New Jersey CPA requirements
New Jersey 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
New Jersey 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 | New Jersey | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Total semester hours to sit | 120 | Bachelor’s degree with required coursework |
| Upper-level accounting | 24 semester hours of accounting coursework, required under either pathway | |
| Upper-level business | 24 semester hours of general business coursework, required under either pathway | |
| 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 use NASBA International Evaluation Services to convert their credentials into US semester-hour equivalents.
Sitting versus licensing
New Jersey 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 supervised experience with just a bachelor’s degree, or 1 year with 150 total semester hours. Your supervising CPA submits a signed “Statement of Experience” on your behalf.
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
New Jersey requires its own 4-credit “New Jersey Law and Ethics” course from a board-approved sponsor, rather than the generic AICPA ethics exam most states use. It’s required around initial licensure and again every CPE renewal cycle.
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 New Jersey State Board of Accountancy. Unofficial or self-submitted transcripts are not accepted.
Filed with New Jersey 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 supervised experience with just a bachelor's degree, or 1 year with 150 total semester hours. Your supervising CPA submits a signed "Statement of Experience" on your behalf. This can run before, during, or after your exam sections.
New Jersey requires its own 4-credit "New Jersey Law and Ethics" course from a board-approved sponsor, rather than the generic AICPA ethics exam most states use. It's required around initial licensure and again every CPE renewal cycle.
With your experience verification and ethics requirement on file, submit the final application and initial license fee.
Fees
| Fee | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| Application | $0 by exam application, $75 by transfer of grades, or $175 by endorsement | Before anything else |
| Exam fee, per section | $268.59 | Paid to NASBA (national rate) |
| Initial license | $30 to $90, prorated depending on where you fall in the 3-year renewal cycle | On approval |
| Renewal | $90 every 3 years | Ongoing |
After you’re licensed: staying current
Getting licensed is not the end of the paperwork. New Jersey requires ongoing continuing professional education to keep your license active, and it is easy to lose track of once you’re working full time.
120 hours of CPE every 3-year period, with a minimum of 20 hours each year, plus the required 4-credit New Jersey Law and Ethics course each cycle.
What changed recently
Effective February 11, 2026, New Jersey added a bachelor’s degree (120 hours) plus 2 years of experience as a full licensure pathway, alongside the traditional 150-hour plus 1 year route. The same law added individual CPA mobility, letting out-of-state CPAs practice in New Jersey without a separate license if they meet baseline degree, exam, and experience requirements. CPAs already licensed before the change keep their license automatically.
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 New Jersey if I studied out of state?
Usually yes — most states, including New Jersey, 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 New Jersey?
No New Jersey residency or US citizenship requirement identified for sitting the exam or becoming licensed.
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 New Jersey, 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 New Jersey's process?
New Jersey’s application fee actually depends on how you apply — free by exam, $75 by transfer of grades, $175 by endorsement — and the initial license fee is prorated based on where you land in the 3-year renewal cycle, so timing your application can meaningfully change what you pay. Its ethics requirement is also a bespoke, recurring state-specific course rather than the standard AICPA exam.
Next step
New Jersey State Board of Accountancy — P.O. Box 45000, Newark, NJ 07101 — (973) 504-6380.
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