state eligibility guide
Virginia CPA exam requirements
Virginia requires bachelor's degree and 120 semester hours, including 24 accounting hours for CPA exam eligibility. Virginia 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 degree required to sit
- Passed-section credit window
- 30-month passed-section credit window
Education requirements to sit
- Degree: bachelor's degree required to sit
- Minimum education to sit: 120 semester hours
- Accounting coursework: 24 semester hours
- Business coursework: 24 semester hours
- Degree field: Accounting concentration or equivalent coursework
- Accreditation: Degree and coursework must satisfy Virginia Board institutional and course rules.
Required accounting subjects
- Accounting information systems
- Auditing
- Financial accounting
- Taxation
Virginia regulations control acceptable institutions, introductory-course exclusions, and treatment of internships and nontraditional credit.
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 required
- Character review before sitting: No pre-exam character requirement is listed
How to apply
Apply through Virginia Board of Accountancy online through the Virginia Board.
Documents commonly required for this application
- Online Virginia examination application
- Official transcripts showing all required coursework and degree conferral
- Approved education evaluation when applicable
- Social Security number or Virginia DMV control number
- Required fee
After Board approval, a NASBA payment coupon is generally available within three to five business days and remains valid for six months.
Published exam fees
- Initial exam application: $120.00 Charged once for a first-time candidate.
- 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
- Final transcript deadline: Degree conferral and all required coursework must appear on official transcripts before approval.
Virginia does not publish a provisional student-exam route; the bachelor's degree or higher must be conferred before exam eligibility is approved.
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
- Academic Credentials Evaluation Institute, Inc.
- International Education Research Foundation, Inc.
- Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc.
- Josef Silny & Associates, Inc.
- Foreign Academic Credentials Service, Inc.
- NASBA International Evaluation Services (NIES)
The evaluation must distinguish upper- and lower-level courses. ACCA and similar professional credentials are not accepted as college credit.
NTS and passed-section credit
- NTS issuer: NASBA
- NTS validity: 12 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.
Use the Board account and NTS for exact expiration dates.
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: 1 year required under the current pathway
- Ethics exam: Required
- Alternative pathway: enacted and effective
Effective January 1, 2026, Virginia offers three routes: master's plus one year; bachelor's plus 30 additional credits and one year; or bachelor's plus two years. An AICPA professional-ethics course is required.
Special rules and recent changes
- alternative pathway: Three licensure routes combining a master's or bachelor's degree with one or two years of experience. Effective date: 2026-01-01. Read the official change source.
- fee: $268.59 per examination section; $120 initial application fee. Effective date: 2026-07-04. Read the official change source.
Official sources used
- Education Requirements — Virginia Board of Accountancy (accessed 2026-08-07)
- CPA Exam Fees — Virginia Board of Accountancy (accessed 2026-08-09)
- Apply for the CPA Exam — Virginia Board of Accountancy (accessed 2026-08-07)
- Education Evaluation Firms — Virginia Board of Accountancy (accessed 2026-08-07)
- Virginia Passes Legislation Widening Pathways to CPA Licensure — Virginia Board of Accountancy (accessed 2026-08-07)
- Virginia CPA Exam — National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (accessed 2026-08-07)
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.