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CPA exam and license requirements in West Virginia

West Virginia requires 120 semester credit hours to sit for the CPA exam. Licensure requires 150. Administered under the West Virginia 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 West Virginia?

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

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

West Virginia 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 West Virginia?

The CPA exam in West Virginia costs $262.64 per section, a $10 application fee. Four sections at $262.64 is $1,050.56 in section fees alone. These are West Virginia 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 West Virginia?

West Virginia 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 West Virginia?

West Virginia 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 West Virginia Board of Accountancy before planning around it.

Can you appeal a failed CPA exam score in West Virginia?

West Virginia 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 West Virginia?

Not through NASBA. West Virginia does not appear as an origin on NASBA's transfer service, so you request your scores from the West Virginia Board of Accountancy directly. You can still transfer INTO West Virginia 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 West Virginia?

No deadline that costs you exam credit, but West Virginia does have a clock worth knowing, and it is not the same thing. Experience recency of 4 years (1CSR1 4.1.c). Missing it costs you extra work before the license is issued, not the sections you have already passed.

Researched against West Virginia'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 West Virginia require a CPA ethics exam?

West Virginia: No ethics exam is required for licensure; the ethics requirement is met through 3 semester hours of ethics coursework in the education requirement.

What work experience is required for a CPA license in West Virginia?

West Virginia requires one year of CPA-verified experience under the post-baccalaureate or 150-hour pathways, or two years under the new bachelor's-only pathway.

Who regulates CPAs in West Virginia?

CPAs in West Virginia are regulated by the West Virginia Board of Accountancy. Its published requirements are at https://www.boa.wv.gov.

Can you become a CPA in West Virginia without 150 credit hours?

Yes. West Virginia has an alternative route to CPA licensure that does not require 150 semester hours, and it has been in force since 2026-05-24. The traditional 150-hour route remains available alongside it. The change came through HB 4088 (2026 Regular Session), Chapter 256, Acts 2026, amending W. Va. Code ยง 30-9-8.

What the alternative route requires: A baccalaureate degree conferred by an acceptable institution whose total education program includes an accounting concentration or equivalent as determined by board rule, plus at least two years of experience and passage of the CPA Exam.

Worth knowingThe accounting concentration is defined by board rule rather than by statute, and the Board filed a Notice of Public Comment on May 13, 2026 for a proposed legislative rule change with a comment period closing June 26, 2026, so the coursework definition may still shift. Some board pages elsewhere on the site still describe the older one year experience and 150 hour framing and have not been fully updated.

West Virginia Board of Accountancy: https://www.boa.wv.gov/Licensing/EducationExaminationExperience.asp. Verified 2026-08-19, and independently re-checked against the cited source.

Recent changes and notes for West Virginia

Jurisdictions that changed around the same time as West Virginia

West Virginia's alternative route started on 24 May 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.boa.wv.gov/Licensing/EducationExaminationExperience.asp. Requirements change; confirm with the West Virginia Board of Accountancy before applying.