Pennsylvania

Eligibility for Examination

As a first-time applicant, you must:

• be at least 18 years of age and of good moral character, and
• qualify under one of the following requirements: (the amount of education completed at the time of application is directly related to the amount of work experience necessary to obtain licensure. For more information you may view the website for the Pennsylvania State Board of Accountancy).

It is suggested that you review the CPA Law and Regulations prior to seeking licensure in Pennsylvania to ensure you are aware of all the licensure requirements.

Education Requirements for the Examination

Completed at least 120 semester credits from a college or university accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education, and completed at least a total of 24 semester credits, which credits shall be in accounting, auditing, business law, finance, tax, economics, and technology courses of a content satisfactory to the board, not necessarily as a part of your undergraduate work.

Education Requirements for Licensure

A Baccalaureate or higher degree from a college or university accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education (includes regional and national accrediting agencies) and completed a total of 150 semester credits of post-secondary education, including at least a total of 24 semester credits of accounting and auditing, business law, finance, microeconomics, macroeconomics or tax subjects of a content satisfactory to the board and an additional twelve semester credits in accounting, auditing and tax subjects of a content satisfactory to the board, not necessarily as part of your undergraduate or graduate work (see PA board website for more information).

All education must be met at the time of application. All educational transcripts and/or foreign evaluations are to be submitted prior to the submission of the first-time application to CPA Examination Services directly from the academic institution(s).The amount of education completed at the time of application is directly related to the amount of work experience necessary to obtain licensure.

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 [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 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., you must:

• Be evaluated by one of the following professional credential evaluation organizations to show U.S. equivalency:
  • NASBA International Evaluation Services
  • Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc.
  • Foreign Academic Credentials Service, Inc.
  • Josef Silny & Associates, Inc.
  • Foreign Credentials Service of America
  • World Education 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, online courses, pass/fail grades 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.
• One quarter unit or hour of credit is equivalent to two thirds of a semester unit or hour.

Residency

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

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

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.

Transfer of Examination Credit

If you wish to transfer credit from another jurisdiction into Pennsylvania, you must have earned credit under the same rules as are in effect in Pennsylvania. 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.