How to Become a CPA in Michigan 2026

To meet the Michigan CPA education requirements to sit for the CPA Exam in Michigan, candidates must meet at least 24 semester hours of accounting courses and at least 24 semester hours of general business courses.

For licensure, Michigan requires verification of 150 semester hours, including a bachelor’s degree or higher with a concentration in accounting.

The first step to determining your eligibility is to sign up for an Okta account through NASBA’s dashboard, then access CPA Portal to submit your Michigan CPA Exam application, payments, exam-section applications, Notice to Schedule documents, and score notices.

Then submit an education evaluation application through NASBA. Michigan’s fees include a $96.00 education evaluation application fee, a $96.00 exam application fee, and a $262.64 exam section fee.

You would need to have your college or university send your official transcripts through mail at:

Michigan Coordinator
CPA Examination Services
PO Box 198469
Nashville, Tennessee 37219-8469

Or email it at etranscript@nasba.org

Once your educational requirements have been approved by NASBA advisory evaluation, NASBA will then send you an email notifying you that your payment coupon is ready for payment. You have 90 days to pay the fee.

Click here to see a breakdown of the Michigan CPA exam costs.

Upon payment for the examination fees, you will receive a receipt of your NTS. Make sure that everything is correct as it will be used at the testing centers. If the names do not match, immediately contact the Board to request a correction. You will not be allowed to test if the name on the identification documents does not exactly match the name on the NTS.

With the NTS, then you can schedule your actual exam on the Prometric website at www.prometric.com.
Candidates should only apply for an exam section if they are ready to take it within the next six months, and the NTS is valid for a limited time.

The CPA exam consists of the three core sections and candidates would need to select one of the three discipline to demonstrate deeper skills and knowledge, allowing candidates to choose a specialization. There is no set order in which the exam portions must be completed.

You must pass all four CPA Exam sections within a rolling 30-month period beginning on the score-release date of the first passed section.

If you haven’t completed a master’s degree in accounting or business administration with a 12 semester hour concentration in accounting, you must complete the 150 Hour Educational Analysis form found in the online License Application Portal

To meet the Michigan CPA experience requirements, you must earn 2,000 hours of qualifying experience gained over a one-to-five-year period verified by a CPA, which can be achieved in government, industry, academia, or public practice. Candidates who get academic instruction experience will meet the work experience requirement after teaching four semesters of at least six credit hours per semester. If experience is gained in academia, you must be an instructor in accounting for at least four academic semesters and teach at least six credit hours per semester of accounting subjects above the elementary level

Michigan requires at least 2,000 hours of qualifying experience completed within not less than one calendar year and not more than five calendar years. The experience must be verified by a CPA.

After you have completed your professional education, passed the exams, and retain the necessary work experience, you have fulfilled a majority of the CPA exam requirements. You’ll need to complete the Michigan Initial CPA license form on the state board’s website.

Michigan does not currently list a separate initial Michigan CPA ethics exam requirement for licensure. However, licensed Michigan CPAs must complete ethics CPE as part of renewal.

Michigan CPA license applications are submitted through MiPLUS. The current application fee plus two-year license fee for CPA licensure by exam or reciprocity is $300.

Now that you have completed all the necessary steps to be a Certified Public Accountant in Michigan. You will be notified by Michigan’s Board of Accountancy of any missing documents in your application. If the application is complete, you’ll be issued a license allowing you to practice. Your certificate will be sent to you through the mail.

Michigan CPA licenses renew every two years and expire on July 31. The current CPA license renewal fee is $200. Michigan-resident CPAs must complete at least 40 hours of CPE for each year of the license cycle, including 8 hours in auditing and accounting and 2 hours in professional ethics each year. One of the ethics hours must be Michigan-specific.