Washington

Effective November 20, 2025, to be eligible to sit for the CPA Exam and for CPA licensure, you must have completed one of the general education requirements:

Option A:

• Baccalaureate degree
• Accounting concentration or equivalent

Option B:

• Post-baccalaureate degree
• Accounting concentration or equivalent

Option C:*

• Baccalaureate degree
• Accounting concentration or equivalent
• Plus, an additional 30 semester hours (45 quarter hours) of college education

*If you sat for the CPA Exam as a Washington State Exam candidate through Option A and apply for CPA licensure through Option C, you must complete the additional hours indicated and submit your official transcript to NASBA Licensing Services for evaluation prior to applying for licensure. This option expires December 31, 2035.

Accounting Concentration or Equivalent

To qualify under any of the options above, your education must include an accounting concentration or equivalent, which is defined as:

• 24 semester hours (36 quarter hours) or the equivalent in accounting subjects; and
• 24 semester hours (36 quarter hours) or the equivalent in business administration subjects at the undergraduate or graduate level.
• Excess accounting hours may count towards the required business administration semester hours.

You must meet the Board’s education requirements before you apply to sit for the CPA Exam or apply for CPA licensure.

If you have completed educational requirements at institutions outside the U.S., you must:

• Have your educational credentials evaluated by NASBA International Evaluation Services.
• Require the agency to evaluate as follows:
  • An equivalency summary that indicates the analogous academic degrees in the U.S. you hold;
  • A credential analysis that specifies:
    • The name of the country;
    • The degree awarded;
    • The year the degree was awarded; and
    • The entity that awarded the degree;
  • A course-by-course listing; and
  • A course credit analysis that includes:
    • Total credits earned toward the degree as stated on transcripts submitted;
    • Total accounting credits earned; and
    • Total business credits earned.
• All educational requirements must be met at the time of application. Official educational transcript(s) and/or foreign evaluations are required to be submitted to NASBA Licensing directly from the academic institution(s) or the evaluation service.
• A copy of the international transcript must be included with the report sent to NASBA for each individual evaluation from the evaluation service. The application will be considered incomplete without these documents, and the processing of the application will not move forward until transcripts are provided.

Note: the transcript for courses taken at a campus located outside the U.S. for a U.S. school must be issued by the registrar at the U.S. campus.

1. Official transcript(s). Transcripts must be sent directly from your school to CPA Examination Services.
2. International Evaluation, if applicable. Directly from evaluation agency to CPAES.
3. International transcripts, if applicable, in your native language and translated to English. Directly from each academic institution to CPAES or as an attachment to your International Evaluation Report.
4. Testing Accommodations Request Form, if applicable. Submission by you to CPAES.

Please allow two to four weeks from your file completion date (when application, fees and all additional required materials have been received) for your application to be processed. Acknowledgment of receipt of application will be sent to you via email, unless otherwise indicated. This notice is sent only as acknowledgment of receipt of application.

Supporting documents are required to be submitted at the time of application. If required documentation is not received within 45 days of the submission date of your application, your application will be marked as incomplete and will not be processed further. Failure to submit all required supporting documents will result in the denial of your application, forfeiture of your application fee, and the secure destruction of all documents submitted.

Applicants with Disabilities

In accordance with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, examination administration accommodations are available, should you qualify. Please download the Testing Accommodations Request Form for more information.

Education Evaluation Application

Before you can apply for an exam section you must first be deemed eligible for the CPA Exam. Your Evaluation Application will determine if you meet the educational requirements needed to take the CPA Exam for your selected jurisdiction.

Education Evaluation Application Fee: $96.00

Exam Section Application

Once you have been found eligible for the CPA Exam you may then apply for a specific exam section. You can only apply for one exam section per application. You are advised to only apply for the exam section if you are ready to take it. Your Notice to Schedule will be valid for a limited amount of time, and you must take the exam section listed on the NTS within this time frame or you will lose those fees paid.

Exam Section Fee: $262.64

Exam Application Fee: $103.00

Refund Policy

There is no provision for withdrawing from the examination and/or requesting an extension of your current Notices to Schedule (NTS). Application and/or examination fees are not refundable. If you have an extreme circumstance, you may request an NTS extension or a partial refund of your examination fees under specific circumstances utilizing the Exception to Policy Form.

Candidates are allowed to sit for each section of the examination individually and in any order. Candidates retain credit for any section(s) passed for thirty-six (36) months, without having to attain a minimum score on failed sections and without regard to whether they have taken other sections. Candidates must pass all four sections of the examination within a “rolling” thirty-six (36) month period that begins on the date of the score release. In the event all four sections of the examination are not passed within the rolling thirty-six (36) month period, credit for any section(s) passed outside the thirty-six (36) month period will expire and the section(s) must be retaken.

The Board will not grant exceptions to the requirements set forth for any reason.