Step 1: Eligibility Requirements
I. Education
a. Baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university and obtain a total of 150 semester hours of education.
i. Education must include 30 semester hours in accounting (24 of which must be in upper division courses) and 24 semester hours in business courses.
II. Experience
1. Complete one year of experience in accounting acceptable to the Board. The experience required to be demonstrated for issuance of an initial certificate pursuant to T.C.A. §62-1-106(j) shall meet the following requirements:
i. Experience may consist of providing any type of services or advice using accounting, attest, management advisory, financial advisory, tax or consulting skills
ii. Acceptable experience shall include employment in industry, government, academia or public practice
iii. No fewer than 2000 hours of experience (earned in no less than one year or more than three years). Experience must be earned within the ten (10) years immediately preceding the application for certification
III. Examinations
1. Ethics Exam
i. American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) with a score of 90% or better. The exam is available through AICPA or TSCPA
2. Uniform CPA Examination (NASBA)
i. CPA Examination Services (CPAES), a National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) division, administers the Uniform CPA Examination. All transcripts and/or international evaluations must be submitted to CPAES directly from the school or evaluation service.
ii. Foreign Education Information
Applicants who obtained their education outside the United States must have that education evaluated by foreign credential evaluation services approved by the Board. Do not submit your application for the Exam until after your foreign education evaluation has been completed.
Step 2: Registration by Exam
I. NASBA Notification
Once both exams have been passed, the Board is notified and application instructions are sent to the candidate to apply for the Tennessee CPA license. The CPA applicant must have completed the TNSBA experience requirement prior to submitting an application for certification.
NASBA will forward us your candidate file (this includes your CPA exam scores and initial exam application). Currently, there is 8-10 week delay from the time you pass your final test before we receive your file from them.
II. Instructions Delivered to Applicant
Once we receive the file from NASBA, the applicant will be sent a link to the online application.
III. Application
1. Application
2. Supporting/Required Documents
a. Ethics Exam Certificate
i. The application instructions will include a verification form to be completed by a licensed CPA with personal knowledge of the candidate’s work experience.
3. Fee, $100