PocketCPA

CPA exam and license requirements in Arkansas

Arkansas sets no total credit-hour minimum to sit for the CPA exam. It requires 18 semester hours of upper-level accounting at grade C or better, and no degree is needed to test. Licensure requires 150 semester hours. Administered under the Arkansas State Board of Public Accountancy. Last reviewed 2026-08-19.

Credit hours to sit
No total set; 18 upper-level accounting hours
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 Arkansas?

Arkansas sets no total credit-hour minimum to sit for the CPA exam. It requires 18 semester hours of upper-level accounting at grade C or better, and no degree is needed to test. Candidates in Arkansas sit under the rules of the Arkansas State Board of Public Accountancy.

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

Arkansas requires 150 semester credit hours for CPA licensure. Candidates can begin testing long before reaching it, because Arkansas sets no total-hours minimum to sit.

How much does the CPA exam cost in Arkansas?

The CPA exam in Arkansas costs $262.64 per section, a $50 application fee. Four sections at $262.64 is $1,050.56 in section fees alone. These are Arkansas 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 Arkansas?

Arkansas 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 Arkansas?

Arkansas 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 Arkansas State Board of Public Accountancy before planning around it.

Can you appeal a failed CPA exam score in Arkansas?

Arkansas 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 Arkansas?

Not through NASBA. Arkansas does not appear as an origin on NASBA's transfer service, so you request your scores from the Arkansas State Board of Public Accountancy directly. You can still transfer INTO Arkansas 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 Arkansas?

No deadline that costs you exam credit, but Arkansas does have a clock worth knowing, and it is not the same thing. A deadline whose consequence was severed in 2025. Ark. Code Ann. 17-12-313 still says an applicant who does not obtain a license within three years holds "a void license under 17-12-504(h)". Act 428 of 2025 struck the word "void" from 504(h) and replaced it with revocation after notice and hearing, which can only reach a license that existed and lapsed. Somebody who has never been licensed has none, and nothing in either section touches exam credit. 17 CAR 236-311, effective 5 March 2026, also grants an extension for extreme hardship. Missing it costs you extra work before the license is issued, not the sections you have already passed.

Researched against Arkansas'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 Arkansas require a CPA ethics exam?

Arkansas: No separate ethics exam for initial licensure; ethics is met through CPE (4 hours per 36 months, including 1 hour on Arkansas law and Board rules).

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

Arkansas requires one year of qualifying experience for the master's or 150-hour pathways, or two years for the bachelor's-only pathway, verified by a licensed CPA.

Who regulates CPAs in Arkansas?

CPAs in Arkansas are regulated by the Arkansas State Board of Public Accountancy. Its published requirements are at https://labor.arkansas.gov/licensing/state-board-of-public-accountancy/.

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

Yes. Arkansas has an alternative route to CPA licensure that does not require 150 semester hours, and it has been in force since 2026-03-05. The traditional 150-hour route remains available alongside it. The change came through Arkansas State Board of Public Accountancy rule revisions approved by the Arkansas Legislative Council on February 20, 2026 and published February 23, 2026.

What the alternative route requires: A bachelor's degree with the accounting concentration of 27 upper level accounting hours and the business concentration of 24 hours, plus two years of experience.

Worth knowingThe change came through board rulemaking rather than a statutory amendment, so it rests on the revised rules published by the Secretary of State on February 23, 2026. No sunset of the 150 hour route is stated.

Arkansas State Board of Public Accountancy, Revised Board Rules Now in Effect: https://labor.arkansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/Revised-Board-Rules-Now-in-Effect.pdf. Verified 2026-08-19, and independently re-checked against the cited source.

Recent changes and notes for Arkansas

Jurisdictions that changed around the same time as Arkansas

Arkansas's alternative route started on 5 March 2026. These started closest to it, which is the comparison that matters if you are choosing where to apply or holding a license in more than one.

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://labor.arkansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/Revised-Board-Rules-Now-in-Effect.pdf. Requirements change; confirm with the Arkansas State Board of Public Accountancy before applying.