How to Become a CPA in Montana 2024

To meet the Montana requirements to sit for the CPA exam, the Montana CPA education requirements must be attained first. Applicants must complete 150 semester hours which includes 24 semester hours in accounting courses above the introductory level and another 24 semester hours in business-related courses.

When you’ve met the education requirements, register with NASBA to apply for the CPA exam. Have all your official transcripts sent directly from your college or university to CPA Examination Services – MT, PO Box 198469, Nashville, TN 37219. If your school offers official electronic transcripts, they may be emailed to etranscript@nasba.org.

Pay all fees at the time of application to NASBA. Examination fee per exam is $344.80.

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

Wait for your application to be approved and once accepted, NASBA will email or mail you the Notice to Schedule (NTS). Upon receiving the NTS, schedule your exam online through Prometric. You are able to apply for one or more sections of the examination at a time. The NTS is valid for one testing event or six months and must be presented for entry at the testing center.

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 each section with a score of 75 or higher within 18 months. Test scores will be available through the candidate portal on release dates.

After passing all four exams, applicants may only proceed with the application if they have completed the education, experience and ethics requirements for the license eligibility. 

To meet the Montana CPA experience requirements, applicants are expected to complete 1 year of qualifying accounting and/or auditing experience in the areas of public accounting, industry, government and/or academia and must include a minimum of 2,000 hours. Experience must be within 3 years immediately preceding the date of application for licensure and verified by a holder of a U.S. CPA in good standing or a supervisor licensed from a professional accounting body with an MRA with NASBA.

Prior to applying for licensure, applicants must successfully complete and pass an 8-hour course in professional ethics from AICPA as part of the Montana CPA ethics exam requirement. Applicants must earn a minimum score of 90% to qualify for a certification.

Montana applications for initial CPA licensure will be processed through NASBA Licensing Service. Applicants must submit complete documents supporting the completion of licensing requirements to NASBA along with the initial fee of $150.

All Montana CPAs must renew their license every three years and the cycle occurs from January 1 to December 31. The license can be renewed online through the board’s website. To be eligible for renewal, licensee holders will have to accomplish Continuing Professional Education (CPE).

Licensee holders must comply with the board’s CPE requirement as defined by their rule. The CPE requirement is 120 hours of acceptable CPE including 50% technical subjects that also includes 2 hours of ethics in any rolling three-year period.