Virginia CPA Exam & License Requirements

Updated: May 23, 2023 You’re our #1 priority.
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Virginia requires 150 credit hours to earn a CPA license, however you may sit for the CPA exam after obtaining a bachelor’s degree.  The work experience requirements are very standard and require 1 year of public or non-public accounting experience.

To be eligible to sit for the CPA exam students must first fulfill these qualifications and requirements:

  1. Minimum age: None
  2. U.S. Residency NOT Required
  3. State Residency NOT required

*Special Note: A valid social security number is required to sit for the exam and to apply for a CPA license

Education Requirements

A candidate is required to fulfill one of the following:

  1. Bachelor degree or above with accounting concentration or equivalent
  2. At least 120 semester hours
  3. Accounting course requirement:
    1. 24 semester hours including auditing, financial accounting, management accounting, and taxation (upper level/division courses)
  4. Business course requirement:
    1. 24 semester hours
    2. Up to 6 hours of accounting courses may be considered to fulfill the business course requirement

VA CPA License Requirements

Education

  • Completion of 150 semester hours
  • Bachelor’s degree with concentration in accounting or equivalent

Work Experience

  • 1 year of full-time experience in public or non-public accounting supervised by an active CPA licensee

Ethics Exam

  • Passing of the AICPA ethics exam (Cost of course is $149 or $119 for AICPA members)

Virginia CPA Exam Fees

The cost to take all four sections of the CPA exam in Virginia is $743 plus the initial $120 application fee.  The re-examination application fee varies depending on the number of sections.

**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 Virginia expires 6 months after issuance.

Additional CPA License Requirements

  1. Pass all 4 sections of the CPA exam with a score of 75% or higher
  2. Complete verified accounting work experience
  3. Fill out and submit all required CPA license application paperwork
  4. Pay the CPA license application fee

WA Exam Information and Resources

For more information, please contact:

State Education Department
Division of Professional Licensing Services
89 Washington Avenue, 2nd Fl. East Mezzanine
Albany, NY 12234-1000
Phone: 518-474-3817 Ext. 270
Fax: 518-402-5354
Email: [email protected][email protected]

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!