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CPA exam and license requirements in Louisiana

Louisiana requires 120 semester credit hours to sit for the CPA exam. Licensure requires 150. Administered under the State Board of Certified Public Accountants of Louisiana. 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 NASBA, free
State ethics requirement
See below

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

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

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

Louisiana 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 Louisiana?

The CPA exam in Louisiana costs $262.64 per section, a $96 application fee, a $96 education evaluation fee. Four sections at $262.64 is $1,050.56 in section fees alone. These are Louisiana 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 Louisiana?

Louisiana 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 Louisiana?

Louisiana 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 State Board of Certified Public Accountants of Louisiana before planning around it.

Can you appeal a failed CPA exam score in Louisiana?

Louisiana 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 Louisiana?

Through NASBA, at no charge. Louisiana is one of the 36 jurisdictions NASBA is authorized to transfer scores out of, so the request goes to NASBA's own service rather than to the State Board of Certified Public Accountants of Louisiana. Transferring INTO a jurisdiction is never the constraint, because every jurisdiction accepts an incoming transfer. The one you are leaving is what decides the route.

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 Louisiana?

No deadline that costs you exam credit, but Louisiana does have a clock worth knowing, and it is not the same thing. A rule that reads like a deadline and is close to inoperative. La. R.S. 37:75(G)(1)(b), as re-enacted by 2026 Act 653 effective 1 August 2026, voids scores if you have not completed an educational pathway by 31 December of the fifth calendar year after passing. But one of those pathways is a bare baccalaureate with an accounting concentration, which 37:75(C)(1) already requires in order to SIT. Anyone who lawfully sat has therefore already completed a pathway and cannot be voided. Missing it costs you extra work before the license is issued, not the sections you have already passed.

Researched against Louisiana'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 Louisiana require a CPA ethics exam?

Louisiana: Louisiana requires no separate ethics exam for initial licensure; licensees complete a Board-approved ethics course in each even-numbered year as CPE.

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

Louisiana requires one year of full-time (or 2,000 hours part-time) experience in accounting, attest, tax, advisory, or consulting work verified by a licensed CPA; the new bachelor's-only pathway requires two years.

Who regulates CPAs in Louisiana?

CPAs in Louisiana are regulated by the State Board of Certified Public Accountants of Louisiana. Its published requirements are at https://cpaboard.state.la.us.

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

Yes. Louisiana has an alternative route to CPA licensure that does not require 150 semester hours, and it has been in force since 2026-08-01. The traditional 150-hour route remains available alongside it. The change came through HB 548 (2026 Regular Session), Act No. 653; amends La. R.S. 37:75.

What the alternative route requires: A baccalaureate or higher degree with an accounting concentration or equivalent, plus not less than two years of qualifying experience verified by a licensee, plus passage of the CPA Exam.

Worth knowingThe board's Becoming a CPA page and its posted copy of the Louisiana Accountancy Act still carry the pre-amendment text requiring 150 semester hours, so those pages contradict the board's own homepage notice. Several review-course guides also still list Louisiana as having no alternative pathway, which is incorrect as of August 1, 2026.

Louisiana Legislature, HB 548 bill history (Act No. 653, effective date 08/01/2026): https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?s=26RS&b=HB548&sbi=y. Verified 2026-08-19, and independently re-checked against the cited source.

Recent changes and notes for Louisiana

Jurisdictions that changed around the same time as Louisiana

Louisiana's alternative route started on 1 August 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://cpaboard.state.la.us/becoming-a-cpa. Requirements change; confirm with the State Board of Certified Public Accountants of Louisiana before applying.