How to Become a CPA in Pennsylvania: Exam, Hours, License

To become a CPA in Pennsylvania, you need 150 semester hours of college credit with specific accounting coursework, a passing score on all four sections of the Uniform CPA Examination, and 1,600 hours of work experience supervised by a licensed CPA. The Pennsylvania State Board of Accountancy, under the Department of State, runs the process from exam eligibility through licensure and renewal.¹ One detail trips up a lot of candidates early: the credits you need to sit for the exam are not the credits you need for the license.

Education: 120 Credits to Sit, 150 to License

You can sit for the CPA exam in Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree and 120 semester hours from an accredited institution.² To actually receive the license, you need 150 semester hours plus specific coursework.³ That gap is why many candidates begin studying while finishing their final 30 credits.

The extra 30 hours don’t require a second degree. A fifth undergraduate year, a master’s program, community college credits, or additional post-baccalaureate coursework all work, as long as the institution is accredited.

Required Accounting Coursework

Within the 150 hours, at least 36 semester hours have to be in accounting-related subjects, split into two layers:³

24 credits in accounting, auditing, business law, finance, or tax
12 additional credits specifically in accounting, auditing, and tax

The first layer casts a wider net; the second narrows it. General education and unrelated electives count toward the 150 total but not toward either layer.

Passing the Uniform CPA Exam

Since January 2024, the exam has followed a Core plus Discipline structure. Every candidate takes three Core sections, then picks one Discipline section.⁴

The three Core sections are Auditing and Attestation (AUD), Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR), and Taxation and Regulation (REG). The Discipline options are Business Analysis and Reporting (BAR), Information Systems and Controls (ISC), and Tax Compliance and Planning (TCP).⁵

Each section is four hours. You need a 75 to pass, and you can take them in any order. Pennsylvania gives you a rolling 30-month window to pass all four, starting from the score release date of your first passed section.⁶ If you run past that deadline, your earliest passed section expires and you have to retake it. Scheduling strategy matters almost as much as studying.

Pennsylvania’s exam application fee is $96, separate from the national per-section testing fees paid to the AICPA and NASBA.⁶ Retakes mean paying the section fees again, so budget for the full four sections up front.

Completing 1,600 Hours of Supervised Experience

Pennsylvania requires 1,600 hours of qualifying work experience before you can apply for the license.⁷ The work must be supervised by someone holding a current, valid CPA license, and it must involve accounting, auditing, tax, financial advisory, management advisory, or consulting skills. Your supervisor is responsible for confirming the work met professional standards.

Three constraints shape how you accumulate the hours:

All 1,600 hours must fall within the 60 months immediately before your license application.⁷
They must be accumulated over at least 12 months, so compressing them into one busy season isn’t allowed.
The work can be in public accounting, government, private industry, or academia, as long as a licensed CPA supervises and verifies it.

You don’t have to work at a public accounting firm. Tax work inside a corporation, internal audit for a government agency, or teaching accounting at a university can all qualify when a CPA supervisor signs off on the nature and hours of the work.

Applying for the License Through PALS

Once education, exam, and experience are complete, the license application goes through the Pennsylvania Licensing System (PALS), the state’s online portal.⁸ Before you start, gather:

Official transcripts from every college you attended, sent directly from the institution to the Board
The Verification of Experience form, completed and signed by your supervising CPA with their license number, the specific tasks you performed, and your total hours⁹
CPA exam score verification confirming you passed all four sections

Accuracy on the experience form matters more than people expect. If the hours, dates, or task descriptions don’t line up with what the Board considers qualifying work, the application stalls. Have your supervisor review the form carefully before signing.

Create a PALS account, upload your documents, and pay the $65 non-refundable application fee.¹⁰ Processing typically takes several weeks, and the Board will flag any gaps through your PALS dashboard. Once approved, you receive your license number electronically before the physical certificate arrives in the mail.

Two timing details catch people off guard. Pennsylvania CPA licenses expire on December 31 of every odd-numbered year regardless of when they were issued, so a license granted late in an odd-numbered year has a very short first cycle.¹¹ And if any supporting documents are more than six months old when the Board processes your file, you may need to resubmit them.

Keeping the License Active After You Get It

Pennsylvania licenses renew every two years, and continuing education is substantial. You must complete 80 hours of continuing professional education during each two-year reporting period, which runs from January 1 of an even-numbered year through December 31 of the following odd-numbered year.¹¹ Within that total:

At least 20 hours each calendar year of the cycle
At least 4 hours in ethics
At least 24 hours in accounting and attest/auditing subjects if you perform attest or audit work

Credits must come from Board-approved providers. The biennial renewal fee is $100, filed through PALS before the December 31 deadline.¹¹ Letting the license lapse can trigger late fees, and continuing to practice on a lapsed license can bring disciplinary action.

1
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Accountancy Board
2
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Certified Public Accountant Licensure Requirements Snapshot
3
Pennsylvania Code. 49 Pa Code 11.57 – Education Requirements for CPA Certification
4
AICPA & CIMA. Everything You Need to Know About the CPA Exam
5
American Institute of CPAs. Uniform CPA Examination Blueprints 2026
6
NASBA. Pennsylvania CPA Exam Requirements
7
LII / Legal Information Institute. 49 Pa Code 11.55 – Experience Requirements for CPA Certification
8
Pennsylvania Licensing System. PALS Home
9
LII / Legal Information Institute. 49 Pa Code 11.56 – Verification of Experience
10
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Certified Public Accountant Application
11
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Renewal Information