Alaska CPA Education Requirements [2023]

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Alaska CPA Education Requirements

To meet the Alaska CPA education requirements and become a CPA, it is required that an applicant has a baccalaureate degree or its equivalent and additional semester hours or post-baccalaureate study so that the total educational program includes at least 150
hours with an accounting concentration or equivalent as determined by the board to be appropriate.

This article will help you to become a CPA in Alaska and is a requirement for you to take the Alaska CPA exam.

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Keep in mind that the CPA exam is the one part of getting your CPA license that you can control how long it takes. The education and experience requirements take as long as they take, but the CPA exams can take you as little as 6 months, or as long as multiple years… depending on how effective your study process is from the beginning.
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Summary of Alaska CPA Requirements

Credit hours to sit for the CPA exam	120
Option 1: Degree and Accounting Concentration
Bachelor’s required to sit for the CPA exam	Yes
Credit hours in Accounting to sit for the CPA exam	24
Credit hours in Business Law to sit for the CPA exam	3
Credit hours in Economics to sit for the CPA exam	3
Credit hours in college-level Math, Statistics and/or Computer Science to sit for the CPA exam	3
Option 2: Degree and Accounting
Bachelor’s required to sit for the CPA exam	Yes
Credit hours in accounting subjects to sit for the CPA exam	15
Option 3: Degree In-Progress and Accounting
Credit hours left of completing a bachelor’s degree to sit for the CPA exam	18
Credit hours in accounting subjects to sit for the CPA exam	15
Option 4: Degree and Qualifying Experience
Bachelor’s required to sit for the CPA exam	Yes
Public accounting experience to sit for the CPA exam	1 Year
Total credit hours to receive a CPA license	150
Work experience required to receive a CPA license	2 Years
Ethics exam required to get a CPA license	Yes

Alaska Education Requirements

The Alaska CPA education requirements include that candidates must complete 150 semester hours of education to be eligible for a CPA license. A bachelor’s degree specializing in accounting is required as part of the education.

Option 1: Degree and Accounting Concentration that includes

24 semester hours of accounting subjects such as:
- Intermediate accounting
- Accounting principles
- Cost accounting
- Income tax
- Advanced accounting
- Auditing
- Governmental accounting
- Accounting theory
- Fraud detection
- Mathematics
- Statistics
- Computer science
Three Semester Hours in Business Law
Three Semester Hours in Economics
Three Semester Hours in either math, statistics, or computer science

Option 2: You can also earn a degree that includes 15 hours of Accounting coursework.

Option 3: If you don’t yet have your degree but wish to start the process of becoming a CPA, make sure you meet the following requirements:

Be within 18 semester hours of a bachelor’s degree.
Have completed 15 hours of accounting coursework.

Option 4: If you have a degree but did not concentrate on accounting while in school, you may still take the exam in Alaska if you meet these conditions:

Have a bachelor’s degree in another subject.
Less than 15 hours in accounting coursework.
One year of experience under the direct tutelage of a CPA.

To establish your educational level, you must present official transcripts from all universities. If you are applying under the accounting concentration provision, inform your schools or universities that this must be noted on your transcripts. All you need is a copy of your transcript if you attended the University of Alaska and graduated with a major in accounting.

Foreign Education

If you study outside of Alaska, you must have your academic credits evaluated by a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services, Inc., the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy International Evaluation Services, or the University of Alaska. To obtain a review of your credits, contact the international credential evaluation agency directly.

Accepted Educational Institutions

The Alaska State Board of Public Accountancy recognizes all accounting programs and applicable credits completed via colleges and universities in the United States that have essential institutional accreditation from one of the Department of Education’s six regional accreditors:

Pass the Uniform CPA Examination

The “Uniform CPA Examination”, which is a 4-part exam, is developed by the AICPA – the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and administered by NASBA – the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy.

The Four CPA Exam Sections are:

Auditing and Attestation (AUD)

The Auditing and Attestation (AUD) section of the Uniform CPA Examination (the Exam) tests the essential knowledge and skills a newly licensed CPA must demonstrate when performing audit engagements, attestation engagements or accounting and review service engagements.

Newly licensed CPAs are required to:

Demonstrate knowledge and skills related to professional responsibilities, including ethics, independence and professional skepticism. Professional skepticism reflects an iterative process that includes a questioning mind and a critical assessment of audit evidence.
Understand the entity including its operations, information systems (including the use of third-party systems) and its underlying business processes, risks and related internal controls.
Understand the flow of transactions and underlying data through a business process and its related information systems.

Business Environment and Concepts (BEC)

The Business Environment and Concepts (BEC) section of the Uniform CPA Examination (the Exam) tests knowledge and skills that a newly licensed CPA must demonstrate when performing:

Audit, attest, accounting and review services
Financial reporting
Tax preparation
Other professional services

The content areas tested under the BEC section of the Exam encompass five diverse subject areas. These content areas are enterprise risk management, internal controls and business processes, economics, financial management, information technology and operations management.

Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR)

The Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR) section of the Uniform CPA Examination (the Exam) assesses the knowledge and skills that a newly licensed CPA must demonstrate in the financial accounting and reporting frameworks used by business entities (public and nonpublic), not-for-profit entities and state and local government entities.

The financial accounting and reporting frameworks that are eligible for assessment within the FAR section of the Exam include the standards and regulations issued by the:

Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (U.S. SEC)
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)
Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB)

Regulation (REG)

The Regulation (REG) section of the Uniform CPA Examination (the Exam) tests the knowledge and skills that a newly licensed CPA must demonstrate with respect to:

U.S. federal taxation
U.S. ethics and professional responsibilities related to tax practice
U.S. business law

Tips for Passing the CPA Exam

The CPA exam covers so many topics that you will need to study specifically for each section, usually for 6-8 weeks per section. Even a master’s degree in accounting doesn’t adequately prepare you to just walk in and pass the 4 CPA exams.

You will need a full review course such as Becker, Wiley CPA, Gleim, Roger, etc, and you will need to dedicate several hours a day over the course of months to even have a chance at getting passing scores.

Alaska CPA Exam Cost Breakdown

The Alaska CPA exam cost consists of five main fees: an initial application fee of $185, a registration fee of $90, the $238.15 per CPA exam section totaling $952.60 for all four sections, the nonrefundable registration fee that costs $200, and then finally the certificate fee of $300.

If you fail a section and need to retake it, you will still need to pay the registration fee of $90 and the $238.15 examination fee again.

Licensees who receive their original license within 12 months of the expiration date pay the full license fee and then at their first renewal pay a prorated renewal fee (half of the current license fee).

Initial Application Fee	$185.00
Registration Fee	$90.00
Auditing and Attestation (AUD)	$238.15
Business Environment and Concepts (BEC)	$238.15
Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR)	$238.15
Regulation (REG)	$238.15
Total for all 4 CPA Exam Sections	$952.60
Nonrefundable Registration Fee	$200.00
Certificate Fee	$300.00

AICPA Ethics Exam

To meet the Alaska CPA ethics exam requirement, the board employs the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) Professional Ethics self-study course and exam to complete this criterion. To pass, candidates must finish the course’s open book test with a score of 90 percent or above. Professional Ethics can be found on the AICPA’s website. The AICPA exam will be waived for candidates who can present documentation of passing an exam deemed equivalent by the Board.

Alaska CPA Experience Requirements

To meet the Alaska CPA experience requirements, candidates will require 24 months or 4,000 hours of professional accounting. Work includes any type of service earned in academia, government, industry, or public practice, accounting, compilation, consulting skills, financial advisory, management advisory, tax, and related services.

Work experience must include providing any type of service or advice involving the use of accounting, attest, compilation, management advisory, financial advisory, tax, or consulting skills and related training all of which were verified by a supervising certified public accountant with an active license at the time of supervision.

The experience is acceptable if it is gained through employment in government, industry, academia, or public practice. Experience does not include paid or unpaid leave or holidays