How to Become a CPA in Tennessee 2024

To meet the Tennessee requirements to sit for the CPA exam, the Tennessee CPA education requirements must be attained first. For Tennessee applicants, you must have a bachelor’s degree and earn a total of 150 semester hours. The 150 semester hours need to include at least 30 semester hours of accounting including at least 24 semester hours at the upper-division. A maximum of six semester hours from internship may be included. Completed at least 24 semester hours in general business such as algebra, calculus, statistics, probability, business communication, business law, economics, ethics, finance, management, technology/information systems, or marketing.

You need to create an account at https://cpacentral.nasba.org/ and submit all the educational transcript(s), Certificate of Enrolment, and/or foreign evaluations to CPA Examination Services. If you are a first-time applicant, you are required to pay both the education evaluation application fee of $90 and an examination fee of $344.80 per section at the time of application.

Once your transcripts and application have been approved, you can select the CPA exam you want to sign up for and pay the necessary fees using NASBA’s CPA Central website. Once you receive a Notice to Schedule (NTS), you may go to the Prometric website to schedule your exam(s). Each section examination fee is $226.15.

Click here to see a breakdown of the Tennessee 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.

The candidate must also meet the Tennessee CPA ethics exam requirements by passing the Professional Ethics: The AICPA’s Comprehensive Course For Licensure.

To meet the Tennessee CPA experience requirements, you need at least 2000 hours of experience, earned in no less than one year or more than three years which includes services or advice using; services for accounting, attest, management advisory, financial advisory, tax, or consulting skills, and employment from government, academia or public practice.

Once you have met all the requirements, you may apply to get your Tennessee CPA license through the Tennessee State Board of Accountancy and pay the initial CPA license application fee of $100.

To maintain your Tennessee CPA license, you will need to renew it every other two years by completing the required continuing professional schedule (CPE) hours. Tennessee requires no less than 80 hours of CPE in every renewal period and that must include 40 hours of technical study, a two-hour state-approved ethics course designed to familiarize with accountancy law and rules of professional ethics. You need to be engaged to testify in a Tennessee court(s) as an expert witness in areas of accounting, attest, management services or tax to be completed within the current year or most recent renewal period, at least 20 hours in the subject area(s) concerning such expert testimony. Up to 24 CPE hours of the 80 hour requirement for each two-year period may be applied to the succeeding two-year renewal cycle. You must submit certificates of completed CPE courses that will be used for carry forward to the Board, failure to do so will result in disallowance of carry-forward hours.