West Virginia CPA license requirements
West Virginia 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
West Virginia 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 | West Virginia | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Total semester hours to sit | 120 | Bachelor’s degree with required coursework |
| Upper-level accounting | 30 hours, required under all pathways | |
| Upper-level business | 27 hours, plus 3 hours of business law and 3 hours of ethics, required under all pathways | |
| 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
West Virginia accepts only NASBA International Evaluation Services for foreign credential evaluation.
Sitting for the exam versus West Virginia CPA license requirements
West Virginia 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 with just a bachelor’s degree, or 1 year with 150 total hours or a graduate degree. Experience must be verified by a licensed CPA, and qualifying settings include private practice, government, industry, nonprofits, and academia — not limited to public accounting firms.
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
West Virginia doesn’t require a separate ethics exam. Ethics is addressed through 3 hours of ethics coursework as part of your education, plus 4 hours of ethics CPE every 3-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 West Virginia Board of Accountancy. Unofficial or self-submitted transcripts are not accepted.
Filed with West Virginia 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 with just a bachelor's degree, or 1 year with 150 total hours or a graduate degree. Experience must be verified by a licensed CPA, and qualifying settings include private practice, government, industry, nonprofits, and academia — not limited to public accounting firms. This can run before, during, or after your exam sections.
West Virginia doesn't require a separate ethics exam. Ethics is addressed through 3 hours of ethics coursework as part of your education, plus 4 hours of ethics CPE every 3-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 | $10 (plus a $40 per-section state fee) | Before anything else |
| Exam fee, per section | $268.59 | Paid to NASBA (national rate) |
| Initial license | $120 | On approval |
| Renewal | Set annually by the board (licenses expire June 30 each year) | Ongoing |
After you’re licensed: staying current
Getting licensed is not the end of the paperwork. West Virginia 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 over a rolling 3-year period, with a minimum of 20 hours each year and 4 hours of ethics.
What changed recently
Effective May 24, 2026, West Virginia replaced its flat 150-hour rule with three pathways: a bachelor’s degree plus 2 years of experience, a bachelor’s plus 30 extra hours plus 1 year, or a graduate degree plus 1 year. The same law grandfathers in anyone already CPA-licensed in any US state as of December 31, 2025, giving them full West Virginia practice privileges 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 West Virginia if I studied out of state?
Usually yes — most states, including West Virginia, 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 West Virginia?
No West Virginia residency or US citizenship 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 West Virginia, 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 West Virginia's process?
West Virginia doesn’t require the standalone AICPA ethics exam most states use, folding ethics into coursework and CPE instead. Its qualifying experience settings are unusually broad, explicitly including academia, government, and industry roles alongside public accounting.
Next step
West Virginia Board of Accountancy — 405 Capitol Street, Suite 908, Charleston, WV 25301 — (304) 558-3557.
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