Hawaii

Eligibility for Examination

As a first-time applicant, you must:

1. be at least 18 years of age, and
2. meet the minimum education requirement at the time of application, or expect to meet it within 120 days following the first date you sit for the Exam, which is:

• a baccalaureate degree in accounting conferred by a college or university acceptable to the Board; or
• a baccalaureate degree with a major in a subject other than accounting, plus 18 semester hours of upper division or graduate level accounting or auditing subjects, conferred by a college or university acceptable to the Board; or
• a baccalaureate degree or its equivalent in accounting, conferred by a college or university outside of the U.S., which has been reported on an educational course-by-course equivalency report prepared by an evaluator approved by the Board.

You may submit a letter of acceptance from an accredited U.S. college or university to its advanced degree program as evidence of a degree. NOTE: You are required to meet the 150 semester hour educational requirement to obtain a CPA License in the State of Hawaii.

All educational transcripts, Certificate of Enrollments and/or foreign evaluations are required to be submitted to CPA Examination Services. You may submit official school transcripts, Certificate of Enrollments and/or foreign evaluations separately or included with the first-time application.

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.
• The degree you have earned must be posted on your official transcript.
• Transcripts must be submitted directly from your academic institution.
• Photocopies of transcripts are not official and cannot be accepted.
• If you completed courses at a campus located outside the U.S. for a school located in the U.S., the official transcript must be issued by the registrar from the U.S. campus. Transcripts issued by the registrar for the campus located outside the U.S. will not be accepted.

If you are currently enrolled in college at the time of application, you must:

• Submit an official transcript from each school you attended.
• Submit to CPA Examination Services a completed Certificate of Enrollment form. This form is evidence that you are currently enrolled and that all courses and graduation requirements will be completed no later than 120 days following the first date you sit for the Exam. The form must be signed by an authorized official of the college and signed by you.
• If you completed courses at a campus located outside the U.S. for a school located in the U.S., the official transcript must be issued by the registrar from the U.S. campus. Transcripts issued by the registrar for the campus located outside the U.S. will not be accepted.

After all educational requirements have been met, you must:

• Have the academic institution(s) submit to CPAES an official transcript to confirm degree conferral and satisfactory completion of courses.
• The final official transcript must display satisfactory completion of all courses and the degree graduation date.
• Official transcripts must be sent directly from your school to CPAES Examination Services.

You are advised:

• If you fail to successfully complete the courses and/or degree requirements as indicated on your Certificate of Enrollment, your examination score(s) will be voided.
• You will not be permitted to apply for future examinations until CPAES receives your final official transcript.
• If we do not receive your final official transcript, your application will be determined to be incomplete. You will not receive any credit for any Uniform CPA Examination section(s) you have taken. You will be required to reapply as a First-time applicant (and meet the eligibility requirements in effect at that time) to be permitted to take any future examinations.

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.
• 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, 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.
• If you completed courses at a campus located outside the U.S. for a school located in the U.S., the official transcript must be issued by the registrar from the U.S. campus. Transcripts issued by the registrar for the campus located outside the U.S. will not be accepted.
• 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

• Commercial CPA review courses are not acceptable.
• Correspondence and online courses are acceptable when you receive credit for the courses at a regionally accredited university. These courses must appear on an official transcript.
• Education earned at a community college or two-year degree granting institution is not acceptable unless transferred into a regionally accredited four-year institution.
• Upper division courses means courses usually taken at the junior or senior undergraduate level.

Residency

There is not a residency requirement for the state of Hawaii.

1. An official transcript from each school listed on your application. Transcripts must be sent directly from your school to CPA Examination Services.
2. Certificate of Enrollment, if applicable. Submission by you or school to CPAES.
3. International Evaluation, if applicable. Submission by you or evaluation agency to CPAES.
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.

If you have previously applied and sat but were currently enrolled in college at the time of application (Certificate of Enrollment form), you are NOT automatically considered a re-examination candidate.

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: $93.00

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 Application Fee: $355.64

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.

You may take the required test sections individually and in any order, but are required to pass all four sections of the examination within a rolling 18 month period, which begins on the date the first examination section passed was taken.

Credit for any section passed shall be valid for 18 months from the actual date the examination sections were taken. Examination credit expires by section. You will lose credit for each section passed outside the 18 month period, and will have to retake those sections.

Eligibility for CPA License

You are required to meet the 150 semester hour education requirement to obtain a CPA License in Hawaii.

Transfer of Examination Credit

To transfer credit(s) from another jurisdiction into Hawaii, you must have earned credit under the same rules as are in effect in Hawaii. If you have passed one or more sections of the CPA examination under another jurisdiction, you shall be given conditional credit by this board provided you are still eligible to be considered a re-examination candidate in the original state where credit was earned.