Kentucky CPA Requirements

Kentucky State Requirements & Education Options

General Requirement

Applicant must be 18 years old.

Applicant must be of good moral character.

Residency Requirement: At the time of applying for a license, the applicant must be (1) a United States citizen, (2) a citizen of a foreign country who is legally residing in the United States, or (3) an employee of a public accounting firm, company, or an institution of post-secondary education located outside the United States, but which has an office or campus located in the United States.

An examination candidate who passes all sections of the exam after January 1, 2011, shall apply for a license within five (5) years from the last day of the testing window during which the candidate successfully completed the exam.

Education Requirement

CPA examination candidates must have completed 150 semester hours that include a baccalaureate or master’s degree conferred by a Kentucky Board-approved college or university with a concentration in accounting or equivalent as defined by the Kentucky Board.

A concentration in accounting means a minimum of 39 semester hours in business-related subjects, of which at least 27 semester hours consists of accounting courses.

An accounting course is one that contains in the course prefix or title the word “accounting” or some variation thereof.

Business-related subjects means courses that contain in the course prefix or title an indication that the course subject matter is one (1) of the following: business, finance, marketing, management, economics, computers, statistics, or accounting.

An exam and license applicant who received CLEP credit, or credit hours from a college or university for completing an internship or co-op program may use a maximum of six (6) of those hours from each program for a total of twelve (12) hours solely toward satisfying the 150 hour requirement. An exam and license applicant will not receive credit toward satisfying the education requirements for any credit hours awarded through a life assessment course or for DSST credit.

A transcript from a post-secondary educational institution located outside the United States shall be certified by the NASBA’s International Evaluation Service (NIES) or a credentialing agency that is a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services, Inc.