Louisiana

Eligibility for Examination

You must be of good moral character and meet the following educational requirements:

• have earned a baccalaureate degree from an academic institution recognized by the Board; and
• completed 24 semester (32 quarter) hours of graduate or undergraduate level accounting excluding introductory courses. The following accounting courses must be included:
  • Intermediate Accounting – 6 semester (8 quarter) hours (undergraduate level) OR 3 semester (4 quarter) hours (graduate level)
  • Cost/Managerial Accounting – 3 semester (4 quarter) hours
  • Taxation – 3 semester (4 quarter) hours
  • Auditing – 3 semester (4 quarter) hours
  • Accounting Electives above elementary level – 9 semester (12 quarter) hours
  • 24 semester (32 quarter) hours of business courses including:
    • Business Law – 3 semester (4 quarter) hours
    • General Business – 21 semester (28 quarter) hours

**If the required intermediate accounting course is at the graduate level, the total number of accounting credit required is 21 semester hours.

Education must be complete at the time of application.

Note: In order to qualify for licensure, you must have completed a minimum of 150 semester (225 quarter) hours of postsecondary, graduate or postgraduate education at an institution(s) recognized by the Board.

150 Hour Requirement

If you obtained a baccalaureate degree before 1992 from a Louisiana college or university which includes a concentration in accounting, please contact the Board to determine if you qualify for an exemption. If you took an examination approved by the Board prior to December 31, 1996, you remained eligible to take the examination until December 31, 1999. If you earned conditional credit which expires after December 31, 1999, you remain eligible until your conditional credit expires. The educational requirements cannot be circumvented by taking the CPA examination as an applicant of another state. Additional information about the 150 hour requirement is available upon request.

If you are applying for the Exam as a candidate of Louisiana and wish to transfer scores from another state, you must meet the Louisiana Board rules that were in effect at the time you applied for the Exam in your original jurisdiction. If you did not meet the Louisiana Board rules prior to August 1, 2016 (150 hour requirement) but were a resident of another state which did not have a 150 hour requirement and you met that state’s rules, the Louisiana Board will consider accepting the transfer of scores after you complete the education requirement for Louisiana. If you did not meet the 150 hour requirement prior to August 1, 2016 and qualified as a candidate of another state but you were a resident of Louisiana, your transfer of scores will not be accepted. You will need to become licensed elsewhere and may then apply for a reciprocal license in Louisiana.

Transcripts

If you who have completed the educational requirement 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 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 etranscript@nasba.org. 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 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 have completed educational requirements at institutions outside the U.S. at the time of application, you must:

• Have your educational credentials evaluated by: NASBA International Evaluation Services, or Foreign Academic Credentials Service (FACS). All education transcripts and/or international evaluations are required to be submitted at the time of application.
• 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

• Up to nine semester hours for internship and independent study may be applied to the education requirement. However, of the nine hours, a maximum of three semester hours may apply to the accounting courses, three semester hours toward the required business courses, and three semester hours toward the general education requirement.
• Credit obtained from accredited “junior,” “community,” or “two-year” colleges prior to, or concurrently with, the enrollment at a four-year institution, will be recognized to the extent it is recognized by the four-year institution and transferred to its official transcript as credit earned. Credit obtained at junior, community, or two-year colleges after the completion of course work at a four-year institution will not be accepted unless the candidate received advance approval by the Board.
• 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.
• CLEP courses are only acceptable to the extent they satisfy your degree requirements.
• Commercial CPA Review Courses are not acceptable.
• Course descriptions of all accounting and business courses taken at academic institutions outside Louisiana not clearly identified by titles are required.

References

As a first time applicant, you must submit reference signatures from three individuals that can attest to your moral character. References should be from CPAs or substantial and representative business or professional individuals. They should NOT be submitted by the following individuals:

• Current or former employer
• More than one member of a household
• Relative (by blood or marriage)
• Roommate
• Fellow student
• University or college instructor (unless they have had significant contact with you outside the classroom)
• Person with which you have a financial or business investment

> Download the Reference Signature Form

Residency

You must have maintained continuous residency in Louisiana for 120 days within one year preceding the application date to take the examination.

1. An official transcript from each school listed on your application. Transcripts must be sent directly from your school to CPA Examination Services.
2. Affidavit for Course Substitution, if applicable. Submission by you to CPAES.
3. Course descriptions, if applicable. Submission by you to CPAES.
4. Signed References Form. Submission by you to CPAES.
5. International Evaluation, if applicable. Submission by you or evaluation agency to CPAES.
6. 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.

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: $90.00

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: $344.80

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 by contacting the State Board of CPAs of Louisiana’s office at sitemaster@cpaboard.state.la.us.

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.

Transfer of Examination Credit

If you wish to transfer credit(s) from another jurisdiction into Louisiana, you must have earned credit under the same rules as are in effect in Louisiana. 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 have established residence in Louisiana and are still eligible to be considered a re-examination candidate in the original state where credit was earned.