state eligibility guide
Hawaii CPA exam requirements
Hawaii requires bachelor's degree or equivalent and 120 semester hours, including 18 accounting hours for CPA exam eligibility. NASBA CPA Examination Services (CPAES) makes the final eligibility decision.
Published by Kesler CPA Review, a commercial CPA exam preparation company. This page is educational, not legal advice. The Board or application authority makes the final eligibility decision.
- Minimum education to sit
- 120 semester hours
- Degree rule
- bachelor's degree or equivalent required to sit
- Passed-section credit window
- 18-month passed-section credit window
Education requirements to sit
- Degree: bachelor's degree or equivalent required to sit
- Minimum education to sit: 120 semester hours
- Accounting coursework: 18 semester hours
- Business coursework: Not confirmed in the current official sources
- Upper-level accounting: 18 semester hours
- Degree field: Accounting degree, or a non-accounting degree plus specified upper-division or graduate accounting or auditing coursework
- Accreditation: The degree must be conferred by a college or university acceptable to the Hawaii Board.
Required accounting subjects
- Upper-division or graduate accounting or auditing for candidates without an accounting degree
Community-college coursework counts only if transferred to a qualifying four-year transcript. Online or correspondence credit must appear on a regionally accredited transcript.
Personal eligibility rules
- Minimum age: 18
- Citizenship: U.S. citizenship is not listed as an absolute requirement; review any lawful-presence rule
- U.S. residency: No U.S. residency requirement is listed
- Jurisdiction residency: No jurisdiction-residency requirement is listed
- Social Security number: An SSN is not required to apply
- Character review before sitting: A character requirement applies before sitting
How to apply
Apply through NASBA CPA Examination Services (CPAES) online through the NASBA CPA Portal.
Documents commonly required for this application
- Education evaluation application
- Official transcripts
- Certificate of Enrollment when applicable
- International evaluation when applicable
Only one exam section may be selected per exam-section application.
Published exam fees
- Education evaluation application: $96.00 Charged once for a first-time candidate.
- Exam section application: $96.00 per section Charged for each exam section selected.
- CPA exam section fee: $268.59 per section Charged for each exam section selected.
Before you pay: These figures were verified on 2026-08-09, but fee schedules can change. Confirm the current official fee schedule.
Can you apply or sit before graduation?
- Apply before the degree is awarded: Yes, subject to the conditions below
- Sit before the degree is awarded: Yes, subject to the conditions below
- Final transcript deadline: Within 120 days after the first date the candidate sits for an exam section.
A Certificate of Enrollment is required. Failure to provide final evidence can void provisional status and exam credit.
Foreign education
- Foreign education accepted: Yes, with the jurisdiction's conditions
- Credential evaluation: A credential evaluation is required
- NIES: NASBA International Evaluation Services is required
- Certified translation: A certified translation is required when applicable
Published evaluation services
- NASBA International Evaluation Services (NIES)
A course-by-course equivalency report must document the foreign accounting degree.
NTS and passed-section credit
- NTS issuer: NASBA
- NTS validity: 6 months
- Passed-section credit: 18-month passed-section credit window
- Continuous testing: Available subject to current AICPA scheduling windows
- The rolling 18-month period begins on the date the first passed section was taken.
- Only one section may be selected per exam-section application.
- Discipline sections follow AICPA testing windows.
Hawaii's jurisdiction-specific 18-month rule controls; the expiration in the candidate account should be monitored closely.
Sitting for the exam is not the same as licensure
These examination rules answer whether you can apply and sit. A CPA license can require additional education, experience, ethics, and administrative steps.
- Experience: Experience is required
- Ethics exam: Not confirmed in the current official sources
- Alternative pathway: adopted and effective
Published licensure pathways
- 150 semester hours plus at least 1,500 chargeable audit hours.
- 150 semester hours plus at least 24 months of qualifying professional experience.
- 120 semester hours plus at least 36 months of professional experience in public accounting.
Hawaii licensure requirements are separate from the bachelor's-level exam route.
Official sources used
- Hawaii CPA Exam — National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (accessed 2026-08-09)
- Requirements for Examination and Licensure — Hawaii Board of Public Accountancy (accessed 2026-08-07)
- Pathways to CPA Licensure — Hawaii Professional and Vocational Licensing Division (accessed 2026-08-09)
- Implementing Candidate Fee Changes — National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (accessed 2026-08-09)
Before you apply: Confirm the current application, fees, NTS terms, and testing availability with the Board. This guide only includes details we could verify from published sources, and the licensing section is a starting point—not a complete licensing checklist.
Your application plan
Turn this page into a checklist
Check off each research step as you complete it. This is a planning aid; finishing the checklist does not mean the Board has approved your eligibility.