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CPA exam and license requirements in Montana

Montana sets no total credit-hour minimum to sit for the CPA exam. It requires 24 semester hours of upper-level accounting plus 24 semester hours of general business, and no degree is needed to test. Licensure requires 150 semester hours. Administered under the Montana Board of Public Accountants. Last reviewed 2026-08-19.

Credit hours to sit
No total set; 24 accounting plus 24 business 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 NASBA, free
State ethics requirement
See below

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

Montana sets no total credit-hour minimum to sit for the CPA exam. It requires 24 semester hours of upper-level accounting plus 24 semester hours of general business, and no degree is needed to test. Candidates in Montana sit under the rules of the Montana Board of Public Accountants.

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

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

How much does the CPA exam cost in Montana?

The CPA exam in Montana costs $262.64 per section, a $96 application fee, a $146 education evaluation fee. Four sections at $262.64 is $1,050.56 in section fees alone. These are Montana 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 Montana?

Montana 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 Montana?

Montana 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 Montana Board of Public Accountants before planning around it.

Can you appeal a failed CPA exam score in Montana?

Montana does not offer a score appeal. Montana is one of the seven jurisdictions where appeals are not available, so viewing the items you answered incorrectly is not an option there. 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 Montana?

Through NASBA, at no charge. Montana 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 Montana Board of Public Accountants. 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 Montana?

No deadline that costs you exam credit, but Montana does have a clock worth knowing, and it is not the same thing. Experience must fall in the 3 years before the application date (ARM 24.201.502(2)(c)), and there is no CPE cure. The fix is earning fresh experience. Missing it costs you extra work before the license is issued, not the sections you have already passed.

Researched against Montana'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 Montana require a CPA ethics exam?

Montana: Requires passing the AICPA professional-ethics exam (90% to pass); Montana has no separate state ethics exam.

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

Montana requires one year (minimum 2,000 hours) of accounting/auditing experience in public, private, government, or academic work attested by a U.S. CPA, or two years under the bachelor's-only licensure pathway.

Who regulates CPAs in Montana?

CPAs in Montana are regulated by the Montana Board of Public Accountants. Its published requirements are at https://boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov/public-accountants/.

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

Yes. Montana has an alternative route to CPA licensure that does not require 150 semester hours, and it has been in force since 2025-09-13. The traditional 150-hour route remains available alongside it. The change came through SB 166 (2025), implemented by ARM 24.201.503.

What the alternative route requires: Baccalaureate degree with an accounting concentration of 24 semester hours of upper level accounting and 24 semester hours of business courses, plus two years of qualifying accounting experience and passage of the CPA Exam.

Worth knowingThe board page lists the three pathways but does not print an effective date. January 1, 2026 comes from SB 166 itself and from NASBA's Montana licensing page. Several secondary trackers, including Controllers Council, wrongly describe Montana's new route as a bachelor's degree plus one year of experience; the board rule requires two years on the bachelor's only route. The 150 hour route survives as a baccalaureate plus 30 additional semester hours with one year of experience, and a post baccalaureate degree with one year is the third option. No sunset of the older routes was found.

Montana Board of Public Accountants, Education Requirements: https://boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov/_docs/pac/2025-167adp-arm.pdf. 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 Montana

Jurisdictions that changed around the same time as Montana

Montana's alternative route started on 13 September 2025. 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://boards.bsd.dli.mt.gov/public-accountants/license-information/education-requirements. Requirements change; confirm with the Montana Board of Public Accountants before applying.