of the CPA Exam program.

Now, let’s explore further the Pennsylvania CPA exam and license requirements.

Particulars	Pennsylvania CPA Exam Requirements	Pennsylvania CPA License Requirements
Education	A Baccalaureate degree with 24 semester hours in specific subjects or 150 semester hours	150 semester hours
Exam	Score a minimum of 75 points in each of the four exam sections	Score a minimum of 75 points in each of the four exam sections
Character References	Required	Not Required
Experience	Not Required	1 year (1600 hours)
Minimum Age	18 years	18 years
Social Security Number	Not Required	Required

Contents

Pennsylvania CPA Exam Requirements

Eligibility Requirements
Fees
Required Documents

Pennsylvania CPA License Requirements

Education Requirements
Exam Requirements
Experience Requirements

Continuing Professional Education (CPE)

Pennsylvania Exam Information & Resources

Pennsylvania CPA Exam Requirements

The Uniform CPA Exam is a 16-hour long computerized professional licensure test. It analyzes the candidate’s know-how and expertise required to perform as a CPA.

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the National Association of State Boards of Public Accountancy (NASBA) are responsible for administering the test at designated Prometric centers worldwide.

Candidates must pass all four sections of the CPA exam within the rolling 18-month period. It starts from when you attempted the first passed section. Ensure to score a minimum of 75 points on a scale of 0-99 in each section.

Financial Accounting & Reporting (FAR exam)
Auditing & Attestation (AUD exam)
Business Environment & Concepts (BEC exam)
Regulation (REG exam)

The exam has five testlets with three different question types. These are multiple-choice questions (MCQs), task-based simulations (TBSs), and written communication tasks (WCTs). BEC includes WCTs along with MCQs and TBSs. Rest all sections have only MCQs and TBSs.

Eligibility Requirements

General Requirements

Minimum age requirement – 18 years
Character References – A CPA Exam applicant must prove good moral character by obtaining the signature of three individuals, including one CPA, on the exam application.

Education Requirements

Candidates must satisfy one of the following education requisites:

Particulars	Education Requirements
Pathway 1	A Baccalaureate degree from an institution accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, including
Minimum 24 semester hours (not necessarily in undergraduate coursework) in the mentioned subjects:	Accounting & auditing
Finance
Business law
Macroeconomics
Microeconomics
Tax
Pathway 2	At least a Bachelor’s degree & 150 semester hours from an institution accredited by a nationally or regionally recognized accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, including
24 semester hours (not necessarily in undergraduate/graduate coursework) in the mentioned subjects:	Accounting & auditing
Finance
Business law
Macroeconomics
Microeconomics
Tax
12 semester hours (not necessarily in undergraduate/graduate coursework) in the mentioned subjects:	Accounting
Auditing
Tax

Pennsylvania CPA Exam Eligibility Requirements

Apply for the exam through CPA Examination Services (CPAES). Further information is specified on the NASBA portal.

Candidates may also utilize the NASBA Advisory Evaluation Service to recognize any academic loopholes in their documents before applying.

Fees

Initial candidates:

Particulars	Amount	Total Fees
Application Fee	-	$105
Examination Fees	-	-
AUD	$238.15	-
BEC	$238.15	-
FAR	$238.15	-
REG	$238.15	$952.6
Total Fees	$952.6	$1,057.6

Re-exam candidates:

CPA Exam Sections	Exam Fees (per section)	Total Exam Fees (all sections)	Registration Fees	Total Fees
4 exam sections	$238.15	$904.6	$105	$1009.6
3 exam sections	$238.15	$678.45	$105	$783.45
2 exam sections	$238.15	$452.3	$105	$557.3
1 exam sections	$238.15	$226.15	$105	$331.15

Under normal circumstances, you can’t withdraw from the CPA Exam or request a Notice-to-Schedule (NTS) extension. However, NASBA permits to request of an NTS extension or partial refund of the examination fees under extreme situations.

Please note that both application and examination fees are non-refundable. Also, your NTS is valid for only six months. So, sit for the applied exam section(s) within this period.

Required Documents

CPAES requires the submission of certain documents. These are mentioned in the image below.

The following are the approved evaluation agencies:

NASBA International Evaluation Services (NIES)
Foreign Academic Credentials Service, Inc
Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc.
Josef Silny & Associates, Inc.

Remember not to submit photocopies of transcripts as they are unofficial and unacceptable.

Pennsylvania CPA License Requirements

Pennsylvania CPA aspirants must:

Be a minimum of 18 years
Get a valid Social Security Number (if no SSN, then complete a waiver)
Complete 150 semester hours
Obtain one year of work experience

Know that you don’t have to attain U.S. citizenship or state residency.

Moreover, submit the licensure application, associated fees, and documents to PSBOA. Kindly visit the State Board website to know the complete process.

Education Requirements

Applicants must hold a bachelor’s degree or higher with 150 semester hours from a regionally or nationally recognized accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, including:

24 semester hours in the following subjects:
- Accounting & auditing
- Finance
- Business law
- Macroeconomics
- Microeconomics
- Tax
12 semester hours in the following subjects:
- Accounting
- Auditing
- Tax

The required semester hours in specific subjects may not necessarily be in undergraduate/graduate coursework. The content of the subjects must be to the satisfaction of the board.

Exam Requirements

You must complete the Uniform CPA Exam with at least 75 points in each section. Please note that you have a rolling 18-month period to pass the test. Refer to the Pennsylvania Exam Requirements section for more information.

Experience Requirements

Candidates must earn one year (1600 hours) of qualified employment within five years immediately preceding the date of licensure application. An active CPA must verify your work experience. You may not receive credit for attaining the required hours if obtained in less than 12 months.

Here are all the details.

Acceptable Areas	Acceptable Services	Non-qualifying experience
Government	Accounting	Bookkeeping and paraprofessional work
Industry	Attest	Non-professional work experience, including recruiting, marketing, administration, etc.
Academia	Compilation	Non-verified experience
Public Practice	Management Advisory	-
-	Financial Advisory	-
-	Tax	-
-	Consulting	-

Continuing Professional Education (CPE)

Pennsylvania CPAs must renew their accounting license every two years. They must gain the required 80 CPE credit hours through CPE providers approved by one of the following agencies:

PSBOA
National Registry of CPE Sponsors
Accountancy regulatory body of a state allows the public accountancy practice under the substantial equivalency rule
An institute accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education

Let’s check out all the details.

Particulars	Requirements
Renewal date for license	December 31 (every odd-numbered year)
CPE reporting period	January 1-December 31 (every two-year ending on an odd-numbered year)
CPE credit required	80 hours every two years (20 hours annually)
Ethics requirement	4 hours
Other requirements	24 hours in accounting & auditing if engaged in attest services
Credit limitations	Instruction	Maximum 40 hours
Published materials	Maximum 20 hours per instance on a self-declaration basis
Maximum 40 hours for all publications combined
Published materials & self-study combined	Maximum 40 hours
Self-study	Maximum 40 hours
Only ½ of the total credit hours (if the delivery method is non-interactive)
CPE credit calculation	University/College credit	1 semester hour = 15 CPE hours
1 quarter hour = 10 CPE hours
Instruction	50 minutes of presentation = 3 CPE
Partial credit	Permitted in quarter hour increments after the first full hour of credit is acquired

As per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Pennsylvania has one of the highest employment levels for accountants and auditors. It offers an average hourly wage of $37.41 and an annual average pay of $77,810. Also, the state provides 50,240 job opportunities for accountants.

Undoubtedly, Pennsylvania is a gateway to numerous career opportunities for CPAs. So, now that you know what it takes to achieve the title in Pennsylvania, start fulfilling the state-specific license requirements and prepping up for the CPA Exam as soon as possible. Learn more about CPEs for CPA