state eligibility guide
Utah CPA exam requirements
Utah requires A bachelor's degree or higher plus required accounting and business coursework 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
- A bachelor's degree or higher plus required accounting and business coursework
- Degree rule
- bachelor's degree or higher required to sit
- Passed-section credit window
- 30-month passed-section credit window
Education requirements to sit
- Degree: bachelor's degree or higher required to sit
- Minimum education to sit: A bachelor's degree or higher plus required accounting and business coursework
- Accounting coursework: 24 semester hours
- Business coursework: 12 semester hours
- Upper-level accounting: 24 semester hours
- Accreditation: Credits must meet Utah Board and CPAES standards.
Required accounting subjects
- Financial accounting
- Auditing
- Taxation
- Cost or managerial accounting
- Accounting information systems or data analytics
Effective July 1, 2026, Utah requires at least a bachelor's degree before taking the exam. Accounting coursework must be upper division or graduate level. The current coursework rules require 24 accounting semester hours and 12 business semester hours.
Personal eligibility rules
- 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 NASBA CPA Portal.
Documents commonly required for this application
- Official transcripts
- Completed CPA Portal application
- Foreign evaluation when applicable
Only one examination section may be selected per section application; apply only when ready to test during the next six months.
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: No; the education requirement must be completed first
- Sit before the degree is awarded: No; the education requirement must be completed first
Utah requires the qualifying baccalaureate degree and examination coursework to be completed before applying.
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: A certified translation is required when applicable
Published evaluation services
- NASBA International Evaluation Services (NIES)
Submit an international evaluation acceptable to CPA Examination Services; the published Utah instructions do not state that NIES is the exclusive evaluator.
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
- Discipline sections follow AICPA testing windows.
NASBA advises candidates to apply only for a section they are ready to take within the next six months.
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: Required
- Alternative pathway: adopted and effective
Published licensure pathways
- Baccalaureate degree with the required accounting education plus two years of qualifying experience. Effective 2026-07-01.
- Qualifying graduate degree or graduate education plus one year of qualifying experience. Effective 2026-07-01.
Licensure has separate degree, education, experience, and ethics requirements; the exam-only course threshold is not the licensure standard.
Special rules and recent changes
- education requirement: Bachelor's degree or equivalent before taking the exam. Effective date: 2026-07-01. Read the official change source.
Official sources used
- Utah CPA Exam — National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (accessed 2026-08-09)
- Utah Code Section 58-26a-306 — Examination requirements — Utah State Legislature (accessed 2026-08-08)
- Utah Code section 58-26a-302 — Utah State Legislature (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.