CPA exam and license requirements in Maine

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

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

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

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

Maine 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 Maine?

The CPA exam in Maine 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 Maine 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 Maine?

Maine 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 Maine?

Maine 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 Maine Board of Accountancy before planning around it.

Can you appeal a failed CPA exam score in Maine?

Maine 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 Maine?

Through NASBA, at no charge. Maine 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 Maine Board of Accountancy. 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 Maine?

No deadline that costs you exam credit, but Maine does have a clock worth knowing, and it is not the same thing. 4 years, then 40 hours of CPE (32 M.R.S. 12230(2)). Missing it costs you extra work before the license is issued, not the sections you have already passed.

Researched against Maine'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 Maine require a CPA ethics exam?

Maine: No ethics exam or ethics course is required for initial licensure; Maine is one of the few states that does not mandate the AICPA ethics exam (a 4-hour ethics CPE applies only at renewal).

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

Maine requires two years of experience using accounting or auditing skills under the supervision of a licensed CPA.

Who regulates CPAs in Maine?

CPAs in Maine are regulated by the Maine Board of Accountancy. Its published requirements are at https://www.maine.gov/pfr/professionallicensing/professions/accountancy.

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

No. Maine still requires 150 semester hours for CPA licensure and has not enacted an alternative route. More than half of US jurisdictions have, so this is now the minority position and it may change.

Worth knowingLD 1789, signed in June 2025, lowered the threshold to sit for the exam from 150 to 120 semester hours but its proposed alternative licensure pathways were removed before passage. This is the exam-versus-licensure distinction that several secondary trackers state incorrectly. Maine is among the last jurisdictions without an alternative route, and reporting indicates a bill is expected to be filed in December 2026 for the 2027 session, so the position could change.

Maine Board of Accountancy, Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation, Public Accountant and Certified Public Accountant licensing: https://www.maine.gov/pfr/professionallicensing/professions/accountancy/licensing/public-accountant-and-certified-public-accountant. Verified 2026-08-19.

Recent changes and notes for Maine

120 semester hours to sit; 150 semester hours plus a bachelor's degree to license.
No residency and no Social Security number requirement to sit (per NASBA CPA Examination Services).
Two-tier license types: separate Public Accountant (PA) and Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licenses.
LD 1789 (2025) set the exam-sitting bar at 120 hours; a proposed bachelor's + 2-year-experience licensure pathway was removed before passage, so 150 hours remains required to license.

The other jurisdictions that still require 150 hours

Maine is one of 9 jurisdictions with no alternative route enacted, which is now the minority position.

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://www.maine.gov/pfr/professionallicensing/professions/accountancy/licensing/public-accountant-and-certified-public-accountant. Requirements change; confirm with the Maine Board of Accountancy before applying.