To become a CPA in Oklahoma, you’ll need to meet the following requirements:
- Education: A bachelor’s degree with 120 semester hours including 24 accounting hours to sit for the exam; 150 semester hours with 30 accounting hours for certification
- Exam: Pass all four sections of the Uniform CPA Exam, applied for directly through the Oklahoma Accountancy Board, within a 30-month rolling credit window
- Experience: 1,800 hours of qualifying accounting work within the 4 years preceding your certification application, verified by an active CPA
- Ethics: Pass the AICPA Professional Ethics exam with a 90% minimum score before submitting your certification application
- Certification and permit: Oklahoma is a two-tier state – a CPA Certificate and a Permit to Practice Public Accounting are both required before you can use the CPA title or offer public accounting services
- International candidates: No residency requirement (repealed November 2025); lawful US presence and SSN required; NIES only for foreign credential evaluation
- CPE: 120 hours per rolling 3-year period, minimum 20 hours per year; licences renew annually on the last day of your birth month
Oklahoma is a two-tier state where the CPA title requires both a certificate AND a permit.
Unlike some two-tier states where the certificate alone allows use of the CPA designation, Oklahoma statute explicitly prohibits using the CPA title unless you hold both a valid CPA Certificate and a current Permit to Practice Public Accounting.
The certificate is issued upon meeting education, exam, experience, and ethics requirements. A separate permit – renewed annually and requiring 40 CPE hours to obtain initially – is required before you can use the CPA designation or offer any public accounting services.
The sections below cover education, the exam itself, certification and experience, ethics, international candidates, ongoing CPE, and answers to frequently asked questions in detail.
Oklahoma CPA requirements: quick summary
| CPA requirement | Oklahoma |
|---|---|
| Hours to sit for exam | 120 semester hours (24 accounting + 9 upper-division business) |
| Hours to certify | 150 semester hours (30 accounting + 9 upper-division business) |
| CPA exam | Pass all 4 sections (AUD, FAR, REG + 1 discipline) |
| Work experience | 1,800 hours within last 4 years |
| Ethics requirement | AICPA Professional Ethics exam, 90% score |
| Credit window | 30 months, rolling from first passing score release |
| CPE | 120 hours per rolling 3-year period, 20 hours per year minimum |
| Tier system | Two-tier (certificate + permit both required for CPA title) |
| Minimum age | Not stated |
| Residency | Not required (repealed November 2025) |
Oklahoma’s credit window was recently extended from 18 months to 30 months.
The Oklahoma Accountancy Board’s updated administrative rules, applied retroactively to all active scores, now give candidates 30 months from the score release date of their first passing section to complete all four exam sections. Candidates who had active scores under the old 18-month window have automatically received the benefit of the full 30-month period.
Jump to: Education | Exam | Certification & experience | Ethics | International candidates | CPE | FAQ
What are the CPA education requirements in Oklahoma?
Oklahoma uses different education thresholds for sitting the exam and obtaining a CPA Certificate, with the specific accounting and business coursework requirements applying at both stages.
Requirements to sit for the exam
To be eligible to sit for the CPA Exam as an Oklahoma candidate, you must hold a bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited four-year college or university, and have completed at least 120 semester hours including:
Accounting – 24 semester hours above principles of accounting (not introductory accounting), including at least one course in auditing or assurance. The remaining accounting hours may include:
- Financial accounting and accounting theory
- Cost or managerial accounting
- Federal income tax
- Governmental and not-for-profit accounting
- Accounting information systems
- Accounting history
- Other accounting electives
Business – 9 semester hours at upper-division level (300/3000 level or above) from:
Economics, statistics, business law, finance, business management, marketing, business communication, risk management, insurance, management information systems, or computer science.
Graduate level financial and managerial accounting courses do not count toward the 24 accounting hours if they are equivalent to undergraduate principles. All educational requirements must be met at the time the application is filed – the OAB cannot waive any eligibility requirements.
Requirements to obtain a CPA Certificate
| Requirement | To sit | To certify |
|---|---|---|
| Total credit hours | 120 semester hours | 150 semester hours |
| Accounting hours | 24 (above principles, incl. auditing) | 30 (above principles, incl. auditing) |
| Business hours | 9 upper-division | 9 upper-division (already met) |
| Degree | Bachelor’s or higher | Bachelor’s or higher |
No new pathways: Oklahoma remains on the 150-hour-only certification pathway with no alternative routes as of 2026.
For a full breakdown of total CPA exam costs including study materials, see our CPA exam cost guide. For help choosing a CPA review course, our guide covers all major providers.
Jump to: Education | Exam | Certification & experience | Ethics | International candidates | CPE | FAQ
What are the CPA exam requirements in Oklahoma?
Oklahoma processes all exam applications directly through the Oklahoma Accountancy Board – candidates do not apply through NASBA’s CPA Examination Services portal. Applications are submitted through the OAB Online Portal.
The application process has two steps:
- Submit a Qualification Application for Eligibility to the OAB ($90 fee) with notarised Affidavit of Lawful Presence, 2×2 photograph, and official transcripts. Do not submit the exam application at the same time – it will be returned.
- Once approved, submit a Candidate for Examination Application ($75 per application) through the OAB portal. After approval, NASBA sends a Payment Coupon by email for the section sitting fees, valid for 90 days. Pay the coupon to receive your NTS.
| Detail | Oklahoma |
|---|---|
| Qualification/Eligibility Application fee (one-time, new applicants) | $90.00 |
| Candidate for Examination Application fee (per application to OAB) | $75.00 |
| NASBA section fee via Payment Coupon | $268.59 per section |
| Total exam fees, new candidate, 4 sections (assuming 1 section per application) | $1,464.36 ($90 + $75 x 4 + $268.59 × 4) |
| NTS validity | 6 months |
| Credit window | 30 months, rolling from score release date |
| Residency required | No (repealed November 2025) |
| SSN required | Yes |
| Notarisation required | Yes (eligibility application) |
| Photo required | Yes – 2×2 passport type |
The $75 Candidate for Examination Application fee is paid once per application regardless of how many sections are included in that application. A national criminal background check is conducted as part of the application process. Score results are available through the OAB online dashboard and are also sent by US mail; scores are only made official once certified by the OAB.
Oklahoma Prometric test centres are in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Candidates may also sit at any approved Prometric centre in any other state.
For a full breakdown of total CPA exam costs, see our CPA exam cost guide.
What are the CPA certification and experience requirements in Oklahoma?
Experience requirements
| Detail | Oklahoma |
|---|---|
| Required hours | 1,800 hours |
| Time limit | Within 4 years immediately preceding the certification application |
| Acceptable types | Accounting, attestation, consulting, compilation, financial advisory, management, or tax |
| Acceptable settings | Public accounting, industry, government, or academia |
| Verifying CPA | Active CPA licensee with direct knowledge of the applicant’s work |
| Verification form | Experience Verification Form – must be notarised (verifier cannot both sign and notarise) |
Experience spanning more than one employer requires separate Experience Verification Forms for each. Verifiers whose relationship to the applicant is other than direct supervisor, manager, or boss may require additional review by the Board’s Experience Verification Committee.
Two-tier structure: certificate and permit
Once all requirements are met, the Certification Application is submitted through the OAB online portal. This application grants the CPA Certificate. A Permit to Practice Public Accounting is a separate but related requirement:
| CPA Certificate | Permit to Practice | |
|---|---|---|
| Required for CPA title | Yes | Yes – both required |
| Required to practice publicly | Yes | Yes |
| Experience needed | Yes | Already met for certificate |
| Initial permit CPE | N/A | 40 CPE hours within prior calendar year or last 365 days |
| Annual renewal | By last day of birth month | By last day of birth month |
The permit is required if you are employed with a public accounting firm or plan to provide public accounting related services to the public. An Interim Permit is available when a permit is needed outside the normal renewal period.
Fees
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Annual registration fee (certificate/licence) | $75.00 per year ($50.00 age 65+) |
| Initial permit fee | $125.00 |
| Annual permit renewal | $125.00 per year |
| Late registration within 12 months of lapse | $75.00 additional |
| Late registration after 12 months | $125.00 additional |
| Reinstatement within first year | $125.00 |
All certificates, licences, and permits renew annually on the last day of the registrant’s birth month. The renewal window opens 3 months before the expiry date.
What are the CPA ethics requirements in Oklahoma?
Oklahoma requires the AICPA Professional Ethics exam as a condition of certification.
| Detail | Oklahoma |
|---|---|
| Exam required | AICPA Professional Ethics: The AICPA’s Comprehensive Course (For Licensure) |
| Minimum passing score | 90% |
| Timing | Complete at any point during the certification journey; submit certificate only with the Certification Application |
| Submission | CPE Certificate of Completion (not the exam results page) submitted with Certification Application |
The ethics course can be purchased directly from the AICPA. Oklahoma specifically requires the Certificate of Completion – submitting the exam results page instead of the certificate will cause processing delays. The ethics exam can be completed at any point during the path to certification, but the certificate should not be submitted to the OAB until the Certification Application is ready.
What are the CPA requirements for international candidates in Oklahoma?
| Detail | Oklahoma |
|---|---|
| US citizenship required | No |
| Residency required | No – repealed November 2025 |
| SSN required | Yes |
| Lawful US presence required | Yes – notarised Affidavit of Lawful Presence |
| Foreign credential evaluation | NIES only |
| Foreign evaluation report | Original required (photocopies not accepted) |
Oklahoma does not require US citizenship or state residency. Residency was required prior to November 2025 but has since been repealed – the Oklahoma Accountancy Board’s Exam and Certification Requirements document confirms this change. Lawful presence in the United States is still required, evidenced by a notarised Affidavit of Lawful Presence submitted with the qualification application.
An SSN is required as part of the qualification application and is shared with NASBA for inclusion in the National Candidate Database.
For candidates with education completed outside the United States, NASBA International Evaluation Services (NIES) is the only accepted evaluation service. The original evaluation report must be sent with the qualification application to the OAB – photocopies are not accepted. The evaluation process can take several months, so NIES should be contacted early in the application planning process.
Jump to: Education | Exam | Certification & experience | Ethics | International candidates | CPE | FAQ
What are the CPE requirements for CPAs in Oklahoma?
| CPE requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Annual minimum | 20 hours per calendar year |
| Rolling 3-year minimum | 120 hours per any 3 consecutive calendar years |
| Ethics | 4 hours per rolling 3-year period |
| Technical CPE for permit holders | 20 hours per year in a technical field of study |
| Newly certified CPAs | 20 CPE hours by 31 December of the year initially certified |
| Initial permit | 40 CPE hours within prior calendar year or last 365 days |
| CPE year | 1 January to 31 December |
| Self-study requirement | Must be from NASBA-registered sponsor, AICPA, or Oklahoma Society of CPAs |
| Nano-learning | Accepted from 1 January 2025; maximum 20 courses per year (up to 4 CPE credits) |
| Records retention | 5 years |
| Renewal deadline | Last day of birth month annually |
Oklahoma’s rolling 3-year period is continuous – not in fixed 3-year blocks. Any three consecutive calendar years must total at least 120 hours. For example, if 2023-2025 was compliant, 2024-2026 must also independently total at least 120 hours.
The 20-hour annual technical field requirement applies to permit holders – those actively practising public accounting. It does not apply in the calendar year the permit is first issued, the year a lapsed permit is reinstated, or any year in which the CPA does not hold a permit.
CPAs involved in supervising or reviewing compilation engagements must complete 4 hours of compilations-only CPE annually or be enrolled in a Board-approved peer review programme.
Newly certified CPAs must complete 20 CPE hours by 31 December of the year they are initially certified – there is no first-year exemption in Oklahoma. This is a meaningful requirement for candidates certified late in the calendar year.
Oklahoma does not pre-approve CPE courses or sponsors. Learning activities must maintain or improve professional competence. Instructor-led courses, webinars, and webcasts do not require NASBA sponsor registration; self-study courses do.
FAQs
Yes for certification, but not for sitting. Oklahoma allows candidates to sit for the CPA Exam with 120 semester hours and a bachelor’s degree. To receive the CPA Certificate, 150 semester hours are required including 30 accounting hours above principles. Oklahoma has not introduced any alternative pathways to the 150-hour certification requirement as of 2026.
Most candidates take 5 to 7 years:
– 4 to 5 years for a bachelor’s degree with the coursework to reach 150 hours,
– 6 to 18 months to pass all four exam sections within Oklahoma’s 30-month window, and
– at least 1 year to accumulate 1,800 qualifying hours within the 4-year window.
Obtaining the permit to practice simultaneously with the certificate requires 40 CPE hours from the prior year, which working candidates typically accumulate during their experience period.
Yes – CPAs licensed in other jurisdictions may apply for an Oklahoma CPA Certificate through the reciprocal application process. The reciprocal application fee is $145.
CPAs from other states who establish Oklahoma as their principal place of business must apply for a reciprocal certificate and permit within 120 days of beginning to practice in Oklahoma. Oklahoma also participates in CPA mobility – use the NASBA Mobility Tool to verify whether a practice privilege applies before providing services in Oklahoma.
Oklahoma CPA salaries are anchored by Oklahoma City and Tulsa, with significant demand across energy, oil and gas, healthcare, and financial services sectors. Oklahoma’s relatively lower cost of living compared to coastal markets makes compensation competitive in real-world terms.
The energy sector in particular provides a consistent pipeline of accounting work at major companies headquartered in the state. For detailed salary benchmarks by experience level and sector, see our CPA salary guide.
No. Oklahoma does not require US citizenship. State residency was also a requirement until November 2025 but has since been repealed.
All applicants must provide a notarised Affidavit of Lawful Presence in the United States and must provide their SSN on the qualification application. Foreign-educated candidates must have transcripts evaluated by NIES only, with the original evaluation report included with the application.
Yes, in most cases. Oklahoma is recognised as substantially equivalent under NASBA’s mobility framework, meaning an Oklahoma CPA in good standing can generally practice in other states without a separate licence, provided Oklahoma remains their principal place of business. Use the NASBA Mobility Tool to verify practice privileges in any specific state.
For the most current requirements and application forms, visit the Oklahoma Accountancy Board.
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