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CPA exam and license requirements in Ohio

Ohio requires 120 semester credit hours to sit for the CPA exam. Licensure requires 150. Administered under the Accountancy Board of Ohio. 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
PSR ethics course

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

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

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

Ohio 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 Ohio?

The CPA exam in Ohio costs $262.64 per section, a $101 application fee, a $96 education evaluation fee. Four sections at $262.64 is $1,050.56 in section fees alone. These are Ohio 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 Ohio?

Ohio 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 Ohio?

Ohio 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 Accountancy Board of Ohio before planning around it.

Can you appeal a failed CPA exam score in Ohio?

Ohio 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 Ohio?

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

We did not find one. Ohio's statutes and board rules were read for a deadline to apply for licensure after passing, and neither sets one, so the sections you have passed do not appear to go stale while you finish the experience requirement. That is a "not found" rather than a guarantee: confirm with the Accountancy Board of Ohio before relying on it.

ORC 4701.06(D) says a successful candidate "has no status as a certified public accountant, unless and until" they hold the education and experience. That is a statement about STATUS, not about credit, and it is the drafting pattern that rules a deadline out. Nevada NRS 628.250 and Nebraska 1-117 read the same way.

Researched against Ohio'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 Ohio require a CPA ethics exam?

Ohio: Complete a Board-approved Professional Standards and Responsibilities (PSR) course on Ohio accountancy law and Board rules within one year before applying (no national AICPA ethics exam); first-time licensees must take the Ohio-specific PSR.

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

Ohio requires two years of qualifying accounting experience for the 120-hour (bachelor's) pathway, or one year for the 150-hour (master's) pathway, verified by a CPA.

Who regulates CPAs in Ohio?

CPAs in Ohio are regulated by the Accountancy Board of Ohio. Its published requirements are at https://acc.ohio.gov.

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

Yes. Ohio has an alternative route to CPA licensure that does not require 150 semester hours, and it has been in force since 2026-01-01. There is no separate 150-hour track; the requirement was removed rather than supplemented. The change came through House Bill 238 (135th General Assembly), codified at Ohio Revised Code 4701.06.

What the alternative route requires: Graduation with a baccalaureate degree whose total educational program includes an accounting concentration with related business coursework, plus two years of board-satisfactory experience in a public accounting firm, government, business, or academia.

Worth knowingOhio deleted the 150-hour rule rather than keeping it alongside the new route, so a candidate holding 150 hours but only a bachelor's degree now needs two years of experience, not one. The Ohio Society of CPAs states that candidates who sat for a section of the exam before January 1, 2026 remain under the prior 150-hour, one-year rule, and that proposals to grandfather other candidates were rejected. Accounting Today dates the Ohio change to April 9, 2025, which is the bill's general effective date; the codified licensure section is stamped effective January 1, 2026, and that is the date the Accountancy Board and the state society both use.

Ohio Revised Code section 4701.06, Requirements for CPA certificate: https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-4701.06. Verified 2026-08-19, and independently re-checked against the cited source.

Recent changes and notes for Ohio

Jurisdictions that changed around the same time as Ohio

Ohio'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://acc.ohio.gov/becoming-licensed/requirements. Requirements change; confirm with the Accountancy Board of Ohio before applying.