How to Become a CPA in the US (2026)

You become a certified public accountant in the United States by meeting one state board's rules—not by finishing a national diploma mill course. Typical pieces are 150 semester hours of education, the Uniform CPA Examination under the CPA Evolution model (AUD, FAR, REG, plus one Discipline), qualifying experience under a licensed CPA, and an ethics exam in some states. BEC is gone. Your resume for Big 4 and regional firms still has to parse on Workday and iCIMS while you are a candidate, not only after you are licensed.

This 2026 guide walks through how state boards and NASBA fit together, why 150 hours is not automatically a master's, how the current exam is built, how experience and credit windows work, how CPA differs from enrolled agent and bookkeeper roles, and how to write bullets that survive applicant tracking systems at public firms and corporate accounting teams.

How US CPA licensure actually works: state boards and NASBA

There is no single federal CPA card. Each state (and territory) board of accountancy sets education, experience, ethics, and reciprocity rules. The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) coordinates exam administration and the Accountancy Licensee Database; the AICPA develops the Uniform CPA Examination. You still apply to a board. If you train in Texas and want to practice as a CPA in New York, you follow New York's endorsement or reciprocity process—not a handshake.

Pick a target jurisdiction early. Course catalogs that satisfy California may not match Illinois. International candidates often use NASBA's International Evaluation Services (NIES) before they can sit. Domestic candidates still send transcripts the way the board specifies. Guessing from a Reddit thread is how people sit for the exam, pass, and then discover a missing three-hour ethics or business-law course.

Mobility (practice privileges) lets many licensed CPAs serve clients across state lines under substantial equivalency, but mobility is not a substitute for getting licensed somewhere first. Students and staff accountants should plan the first license in the state where they will work or where their education most cleanly matches the statute.

Bookmark three sources and ignore outdated blogs: your state board site, NASBA , and current AICPA candidate materials. Rules on windows, continuous testing, and Discipline availability change. A 2022 study plan that still lists BEC will waste months.

Education: 150 semester hours without assuming you need a master's

Most US jurisdictions require 150 semester hours of college credit to be licensed. A standard bachelor's is often 120 hours. The extra 30 can be a Master of Accountancy, an MBA with accounting concentration, a second undergraduate major, or a stack of additional upper-division accounting and business courses. You do not automatically need a master's diploma; you need hours and the right course types.

A bachelor's in accounting remains the common foundation because it packs intermediate and advanced financial accounting, audit, tax, and cost into one transcript. Non-accounting majors can still qualify through a post-baccalaureate certificate or master's designed for career changers—if the board accepts those courses. Compare the board's accounting-hour and business-hour checklists to your transcript line by line.

Some boards let you sit for the exam at 120 hours and delay the 150-hour rule until licensure. That split is useful if you want to pass FAR while finishing extra credits at night. It is also easy to misunderstand. Sitting eligibility and license eligibility are different checkboxes. Confirm both on the board site before you pay for a Notice to Schedule (NTS).

Community college credits can count when they are regionally accredited and transfer as the board requires. Unaccredited "CPA exam prep degrees" advertised online often do not. If a school cannot tell you which board has accepted its graduates in the last two years, keep your tuition.

CPA Evolution exam in 2026: AUD, FAR, REG, plus one Discipline—BEC is gone

Since 2024, the Uniform CPA Examination has used the CPA Evolution Core-plus-Discipline model. Every candidate passes three Core sections:

• AUD — Auditing and Attestation
• FAR — Financial Accounting and Reporting
• REG — Taxation and Regulation

Then you choose one Discipline:

• BAR — Business Analysis and Reporting (closer to financial reporting, analysis, and some managerial topics)
• ISC — Information Systems and Controls (IT audit, systems, and controls-heavy path)
• TCP — Tax Compliance and Planning (deeper tax than Core REG)

BEC (Business Environment and Concepts) is retired. If a recruiter, professor, or old PDF still says "four sections: AUD, BEC, FAR, REG," that description is out of date for new candidates. The license is the same CPA regardless of which Discipline you pass. Pick the Discipline that matches your coursework and intended job—tax staff usually lean TCP; audit and advisory candidates often pick BAR or ISC based on systems exposure.

Each section is four hours, with multiple-choice questions and task-based simulations. Core sections have generally been available through continuous testing; Discipline sections have been limited to shorter quarterly windows. Score release timing and Prometric seats change. Build your calendar from current AICPA score-release notices, not from a friend's 2023 schedule.

Study providers still matter, but they do not replace blueprints. Download the current AICPA CPA Exam Blueprints for the sections you will sit. If your review course still markets BEC as a 2026 sitting, switch materials.

Experience, ethics, and the exam credit window

Passing the exam does not make you a CPA. Boards require qualifying experience, usually one or two years, verified by a licensed CPA. Public accounting (audit, tax, advisory at a CPA firm) is the cleanest paper trail. Industry (corporate accounting), government, and nonprofit roles can count when the statute allows and a licensee will sign your affidavit. Ask that question before you accept a job you hope will "count for the CPA."

Supervision rules are picky. A manager who is not a CPA often cannot sign. Some boards want experience in attest; others accept a broader range of accounting work. Remote work, split time between two employers, and international experience each create extra documentation. Get the form from the board, not from a template you found in a Facebook group.

Ethics: some jurisdictions require a separate ethics exam or course (AICPA ethics or a state-specific test) after or alongside the Uniform CPA Exam. California, Texas, and others have published distinct ethics paths over the years. Treat ethics as a board line item, not as optional CPE you can postpone until after you already printed business cards.

Credit window: for years, many boards used an 18-month rolling window from the date you passed your first section. After CPA Evolution, NASBA recommended a longer window, and many jurisdictions moved toward 30 months; some still differ. This article will not invent a single national number for 2026. Before you sit FAR, read your board's current credit-expiry rule and the latest NASBA/AICPA candidate bulletin. Losing a passed section to expiry is expensive.

A Notice to Schedule expires. Apply when you can sit, not months before you open a book.

CPA vs EA vs bookkeeper, and public vs industry vs government

People search "how to become a certified CPA" when they actually want tax representation, bookkeeping income, or a controller title. Those are different products. A CPA license is the attest credential and a broad professional license. An enrolled agent is IRS-focused. Bookkeeping and staff accounting can be excellent careers without either credential—and they are weaker substitutes if your goal is audit sign-off or partner track at a CPA firm.

Public accounting: Big 4, national, regional, and local CPA firms. Busy seasons, structured CPE, and a direct path to qualifying experience. Staff and senior postings on Workday (large firms and many corporates) and iCIMS (common at Big 4 and large regionals) look for CPA candidate, 150 hours, GAAP, and internships. Industry: corporate accounting, technical accounting, internal audit, FP&A-adjacent reporting. Government: federal, state, and local accounting, inspectors general, and some GAO-style audit work. Each track changes resume keywords—SEC filings versus fund accounting versus Yellow Book.

You can move between tracks. Many CPAs start in public audit, then go industry after two or three busy seasons. Starting in industry can still lead to licensure if experience qualifies.

For keyword placement on accounting resumes, use accountant resume keywords US ATS list . For rewriting duty lists into results, see accountant resume bullet examples that show impact .

How Workday and iCIMS screen CPA-track resumes at firms and corporates

Big 4, national, and many regional firms still run high-volume campus and experienced-hire pipelines through iCIMS. Large corporate accounting teams, shared-service centers, and some firm parents use Workday. Both extract plain text. A two-column infographic resume can hide "CPA candidate," "GAAP," "ASC 606," or "audit."

Licensure status belongs in a visible certifications or education line: "CPA Candidate — FAR, AUD passed (TX); REG and TCP in progress" or "CPA, licensed New York, 2025." Putting CPA after your name while you are unlicensed is a compliance problem and an integrity problem. Parsers also cannot read a gold-foil badge in the header.

Software and standards should match the posting: Excel, SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, AuditBoard, Alteryx, Power BI, Caseware, CCH Axcess, GoSystem, or Workday Financials if you actually used them. Copy the employer's spelling. iCIMS Boolean searches used by firm recruiters are unforgiving of cute synonyms.

Mid-article check: upload a tailored file to HireFlow's ATS resume checker against a specific staff accountant, audit associate, or tax intern posting before you submit on Workday or iCIMS. Confirm CPA status, 150 hours, and core software survive extraction.

Finance resumes also collect avoidable errors—wrong dates, vague close bullets, and keyword stuffing. Cross-check resume mistakes finance professionals make before campus recruiting season.

Before/after resume bullets for CPA candidates and staff accountants

Internship and staff work often reads as a task list: "assisted with audit," "helped with tax returns," "did journal entries." Recruiters at firms already know those tasks exist. They need scope, standards, tools, and a result you can defend in a busy-season interview.

The last row is not a job bullet; it belongs in certifications or education. Mixing exam status into a vague summary is how iCIMS misses it. Keep status factual: sections passed, jurisdiction, and 150-hour completion. Do not imply licensure.

Mistakes that stall CPA candidates

• Studying BEC in 2026: the section is retired; new testers choose a Discipline.
• Using CPA after your name too early: boards and firms treat that as a false credential.
• Ignoring the board that will license you: extra hours that do not match required course titles still fail at application.
• Assuming a master's is mandatory or, conversely, assuming any 150 hours will do without an accounting concentration the board recognizes.
• Taking a job that cannot be verified by a licensed CPA when your statute requires licensee supervision.
• Missing the credit window: sitting the first Core without a plan for the remaining three under current board rules.
• Creative resumes for iCIMS/Workday: CPA candidate and GAAP trapped in icons or sidebars.

Another quiet failure: treating EA or QuickBooks certifications as interchangeable with CPA on a Big 4 audit resume. Those credentials can help tax or bookkeeping searches. They do not replace Uniform CPA Exam status when the posting says CPA eligible.

Numbered checklist: from accounting student to licensed CPA

1. Select the state board you will apply to and download its education, exam, ethics, and experience checklists.
2. Map every transcript course to 150-hour and content requirements; plan extra undergraduate or graduate hours if needed.
3. Confirm when you may sit (120 vs 150 hours) versus when you may be licensed.
4. Create a NASBA/CPA Central account and apply for NTS only when you can schedule promptly.
5. Sit Core sections AUD, FAR, and REG using current AICPA blueprints—not BEC materials.
6. Choose Discipline BAR, ISC, or TCP based on coursework and target role; calendar the Discipline testing window.
7. Track the credit-expiry rule for your board (historically 18 months; many boards updated after Evolution—verify).
8. Take a job where a licensed CPA can verify qualifying experience for one to two years as required.
9. Complete the ethics exam or course if your jurisdiction requires it.
10. File for the certificate and permit; do not use the CPA title until the board says you may.
11. Keep a single-column resume with exact candidate or licensed status, GAAP, and software for Workday and iCIMS.
12. Run an ATS check on hireflow.net against each firm or corporate posting before you submit.

How to become a CPA in the US in 2026 is still a board-driven sequence: 150 hours (not always a master's), CPA Evolution sections instead of BEC, qualifying experience, and ethics where required. Public accounting remains the most documented experience path; industry and government can work when your statute says they do. Keep candidate status honest on the resume so Workday and iCIMS match what a recruiter can verify.

Before you apply to a firm or corporate posting, run a free check on HireFlow's ATS resume checker , then tighten language with accountant ATS keywords and impact-focused accountant bullets .