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CPA exam and license requirements in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico requires 120 semester credit hours to sit for the CPA exam. Licensure requires 150. Administered under the Puerto Rico Board of Examiners of Certified Public Accountants. 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 Puerto Rico?

Puerto Rico requires 120 semester credit hours to sit for the CPA exam. Candidates in Puerto Rico sit under the rules of the Puerto Rico Board of Examiners of Certified Public Accountants.

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

Puerto Rico 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 Puerto Rico?

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

Puerto Rico 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 Puerto Rico?

Puerto Rico 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 Puerto Rico Board of Examiners of Certified Public Accountants before planning around it.

Can you appeal a failed CPA exam score in Puerto Rico?

Puerto Rico 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 Puerto Rico?

Through NASBA, at no charge. Puerto Rico 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 Puerto Rico Board of Examiners of Certified 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 Puerto Rico?

No deadline that costs you exam credit, but Puerto Rico does have a clock worth knowing, and it is not the same thing. 3 years from passing to finish the 150 credits, otherwise 10 continuing-education credits per year are added (Reglamento 9612-2024, Sec. 2.03(c)). It applies only to those who sat under the 120-credit alternative, and it is education remediation rather than credit expiry. Missing it costs you extra work before the license is issued, not the sections you have already passed.

The controlling text is Reglamento Num. 9612, approved 17 October 2024, which repeals every prior Junta regulation. A PDF still circulating as the CPA exam reglamento is Reglamento 8382 on education hours and is repealed, so anyone answering from that file is quoting a dead rule.

Researched against Puerto Rico'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 Puerto Rico require a CPA ethics exam?

Puerto Rico: No ethics exam is required for initial licensure; 3 hours of ethics CPE are required only per triennial renewal.

What work experience is required for a CPA license in Puerto Rico?

Puerto Rico requires one year (1,820 hours) of full-time experience (or three years part-time) for the traditional pathways, and two years (3,640 hours) for the new bachelor's-only pathway, in public accounting, industry/government, or academia.

Who regulates CPAs in Puerto Rico?

CPAs in Puerto Rico are regulated by the Puerto Rico Board of Examiners of Certified Public Accountants. Its published requirements are at https://www.statedepartment.pr.gov/juntas-examinadoras/certified-public-accountants.

Can you become a CPA in Puerto Rico without 150 credit hours?

Yes. Puerto Rico has an alternative route to CPA licensure that does not require 150 semester hours, and it has been in force since 2026-03-19. The traditional 150-hour route remains available alongside it. The change came through Ley Núm. 174-2025 (P. del S. 642), amending Section 3 of Ley Núm. 293 of May 20, 1945 (Ley de Contabilidad Pública de 1945).

What the alternative route requires: A bachelor's degree with a minimum of 120 semester hours including an accounting concentration, two years of supervised professional experience totaling 3,640 hours in public, private, government or academic accounting, and passage of the Uniform CPA Examination.

Worth knowingThe 90-day computation from the December 19, 2025 signing gives March 19, 2026; Becker publishes March 18, 2026 for the same law, so sources differ by one day. The statutory text and the vigencia clause are at https://www.lexjuris.com/lexlex/Leyes2025/lexl2025174.htm. Puerto Rico layers on requirements unrelated to the pathway question, including US citizenship, Puerto Rico residency or place of business, a minimum age of 21 and membership in the Colegio de CPA. The Junta Examinadora is still to define curriculum and concentration detail by regulation.

Colegio de Contadores Públicos Autorizados de Puerto Rico: https://www.lexjuris.com/lexlex/Leyes2025/lexl2025174.htm. 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 Puerto Rico

Jurisdictions that changed around the same time as Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico's alternative route started on 19 March 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://nasba.org/exams/cpaexam/puerto-rico. Requirements change; confirm with the Puerto Rico Board of Examiners of Certified Public Accountants before applying.