Utah CPA requirements
Utah 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 (4,000 hours) of supervised experience, or take the traditional route with a graduate degree and a shorter 1 year (2,000 hours) of experience instead.
Education
Utah 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 | Utah | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Total semester hours to sit | 120 | Bachelor’s degree with required coursework |
| Upper-level accounting | 24 semester hours of upper-division or graduate accounting, covering financial accounting, auditing, taxation, and managerial accounting | |
| Upper-level business | 12 semester hours of business-related coursework such as business law, economics, or finance | |
| 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 credentials evaluated for US equivalency, typically through NASBA International Evaluation Services or another NACES-member evaluation service.
Sitting versus licensing
Utah 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 (4,000 hours) of supervised experience, or a graduate degree plus a shorter 1 year (2,000 hours) 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 (4,000 hours) of supervised experience with just a bachelor’s degree, or 1 year (2,000 hours) with a qualifying graduate degree. Experience must be verified by an actively licensed CPA, and qualifying work can be earned in public accounting, government, industry, or 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
Two separate exams are required before licensure: the AICPA Professional Ethics Exam, and Utah’s own “Laws and Rules” exam — a 35-question, Utah-specific test requiring a 75% passing score. Ongoing CPE also requires at least 3 hours of ethics plus 1 hour on Utah’s CPA licensing statute and rules every 2-year renewal period.
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 Utah Board of Accountancy (Division of Professional Licensing). Unofficial or self-submitted transcripts are not accepted.
Filed with Utah Board of Accountancy (Division of Professional Licensing) 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 (4,000 hours) of supervised experience with just a bachelor's degree, or 1 year (2,000 hours) with a qualifying graduate degree. Experience must be verified by an actively licensed CPA, and qualifying work can be earned in public accounting, government, industry, or academia. This can run before, during, or after your exam sections.
Two separate exams are required before licensure: the AICPA Professional Ethics Exam, and Utah's own "Laws and Rules" exam — a 35-question, Utah-specific test requiring a 75% passing score. Ongoing CPE also requires at least 3 hours of ethics plus 1 hour on Utah's CPA licensing statute and rules every 2-year renewal period.
With your experience verification and ethics requirement on file, submit the final application and initial license fee.
Fees
| Fee | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| Application | $85 | Before anything else |
| Exam fee, per section | $268.59 | Paid to NASBA (national rate) |
| Initial license | $85 | On approval |
| Renewal | $63 every 2 years | Ongoing |
After you’re licensed: staying current
Getting licensed is not the end of the paperwork. Utah requires ongoing continuing professional education to keep your license active, and it is easy to lose track of once you’re working full time.
80 hours of CPE every 2-year renewal period, including at least 3 hours of ethics and 1 hour on Utah’s CPA licensing statute and rules. Up to 40 hours of excess CPE can carry forward to the next period, and no CPE is required at your very first renewal after licensure.
What changed recently
Senate Bill 15, signed March 2025 and effective July 1, 2026, removed Utah’s fixed 150-semester-hour licensure requirement, replacing it with two pathways: a bachelor’s degree plus 2 years of experience, or a graduate degree plus 1 year of experience. The prior 150-hour pathways remained usable only for applications filed before July 1, 2026 — that window has now closed.
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 Utah if I studied out of state?
Usually yes — most states, including Utah, 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 Utah?
No residency requirement, no U.S. citizenship requirement, and no Social Security Number requirement to sit for the exam or be 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 Utah, 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 Utah's process?
Utah requires its own state-specific “Laws and Rules” exam in addition to the standard AICPA ethics exam — a hurdle most states skip. It was also one of the first states to adopt a genuine 120-hour full-licensure pathway rather than just a 120-to-sit allowance, making it an early model for the broader national reform.
Next step
Utah Board of Accountancy (Division of Professional Licensing) — 160 East 300 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84111 — (801) 530-6628.
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