Missouri CPA requirements
Missouri no longer ties licensure to a fixed 150-hour credit total. You can become a fully licensed CPA with just a bachelor’s degree (about 120 hours) plus 2 years of supervised experience, or take the traditional route with a graduate degree and a shorter 1 year of experience instead.
Education
Missouri no longer ties licensure to a fixed credit-hour total. You need a bachelor’s degree or higher (about 120 semester hours) with the required accounting and business coursework to sit for the exam, and that same degree qualifies you for full licensure once you’ve completed the matching experience requirement below — no extra 30 hours required.
| Requirement | Missouri | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Total semester hours to sit | 120 | Bachelor’s degree with required coursework |
| Upper-level accounting | 24 hours to sit; the traditional 150-hour track adds 6 more (30 total) | |
| Upper-level business | 24 hours to sit; the traditional 150-hour track adds 6 more (30 total) | |
| 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 typically need their credentials evaluated by an approved service such as NASBA International Evaluation Services before their coursework counts.
Sitting versus licensing
Missouri is one of a small but growing group of states that has eliminated the flat 150-hour licensure rule entirely. There are now two ways to get fully licensed: a bachelor’s degree plus 2 years of supervised experience, or a graduate degree plus a shorter 1 year of experience. Neither route requires you to rack up 30 “extra” credit hours that don’t count toward a degree.
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 qualifying experience under the new bachelor’s-only pathway, or 1 year (2,000 hours) under the traditional 150-hour pathway (plus an additional year if you want authority to sign attest reports). Experience is verified by a licensed CPA acting as your endorser, and qualifying settings include public accounting, industry, government, and academia.
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
You need to pass a board-acceptable written ethics exam — in practice, the AICPA Professional Ethics self-study course with a 90% or better score.
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 Missouri State Board of Accountancy. Unofficial or self-submitted transcripts are not accepted.
Filed with Missouri State 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 qualifying experience under the new bachelor's-only pathway, or 1 year (2,000 hours) under the traditional 150-hour pathway (plus an additional year if you want authority to sign attest reports). Experience is verified by a licensed CPA acting as your endorser, and qualifying settings include public accounting, industry, government, and academia. This can run before, during, or after your exam sections.
You need to pass a board-acceptable written ethics exam — in practice, the AICPA Professional Ethics self-study course with a 90% or better score.
With your experience verification and ethics requirement on file, submit the final application and initial license fee.
Fees
| Fee | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| Application | $96 (education evaluation, paid to NASBA) | Before anything else |
| Exam fee, per section | $268.59 | Paid to NASBA (national rate) |
| Initial license | $90 | On approval |
| Renewal | $80 every 2 years | Ongoing |
After you’re licensed: staying current
Getting licensed is not the end of the paperwork. Missouri 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 annually, including 2 hours of ethics each year, with a 60-day grace period for shortfalls.
What changed recently
Senate Bill 1233, signed July 2026 and effective August 28, 2026, added a new licensure pathway — a bachelor’s degree with an accounting concentration plus 2 years of experience — alongside the existing 150-hour/1-year pathway, without requiring the extra 30 hours of coursework. The board is still finalizing rules defining the exact “accounting concentration” for the new pathway.
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 Missouri if I studied out of state?
Usually yes — most states, including Missouri, 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 Missouri?
No US citizenship requirement, though Missouri asks for either state residency, a Missouri place of business, or Missouri employment. A Social Security Number or ITIN is required on the application.
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 Missouri, 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 Missouri's process?
Missouri’s reform bundled in relief for solo CPA practitioners too — single-member LLCs using “CPA” in their name that don’t perform attest work can now request an exemption from firm-permit requirements. The exact coursework definition for the new 120-hour pathway is still being finalized by the board.
Next step
Missouri State Board of Accountancy — 3605 Missouri Boulevard, PO Box 613, Jefferson City, MO 65102 — (573) 751-0012.
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