PocketCPA

CPA exam and license requirements in Alabama

Alabama requires 120 semester credit hours to sit for the CPA exam. Licensure requires 150. Administered under the Alabama State Board of Public Accountancy. Last reviewed 2026-08-19.

Credit hours to sit
120
Credit hours to license
150
Exam fee per section
$262.64
Exam credit window
30 months
Notice to Schedule valid
6 months from issue
Transferring scores out
Through the board
State ethics requirement
See below

How many credit hours do you need to sit for the CPA exam in Alabama?

Alabama requires 120 semester credit hours to sit for the CPA exam. Candidates in Alabama sit under the rules of the Alabama State Board of Public Accountancy.

How many credit hours do you need for a CPA license in Alabama?

Alabama requires 150 semester credit hours for CPA licensure. That is 30 more than the 120 needed to sit, so candidates can begin testing before completing the licensure requirement.

How much does the CPA exam cost in Alabama?

The CPA exam in Alabama costs $262.64 per section, a $120 application fee. Four sections at $262.64 is $1,050.56 in section fees alone. These are Alabama board and NASBA fees and exclude review course costs and any re-take fees.

How long do you have to pass all four CPA exam sections in Alabama?

Alabama gives candidates a 30-month window to pass all four CPA exam sections. The clock starts when the first section is passed.

How long is your Notice to Schedule valid in Alabama?

Alabama gives you 6 months from the date your Notice to Schedule is issued to sit the section it covers. If it expires you forfeit the fees already paid for that section and must reapply.

From the Validation Periods map in the NASBA Candidate Guide, edition 2026-07-16. That is NASBA's summary of the board's rule rather than a reading of the board itself, so confirm it with the Alabama State Board of Public Accountancy before planning around it.

Can you appeal a failed CPA exam score in Alabama?

Alabama offers a score appeal. An appeal lets you view the multiple-choice questions or simulations you answered incorrectly and submit comments on them, under supervision, and it requires a formal request, board approval, a fee and a deadline that runs from the date your score was reported. A score review is separate and is available everywhere: it re-checks that the approved answer key was applied correctly to your responses, and it is not a way to have an alternative answer considered.

Appeal availability is listed in the NASBA Candidate Guide, edition 2026-07-16. See also what happens on test day.

How do you transfer CPA exam scores out of Alabama?

Not through NASBA. Alabama does not appear as an origin on NASBA's transfer service, so you request your scores from the Alabama State Board of Public Accountancy directly. You can still transfer INTO Alabama from anywhere; it is only the outbound route that runs through the board.

Route read from NASBA's transfer service and cross-checked against NASBA's Interstate Authorization Fee Schedule, 2026-09-20, and every route claim was handed to a pass instructed to refute it. How exam credit moves between jurisdictions sets out the whole picture, including what moving does to your credit window.

Do your CPA exam credits expire after you pass all four sections in Alabama?

No deadline that costs you exam credit, but Alabama does have a clock worth knowing, and it is not the same thing. 60 months to finish the education requirement, after which extra CPE is required. Credit itself stays intact. Missing it costs you extra work before the license is issued, not the sections you have already passed.

Researched against Alabama's own statutes and administrative rules on 2026-09-20, not against the board FAQ alone. What happens to CPA exam credit after you pass all four sets out all 55 jurisdictions and the clocks that are mistaken for deadlines.

Does Alabama require a CPA ethics exam?

Alabama: No separate ethics exam or course is required for the certificate or permit (ethics is tested within the Uniform CPA Exam); active licensees complete 2 hours of ethics CPE per year.

What work experience is required for a CPA license in Alabama?

Alabama requires one year (about 2,000 hours) of public accounting supervised by a licensed CPA or PA, or two years of supervised work in industry, government, or college teaching.

Who regulates CPAs in Alabama?

CPAs in Alabama are regulated by the Alabama State Board of Public Accountancy. Its published requirements are at https://asbpa.alabama.gov.

Can you become a CPA in Alabama without 150 credit hours?

Not yet. Alabama has enacted an alternative route to CPA licensure that does not require 150 semester hours, but it does not take effect until 2026-10-15, so 150 hours is still required today. The law is HB 59, Pathways to CPA Act, 2026 Regular Session, amending Ala. Code sections 34-1-4 and 34-1-11.

What the alternative route requires: A baccalaureate degree with 24 semester hours of upper division accounting and 24 semester hours of business, plus two years of qualifying accounting experience and the CPA Exam.

Worth knowingThe bachelor's plus two years route sits in board rule, not the statute. The board's Notice of Intended Action amending Chapter 30-X-4 set a July 10, 2026 comment deadline and dates the three pathways to candidates first sitting on or after October 15, 2026, and the published Administrative Code (revised 9/14/24) still shows the 150 hour rule, so the rule was not final as of August 19, 2026.

Alabama Legislature, HB 59 as enrolled (Pathways to CPA Act): https://admincode.legislature.state.al.us/api/filing/69f9fc9b386388b26f13a0ea/filing. Verified 2026-08-19, and independently re-checked against the cited source. Recorded at medium confidence, so confirm with the board before planning around it.

Recent changes and notes for Alabama

The other jurisdictions with a route enacted but not yet in force

Alabama is one of 9 jurisdictions that have passed an alternative route which has not started yet. Each has a dated start.

The full picture, with every statute and the jurisdictions where the published trackers are behind, is on the 150-hour rule tracker.

Studying for the CPA exam

PocketCPA covers all six CPA exam sections with 11,896 questions, each cited to the specific standard or statute it tests, and 1,071 lesson pages written from primary source text. A nine-item sample of every section is open with no account, and a full-length FAR mock exam is free with one.

Source: https://asbpa.alabama.gov/exam/exam-information/. Requirements change; confirm with the Alabama State Board of Public Accountancy before applying.