California CPA License Requirements 2025

Oct 8
Becoming a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in California is a multi-step process that involves meeting education requirements, passing a rigorous exam, gaining professional experience, and satisfying other state-specific criteria.

This guide breaks down California CPA license requirements for 2025 in detail, so aspiring CPAs can follow each step with confidence.


1. CPA Educational Requirements

The California Board of Accountancy (CAB) requires you to complete the 150-Hour Education Requirement:
  • Earn a bachelor’s degree and accumulate 150 semester units of college credit, making sure to include the required accounting, business, accounting-study, and ethics coursework.


  • If you’re short of 150 units after your bachelor’s, consider additional courses or a master’s program to reach the requirement.


2. Apply for and Pass the Uniform CPA Exam:

  • Create an account and apply to take the CPA exam with the CBA (including sending transcripts).
  • Once approved, pay exam section fees to NASBA and schedule your exam sections.
  • Study thoroughly and pass all four sections of the CPA exam (AUD, FAR, REG, plus one Discipline section) with a score of 75 or above.
  • This can be done before, during, or after completing your 150 units, as long as you meet the minimum coursework to sit for the exam.


3. Gain Required Work Experience:

In addition to education and exams, California mandates that CPA license applicants complete a period of practical work experience in accounting. The goal is to ensure new CPAs have real-world experience applying their knowledge. Here are the details of the experience requirement in 2025:

Duration:

  • You must complete at least 12 full months of general accounting experience (equivalent to one year of full-time work).


  • Part-time work can count proportionally (the CBA equates 170 hours of part-time work to one month of experience, so roughly 2,040 hours would equal one year).

Nature of Experience:


  • California’s experience requirement is broadly defined as “general accounting experience.”


  • This means the work can involve any service or role using accounting, attest, compilation, management advisory, financial advisory, tax, or consulting skills.

  • In practice, this could include jobs in public accounting firms, corporate accounting or finance departments, government accounting roles, internal audit, tax preparation, financial consulting, and more.


  • The experience is not limited to audit or public practice – working in industry or government counts as long as your work is accounting-related.


Supervision:


  • Your experience must be supervised and verified by a licensed CPA in good standing.

  • The supervisor needs to hold an active, unrestricted CPA license during the period of supervision.

  • They do not necessarily need to be a California CPA (a CPA licensed in any U.S. state or jurisdiction can supervise your experience, particularly if you work outside CA), but they must be actively licensed. 

  • The supervising CPA will ultimately sign off on your experience via a Certificate of Experience form.

  • If your experience is in public accounting (e.g., at a CPA firm), typically a partner or manager who is a CPA will sign your form.

  • If your experience is in private industry or government, the form for general experience can be signed by your CPA supervisor or another CPA in the organization who is familiar with your work (the CBA has separate forms for public vs. non-public experience, but both require a CPA signatory).


Attest Experience (optional):


  • If you wish to have the authority to sign audit or other attest reports once you are licensed (i.e., you want an “attest license” as opposed to a general license without attest signing rights), you need to complete 500 hours of attest experience as part of your work experience.


  • Attest experience involves work on audits, reviews of financial statements, or other engagements that result in an independent auditor’s report (note: compiling financial statements alone doesn’t count as attest work for this purpose. 

  • These 500 hours can be within your 12-month experience period (for example, working on audit engagements during your year at a firm).


  • If you do not obtain these 500 hours, you can still be licensed as a CPA in California, but your license will be issued without attest authority (meaning you cannot sign audit opinions).


  • Many new CPAs who start in public accounting will naturally get 500+ hours in audit engagements during their first year.


  • If you start in private industry (where attest hours aren’t available), you can become licensed without attest authority; you always have the option to gain the required audit hours later and apply to have your license upgraded to include attest privileges.


Type of Employment:


  • You can fulfill the experience requirement in public practice, private industry, academia, or government.


  • For example, working as a staff accountant or auditor at a CPA firm, as an accountant/financial analyst in a company, or as an auditor for a government agency would all qualify.


  • Even teaching accounting courses can count toward experience – the CBA specifies that teaching at a college (in accounting subjects) can be credited, with 48 semester units taught being equivalent to one year of experience.


  • The key is that the experience must involve use of accounting or related skills and be supervised by a CPA who can verify your work.


Documentation:

  • California requires that your supervising CPA complete a Certificate of General Experience (and if applicable, a Certificate of Attest Experience for the 500 audit hours) to verify your work.


  • These forms are sent to the CBA as part of your license application.


  • They include details of your employment dates, roles, and a sign-off by the supervisor that you performed duties using appropriate skills. Make sure you and your supervisor fill out the correct form (there are slightly different versions for public accounting vs. other employment).


  • The forms can be found on the CBA website (Applicants section) and can be submitted online or via email/mail as instructed by the CBA.
  • One important aspect to note is that there is no time limit on when the experience must be gained. You could complete the required experience before, during, or after passing the CPA exam.

  • For example, some candidates work in accounting for a few years, then pass the exam, or vice versa.

  • California does not require the experience to be post-exam; however, you will not receive your license until all components (education, exam, and experience) are done.

  • Also, the experience does not expire – if you met the requirement a few years ago but are only now applying for licensure, that’s acceptable, as long as it’s properly documented.

  • Finally, ensure your supervising CPA’s license was active and unrestricted during the period they oversaw your work. You can verify a CPA’s license status through the CBA’s online license lookup if needed.

  • If your supervisor is in another state, make sure they were similarly active. The CBA may contact supervisors or require additional information in some cases to verify experience, so it’s wise to stay in touch with the person who will sign off for you.

4. Additional California License Requirements and Steps

Once you have completed the “three E’s” – Education, Exam, and Experience – there are a few additional steps and requirements to obtain your CPA license in California:

Social Security Number or ITIN:

  • California requires CPA licensees to provide a valid U.S. Social Security Number or an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) as part of the application.

  • This is used for identity verification and is mandatory for licensure in this state. 

  • (Notably, unlike some states, California does not require U.S. citizenship or state residency for CPA licensure – you just need that SSN or ITIN for the application.)

Criminal Background Check (Fingerprinting):

  • All initial license applicants must undergo a background check.


  • After you submit your license application and fees, the CBA will send you instructions for fulfilling the fingerprinting requirement.


  • Typically, if you’re in California, you’ll complete a Live Scan electronic fingerprint (which checks Department of Justice and FBI records). Out-of-state applicants may use fingerprint cards. This is to ensure you have no disqualifying criminal history and is standard for licensing. It’s wise to do the fingerprinting promptly when instructed, as the licensing process can’t be completed until the background check results are received.

Professional Ethics: (Important change effective 2024)

  • California historically required passing a Professional Ethics for CPAs (PETH) exam administered by CalCPA.


  • However, as of July 1, 2024, the CBA no longer requires the PETH ethics exam for initial licensure. 

  • This means that for licenses issued in 2025 and beyond, you do not need to take an additional ethics exam in order to get your license.


  • Instead, new licensees are now required to complete a CBA-approved Regulatory Review course in ethics and professional conduct prior to their first license renewal. 


  • In practice, this means once you’re licensed, before you renew (which occurs every two years in California), you must take a short course covering the California Accountancy Act, CBA Regulations, and other ethics/professional responsibility topics. 


  • This change was made to integrate ethics education into the ongoing education cycle rather than as a one-time hurdle for licensing.


  • Be sure to follow CBA guidance on completing this course after you’re licensed; the CBA provides a list of approved courses (often offered by CalCPA or other providers) that fulfill the “Regulatory Review” requirement for first renewal.

License Application & Fee:

  • With your education, exam, and experience completed, the final step is to apply for your CPA license from the California Board of Accountancy.


  • The application is done online via the CBA’s licensing portal (click “Apply for Licensure Now”). You will need to submit:

Personal information and declarations

The application form will ask standard questions, including compliance with child support, etc., as required by law.

Proof of education

Transcripts should already be on file from your exam application, but if you took additional courses after applying for the exam, ensure updated transcripts are sent.

Exam results

The CBA will have your exam scores on record if you took the CPA exam as a California candidate. If you passed the exam in another state, you’ll need to arrange score transfer to California.

Experience documentation

Certificate of General Experience, and Attest Experience if applicable, completed by your supervisor as described above.

Fingerprinting completion

Usually just confirmation that you will complete Live Scan – you’ll submit fingerprints per instructions, you may need to include a form or receipt if using fingerprint cards.

Initial license fee


  • Initial license fee payment. California has an initial licensing fee (separate from the application processing fee) that you pay when the CBA approves your application, to actually issue the license.


  • The CBA will notify you of the amount and how to pay; currently the initial license fee in CA is around $250 (this can vary, check current CBA fee schedules).


Ensure you fill out all required sections of the application and upload/attach any required documents.

Common pitfall: Forgetting to have all colleges send transcripts (even community colleges or where you took one summer class). Double-check that the CBA has everything. Once you submit the application and pay the application processing fee, CBA staff will review your packet. If anything is missing or deficient, they will contact you for clarification or additional documents. Otherwise, when everything is in order, you’ll be notified that your application is approved pending payment of the initial license fee.

Licensing and CPA Number:

After approval, you pay the license fee and the CBA will issue your CPA license number. Congratulations – at that point you are officially a California CPA! Your name will appear in the CBA’s public license lookup as an Active CPA. Initial licenses in California are valid until the next biennial renewal period (the CBA will assign you a renewal date based on birth month or a set cycle).

Complete First Renewal Requirements:


  • New licensees must complete a Regulatory Review course in ethics/professional conduct before the first license renewal (instead of an exam).


  • Also, going forward, you will need to complete Continuing Professional Education (CPE) hours for each renewal period (however, CPE is not required in your first two-year license period in California; it starts in the second period). To check  on the CPE hours requirements, click on this article California State CPE Requirements.


By following these steps and requirements, you’ll navigate the California CPA licensure process successfully. Always refer back to official resources for any updates or clarifications.

The California Board of Accountancy’s official website is the primary source for current requirements, forms, and instructions. Additionally, NASBA provides support for the CPA exam process, and the AICPA offers valuable information on the CPA Exam and the profession at large.

Note: California is in the process of updating its licensure framework in coming years (with a law, AB 1175, effective 2027, that will introduce a new pathway focusing on a bachelor’s degree + accounting concentration + 2 years experience as an alternative to the 150-hour rule).

However, through 2025, the requirements outlined in this article remain in effect. Aspiring CPAs should stay informed on any rule changes, but can proceed with the current 150-hour education and 1-year experience model for licensure until the new rules take effect in the future.

Once licensed, maintaining your CPA involves meeting CPE requirements and renewing your license every two years, but the effort is well worth it. The CPA designation is highly respected and opens the door to a range of career opportunities in accounting, finance, and business. Good luck on your journey to becoming a California CPA!

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