To become a CPA in California, you’ll need to meet the following requirements:
- Education: 120 semester hours of college education to sit for the exam, 150 hours to get licensed (or the new AB 1175 pathway from 2027)
- Exam: Pass all four sections of the Uniform CPA Exam
- Experience: One year (2,040 hours) of qualifying work experience
- Ethics: A 2-hour Regulatory Review course that recently replaced the state’s old PETH (Professional Ethics for CPAs) exam
- International candidates: No citizenship or residency required, though foreign degrees need credential evaluation
- Licensure & CPE: Apply to the California Board of Accountancy (CBA) for your license, then maintain it with 80 hours of CPE every 2 years
California gives you a 30-month rolling window to pass all four exam sections once you’ve passed your first, and operates as a one-tier state, meaning your CPA certificate and license are issued together rather than as two separate steps.
The sections below cover education, the exam itself, experience, ethics, international candidates, and ongoing CPE in detail.
Quick summary of California CPA requirements
| CPA Requirement | California |
|---|---|
| Hours to sit for exam | 120 semester hours |
| Hours to get licensed | 150 semester hours (or the new AB 1175 pathway from 2027) |
| CPA exam | Pass all 4 sections (AUD, FAR, REG + 1 discipline) |
| Work experience | 1 year (2,040 hours) |
| Ethics requirement | 2-hour Regulatory Review course |
| Credit window | 30 months, rolling |
| CPE | 80 hours per 2 years |
| Tier system | One-tier |
| International candidates | No citizenship/residency required |
Fee increase from 1 July 2026: California’s initial CPA license fee rose from $340 to $400, and the partnership/corporation permit fee rose from $400 to $520.
Professional Ethics (PETH) exam transition deadline: Until 1 July 2026, candidates who had passed California’s old PETH exam could use that score to satisfy the new Regulatory Review course requirement, or count it as 2 hours of technical CPE at their first renewal. That transition option has now closed.
Jump to: Education | Exam | Experience | Ethics | International candidates | CPE | FAQ
What are the CPA education requirements in California?
California splits education requirements into two stages: what you need to sit for the exam, and what you need to get licensed afterward. You don’t need the full 150 hours upfront – 120 is enough to start testing.
To sit for the CPA exam:
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Total credit hours | 120 semester units |
| Degree | Bachelor’s degree or higher, regionally or nationally accredited US institution (or equivalent foreign education) |
| Accounting coursework | 24 semester units |
| Business-related coursework | 24 semester units |
| Ethics coursework | None for applications received by 31 December 2026; 3 semester units from 1 January 2027 |
To obtain your CPA license (after passing the exam):
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Total credit hours | 150 semester units |
| Accounting study | 20 additional semester units |
| Ethics study | 10 semester units |
Still finishing your degree? You may qualify for early entry.
If you’re currently enrolled and within 180 days of completing your bachelor’s degree and required coursework (24 accounting + 24 business units), you can apply to sit for the exam under “Option C – Early Entry.”
You’ll then need to submit official transcripts proving you’ve met all requirements within 240 days of your application, or you risk losing your exam credits.
A quarter unit converts to 0.66 of a semester unit, so 36 quarter units of accounting equals the required 24 semester units. AP credits and community college units both count toward your totals, and you can’t double-count a single class toward two different requirements.
New licensure pathway from January 1, 2027: Under AB 1175, California is adding a new route to licensure alongside the current one.
Instead of 150 semester units and 1 year of experience, you can qualify with a bachelor’s degree in any field, an Accounting Concentration (24 semester units of accounting, 24 of business-related subjects and 3 of ethics), and 2 years of experience.
A master’s degree in accounting, taxation or tax law cuts the experience requirement to 1 year, and a CBA-recognized certificate cuts it by 6 months. Both pathways are accepted during 2027 and 2028, and only the new pathway applies from January 1, 2029.
As of September 2026, the California Board of Accountancy says the Accounting Concentration course list is not yet final.
If your degree is from outside the US, your transcripts need evaluation by an approved credentialing agency – see international candidates below.
Jump to: Education | Exam | Experience | Ethics | International candidates | CPE | FAQ
What are the CPA exam requirements in California?
| Detail | California |
|---|---|
| Education evaluation fee | None (CBA reviews transcripts directly) |
| Application fee (first-time) | $100 |
| Application fee (repeat) | $50 |
| Registration fee per section | None |
| Exam section fee | $268.59 |
| Total exam fees, 4 sections + app fee | $1,174.36 ($268.59 x4 + $100) |
| NTS validity period | 9 months (longer than the 6-month standard) |
| Credit window | 30 months, rolling from first passing score |
| Citizenship/residency required | No |
| Minimum age | None |
Once you meet the requirements to sit for the CPA exam:
- To apply, create a Client Account with the CBA and submit your application along with official transcripts (sent directly from your school, not by you).
- Once approved, you’ll select your exam sections, including your Discipline choice (you have up to a year after approval to decide on BAR, ISC, or TCP).
- NASBA then sends a payment coupon, valid for 90 days, followed by your Notice to Schedule (NTS) once payment clears.
- California’s NTS gives you nine months to sit for your selected sections, longer than the 6-month window most states use.
Once you pass your first section, your 30-month credit window begins from the date your first passing score is released, not the date you sat the exam. If you don’t pass all four sections within that window, you lose credit for your earliest passed section, and the clock resets from your next-oldest passing score.
For a full breakdown of total CPA exam costs including study materials, ethics exam, and license fees, see our CPA exam cost guide.
Jump to: Education | Exam | Experience | Ethics | International candidates | CPE | FAQ
What are the CPA experience requirements in California?
| Detail | California |
|---|---|
| General experience required | 1 year (2,040 hours) |
| Attest/audit experience (if signing attest reports) | +500 hours |
| Part-time equivalence | 170 hours = 1 month full-time |
| Supervisor requirement (public accounting) | Active CPA license, any US state or country |
| Supervisor requirement (non-public accounting) | Active US CPA license, plus second signature from their direct report |
| Teaching alternative | 48 credit hours of accounting courses taught at an accredited college can satisfy the requirement |
The CBA counts 170 hours as equivalent to one month of full-time work, so part-time roles and internships can count toward your total as long as they’re properly supervised.
If you want to sign attest or audit reports yourself, you’ll need an additional 500 hours specifically in attest or audit work – and if you’re already licensed with general experience, you can add attest authority later by completing just those 500 hours, without resubmitting transcripts.
Jump to: Education | Exam | Experience | Ethics | International candidates | CPE | FAQ
What are the CPA ethics requirements in California?
| Detail | California |
|---|---|
| Initial licensure exam | None (PETH exam discontinued) |
| Ethics requirement at first renewal | 2-hour Board-approved Regulatory Review course |
| Ongoing ethics requirement | Repeat Regulatory Review course every 6 years |
| PETH transition option | Closed since 1 July 2026 |
California no longer requires the standalone PETH exam for initial licensure – the CPA exam itself now covers much of that content.
Instead, newly licensed CPAs complete a CBA-approved 2-hour Regulatory Review course as part of their first license renewal, even if that renewal falls less than six months after licensure.
After your first renewal, the same course repeats every six years as part of your ongoing CPE.
Jump to: Education | Exam | Experience | Ethics | International candidates | CPE | FAQ
What are the CPA requirements for international candidates in California?
| Detail | California |
|---|---|
| Citizenship/residency required | No |
| Foreign transcript evaluation required | Yes |
| Accepted evaluation services | ACEI, IERF, NIES, WES |
| Electronic submission to CBA | Yes, for ACEI, IERF, NIES, and WES |
| International Prometric testing | Available via NASBA/AICPA’s iExam program |
If your degree was earned outside the US, your transcripts need evaluation by an approved service:
- the Academic Credentials Evaluation Institute (ACEI),
- International Education Research Foundation (IERF),
- NASBA International Evaluation Service (NIES), or
- World Education Services (WES).
Evaluations from these four services can be submitted to the CBA electronically; other evaluation services require an official sealed copy mailed directly to the CBA.
California participates in NASBA and the AICPA’s iExam program, which lets you sit for the exam at select international Prometric centers rather than traveling to the US.
What are the CPE requirements for CPAs in California?
| Detail | California |
|---|---|
| Total CPE | 80 hours per 2-year cycle |
| Annual minimum | 20 hours per year |
| Technical hours required | 12 hours per year minimum |
| Ethics CPE | 4 hours per 2 years |
| Regulatory Review (ongoing) | 2 hours every 6 years |
| Fraud CPE (if applicable) | 4 hours, for attest/governmental auditing/preparation engagements |
| License renewal fee | $400 (since 1 July 2026) |
| Renewal cycle | Every 2 years, due last day of birth month |
By the way, California’s “20/12 rule” means you can’t front-load all 80 hours into a single year of your renewal cycle – at least 20 hours, including 12 technical hours, are required each year.
CPAs whose work involves attest, governmental auditing, or preparation engagements need an additional 4 hours of fraud-related CPE on top of the standard requirements.
FAQs about California CPA requirements
Not under the standard pathway – California requires at least a bachelor’s degree (120 semester hours) to sit for the exam and 150 hours to get licensed.
There’s no experience-based alternative to the degree requirement in California, unlike some states that allow extensive work experience to substitute for formal education.
Most candidates take 5-7 years total: roughly 4-5 years to complete 150 semester hours of education, 6-18 months to pass all four exam sections, and 1 year of qualifying work experience (which often overlaps with finishing your degree or studying for the exam). Candidates who already hold a relevant degree and move efficiently through the exam can finish faster.
From 2027, the new pathway removes the 150-hour requirement but needs 2 years of experience instead of 1.
Yes – California, like most US states, is experiencing a CPA shortage driven by retiring CPAs outpacing new entrants to the profession. This has made CPA licensure increasingly valuable for career advancement and job security in the state’s accounting sector.
CPA salaries in California vary significantly by region, industry, and experience level, with the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles generally commanding higher salaries than the national average. For a full breakdown by experience level and specialization, see our CPA salary guide.
No – California doesn’t require US citizenship or state residency to sit for the CPA exam or obtain your license. International candidates need their foreign education evaluated by an approved credentialing service before applying.
Generally yes – California is one of 55 jurisdictions recognized as “substantially equivalent” under the Uniform Accountancy Act, meaning a CPA licensed in good standing in California can typically practice in other states without obtaining a new license, as long as California remains your principal place of business. This is called mobility, and it’s different from moving your practice permanently to another state, which requires a reciprocal license instead.
Some practice types still require state-specific registration even where mobility applies – California requires registration for any attest service, not just audits.
Always verify with NASBA’s CPA Mobility Tool before practicing in a new state, since rules vary by service type. California’s licensing framework is also changing under AB 1175, which was signed into law in October 2025: its mobility provisions took effect on 1 January 2026, and its new licensure pathway starts on 1 January 2027.
For the most current information, visit the California Board of Accountancy.
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