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CPA exam and license requirements in New York

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

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

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

New York 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 York?

The CPA exam in New York 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 York 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 York?

New York 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 York?

New York 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 York State Board for Public Accountancy before planning around it.

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

New York 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 York?

Through NASBA, at no charge. New York 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 York State Board for Public 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 New York?

No deadline that costs you exam credit, but New York does have a clock worth knowing, and it is not the same thing. 10 years, then the license is withheld until you complete CPE the Department sets, quantified as 40 hours in the prior 12 months (8 NYCRR 70.4). The board states plainly that "once an applicant has passed all four sections of the examination, the examination credit does not expire". Missing it costs you extra work before the license is issued, not the sections you have already passed.

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

New York: No ethics exam is required; instead licensees complete 4 hours of acceptable ethics continuing education (New York does not require the AICPA ethics exam).

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

New York requires one year of full-time (or part-time equivalent) accounting experience under a licensed CPA for the 150-hour pathway, or two years for the 120-hour pathway.

Who regulates CPAs in New York?

CPAs in New York are regulated by the New York State Board for Public Accountancy. Its published requirements are at https://www.op.nysed.gov/professions/certified-public-accountants.

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

Not yet. New York has enacted an alternative route to CPA licensure that does not require 150 semester hours, but it does not take effect until 2026-11-21, so 150 hours is still required today. The law is A.7613-B (Peoples-Stokes) / S.6892 (Stavisky), signed November 21, 2025, amending Education Law sections 7404 and 7406.

What the alternative route requires: A curriculum of at least 120 semester hours in a Department-registered or accredited accountancy program, plus two years of acceptable full-time experience and passage of the CPA Exam.

Worth knowingImplementing Regents regulations were not yet permanently adopted. The July 2026 State Board packet records that the proposed amendment was published in the State Register on April 29, 2026 for a 60-day comment period and was anticipated to go to the Board of Regents for permanent adoption in September 2026 with a November 21, 2026 effective date, so the date depends on that adoption holding. Two further sources of confusion: the NYSSCPA "Become a CPA" page states the pathway becomes available in November 2027, which conflicts with the Department's November 21, 2026 date; and New York is separately retiring an older, unrelated 120-semester-hour pathway on August 1, 2027, which several guides misreport as the new route being phased out.

New York State Education Department, Office of the Professions, State Board for Public Accountancy meeting packet, July 2026: https://www.op.nysed.gov/sites/op/files/2026-07/Z%20-%20Public%20Packet%20July%202026.pdf. Verified 2026-08-19, and independently re-checked against the cited source.

Recent changes and notes for New York

The other jurisdictions with a route enacted but not yet in force

New York is one of 9 jurisdictions that have passed an alternative route which has not started yet. Each has a dated start.

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.op.nysed.gov/professions/certified-public-accountants/initial-license-requirements. Requirements change; confirm with the New York State Board for Public Accountancy before applying.