How to Become a CPA in Mississippi 2026

To meet the Mississippi requirements to sit for the CPA exam, the Mississippi CPA education requirements must be attained first. For Mississippi applicants, the candidate must be a Mississippi resident or have a business location in the state. As part of the license process, applicants must demonstrate a good moral character.

A CPA applicant may sit with a baccalaureate degree of at least 120 semester hours, even though the CPA license requirement is 150 semester hours.

Candidates need at least 48 semester hours of upper-division or graduate-level accounting and business-related courses, with at least 24 of those hours in accounting, including financial accounting, auditing, taxation, and accounting information systems.

Effective July 1, 2026, Mississippi has three CPA licensure pathway:
A bachelor’s degree with additional hours of education for a total of 150 or more semester hours with an accounting concentration or equivalent, passing the CPA exam, and one year of experience;
A master’s degree with an accounting concentration or equivalent, passing the CPA exam, and one year of experience;
Or a bachelor’s degree with an accounting concentration or equivalent, passing the CPA exam, and two years of experience

Applicants must complete an Application for the CPA Examination with the Mississippi State Board of Public Accountancy. With their application packet, they must include a passport-sized photo, a driver’s license, and proof of residency.

Once you have completed the academic requirements, you can submit your official transcripts from each institution to the board. You must create an account on the board’s website to acquire complete information; nevertheless, you should receive a Notice to Schedule after your transcripts have been accepted and processed (NTS). After getting the NTS, you will have six months to arrange and take one of the four CPA test components.

You must pay a $150.00 application fee, the registration fees, as well as the examination fees of $262.64 for each exam section and re-exam registration fees ranging from $75 to $135 depending on the number of sections, when you apply. Your notice to schedule (NIS) will expire if you do not take the exam within 6 months, and you will have to re-register.

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

Credits for a passed section is valid for 30 months from the date the passing score is released, and candidates must pass all required sections within a rolling 30-month period.

There is no Mississippi CPA ethics exam requirement for initial licensure. However, Mississippi CPAs must complete ethics CPE as part of ongoing license maintenance, including Board-approved ethics, professional conduct, public accountancy law, and regulations coursework.

To meet the Mississippi CPA experience requirements, a year of work experience is required. You must pass all four portions of the exam to receive your full license. Within three years of passing the CPA exam, the candidate must have gained at least one year of relevant experience working full-time in Accounting and auditing, Management Advisory, Financial Advisory, Preparation of Tax Returns or Tax Advice or Taxation under the supervision and direction of a CPA licensee.

An applicant must have provided one or more types of services under the supervision of a CPA licensee, including but not limited to the publication of financial statement reports, management consulting, financial consulting, consulting services, and the preparation of tax returns or the provision of tax advice, or the equivalent.

The Mississippi State Board of Public Accountancy has requirements for CPA license candidates, including residency, good moral character, passing the Uniform CPA Examination, and having necessary experience.

There is also an initial CPA license registration fee of $110, and a $100 Board processing fee.

This is required when a CPA from another state performs public accounting for a Mississippi customer or holds himself out as a CPA in Mississippi and some requirements are not met, such as the primary place of business is not in the state and the CPA does not have a valid CPA license in the state where the CPA is practicing.

Mississippi CPA licenses must be registered annually by January 1. The current annual registration fee is $110, and the late fee after January 1 is $150. Mississippi CPAs generally must complete 40 hours of CPE each annual reporting period, with 4 ethics-related hours required triennially.

A new CPA licensee is exempt from CPE only during the compliance period in which he or she passes the examination, and is exempt from the ethics, professional conduct, public accountancy law, and regulations CPE requirements for the duration of the triennial term.