How to Become a CPA in Ohio 2026

To meet the Ohio requirements to sit for the CPA exam, the Ohio CPA education requirements must be attained first.

First-time applicants must be of good moral character and meet one of two education paths: (1) a bachelor’s degree with 30 semester hours in accounting and 24 business hours, or (2) a master’s degree with 30 semester hours in accounting and 24 business hours. The accounting coursework must include auditing, financial accounting, and taxation.

The first step to determining your eligibility is to sign up for an Okta account through NASBA’s dashboard, then access the CPA Portal to submit your Ohio CPA Exam application.

Then submit the necessary educational requirements to NASBA at CPA Central and pay the current $96.00 education evaluation application fee. The NASBA exam fees also include a $101.00 exam application fee and a $262.64 exam section fee.

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

Ohio Coordinator
CPA Examination Service
PO Box 198469
Nashville, Tennessee 37219-8469

Or email it at 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.

Click here to see a breakdown of the Ohio 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.
Candidates should only apply for an exam section if they are ready to take it within the next six months, and the Notice to Schedule is valid for a limited time.

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 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.

Ohio now has two licensure pathways. Candidates may qualify with (1) a bachelor’s degree, the required accounting concentration, passing the CPA Exam, and two years of qualifying experience; or with (2) a master’s degree, the required accounting concentration, passing the CPA Exam, and one year of qualifying experience.

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

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

Or email it at etranscript@nasba.org

The Ohio CPA experience requirement must be earned in the employment of a licensed public accounting firm, government, academia or business with at least one year of experience under the supervision of a licensed CPA.

If you’ll be applying for the license under the 670 GMAT requirement, you’ll need at least four years of accounting experience to qualify.

The supervisor will need to complete Record of Experience Form.

To meet the Ohio CPA ethics exam requirements and become a CPA, candidates must complete a board-approved professional standards and responsibilities course covering Ohio accountancy law, board rules, and professional standards.

You can find the link here to the Board’s PSR page for the ethics exam requirement:
https://acc.ohio.gov/maintaining-your-license/psr/professional-standards-and-responsibilities-3

The Accountancy Board of Ohio requires all CPA applicants to undergo a Criminal Background Check Information. Ohio applicants are required to utilize WebCheck, Ohio’s fingerprint system, to electronically submit their fingerprints to the Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

You must set up an appointment through the Ohio Attorney General’s website. You will also need to complete the WebCheck/Fingerprint Consent form before a background check can be done. You may complete the form prior to your arrival and bring it with you, or fill one out at the office.

Once you have met the educational requirements, work experience requirement, submitted a Criminal Background Check Information, passed the ethics exam, and passed the Uniform CPA Exam. You can apply online for your CPA license here.

Now that you have completed all the necessary steps to be a Certified Public Accountant in Ohio. You will be notified by the Accountancy Board of Ohio 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.

Ohio CPA permits renew on a triennial cycle ending December 31. Ohio CPAs generally must complete 120 CPE hours over the three-year reporting period, including at least 20 hours each year and 3 hours of Board-approved ethics/Professional Standards and Responsibilities CPE.