PocketCPA

CPA exam and license requirements in New Mexico

New Mexico requires 120 semester credit hours to sit for the CPA exam. Licensure requires 150. Administered under the New Mexico Public Accountancy Board. 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 New Mexico?

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

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

New Mexico 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 New Mexico?

The CPA exam in New Mexico 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 New Mexico 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 New Mexico?

New Mexico 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 New Mexico?

New Mexico 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 New Mexico Public Accountancy Board before planning around it.

Can you appeal a failed CPA exam score in New Mexico?

New Mexico 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 New Mexico?

Through NASBA, at no charge. New Mexico 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 New Mexico Public Accountancy Board. 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 New Mexico?

No deadline that costs you exam credit, but New Mexico does have a clock worth knowing, and it is not the same thing. Not a deadline. NMAC 16.60.2.10(D) says that at five years the scores "will be presented to the Board to determine validity", and it hangs off a records-retention schedule (1.18.420 NMAC) that has since been repealed. The words expire, lapse and no longer valid appear nowhere in the part. The harsher language candidates find in search results lived in 16.60.2.13, repealed 1 December 2014. Missing it costs you extra work before the license is issued, not the sections you have already passed.

Researched against New Mexico'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 New Mexico require a CPA ethics exam?

New Mexico: Pass the AICPA Professional Ethics comprehensive self-study course with a grade of 90% or higher before initial licensure.

What work experience is required for a CPA license in New Mexico?

New Mexico requires at least one year of accounting experience (public, private, government, or academia) verified by an active licensed CPA, or two years under the bachelor's-with-concentration pathway.

Who regulates CPAs in New Mexico?

CPAs in New Mexico are regulated by the New Mexico Public Accountancy Board. Its published requirements are at https://www.rld.nm.gov/boards-and-commissions/individual-boards-and-commissions/accountancy/.

Can you become a CPA in New Mexico without 150 credit hours?

Yes. New Mexico has an alternative route to CPA licensure that does not require 150 semester hours, and it has been in force since 2026-01-01. The traditional 150-hour route remains available alongside it. The change came through House Bill 296 (2025 Regular Session), Laws 2025 ch. 105, amending the 1999 Public Accountancy Act, NMSA 61-28B-8.

What the alternative route requires: A baccalaureate degree from an acceptable college or university with a concentration in accounting or business, plus two years of accounting experience and passage of the CPA Exam.

Worth knowingThe enacted statute is the controlling authority and the state's own downstream materials lag behind it. The codified rule 16.60.2 NMAC on the State Records Center site still reads "at least 150 semester hours of college education" for a certificate, and the Public Accountancy Board's public pages still describe a 150-hour licensure requirement and an 18-month exam window that HB 296 extended to 30 months. Rule amendments to conform 16.60.2 NMAC were circulated in October 2025.

New Mexico Legislature, final enacted text of House Bill 296 (2025): https://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/25%20Regular/final/HB0296.pdf. Verified 2026-08-19, and independently re-checked against the cited source.

Recent changes and notes for New Mexico

Jurisdictions that changed around the same time as New Mexico

New Mexico's alternative route started on 1 January 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://www.rld.nm.gov/boards-and-commissions/individual-boards-and-commissions/accountancy/licensing-registration-and-renewal. Requirements change; confirm with the New Mexico Public Accountancy Board before applying.