How to Become a CPA in Colorado 2026

To meet the Colorado CPA education requirements to sit for the CPA exam, you must have a bachelor’s degree with at least 120 semester hours. 27 semester hours of non-duplicative accounting coursework at the undergraduate or graduate level. 21 semester hours of non-duplicative business administration coursework at the undergraduate or graduate level.

Within the 27 semester hours in accounting, 21 semester hours must exclude introductory accounting courses and cover subject areas such as Accounting Ethics, Accounting Information Systems, Accounting Research and Analysis, Accounting Theory
Auditing and Attestation Services, Financial Accounting and Reporting of Business Organizations, Financial Accounting and Reporting for Government and Not-for-Profit Entities, Financial Statement Analysis, Fraud Examination, Internal Controls and Risk Assessment, Managerial or Cost Accounting, Taxation, Tax Research and Analysis, Forensic Accounting, Tax Auditing, and other areas as approved by the Board. Must also include a 3 semester hour, or more, auditing course concentrating on U.S. GAAS.

Within the 21 semester hours in business administration, it should include Behavior of Organizations, Groups, and Persons, Business and Accounting Communication, Business Ethics, Business Law, Computer Information Systems, Economics
Finance, Legal and Social Environment of Business, Management, Marketing, Quantitative Applications in Business, Statistics, and other areas as approved by the Board.

The first step to determining your eligibility is to apply through NASBA’s CPA Portal for Colorado exam applications, payments, Notice to Schedule documents, and score notices.

Then submit the necessary educational requirements to NASBA’s CPA Portal for Colorado and pay the $96 education evaluation application fee.

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

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

Or email it to 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.

Colorado’s current NASBA fees include a $96.00 exam application fee and a $262.64 exam section fee.

Click here to see a breakdown of the Colorado 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.

Only apply for an exam section when you are ready to take it within the next six months. The Notice to Schedule is valid for a limited time, and fees are forfeited if you do not test within that window.

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.

After passing the Uniform CPA Examination, you must complete the appropriate education requirements to become a licensed CPA, which totals 150 semester hours with a graduate degree. 33 total semester hours of non-duplicative accounting coursework.  27 of these hours must be above the introductory level. 6 of these hours must be in auditing. 3 of these hours must be in accounting or business ethics. 27 total semester hours of non-duplicative business administration coursework.  No more than 9 semester hours can be in any single subject area. Hours in excess of the 9-hour maximum may count toward the 150-hour requirement.

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

CPA Examination Services – CO
PO Box 198469
Nashville, TN 37219

Or email it at etranscript@nasba.org

To meet the Colorado CPA experience requirements, Colorado requires one year of qualifying experience in public accounting, industry, government, or academia. The experience must include at least 1,800 qualifying hours earned over no less than one year and no more than three years, must be completed within five years before the license application, and must be verified by an active CPA in good standing with direct and continuous knowledge of the applicant’s work.

Supervising CPA must complete the Certificate of Experience form which can be found through Colorado’s DPO.

After passing the CPA exam, the candidate must also meet the Colorado CPA ethics exam requirement by taking one additional test to take: the AICPA’s Ethics exam within the two years immediately preceding the license application. The association offers an 11-hour self-study course, after which you can take the open-book test. The Ethics Examination is not expected to be particularly tough, but you must pass with a minimum score of 90 to get your license.

The Professional Ethics course can be found here.

Before you are able to apply for your Initial CPA License, you must have an account first at NASBA CPA Licensing Online Application System.

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 initial CPA application form at the NASBA CPA licensing online application system and the initial individual license fee of $160.

Other fees are transfer of grades at $195, reciprocal at $195, and firm at $185.

Now that you have completed all the necessary steps to be a Certified Public Accountant in Colorado. You will be notified by Colorado’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.

Colorado active CPAs must complete CPE during each two-year reporting period.Active CPAs accrue 10 CPE hours for every full calendar quarter their certificate is active during the reporting period; a full two-year reporting period equals 80 hours. The reporting period runs from January 1 of an even-numbered year through December 31 of the following odd-numbered year.

Colorado also has a Colorado Rules and Regulations requirement. DORA says Colorado-certified CPAs must complete at least 2 hours of Colorado Rules and Regulations within 6 months of receiving their initial certificate, and up to 2 compliant CR&R hours may be applied to the ethics CPE requirement.