Wyoming CPA requirements
Wyoming lets you sit for the exam at 120 credit hours, but you still need 150 hours and 1 year (a minimum of 2 before the board will license you.
Education
You need a bachelor’s degree or higher and 150 total semester hours to be licensed in Wyoming. You can sit for the exam earlier, at 120 hours.
| Requirement | Wyoming | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Total semester hours | 150 | Required to be licensed; 120 to sit |
| Upper-level accounting | 24 hours of upper-division or graduate-level accounting coursework | |
| Upper-level business | 24 hours of business coursework outside of accounting | |
| 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 transcripts must go through a credential evaluation service acceptable to the board; NASBA International Evaluation Services is one accepted option.
Sitting versus licensing
Wyoming is one of the states that has adopted the newer 120-hour pathway: you can sit for the exam well before you finish your degree’s final 30 hours, then complete the rest while you work toward licensure. That timing flexibility is real, but don’t mistake “eligible to sit” for “eligible to be licensed” — plenty of candidates finish all four sections and then wait months to hit the full 150-hour threshold.
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
1 year (a minimum of 2,000 working hours) verified by an active CPA, completable over 1 to 4 years; broader “equivalent experience” in industry, government, or academia may be accepted at the board’s discretion.
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
Wyoming requires the AICPA’s Comprehensive Ethics course at initial licensure, plus its own Wyoming-specific ethics CPE course (4 credits) every 3 years, due within 6 months of initial licensure and every 3 years after that.
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 Wyoming Board of Certified Public Accountants. Unofficial or self-submitted transcripts are not accepted.
Filed with Wyoming Board of Certified Public Accountants 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.
1 year (a minimum of 2,000 working hours) verified by an active CPA, completable over 1 to 4 years; broader "equivalent experience" in industry, government, or academia may be accepted at the board's discretion. This can run before, during, or after your exam sections.
Wyoming requires the AICPA's Comprehensive Ethics course at initial licensure, plus its own Wyoming-specific ethics CPE course (4 credits) every 3 years, due within 6 months of initial licensure and every 3 years after that.
With your experience verification and ethics requirement on file, submit the final application and initial license fee.
Fees
| Fee | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| Application | $110 | Before anything else |
| Exam fee, per section | $268.59 | Paid to NASBA (national rate) |
| Initial license | $225 (a $200 certificate fee plus a $25 wall-document fee) | On approval |
| Renewal | $190 per year (licenses expire annually on December 31, not every two years) | Ongoing |
After you’re licensed: staying current
Getting licensed is not the end of the paperwork. Wyoming 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 over a rolling 3-year period, with a lighter ramp-up schedule for new licensees, at least 66% of which must be in technical subjects, plus 4 hours of Wyoming-specific ethics CPE every 3 years.
What changed recently
Wyoming updated its examination rules in 2024 to adopt the nationwide 30-month rolling window for passing all four exam sections. Its core 120-hour-to-sit, 150-hour-to-license structure predates and is largely unaffected by the broader CPA Evolution changes other states have made.
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 Wyoming if I studied out of state?
Usually yes — most states, including Wyoming, 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 Wyoming?
No state residency or US citizenship requirement, but Wyoming does require a genuine Wyoming connection to sit for the exam: a Wyoming driver’s license, a Wyoming street address, a Wyoming job or job offer, or enrollment at the University of Wyoming or a Wyoming community college.
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 Wyoming, 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 Wyoming's process?
Wyoming isn’t a rubber-stamp “easy state” — it requires a genuine Wyoming connection just to sit for the exam. Licenses also renew annually rather than every two years, and Wyoming handles its own exam-application intake in-house rather than through NASBA’s CPA Examination Services.
Next step
Wyoming Board of Certified Public Accountants — 325 W 18th St, Suite 4, Cheyenne, WY 82002 — 307-777-7551.
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