Maine CPA requirements
Maine lets you sit for the exam at 120 credit hours, but you still need 150 hours and 2 years of experience under the supervision of a licensed CPA before the board will license you.
Education
You need a bachelor’s degree or higher and 150 total semester hours to be licensed in Maine. You can sit for the exam earlier, at 120 hours.
| Requirement | Maine | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Total semester hours | 150 | Required to be licensed; 120 to sit |
| Upper-level accounting | 15 hours spread across a defined list of accounting topics, including at least 3 hours of auditing and attestation | |
| Upper-level business | No separate figure — Maine uses a single 15-hour topical list rather than a distinct accounting/business split | |
| Degree level | Bachelor’s minimum | Regionally accredited institution |
Community college credits generally count toward the total but not toward the upper-level accounting requirement. Get a transcript evaluation from the board before you pay for extra coursework.
Foreign-educated candidates
Foreign-educated candidates need their transcripts evaluated by a board-approved service. For licensure, Maine can also recognize an active foreign license under a NASBA/AICPA mutual recognition agreement.
Sitting versus licensing
Maine is one of the states that has adopted the newer 120-hour pathway: you can sit for the exam well before you finish your degree’s final 30 hours, then complete the rest while you work toward licensure. That timing flexibility is real, but don’t mistake “eligible to sit” for “eligible to be licensed” — plenty of candidates finish all four sections and then wait months to hit the full 150-hour threshold.
Plan the extra hours into your degree rather than bolting them on afterwards. A fifth-year master's or an integrated program is almost always cheaper than taking individual courses later, and it keeps you eligible for student course pricing.
Experience
2 years of experience under the supervision of a licensed CPA, earned at a licensed public accounting firm (general industry experience doesn’t qualify). Work must include accounting and auditing skills plus at least one of management advisory, financial consulting, or tax work.
The experience can typically be earned before, during, or after you pass the exam sections. Your supervisor submits the verification directly to the board, so keep the relationship intact — chasing a signature from a former manager years later is the most common avoidable delay at this stage.
Ethics
Maine doesn’t require an ethics exam of any kind for licensure. Ongoing CPE requires 4 hours of ethics every 3 years, starting with your first renewal.
How to apply, step by step
The order matters less than it looks — experience and exam sections can overlap — but this is the sequence that avoids the most common delays.
At least 120 semester hours, including the required upper-level coursework, to sit.
Have your school send official transcripts directly to Maine Board of Accountancy. Unofficial or self-submitted transcripts are not accepted.
Filed with Maine Board of Accountancy along with the application fee. This is the board's first review of your eligibility.
Once the board approves your application, it notifies NASBA, which issues your Authorization to Test (ATT).
NASBA issues one NTS per section you've paid for. Schedule promptly — an expired NTS means paying the exam fee again.
Schedule at a Prometric test center. All four sections must be passed within a rolling 30-month window that starts when you pass your first section.
2 years of experience under the supervision of a licensed CPA, earned at a licensed public accounting firm (general industry experience doesn't qualify). Work must include accounting and auditing skills plus at least one of management advisory, financial consulting, or tax work. This can run before, during, or after your exam sections.
Maine doesn't require an ethics exam of any kind for licensure. Ongoing CPE requires 4 hours of ethics every 3 years, starting with your first renewal.
With your experience verification and ethics requirement on file, submit the final application and initial license fee.
Fees
| Fee | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| Application | Included in the initial license fee | Before anything else |
| Exam fee, per section | $268.59 | Paid to NASBA (national rate) |
| Initial license | $56 (a $35 base fee plus a $21 background-check fee) | On approval |
| Renewal | $35 annually | Ongoing |
After you’re licensed: staying current
Getting licensed is not the end of the paperwork. Maine requires ongoing continuing professional education to keep your license active, and it is easy to lose track of once you’re working full time.
40 hours of CPE every year, with up to 20 excess hours carried forward, plus 4 hours of ethics every 3 years.
What changed recently
Effective 2025, Maine lowered its exam-sitting requirement from 150 to 120 hours. Notably, an earlier draft of that same bill would have created a full 120-hour licensure pathway (bachelor’s plus extra experience), but that provision was deliberately removed before passage to save the sit-hours change — so Maine still requires a full 150 hours to be licensed, with no alternate pathway currently planned.
Most states have also aligned their credit window with the national thirty-month rule, which gives candidates six more months than the old eighteen-month window to finish all four sections. If you were planning around the old rule, replan.
Common questions
Can I sit in Maine if I studied out of state?
Usually yes — most states, including Maine, don’t require residency to sit for the exam. Your transcripts still have to satisfy the upper-level accounting and business hours, which is where out-of-state applicants most often fall short.
Do online courses count toward the credit hours?
They typically do, provided the institution is accredited and the course is genuinely upper-level. Get it confirmed in writing by the board before enrolling — this is one of the most expensive assumptions candidates make.
Do I need to be a US citizen or a resident of Maine?
No Maine residency or US citizenship requirement identified for the exam or licensure.
What happens right after I pass all four sections?
Passing the exam doesn’t license you on its own. You still need your experience requirement on file and the ethics requirement satisfied before you can submit a license application. You may be able to complete the experience requirement in parallel with the exam, so there’s often little or no extra wait.
Should I license in a state with easier rules instead?
Rarely worth it. Mobility means a license from another state generally lets you practice in Maine, but if you live and work here you will eventually want a local license anyway, and transferring adds cost and paperwork.
Is there anything unusual about Maine's process?
Maine renews licenses annually rather than every two years, with an unusually high 40-CPE-hour annual requirement. Its education rule is also structured differently from most states — a single 15-hour list of accounting topics to choose from, rather than a fixed 24-hour accounting/24-hour business split.
Next step
Maine Board of Accountancy — 35 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333 — (207) 624-8672.
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