How to Become a CPA in Washington 2024

To meet the Washington CPA education requirements to sit for the CPA exam, you’ll need to have a bachelor’s degree or higher with a concentration in accounting and completed at least 150 semester hours. Successful completion of 24 semester hours in accounting subjects with at least 15 semester hours at the upper-level course or graduate level. Successful completion of 24 semester hours in business administration subjects at undergraduate or graduate level.

The first step to determining your eligibility is to register an account at CPA Central.

Then submit the necessary educational requirements to NASBA Advisory Evaluation at CPA Central and pay the $170 initial application fee.

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

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

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.
You will have six months to apply and sit for your first portion of the CPA exam.

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 Washington CPA experience requirements, you must meet a minimum of 12-months which consists of at least 2,000 working hours, through the use of accounting, issuing reports on financial statements, management advisory, financial advisory, tax, tax advisory, or consulting skills through the practice of public accounting and/or employment in industry or government during part-time or full-time employment with one or more employers.

Must be documented by a licensed CPA who holds a valid license to practice public accounting in a US jurisdiction for a minimum of five years prior to the date of verifying the experience. The verifying CPA does not need to be a supervisor or coworker of the applicant and the five years do not need to be consecutive

The verifying CPA must complete an Experience Affidavit form.

After passing the CPA exam, the candidate must also meet the Washington CPA ethics exam requirements by taking one additional test: the AICPA’s Ethics exam. The association offers an 11-hour self-study course, after which you can take the open-book test. The Ethics Examination is not expected to be particularly tough, but you must pass with a minimum score of 90 to get your license.

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.

Details about the CPE can be found here.

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.