Examination and Licensure Requirements

The California Board of Accountancy has established requirements to be approved to sit for the Uniform CPA Examination (CPA Exam), and additional requirements to obtain a CPA license after the passage of the exam. It is convenient to refer to them as the “Three Es”: Education, Examination, and Experience.

These requirements are changing soon, with a new licensure pathway set to take effect on January 1, 2027, following legislation passed in 2025 (Assembly Bill 1175). The current licensure pathway, referred to as the “legacy” requirements, will remain valid until December 31, 2028, creating a two-year period (2027-2028) when either pathway may be used to apply for CPA licensure in California. Also on January 1, 2027, the requirements to sit for the CPA Exam will undergo a minor change.

Click on an E to reveal the corresponding requirements.

Examination

What is changing to be approved for the CPA Exam?

Passing the CPA Exam is one of the requirements for CPA licensure. Currently, the CBA requires the following to sit for the CPA Exam: A bachelor’s degree or higher, 24 semester units of accounting subjects, and 24 semester units of business-related subjects. Any exam application received on or before December 31, 2026 will be subject to these requirements. Beginning January 1, 2027, 3 semester units of ethics will be added to the requirements to be approved to sit for the CPA Exam.

Education

What are the legacy educational requirements?

Following the successful passing of the CPA Exam, there are additional educational requirements needed for licensure with the current rules. These consist of 20 units of accounting study, 10 units of ethics, and an overall total of 150 units (all of the above are given in semester units).

What are the new educational requirements starting in 2027?

The new pathway to licensure beginning January 1, 2027, removes the additional educational requirements needed in the legacy pathway. This new streamlined set of educational requirements will mirror the requirements to sit for the CPA Exam: A bachelor’s degree (or higher), 24 semester units of accounting subjects, 24 semester units of business-related subjects, and 3 units of ethics (the 24+24+3 is now referred to as an Accounting Concentration of courses). The degree can be in any field. The educational requirements are now the same for examination and licensure.

What are the main differences between the legacy requirements and the new requirements?

During 2027-2028, applicants will have the option of applying for licensure using either the legacy or new pathway, regardless of when they may have applied for or passed the CPA Exam. Key differences in the new rules are the removal of the additional educational requirements needed for licensure (including the total unit requirement), the fact that the educational requirements are the same for both examination and licensure, and an increase to the total amount of experience required for licensure. The legacy pathway requires one year of supervised experience, while the new pathway requires two years.

What is the Accounting Concentration of courses in quarter units?

In semester units, the Accounting Concentration of courses is 24 semester units of accounting subjects, 24 semester units of business-related subjects, and 3 semester units of ethics. For institutions using the quarter system, this will equate to 36 quarter units of accounting subjects, 36 quarter units of business-related subjects, and 4 quarter units of ethics. The Accounting Concentration of courses, along with a bachelor’s degree (or higher), represent the educational requirements in their entirety for examination and licensure.

What courses count towards the Accounting Concentration?

The following table lists the coursework that will be accepted as accounting subjects, business-related subjects, or ethics.

Subject Areas	Definition
Accounting	All courses taken in a college’s accounting department or program (e.g., “ACCT”). Courses outside of a college’s accounting department or program in the areas of accounting, auditing, taxation, and financial reporting/analysis.
Business‑Related	All courses taken in the following college departments or programs: Business (e.g., “BUS”) Computer Science/Information Systems/Data Science (e.g., “CSC,” “MIS”) Economics (e.g., “ECON”) Finance (e.g., “FIN”) Management (e.g., “MGMT”) Marketing (e.g., “MKTG”) Mathematics (e.g., “MATH”) Statistics (e.g., “STAT”) Courses outside of the above‑named college departments or programs in the areas of communication and law that are in the context of accounting or business. Excess courses from the accounting and ethics subject areas.
Ethics	Accounting ethics, accountants’ professional responsibilities, audit, and fraud.

Subject Areas

Definition

Accounting

All courses taken in a college’s accounting department or program (e.g., “ACCT”).

Courses outside of a college’s accounting department or program in the areas of accounting, auditing, taxation, and financial reporting/analysis.

Business‑Related

All courses taken in the following college departments or programs:

Business (e.g., “BUS”)
Computer Science/Information Systems/Data Science (e.g., “CSC,” “MIS”)
Economics (e.g., “ECON”)
Finance (e.g., “FIN”)
Management (e.g., “MGMT”)
Marketing (e.g., “MKTG”)
Mathematics (e.g., “MATH”)
Statistics (e.g., “STAT”)

Courses outside of the above‑named college departments or programs in the areas of communication and law that are in the context of accounting or business.

Excess courses from the accounting and ethics subject areas.

Ethics

Accounting ethics, accountants’ professional responsibilities, audit, and fraud.

Please note: the Accounting Concentration and the course list above is included in regulations and not yet considered final.

Experience

What is changing with the experience requirement for licensure?

The legacy requirements call for one year of general accounting experience supervised by an actively licensed CPA, while the new requirements increase that to two years. As far as being licensed with attest authority, there will be no change to the requirement of a minimum of 500 hours of attest work supervised by an actively licensed CPA with attest authority.

What is the flexibility built in to the experience requirement?

With the new pathway, the two-year experience requirement can be reduced by one year for earning a master’s degree in an accounting-related subject (see next two questions for more information) or by six months for earning a CBA-recognized certificate.

Is there a benefit to continuing and earning a master's degree?

Yes. The CBA continues to encourage students to pursue an advanced degree, and offers a one-year reduction to the experience requirement for those who do. Not all advanced degrees will qualify, however (see next question for more information).

Does any master's degree count for the experience reduction?

No. Applicants with a bachelor’s degree in any subject area must earn a master’s degree specifically in accounting, taxation, or laws in taxation to substitute for one year of general accounting experience. Applicants with a bachelor’s degree in accounting may obtain a master’s degree in a broader related field such as business administration, data analytics, economics, finance, or management to substitute for one year of general accounting experience. If neither of the above scenarios applies, the master’s degree cannot count towards the experience reduction.

Does experience earned through internships or programs such as VITA count toward the experience requirement?

Yes. All experience performing general accounting services, as long as it was performed under the supervision of an actively licensed CPA, counts towards the experience requirement. While unpaid/volunteer/internship work is already accepted under the legacy requirements, this will be specified under the new regulations.