To earn a CPA license in California, you need 150 semester units of college coursework with specific accounting, business, and ethics content, a passing score on all four sections of the Uniform CPA Examination, and 12 months of work experience supervised by an actively licensed CPA. The California Board of Accountancy (CBA) sets and enforces these California CPA license requirements, and the order you tackle them in matters: you can sit for the exam with a bachelor’s degree, but you cannot be licensed until the full 150 units, the exam, and the experience are all documented.
Education: 150 Units With Required Coursework
California splits education into two tiers. A bachelor’s degree from a school accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education is enough to sit for the exam. Licensure requires 150 semester units that include four specific course clusters.1California Legislative Information. California Business and Professions Code 5093 Many candidates sit for the exam while finishing the rest of their coursework, which keeps the timeline tight as long as all 150 units are in place before the license application goes in.
The required coursework within the 150 units:
- 24 semester units of accounting subjects, covering areas such as financial reporting, auditing, cost accounting, and tax.
- 24 semester units of business-related subjects, such as management, economics, marketing, or business law.
- 20 additional units of accounting study that go beyond the first 24, covering topics like internal controls, specialized industry reporting, or advanced auditing.
- 10 units of ethics study, which can include philosophy and certain legal studies courses when they address ethical decision-making.
Any remaining units needed to reach 150 can be in any subject. All coursework must come from an institution accredited by an agency on the U.S. Secretary of Education’s published list.1California Legislative Information. California Business and Professions Code 5093
The Uniform CPA Examination
Since January 2024, the exam has three core sections every candidate must pass, plus one discipline section you choose. The cores are Auditing and Attestation (AUD), Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR), and Regulation (REG).2National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. CPA Exam Transition FAQs
Choosing a Discipline Section
Your fourth section comes from one of three disciplines:
- Business Analysis and Reporting (BAR), focused on advanced accounting, reporting, and data analytics.
- Information Systems and Controls (ISC), covering IT governance, cybersecurity, and data management.
- Tax Compliance and Planning (TCP), going deeper into individual and entity tax work.
You pass and retain credit for only one discipline. The choice does not restrict your practice area after licensure.
Credit Window and Scheduling
For any section passed starting in January 2024, credit is valid for 30 months. The clock starts when you pass your first section; if the remaining three are not cleared before the window closes, you lose credit for the earliest passed section and have to retake it.3California Board of Accountancy. CPA Exam Credit Extensions
The exam runs year-round through Prometric centers under continuous testing, with scores released on a rolling basis.4National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. NASBA, AICPA and Prometric to Begin Year-Round Testing for U.S. CPA Exam There are no blackout periods, and a failed section can be retaken once the new score is released.
Fees
California charges $100 for a first-time exam application and $50 for repeat applicants who previously qualified as a California candidate, paid to the CBA when you apply for exam eligibility.5California Board of Accountancy. California Application for the CPA Examination NASBA charges $262.64 per section separately after the CBA approves your application. Four sections total roughly $1,150 before study materials.
Work Experience: 12 Months Under a CPA
You need 12 months of full-time work experience, with part-time hours converted at 170 hours per month of full-time equivalency. The work must be supervised by someone holding a valid, active CPA license or equivalent authority from another jurisdiction, and that supervisor signs off on your hours and the quality of your work.6Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations 16 CCR 12 – General Experience Required Under Business and Professions Code Section 5093 Qualifying activities include tax preparation, financial consulting, management advisory services, and internal auditing.
General License vs. Attest Authority
When you apply, you choose between a general CPA license and one carrying attest authority. A general license covers everything except signing off on audits and reviews. For attest authority, you need an additional 500 hours of experience in audits, reviews of financial statements, or examinations of prospective financial information, on top of the 12 months of general experience. Compiled financial statements do not count toward those 500 hours.7California Board of Accountancy. CPA Licensure Experience Requirements
If you start general and later accumulate the attest hours under proper supervision, you can upgrade. Candidates at public accounting firms often accumulate these hours naturally; those in industry or government roles may need to seek out attest assignments.
Filing the License Application
Once education, exam, and experience are complete, you file an application package with the CBA. Documentation errors are where most delays happen.
Required Documents
The core filing is the Application for Certified Public Accountant License, which collects your personal information, educational history, and examination record. A Certificate of Experience form must be completed and signed by each supervisor who oversaw your qualifying work, with a separate form for each supervisor.8California Board of Accountancy. Application for Certified Public Accountant License
Official transcripts must be sent directly from every college or university you attended after high school. Transcripts delivered by the applicant are generally rejected as unofficial. Federal law requires you to provide your Social Security number on the application.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S. Code 666 – Requirement of Statutorily Prescribed Procedures To Improve Effectiveness of Child Support Enforcement
Fees, Fingerprinting, and Timeline
The license application fee is $250, non-refundable.10California Board of Accountancy. Initial Licensing FAQs You also need to complete a Live Scan fingerprinting session for a background check through the California Department of Justice and the FBI. The vendor fee at the Live Scan site is typically $50 to $80.
The CBA estimates roughly four weeks to review a complete application file.10California Board of Accountancy. Initial Licensing FAQs Missing transcripts, unsigned experience forms, or fingerprint processing delays push that past a month. Once approved, you receive your license number and can legally use the CPA title in California.
The PETH Exam Is Gone
Older guides may mention a Professional Ethics for CPAs (PETH) exam. That requirement was eliminated effective July 1, 2024.11California Board of Accountancy. Understanding the Professional Ethics (PETH) Exam Change New CPAs now complete a two-hour Board-approved Regulatory Review continuing education course during their first renewal cycle instead.
Keeping the License: Renewal and CE
Your CPA license expires every two years on the last day of your birth month, with the cycle set by whether you were born in an even or odd year.12California Board of Accountancy. An Overview of the Renewal Process Active renewal requires 80 hours of continuing education over each two-year period, with specific breakdowns:13California Board of Accountancy. Continuing Education Quick Reference Guide
- At least 20 hours in each of the two years, including 12 hours in technical subjects per year.
- At least 40 of the 80 hours in technical fields such as accounting, auditing, tax, or advisory services.
- 4 hours of ethics education per renewal cycle.
- A 2-hour Board-approved Regulatory Review course if more than six years have passed since your last one. This cannot substitute for the ethics requirement.
- For CPAs doing government auditing or who are A&A specialists, 24 hours in the relevant subject area plus 4 hours of fraud-specific CE.
If you miss the renewal deadline, a $170 delinquency fee applies after 30 days. An expired license can be renewed for up to five years, but you must complete all required CE and pay accumulated fees, and you cannot use the CPA title while expired.14California Board of Accountancy. License Renewal Information After five years, reinstatement becomes considerably harder.
Out-of-State and International Candidates
If you are already licensed in another state and your principal place of business is outside California, you may qualify to practice in California without a separate license. Under Business and Professions Code 5096, the privilege applies if you have practiced continuously under a valid license for at least four of the last ten years, or if your home state’s requirements are substantially equivalent to California’s. No notification or fee is required by the CBA for CPAs who qualify.15California Legislative Information. California Business and Professions Code BPC 5096
If your degree was earned outside the United States, your transcripts must be evaluated before anything else. California uses NASBA International Evaluation Services (NIES) to determine whether foreign education meets state requirements. The process is online, and all materials must be submitted within 90 days of applying or the evaluation is denied and fees forfeited.16National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. NASBA International Evaluation Services (NIES) Requirements Official transcripts and degree certificates are required for every year of post-secondary education, sent directly from each issuing institution. A higher degree does not substitute as proof of earlier study.