Puerto Rico

As a first-time applicant, you must:

• Be a resident of Puerto Rico or have a place of business in Puerto Rico. Please note: Initial and re-examination candidates must meet the residency requirement.
• If you are not a U.S. citizen, you must submit statements of intention to become a citizen of the U.S. with your application.

On or after June 16, 2024, you must meet the following education requirement to sit for the exam:

• At least 120 semester (or equivalent) credits of general college level education from an accredited college/university.

• Completed 24 semester (or equivalent) credits in accounting subjects with a grade of “C” or higher in all accounting courses.
• Completed 24 semester (or equivalent) credits in general business with an average grade of “C” or higher.

Please note that to obtain the license, you must meet the following education requirements:

• Completed 150 semester credits of general college education with an average grade of no less than “C” or its equivalent.
• Baccalaureate degree from an accredited college/university.

• Completed 32 semester credits (or equivalent) in accounting subjects with a grade of “C” or higher in all accounting courses.
• Completed 32 semester credits (or equivalent) in general business with an average grade of “C” or higher.

If you completed your education on or before December 31, 1999, you may qualify by one of the following:

• Earned a baccalaureate degree in Business Administration with a major in accounting from a college or university approved by the Board, OR
• Earned a baccalaureate degree from a college or university recognized by the Board and completed at least 58 semester (or equivalent) hours in business subjects, of which 32 semester (or equivalent) hours must be in accounting; OR
• Have a baccalaureate degree from a college or university recognized by the Board and, in the absence of having completed the required number of credit hours in business subjects, provide evidence of completing eight years of public accounting experience.

All educational requirements must be met at the time of application. All educational transcript(s) are required to be submitted to CPA Examination Services directly from the academic institution(s).

Transcripts

If you have completed all educational requirements at the time of application:

• You must submit an official transcript from each school you attended. Transfer credits are not acceptable; you must submit a transcript from each institution.
• Official transcripts are those that have been issued by the institution’s Registrar’s Office and include the Registrar’s official seal.
• Your official transcript(s) must be submitted directly from the institution(s).
• Transcripts may be submitted electronically provided they are official. Some schools do not offer this service. Contact your Registrar’s office for additional information. If an email address is required for electronic delivery, use [email protected]. Electronically delivered transcripts must be submitted directly from the institution(s).
• Photocopies of transcripts are not official and cannot be accepted.
• Please Note: If you have not yet applied when you submit your transcripts, your education documents will be kept on file for one year. After that time, the documents will be destroyed, and you will need to resubmit new education documents when you apply.

If you have international education credentials, you must:

• Have your 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.
• Completed original evaluations must be received by CPAES directly from the evaluation service at the time of application. Photocopies are not acceptable.
• 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.
• Please Note: If you have not yet applied, the education documents received will be kept on file for one year. After that time, these documents will be destroyed, and you will need to resubmit new education documents at the time of application.
• Education requirements must be met through academic coursework completed at an accredited institution. Professional training is not acceptable toward these requirements. Coursework completed as part of a Chartered Accountant or similar program is considered professional training and is, therefore, not accepted toward the education requirements for the U.S. Uniform CPA Examination.

Course Requirements

• Courses earned at an accredited community college or two-year degree-granting institution are acceptable.
• Correspondence, online courses, and CLEP credit are acceptable when you receive credit for the courses at an accredited university. These courses must appear on an official transcript.
• CPA Review Courses may be accepted when taken at an accredited institution and credit is awarded for the courses.

For those who graduated before December 31, 1999, applicants must meet one of the following:

• A baccalaureate degree in business administration with a major in accounting from a nationally or regionally accredited college or university approved by the Board; OR
• A baccalaureate degree from a national or regional accredited college or university recognized by the Board and at least 58 semester (87 quarter) hours in business subjects, of which 32 semester (48 quarter) hours must be in accounting; OR
• A baccalaureate degree from a national or regional accredited college or university recognized by the Board and, in the absence of having completed the required number of credit hours in business subjects, provide evidence of completing eight years of public accounting experience. (At its discretion, the Board may accept as an equivalent to the one year public accounting experience requirement: two years of private or government accounting experience or two years of university-level teaching in the discipline of accounting.)

For those who graduated after December 31, 1999:

• Complete 150 semester hours of general college education.
• Baccalaureate degree from a nationally or regionally accredited college/university.
• 32 semester hours (48 quarter hours) in accounting.
• 32 semester hours (48 quarter hours) in general business.
• Minimum 2.0 GPA in accounting and business courses.

Applicants must pass the Uniform CPA Examination.

• Initial – $207
• Transfer of Grades – $250
• Reciprocal – $250
• Firm – $290
• Individual Renewal – $225
• Firm Renewal – $225

Experience Requirement for Licensure Effective July 1, 2013

One (1) year of full-time experience in the areas of public accounting, industry/private practice, or academia:

• Must include a minimum of 1,820 qualifying hours
• Experience must be verified by a CPA in good standing. (Supervision is not required by a CPA)
• A minimum of three (3) years part-time experience is acceptable.

Effective January 1, 2014, NASBA will no longer accept paper applications. All applications for licensure and/or renewal must be submitted through the NASBA Online Licensing Application System.

Click the following links to apply online:

• APPLY ONLINE – Individual License
• APPLY ONLINE – Firm License

Applicants who obtained their education outside the United States must have their transcripts evaluated by one of the Puerto Rico State Board approved foreign credential evaluation services listed below. Please note: Only applicants with U.S. citizenship will be considered for licensure.

• NASBA International Evaluation Services
  

• Applicant must hold an active U.S. CPA license.
• Applicant must present a certificate of no penal record indicating that he/she has not been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor that implies moral turpitude. The certificate must come from the jurisdiction which issued the applicant’s license and from the jurisdiction where his main office is established if different. If the applicant is living in Puerto Rico, they must provide one from both Puerto Rico and the jurisdiction which issued their license.
• Applicant must present verification of active licensure from all places holding an active license, stating the candidate’s compliance with the requisites of Puerto Rico.
• Applicant must have completed 120 hours of CPE within 3 years preceding the date of application. (3) credit hours in subjects related to professional ethics of CPAs, the content of these courses should be based in the Code of Professional Conduct of the AICPA.
• Applicants must have five years of experience in the practice of public accountancy outside of Puerto Rico within the past 10 years preceding the date of application. (1,800 qualifying hours per year.)
• Applicants must provide a Certificate of Compliance with ASUME.
• Applicant must obtain a certificate of membership of the Puerto Rico CPA Society, as required by Law No. 75 of May 31, 1973, as soon as NASBA indicates that it meets all requirements for a reciprocal license. You may contact Maria T. Laboy at the Puerto Rico Society, at 787-754-1950 in order to obtain the certificate.
• After compiling all the required documentation, NASBA will submit the information to the Puerto Rico Board of Accountancy for final approval and issuance of the license.

To apply for a CPA firm license in Puerto Rico, a firm must meet each of the following requirements:

• A copy of the firm’s operating agreement.
• In the case that the purposes are not specific, applicant must also include a sworn statement indicating that the firms will only provide professional accounting services.
• A list of stockholders, members and partners with their respective CPA license number and expiration date.
• Copies of their respective CPA licenses.
• Firm must have a physical office in Puerto Rico. (Puerto Rico CPA registered agent address is acceptable)
• Firm must be registered at the Corporation Division of the Puerto Rico Department of State
• https://rceweb.estado.pr.gov/en
• At least one partner, member, owner, or shareholder thereof must be a certified public accountant of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico with all his/her rights and who, for purposes of the United States Internal Revenue Code, be considered as bona fide resident of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
• Notwithstanding the requirements of other laws, each partner, member, owner, or shareholder of the firm who resides within the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and who is a public accountant, must be an authorized certified public accountant of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico with all his/her rights.
• Each partner, member, owner or shareholder of the firm that personally signs reports under the Public Accounting Law of 1945, as amended, within the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico must be an authorized certified public accountant of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, with all his/her rights.
• Each resident agent or agent in charge of a firm office in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico must be a certified public accountant or public accountant of Puerto Rico with a license issued by the Puerto Rico Board of Accountancy, with all his/her rights.

Continuing Professional Education – Regulation No. 9612, Sections 5.01 to 5.25. Click the following links to apply online:

• APPLY ONLINE – Renew Individual License
• APPLY ONLINE – Renew Firm License

Renewal period

August 1 to December 1 (every three years).

• Application and payment must be submitted and received before December 1 of the year the license expires.

Reporting period

August 1 to July 31

Please Note: If an application is past the 12/1 deadline, CPE can only be counted from the date the application was received and back three years.

Extensions

Extensions may be requested from the Board to complete the continuing education requirements. The deadline to request it is December 1st of the year in which the license expires and must be requested together with the renewal application and the required information.

CPE Requirements

Public Practice CPA

Total 120 CPE credits

• At least forty (40) of the one hundred and twenty (120) required credit hours must be accumulated in accounting, auditing, and tax subjects, to be taken according to one of the following two alternatives: (a) 12 credit hours in subjects in accounting or auditing and 28 credit hours in tax or (b) 12 credit hours in tax and 28 credit hours in accounting or auditing.
• Three (3) credit hours in subjects related to CPA professional ethics. The content of these courses must be based on the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct and the courses must be provided by registered sponsors, according to Section 5.05 of Regulation No. 9612.
• Remaining credit hours can be taken in finance, management, economics, commercial law, labor law, quantitative methods, statistics, information systems, practice management, communication, behavioral sciences, public relations, and sales of securities. The credit hours in the fields of communication, behavioral sciences, public relations, and sales of securities may not exceed 24 credit hours.
• CPAs may accumulate up to a maximum of ten (10) credit hours per day (24-hour period).

Private Practice CPA

Total = 120 CPE credits

• At least thirty (30) to a maximum of sixty (60) of the required credit hours may be taken in subjects directly related to the industry in which the CPA works and/or positions occupied.

• Three (3) credit hours in subjects related to CPA professional ethics. The content of these courses must be based on the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct and the courses must be provided by registered sponsors, according to Article 6 of Regulation 9447.
• The remaining CPE required hours must be related to the field of business administration, accounting, auditing, contributions, or economic activity. You may also use to meet the CPE requirement those courses and/or seminars aimed at training the practitioner in other disciplines and/or professions such as real estate appraiser and real estate salesperson up to a maximum of twenty-four (24) credit hours, a limitation that will not apply as long as these courses are directly related to the industry in which the CPA works.
• CPAs may use to meet the CPE requirement the courses and/or seminars aimed at training the practitioner in other disciplines and/or professions – such as real estate appraiser and real estate salesperson – a maximum of twenty-four (24) credit hours.
• CPAs may accumulate up to a maximum of ten (10) credit hours per day (24-hour period).

Credit limitations

• Independent study programs will be credited based on fifty percent (50%) of the course credits.
• Independent study and/or self-study programs may not exceed fifty percent (50%) of the total credits claimed in each renewal period.
• No more than 24 credits in communications, human behavior sciences, public relations and sale of securities may not exceed twenty-four (24) credit hours.

Acceptable providers

• Puerto Rico Society
• NASBA National Registry Sponsors
• Puerto Rico Universities
  • CPA’s requesting CPE credits for courses given in Universities must maintain as evidence a certification issued by the University Registry’s Office
• Puerto Rico Governments, Associations, etc. (i.e. PR Department of Treasury, IRS)
• Other entities as approved by the Board.

Verification of licensure
All verifications of licensure for Puerto Rico are done through the NASBAstore.

Individuals needing verifications on board-specific forms must apply and pay online, then email the form to [email protected].