Texas State Requirements & Education Options
General Requirement
Applicant must lack a history of dishonest or felonious acts and any criminal activity that might be relevant to the applicant’s qualifications.
Applicants must submit fingerprints to the Board, if not previously submitted during the CPA examination process. You can access your specific fingerprinting status and instructions by logging into Online Services on the Board’s website. Applicant must complete a Texas Board approved four-hour (4-hour) ethics course on the Texas Rules of Professional Conduct offered through a Texas Board approved provider. The course must be completed not more than six (6) months prior to issuance of the CPA license.
Applicant must take an oath to support the laws and the Constitution of the United States and the State of Texas.
Education/Experience Requirement
Applicant must hold a baccalaureate or graduate degree, or its equivalent as determined by Texas Board rule, conferred by a Texas Board-recognized institution of higher education; and
Complete at least 150 semester hours or quarter-hour equivalents in Texas Board-recognized courses, including an accounting concentration or equivalent courses as determined by Texas Board rule. The hours from a course that has been repeated will be counted only once toward the required 150 semester hours.
Education must include not fewer than 30 semester hours or quarter-hour equivalents of accounting courses, of which at least 15 hours must result from physical attendance at classes meeting regularly on the campus of the transcript-issuing institution, and must include a minimum of two (2) semester credit hours in accounting or taxation research and analysis; and not fewer than 24 semester hours or quarter-hour equivalents of related upper level business courses including a minimum of two (2) semester credit hours in accounting communications or business communications. In addition, the board requires that three (3) passing semester hours be earned in ethics. The course must be taken at a recognized educational institution and should provide a framework of ethical reasoning, professional values and attitudes for exercising professional skepticism and other behavior that is in the best interest of the public and profession. The ethics program should provide a foundation for ethical reasoning and include the core values of integrity, objectivity and independence.
Click here to reference the Texas Board rule describing “recognized courses,” “accounting concentration” and other educational requirements.
Applicant must have a minimum of two (2) semester credit hours in research and analysis relating to accounting research and analysis or tax research and analysis. The semester hours may be obtained through a discrete course or offered through an integrated approach. If the course content is offered through integration, the university must advise the board of the course(s) that contain the research and analysis content.
Applicant must have a minimum of two (2) semester credit hours in accounting communication or business communication. The semester hours may be obtained through a discrete course or offered through an integrated approach. If the course content is offered through integration, the university must advise the board of the course(s) that contain the accounting communications or business communications content.
