Ohio

Eligibility for Examination

As a first-time applicant, you must:

1. Have good moral character;
2. Be at least 18 years old;
3. Have either a) completed a bachelor’s degree and 120 semester hours of college education from an institution accredited by an agency recognized by CHEA or b) completed an associate’s degree or higher and earned a minimum score of 620 on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT);
4. Have completed 24 semester hours in business subjects;
5. Have completed 30 semester hours in accounting at the undergraduate level. Eighteen semester hours of graduate credit in accounting will qualify as meeting the requirement.The accounting hours must include at least one course in each of the following:
   • financial accounting
   • management accounting
   • auditing with coverage of GAAS (Internal auditing may not be used for auditing, but may be used as an elective)
   • taxation

Note: Candidates who are licensed using a score on the GMAT in lieu of 120 semester hours of college education may not be able to earn reciprocity in another state without additional education.

Transcripts

If you have education credentials earned outside the U.S., you must:

• have your credentials evaluated by:
  • NASBA International Evaluation Services
  • One Earth International Credential Evaluations
  • Association of International Credential Evaluators (AICE).
  • any member organization of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES).
  • Any international credential evaluation service approved by another U.S. Accountancy Board.
  • ACREVS, Inc.
  • Center for Educational Documentation
  • Foreign Credentials Service of America
• obtain the form to request this service from the evaluation service agency,
• submit a translated copy of each international transcript used for the evaluation,
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Please Note: Individuals who complete a professional program may be eligible to receive academic credit toward meeting the educational requirements to sit for the examination if the program includes an academic component and the board approves the qualification/credential.

Course Requirements

• Commercial CPA review courses are not acceptable.
• Courses in auditing or external auditing will satisfy the auditing and professional ethics subject requirements.
• Courses in internal auditing may only be applied toward general accounting hours.
• Courses earned at a regionally 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 a regionally accredited university. These courses must appear on an official transcript.
• CPA Review Courses may be accepted as an accounting elective when taken at a regionally accredited institution and credit is awarded for the courses.

Residency

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

1. An official transcript from each school listed on your application. Transcripts must be sent directly from your school to CPA Examination Services.
2. 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.

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.

All first-time applicants are required to pay both an application fee and an examination fee upon submission of the first-time application. All re-examination candidates are required to pay both a registration fee and an examination fee at the time of registration.

You are able to apply for one or more sections of the examination at a time; however, you are advised to only apply for a section of the examination if you are ready to take it within the next six months.

Examination Fees

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.

A candidate who earns initial conditional credit on one of more subjects of the CPA Examination must complete the remaining subject or subjects of the examination by the last day of the eighteenth month from the date the candidate earns a passing grade on the first CPA Examination subject

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.