state eligibility guide
Kentucky CPA exam requirements
Kentucky requires bachelor's or master's degree and 120 semester hours, including 27 accounting hours for CPA exam eligibility. Kentucky Board of Accountancy 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 or master's degree required to sit
- Passed-section credit window
- 30-month passed-section credit window
Education requirements to sit
- Degree: bachelor's or master's degree required to sit
- Minimum education to sit: 120 semester hours
- Accounting coursework: 27 semester hours
- Business coursework: 12 semester hours
- Degree field: No named degree field; the transcript record must include the required accounting and business coursework.
- Accreditation: The bachelor's or master's degree must be conferred by an accredited college or university.
Other required coursework
- Accounting courses are identified by course content that includes auditing, tax, accounting standards, principles, or processes.
- Business-related subjects include business, finance, marketing, management, economics, computers, statistics, and accounting.
- Accounting hours may also satisfy the business-hour requirement, but business hours may not satisfy the accounting-hour requirement.
Kentucky converts each quarter hour to 0.66 semester hour. Life-assessment and DSST credit do not count. CLEP credit does not satisfy the education needed to sit; up to six CLEP hours may be used only toward a 150-hour licensure route. The prior cap on qualifying college internship or co-op credit was removed.
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: The current Board application asks you to provide an SSN
- Character review before sitting: A character requirement applies before sitting
- Applicants must disclose specified criminal matters, prior CPA Exam admission denials, and professional-license discipline and provide the required supporting records when applicable.
The Board's published exam-eligibility list does not impose a citizenship, U.S. residency, or Kentucky residency requirement. The current public instructions do not establish a separate SSN rule.
How to apply
Apply through Kentucky Board of Accountancy Notarized paper application submitted to the Kentucky Board of Accountancy.
Documents commonly required for this application
- Completed and notarized Kentucky examination application
- Original official transcript from each college or university
- Check or money order for the Kentucky Board fees
- Foreign credential evaluation when applicable
- Supporting court, licensing, or denial records when a disclosure answer requires them
The Board sends an Authorization to Test to NASBA after approval. NASBA then emails payment coupons for separate NASBA, AICPA, and Prometric charges; those coupons must be paid within 90 days or the ATT is cancelled.
Published exam fees
- Initial processing fee: $30.00 Charged once for a first-time candidate.
- Board exam section fee: $30.00 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: No; the education requirement must be completed first
- Sit before the degree is awarded: No; the education requirement must be completed first
The degree must already be conferred. The official transcript must state the degree awarded and the date it was awarded.
Foreign education
- Foreign education accepted: Yes, with the jurisdiction's conditions
- Credential evaluation: A credential evaluation is required
- NIES: NIES is not specifically required
- Certified translation: Not confirmed in the current official sources
Published evaluation services
- NASBA International Evaluation Services (NIES)
- Any member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES)
The evaluation must establish U.S. degree equivalency, the accounting concentration, course titles, and credit awarded. Original transcripts and evaluation documents are required; chartered-school credits are not eligible. The published exam instructions do not separately state a certified-translation rule.
NTS and passed-section credit
- NTS issuer: NASBA
- NTS validity: 6 months
- Passed-section credit: 30-month passed-section credit window
- Continuous testing: Available subject to current AICPA scheduling windows
- A candidate may not retake the same section until its score has been released.
- The 30-month window begins when NASBA releases the first passing score and ends on the date the candidate sits for the final passed section.
- One extension request is granted through the last day of the calendar quarter measured from the relevant section date; the Board may grant additional extensions for good cause beyond the candidate's control.
- More than one NTS may be open at the same time.
An expired six-month NTS requires a re-examination application. Kentucky candidates may test at an approved Prometric site in the United States while the Kentucky Board processes their scores.
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 listed as required
- Alternative pathway: enacted and effective
Effective July 15, 2026, experience is one year/2,000 hours for the post-baccalaureate and 150-hour routes, or two years/4,000 hours for the bachelor's-only route. The Board's complete initial-license requirements do not list a separate ethics examination. Licensure also has a citizenship, legal-residency, or qualifying U.S.-office nexus requirement and a five-year application deadline after the final CPA Exam section.
Special rules and recent changes
- alternative pathway: Kentucky now offers three licensure pathways pairing bachelor's, bachelor's-plus-30-hours, or post-baccalaureate education with either two years/4,000 hours or one year/2,000 hours of experience.. Effective date: 2026-07-15. Read the official change source.
Official sources used
- CPA Exam Requirements — Kentucky Board of Accountancy (accessed 2026-08-07)
- Initial Exam Application and Instructions — Kentucky Board of Accountancy (accessed 2026-08-09)
- 201 KAR 1:190 - Examination sections, applications, and procedures — Kentucky Legislative Research Commission (accessed 2026-08-07)
- Initial License — Kentucky Board of Accountancy (accessed 2026-08-07)
- 2026 Regular Session House Bill 45 — Kentucky Legislative Research Commission (accessed 2026-08-07)
- Application for the Uniform CPA Examination — Kentucky State Board of Accountancy (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.