Ohio

Eligibility for Examination

As a first-time applicant, you must:

1. Be at least 18 years old;
2. Have either a) completed 120 semester hours of college education from an institution accredited by an agency approved by the board or b) earned a minimum score of 670 on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT);
3. Have completed 24 semester hours in business subjects;
4. Have completed 24 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
• 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.

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.

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: $360.64

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.

Candidates are allowed to sit for each section of the examination individually and in any order. Candidates retain credit for any section(s) passed for thirty (30) months, without having to attain a minimum score on failed sections and without regard to whether they have taken other sections. Candidates must pass all four sections of the examination within a “rolling” thirty (30)-month period that begins on the date of the score release. In the event all four sections of the examination are not passed within the rolling thirty (30)-month period, credit for any section(s) passed outside the thirty (30)-month period will expire and the section(s) must be retaken.

Written requests for exceptions to the requirements set forth above may be granted at the discretion of the Board for individual hardship or other good cause demonstrated in a timely manner.