How to Become a CPA in Puerto Rico 2024

To meet the Puerto Rico requirements to sit for the CPA exam, the Puerto Rico CPA education requirements must be attained first. For Puerto Rico applicants, you must have a bachelor’s degree, and earn a total of 150 semester hours. The 150 hours need to include 32 semester hours in accounting subjects, 32 semester hours in accounting and general business classes such as business law, information systems, economics, and finance. You must have earned a minimum GPA of 2.0. If you’re in your last semester of completing the education requirements, you’ve already completed the 32 semester hours of accounting classes and you maintained a 3.0 GPA, you can apply for the CPA exams early.

To apply for the CPA Examination online, you need to create an account on NASBA’s CPA Central website. Then you’ll complete your application form online, and then submit your official transcripts, the certificate of good conduct from the Puerto Rico police department, and a completed Character Reference Affidavit with the two required references. You will also pay a first-time application fee of $210.

Once your application has been approved, you can select the CPA exam section that you want to take and pay the necessary fees using NASBA’s CPA Central website. Once you receive a Notice to Schedule (NTS), you may visit www.prometric.com/CPA or call Prometric at 1-800-580-9648 to schedule your exam(s). As part of scheduling your exam(s), there is a per-section examination fee of $226.15.

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

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.

To meet the Puerto Rico CPA experience requirements, you need one year of full-time experience in one or more of the following areas: public accounting, industry or private practice, or academia working under a licensed CPA in good standing. Three years of part-time experience is also acceptable.

Once you have met all requirements, you may apply for your CPA license through NASBA’s online CPA licensing system at https://www.mycpalicense.org/.

While most states require ethics before licensing, Puerto Rico candidates can become a CPA without it as there are no Puerto Rico CPA ethics exam requirements.

To maintain your Puerto Rico CPA license, you will need to renew your license every three years, by completing the required amount of continuing professional education (CPE) hours. Puerto Rico requires 120 CPE hours every renewal period, and they must include 40 credit hours in accounting, audit, and tax, which can either be 28 credits in accounting & auditing, with 12 credits in tax, or 28 credits in tax and 12 credits in accounting & auditing. It also requires three credits in professional ethics. The remaining credits can be taken in the subjects of finance, management, economics, commercial law, labor law, quantitative methods, statistics, information systems, practice management, communication, behavioral sciences, public relations, and sales of securities. The credit hours in the fields of communication, behavioral sciences, public relations, and sales of securities may not exceed 24 credit hours.