Maine requires 150 credit hours to earn a CPA license, however you may sit for the CPA exam after earning 120 credit hours including the required accounting courses. The work experience requirements are more strict than most states and require 2 years of public accounting work supervised and verified by an active CPA.
To be eligible to sit for the CPA exam students must first fulfill these qualifications and requirements:
- Minimum age: None
- U.S. Residency NOT Required
- State Residency NOT required
Education Requirements
- Bachelor degree or above
- Fulfill at least 120 credit hours
- Accounting courses: 15 semester hours with at least 3 hours in accounting and 3 hours in auditing. Ethics courses can count towards this as well.
ME CPA License Requirements
Education
- 150 semester units
Work Experience
- 2 years of public accounting work experience:
- Minimum of 400 hours in audit, review, and compilation
- Minimum of 200 hours in advisory services
- The experience has to be supervised by CPA or equivalent: Chartered accountants in Canada, Australia, and other countries may be okay but please check with the State Boards to make sure
- Part-time work is allowed: 173 hours is equivalent to one month of full-time employment
Ethics Exam
- No Requirement
Maine CPA Exam Fees
The cost to take all four sections of the CPA exam in Maine is $743 plus the initial $145 application fee. The re-examination registration fee varies depending on the number of sections you are signing up for.
| Auditing and Attestation (AUD) | $195.35 |
| Business Environment and Concepts (BEC) | $176.25 |
| Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR) | $195.35 |
| Regulation (REG) | $176.25 |
| Application Fee: | $145 |
**Important Note: You should not apply and pay for exam sections that will not be taken within six months because your Notice to Schedule (NTS) in Maine expires 6 months after issuance.
Additional CPA Requirements
- Pass all 4 sections of the CPA exam with a score of 75% or higher
- Complete verified accounting work experience
- Fill out and submit all required CPA license application paperwork
- Pay the CPA license application fee
ME Exam Information and Resources
For more details, please contact:
Department of Prof. & Fin. Regulation
Office of Lic. & Reg.
35 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0035
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 207-624-8603
Fax: 207-624-8637
What’s Next?
Now that you have started the CPA exam application process, your next step is to find a CPA review course that fits your budget, learning style and schedule.
It can take several weeks for your application to be processed so don’t waste that valuable time waiting to hear back from your state board. If you start studying now you will get a nice jump start on the material and will be better prepared to Pass your first CPA exam!
Bryce Welker is a regular contributor to Forbes, Inc.com, YEC and Business Insider. After graduating from San Diego State University he went on to earn his Certified Public Accountant license and created CrushTheCPAexam.com to share his knowledge and experience to help other accountants become CPAs too. Bryce was named one of Accounting Today’s “Accountants To Watch” among other accolades. As Seen On Forbes
