How to Become a CPA in Washington 2026

To meet the Washington CPA education requirements to sit for the CPA exam, you’ll need to have at least a bachelor’s degree or higher with a concentration in accounting and successful completion of 24 semester hours (36 quarter hours) in accounting subjects, and 24 semester hours (36 quarter hours) in business administration subjects.

Washington’s current education requirements are now framed as three pathways, effective November 20, 2025:
Option A is a bachelor’s degree plus accounting concentration/equivalent;
Option B is a post-baccalaureate degree plus accounting concentration/equivalent;
and Option C is a bachelor’s degree plus accounting concentration/equivalent plus 30 additional semester hours, and Option C expires December 31, 2035.

All options also require 24 accounting hours and 24 business administration hours.

Create an Okta account through NASBA’s dashboard, then access the CPA Portal to submit your Washington exam application.

Washington candidates first complete an Education Evaluation Application through NASBA. The current Education Evaluation Application Fee is $96.00, and the current Exam Application Fee is $103.00.

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

Washington Coordinator, CPA Examination Services
PO Box 198469
Nashville, TN 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 Washington 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 NTS is valid only 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.

Washington candidates must pass all four CPA Exam sections with a score of 75 or higher within a rolling 36-month period. Credit for passed sections is currently retained for 36 months from the date of score release.

To meet the Washington CPA experience requirements, it depends on the licensure pathway used. Option A requires 2 years of experience consisting of at least 24 months and 4,000 hours. Options B and C require 1 year of experience consisting of at least 12 months and 2,000 hours. The experience must be verified by a qualifying CPA and obtained no more than eight years before the Board receives a complete license application.

To meet the Washington CPA ethics exam requirements and qualify for initial licensure, Washington applicants must complete a course covering the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct, specifically the course for licensure, and achieve a score of 90% or better on the exam. The course must be at least 8 hours.

The Professional Ethics course can be found here.

You must watch and certify on the application that you have watched the Washington CPA Essentials video.

Optional: You only need to do this if it has been four years since you have passed the CPA exam.

For renewal of an active Washington CPA license, current requirements are 120 hours of CPE every three years, including a Washington State Board-approved ethics course, with a minimum of 20 hours per year. The current renewal fee is $230, and a $100 late fee applies from May 1 through June 30.

After you have completed your professional education, passed the exams, and retain the necessary work experience, you have fulfilled a majority of the CPA exam requirements. You’ll need to register, complete and submit the license application through Washington Online Services.

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