To get licensed as a CPA in most U.S. jurisdictions, you have to pass a separate ethics exam after (or sometimes alongside) the Uniform CPA Exam. The standard CPA ethics exam requirements point to the AICPA’s Professional Ethics course: a self-study program that ends in a 40-question open-book online test, costs $250 for AICPA or CIMA members and $320 for nonmembers, and requires a score of at least 90 percent to pass.1AICPA & CIMA. Professional Ethics: The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Comprehensive Course (For Licensure) Some states use their own exam instead, and a small number of jurisdictions do not require a separate ethics exam at all.
Does Your State Actually Require the AICPA Exam
All 55 U.S. accountancy board jurisdictions (the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and four territories) set their own licensing rules, and each decides whether an ethics exam is required and which one counts.2National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA). Substantial Equivalency Most boards accept the AICPA’s Professional Ethics course. A smaller group administers its own state-specific ethics exam, usually because the board wants to test candidates on local accountancy laws that the national course does not cover. A few jurisdictions require no separate ethics exam, treating the ethics content built into the Uniform CPA Exam as sufficient.
The AICPA itself cautions that many states do not accept its ethics course, so checking with your state board before you buy anything is essential.1AICPA & CIMA. Professional Ethics: The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Comprehensive Course (For Licensure) Your board’s website will confirm which exam it accepts, when it must be completed relative to the Uniform CPA Exam, and any deadline attached to the license application itself.
What the AICPA Ethics Exam Covers
The exam is built around the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct, which governs independence, integrity, objectivity, and a CPA’s duty to the public interest.3AICPA & CIMA. Code of Professional Conduct The Code uses a conceptual framework: identify threats to compliance, then evaluate whether safeguards can reduce those threats to an acceptable level. It recognizes seven categories of threats — self-interest, self-review, advocacy, familiarity, undue influence, adverse interest, and management participation.
Questions ask you to spot these threats in realistic fact patterns. An auditor holding stock in a client raises a self-interest threat. A tax preparer pushed to advocate a position without a reasonable basis raises an advocacy threat. The exam consistently frames the public-interest duty as outweighing loyalty to any individual client, and it rewards applied judgment over memorized rule numbers.
Format, Cost, and Passing Score
The Professional Ethics course is a self-study program that ends in an online test of 40 multiple-choice questions. The test is open book: you can reference the course text and use the built-in search function while answering. The passing score is 90 percent, which means you cannot miss more than four questions.1AICPA & CIMA. Professional Ethics: The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Comprehensive Course (For Licensure) That is a much higher bar than the scaled score of 75 used on each section of the Uniform CPA Exam.
The course itself runs $250 for AICPA or CIMA members and $320 for nonmembers.1AICPA & CIMA. Professional Ethics: The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Comprehensive Course (For Licensure) Some state CPA societies offer discounted rates to their members. If you fail, you get up to three online attempts; after that the system locks and you have to contact AICPA support to regain access.
The most common mistake is treating the exam as trivial because it is open book. The questions often turn on subtle wording differences, and answer choices are written so that more than one option sounds plausible until you check the underlying rule. Working through the modules carefully, then using the search function to confirm rather than to discover, is what gets candidates through on the first attempt.
When to Take the Ethics Exam
Where the ethics exam fits into your licensing timeline depends on your jurisdiction. Some boards let you take it at any point in the process and never expire the score. Others impose a window tied to the license application or to your CPA Exam credit.
Under the CPA Evolution model that launched in January 2024, candidates generally have 30 months to pass all required sections of the Uniform CPA Exam, though some jurisdictions allow longer.4AICPA & CIMA. CPA Exam Credit Extension: Deadline in June 2025 That matters for the ethics exam because if you let your CPA Exam credits lapse while sorting out the ethics requirement, you can end up retaking sections at roughly $400 each. Checking your board’s ethics deadline early — and taking the exam well before your CPA Exam credits get close to expiring — avoids that outcome.
How Your Score Reaches the Board
You get an immediate score after submitting your answers on the AICPA’s online platform. In most jurisdictions the system then transmits your result to the state board automatically, and it becomes part of your licensing file. Processing on the board’s end takes time, so the score may not show up on your board’s portal for several weeks.
Once the board has your ethics score along with your CPA Exam scores, education transcripts, and verified work experience, you can submit the formal license application. Initial licensing fees vary by state and can run anywhere from under $50 to over $400, and this is separate from the ethics course fee. Some boards also require a background check, which adds time and another fee. Completing the ethics exam early removes one variable from the application and lets you focus on the rest of the file.
Ethics CPE After You Are Licensed
The ethics exam is a one-time licensing requirement, but ethics obligations continue after you are licensed. Every jurisdiction requires continuing professional education to keep your license active, and nearly all of them require a specific number of ethics CPE hours per renewal cycle. Four hours per cycle is the most common figure; some states require as few as two, others as many as eight. Several states also require that part of those hours cover state-specific accountancy law rather than general professional ethics.
Renewal periods run one to three years depending on the jurisdiction. Falling behind on ethics CPE can cause your license to lapse, and reinstating a lapsed license costs more and takes longer than keeping current. State CPA societies and online CPE providers offer approved ethics courses once you know what your state requires.
A Note on Circular 230
If you plan to practice before the IRS — preparing returns, representing clients in audits, or advising on tax positions — you are also bound by Treasury Department Circular 230, a separate set of federal rules that is not the same as the AICPA Code. Circular 230 requires due diligence in preparing returns, prompt notice to clients of errors or omissions in previously filed documents, and return of client records on request.5Internal Revenue Service. Regulations Governing Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service (Treasury Department Circular No. 230) It also bars signing a return or recommending a position that lacks a reasonable basis, prohibits unconscionable fees, restricts contingent fees, and requires written informed consent for conflicts of interest.
The IRS Office of Professional Responsibility enforces these rules and can impose sanctions from public censure up to disbarment from IRS practice.6Internal Revenue Service. Records About Disciplinary Actions Against Practitioners and Other Tax Professionals Monetary penalties can equal the gross income earned from the offending conduct and can be stacked on a suspension or disbarment.5Internal Revenue Service. Regulations Governing Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service (Treasury Department Circular No. 230) Passing the AICPA ethics exam does not satisfy Circular 230; it is a separate framework that kicks in once you start representing clients before the IRS.