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CPA exam and license requirements in South Dakota

South Dakota requires 120 semester credit hours to sit for the CPA exam. Licensure requires 150. Administered under the South Dakota Board of 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 the board
State ethics requirement
See below

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

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

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

South Dakota 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 South Dakota?

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

South Dakota 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 South Dakota?

South Dakota 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 South Dakota Board of Accountancy before planning around it.

Can you appeal a failed CPA exam score in South Dakota?

South Dakota 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 South Dakota?

Not through NASBA. South Dakota does not appear as an origin on NASBA's transfer service, so you request your scores from the South Dakota Board of Accountancy directly. You can still transfer INTO South Dakota from anywhere; it is only the outbound route that runs through the board.

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 South Dakota?

No deadline that costs you exam credit, but South Dakota does have a clock worth knowing, and it is not the same thing. Three years from meeting the requirements for licensure, NOT from passing, and expressly waivable: ARSD 20:75:03:01 says "The board may waive this requirement for good cause." Since the clock starts once education and experience are both in hand, it normally begins later than the exam. The board FAQ runs it from passing instead, which is the harsher reading and is not the rule. Missing it costs you extra work before the license is issued, not the sections you have already passed.

Researched against South Dakota'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 South Dakota require a CPA ethics exam?

South Dakota: Pass the AICPA Professional Ethics comprehensive course and exam with a score of at least 90%.

What work experience is required for a CPA license in South Dakota?

South Dakota requires one year (2,000 hours) for the graduate or bachelor's+30 pathways, or two years for the new bachelor's-only pathway, verified by a licensed CPA (375 attest hours required to perform attest).

Who regulates CPAs in South Dakota?

CPAs in South Dakota are regulated by the South Dakota Board of Accountancy. Its published requirements are at https://dlr.sd.gov/accountancy/.

Can you become a CPA in South Dakota without 150 credit hours?

Yes. South Dakota has an alternative route to CPA licensure that does not require 150 semester hours, and it has been in force since 2026-07-01. The traditional 150-hour route remains available alongside it. The change came through House Bill 1035 (2026); SDCL 36-20B-15, 36-20B-21 and 36-20B-22 as amended by SL 2026, ch. 160.

What the alternative route requires: A bachelor's degree in accounting, or a course of study the Board determines comparable to an accounting degree, plus two years of verified accounting experience and passage of the CPA Exam, with no additional credit hours required.

Worth knowingThe South Dakota CPA Society states the pathway took effect July 1, 2026, which matches the state's default effective date for bills without an emergency clause. At least one review-course site (300hours) instead reports an effective date of March 2, 2026, which is the signing date rather than the effective date. Either way the pathway is in force today. The Board has not yet conformed all of its administrative rules under ARSD 20:75, and its exam page still showed pre-HB 1035 language when checked.

South Dakota Board of Accountancy, Frequently Asked Questions: https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/36-20B-21. 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 South Dakota

Jurisdictions that changed around the same time as South Dakota

South Dakota's alternative route started on 1 July 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://dlr.sd.gov/accountancy/cpa_exam.aspx. Requirements change; confirm with the South Dakota Board of Accountancy before applying.