How to Become a CPA in Nevada

To meet the Nevada requirements to sit for the CPA exam, the Nevada CPA education requirements must be attained first. For Nevada applicants, candidates will have to finish a bachelor’s degree with 120 semester hours with a Major in Accounting. If a candidate does not have a Major in Accounting, he or she will have to complete courses in financial accounting, cost accounting, auditing, federal Income tax and business law. However, to proceed with the CPA licensing, the requirement is 150 semester hours which should include 30 semester hours in introductory-level accounting courses, 3 semester hours in business law and 24 semester hours in undergraduate business courses. More information on exam requirements can be found here.

After meeting the education requirements, candidates can now apply for the exam through the Nevada board’s website or mail the application form to the board. Include all important documents and have your form and transcripts mailed to the board directly from your school. Once the board approves your application, they will notify NASBA to proceed with payment and scheduling.

When NASBA receives confirmation from the board, they will send you a payment coupon to pay all examination fees. Once payment is received, NASBA will issue your Notice to Schedule (NTS) for the exam.

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

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.

There are four sections in the exam: Auditing and Attestation (AUD), Business Environment and Concepts (BEC), Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR) and Regulation (REG). You must pass each section with a score of 75 or higher within 18 months.

After passing the exam, to be able to apply for a license and become a CPA, the requirement for licensing are meeting the 150 education credit hours, meeting the minimum experience requirements and completing an ethics exam within the last three years before licensure.

To meet the Nevada CPA experience requirements, candidates will need to do public accounting experience in either or a combination of both of the following: 2 years of full-time employment performing any combination of the approved tasks in a partnership, corporation, LLC or sole proprietorship; or 4 years of full-time employment performing any combination of the approved tasks in a governmental or other industry position. Document your experience and input them in the reporting form. See also other applicable forms in the board’s website under Experience Forms.

Note that all work experience must be performed under the direct supervision of a person engaged in active practice as a certified public accountant.

After passing the CPA exam, the candidate must also meet the Nevada CPA ethics exam requirements by completing 4 continuing education hours in the area of professional ethics every other year. The Nevada board will not require a specific ethics course and the course may be taken through a live seminar or self/independent study. You may find a brief list of courses offered here.

Make sure to double check on the guidelines for the application and see if you have completed all requirements for the official license certificate. To apply for the license, complete the application form and submit all necessary documents to the Nevada board. Further requirements are indicated in the form.

Nevada requires candidates to complete 80 hours of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) over a rolling two-year period and a minimum of 20 hours is due in one year. Completion of CPE is required in order to renew your license. The CPE is reported annually on a reporting form that includes the name of sponsoring program, location of the program, title of the program or content description, dates attended and the number of hours of credit claimed.

Nevada CPA’s annual permit to engage in the practice of public accounting expires every year on December 31st. The permits must be renewed and postmarked by January 31st. To renew, complete the renewal form and submit it online via the board’s website.