Texas CPA Exam Requirements

1. Education Requirements To Sit For The Exam:

• Bachelor degree or above
• 150 semester units from an accredited university or educational institution
• Course requirement:
  • Accounting: 30 semester units (upper division above principles level)
  • Business: 21 semester units
  • Ethics: 3 semester units

Special note to international candidates:

If your education is gained outside the US, the State Board will try to perform the evaluation, or outsource the work to University of Texas at Austin – Foreign Admissions Department – for its expertise (extra fee required). This means that you do NOT need to send your transcript to the foreign credential evaluation agencies.

2. Additional Requirements To Get CPA License*:

* What is typically called “CPA license” in this site is called “CPA certificate” by the State Board. This is not to be confused with the CPA certificate mentioned in the rest of my site. For simplicity I will use the term “CPA license” throughout this page.

Education

• No additional requirements.

Work Experience

• 1 year of full-time “non-routine” accounting work experience: By non-routine, it generally means:
  • Attest services including audits, compilations, reviews, and other assurance and engagements, in accordance with professional standards
  • Professional accounting services e.g. issuing reports on financial statements, providing management or financial advisory or consulting services , preparing tax returns, providing advice in tax matters, providing forensic accounting services, providing internal auditing services
• The experience has to be accumulated under the direct supervision of a licensed US CPA.
• Part-time work is allowed as long as 2,000 hours are accumulated over a 1-3 year period.

Ethics Qualification

• 4 hours of Ethics course approved by the Texas State Board
• Passing of the examination on the Texas Rules of Professional Conduct. This is an open-book exam and passing score is 85%. The examination is mailed to you when you pass the CPA exam.

3. Residency & Age Requirements:

• US citizenship not required
• Texas residency not required
• Minimum age: none

4. Fees:

• First-timers: $723 (4 CPA exam fees) + $50 (application of intent)

*** Special note on the NTS***

You will only have 90 days to pay the fees, schedule your exams at the prometric center AND take those exams. In other words, for Texas your NTS is only valid for 90 days counting from the application date. 

5. Continuing Education Requirement:

CPE is required for license holders.

6. Other Useful Information:

• CPA exam eligibility requirements in TX
• TX licensing requirements
• Working experience requirements
• CPA exam pass rate among TX candidates

7. Contact:

Texas State Board of Public Accountancy
333 Guadalupe
Tower III, Suite 900
Austin, TX 78701-3900

• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: 512-305-7851
• Fax: 512-305-7875