FAQs About Becoming a CPA

You need 120 credit hours and a bachelor’s degree.

Please see our section on Educational Requirements for sitting for the CPA Exam.

Yes, you can take courses at more than one university or online.

You need 150 credit hours to get licensed.

Yes, you can use credits from a community college toward your 120 and 150 credit hours requirements. You will just need to have your transcripts sent to Certified Public Accountant Examination Services (CPAES) when applying to sit for the CPA Exam. 

You only need one year of “intensive and diversified” experience under the supervision of an actively licensed CPA. 

No. Your work experience for your CPA license needs to be completed after you get your bachelor's degree.

No. The work is experience is one year with a minimum of 1,750 hours. 

There is no time limit on obtaining your experience and you will never lose your exam scores.

Experience shall be obtained in full-time regular employment based on a minimum of 1,750 hours per year. Part-time experience shall be considered equivalent if acquired within two consecutive years and in no less than the same amount of hours required for full-time experience. 

The first step is to have your additional transcripts evaluated. Go to nasba.org/licensure/nasbalicensing/newjersey and fill out the application. This process typically takes five business days or less and has a fee of $65. Have your school send in the official transcripts. They cannot come from you. Once the evaluation is complete, the paperwork will be sent to the New Jersey State Board of Accountancy. The board will review your file and if everything is in place, they will send you a congratulatory letter along with the following forms:

• Statement of Experience Form
• Basic Information Form
• Application for Licensure
• Request for Criminal History Record Information Form

Fill out these forms, have your employer sign the statement of experience form and send them all back. This is your last step, but it can take several months.

If you receive your license in the middle of the current triennial reporting period (2015-2017), you will not be required to take any CPE, other than the four-hour New Jersey Law & Ethics course (see above), until the start of the new triennial. 

New Jersey requires that you take a four-hour New Jersey Law & Ethics course provided by an approved sponsor. This course can now be taken six months before you obtain your CPA license or six months after. Just remember that you must send in the course confirmation to the New Jersey State Board of Accountancy within one month of taking the course. The NJCPA is an approved sponsor. For a listing of upcoming NJCPA Law & Ethic courses, click here.

Learn more about the process for obtaining a reciprocal license in New Jersey here.

Learn more about the process for international candidates here.