North Carolina CPA requirements
North Carolina 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
North Carolina 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 | North Carolina | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Total semester hours to sit | 120 | Bachelor’s degree with required coursework |
| Upper-level accounting | 30 semester hours of accounting coursework (accounting concentration), required under all pathways | |
| Upper-level business | 24 semester hours across at least 8 of 10 defined subject areas (communications, computer technology, economics, ethics, finance, humanities, international environment, law, management, statistics) | |
| 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 board authorization before having their credentials evaluated by NASBA International Evaluation Services, and must complete that process before applying for a license.
Sitting versus licensing
North Carolina 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 under CPA supervision with just a bachelor’s degree, or 1 year with 150 total hours or a qualifying master’s degree. An alternative route also allows 4 years of teaching accounting or general accounting-field experience for those without CPA-supervised experience.
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
All applicants must complete a 400-minute “NC Accountancy Law Course: Ethics, Principles, and Professional Responsibilities,” offered by the NC Association of CPAs, within 1 year before applying. Ongoing CPE also requires a minimum of 50 minutes annually in regulatory or behavioral ethics.
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 North Carolina State Board of Certified Public Accountant Examiners. Unofficial or self-submitted transcripts are not accepted.
Filed with North Carolina State Board of Certified Public Accountant Examiners 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 under CPA supervision with just a bachelor's degree, or 1 year with 150 total hours or a qualifying master's degree. An alternative route also allows 4 years of teaching accounting or general accounting-field experience for those without CPA-supervised experience. This can run before, during, or after your exam sections.
All applicants must complete a 400-minute "NC Accountancy Law Course: Ethics, Principles, and Professional Responsibilities," offered by the NC Association of CPAs, within 1 year before applying. Ongoing CPE also requires a minimum of 50 minutes annually in regulatory or behavioral ethics.
With your experience verification and ethics requirement on file, submit the final application and initial license fee.
Fees
| Fee | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| Application | $230 (exam application) | Before anything else |
| Exam fee, per section | $268.59 | Paid to NASBA (national rate) |
| Initial license | $100 | On approval |
| Renewal | $60 annually | Ongoing |
After you’re licensed: staying current
Getting licensed is not the end of the paperwork. North Carolina requires ongoing continuing professional education to keep your license active, and it is easy to lose track of once you’re working full time.
2,000 CPE minutes (about 40 hours) per calendar year, with a minimum of 50 minutes annually in regulatory or behavioral ethics from a NASBA-registered sponsor. Up to 1,000 excess minutes can carry forward.
What changed recently
Effective January 1, 2026, North Carolina replaced its flat 150-hour rule with three pathways: a bachelor’s degree plus 2 years of CPA-supervised experience, a bachelor’s degree plus 150 total hours plus 1 year, or a qualifying master’s degree plus 1 year.
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 North Carolina if I studied out of state?
Usually yes — most states, including North Carolina, 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 North Carolina?
No North Carolina residency requirement. You must be a US citizen, have declared intent to become one, or be a resident alien or citizen of a country that grants reciprocal privileges to US citizens.
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 North Carolina, 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 North Carolina's process?
North Carolina tracks CPE in minutes rather than hours in its official rule text (2,000 minutes/year, roughly 40 hours). The mandatory ethics course is only offered by the state CPA association, not the board itself, and doesn’t count if taken more than a year before applying.
Next step
North Carolina State Board of Certified Public Accountant Examiners — 1101 Oberlin Road, Suite 104, Raleigh, NC 27605 — (919) 733-4222.
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