To become a licensed CPA, you need to complete a period of supervised professional accounting work and have it verified by a licensed CPA on a form your state board reviews. Under the model set by the Uniform Accountancy Act, the CPA work experience requirement is one year of full-time work totaling at least 2,000 hours.1NASBA. Uniform Accountancy Act Eighth Edition Some states now require two years instead. What trips candidates up isn’t usually the work itself, but the supervisor rules and the paperwork at the end.
How Many Hours and Over What Period
The UAA’s model rule counts one year of experience as work spanning at least twelve months and no more than three years, totaling no fewer than 2,000 hours.1NASBA. Uniform Accountancy Act Eighth Edition That figure reflects a standard forty-hour week over roughly fifty weeks. Part-time work counts, but you stretch the calendar to reach the hour threshold. Twenty hours a week gets you there in about two calendar years.
A growing number of states have adopted a newer pathway that pairs a 120-credit-hour bachelor’s degree with two years (roughly 4,000 hours) of experience, as an alternative to the traditional 150-credit-hour degree plus one year of experience. The UAA contemplates this through its competency-based experience pathway, which requires two years of experience including at least one year following a competency framework developed by a national accounting organization.1NASBA. Uniform Accountancy Act Eighth Edition As of 2026, more than a dozen states have adopted or announced versions of this pathway. Check your board before planning your timeline.
Most states count experience earned before, during, or after passing the CPA exam. The experience requirement is a condition for the license, not for sitting the exam. A handful of states restrict when qualifying hours can start, so confirm the rule in your jurisdiction.
On old experience: the UAA itself sets no expiration date on qualifying hours, and several states explicitly allow you to report experience without a time limit. Some boards may view very old experience less favorably during review, but a hard five-year cutoff is not a general rule. If your experience is more than a few years old, ask your board directly.
What Kind of Work Qualifies
The UAA recognizes experience gained in four settings: public practice, private industry, government, and academia.1NASBA. Uniform Accountancy Act Eighth Edition You don’t need to work at an accounting firm. What matters is what you do.
- Public accounting: audit, review, tax, or consulting work for external clients at a CPA firm. Usually the simplest path because your direct manager is a CPA.
- Private industry: internal audit, financial reporting, budgeting, internal controls, or compliance roles at a corporation. The work must involve real professional judgment. Processing invoices or running routine payroll alone won’t qualify.
- Government: federal, state, or local agency work involving audits, managing public funds, or financial reporting under governmental accounting standards.
- Academia: teaching upper-level accounting at a four-year accredited institution. Introductory-level teaching generally doesn’t count. The verifying CPA is often a department chair or licensed faculty member.
Some states also recognize tax or forensic accounting work performed at law firms. Across every setting, the common thread is that the work must apply accounting, auditing, tax, financial advisory, or consulting skills at a professional level.
Boards aren’t only counting hours; they’re evaluating whether your work required judgment. Analyzing financial statements, designing internal controls, preparing consolidated reports, developing budgets, or advising on tax compliance all qualify. Routine bookkeeping, data entry, and clerical tasks generally don’t count even if they happen inside an accounting department. Boards also look for increasing responsibility over time. A candidate who moved from assisting on audit workpapers to leading engagement sections tells a stronger story than someone whose duties never changed.
Who Can Verify Your Experience
Your experience must be verified by someone holding an active, valid CPA license.1NASBA. Uniform Accountancy Act Eighth Edition That person signs a legal attestation, so they need genuine knowledge of your work. Most boards expect a direct supervisory relationship, meaning your manager or the engagement partner who reviewed your work product. Some boards accept a CPA who wasn’t your direct manager but had enough access to evaluate your work, which comes up when a candidate’s immediate supervisor isn’t licensed but a CPA elsewhere in the organization can vouch for the work.
Out-of-State Supervisors
Your verifying CPA does not have to be licensed in the state where you’re applying. Most boards accept verification from a CPA licensed in any state as long as the license is active and in good standing. The form will ask for the supervisor’s license number and issuing state, and some boards want a copy of the out-of-state license.
When Your CPA Supervisor Is Unavailable
If your supervising CPA has retired, moved on, or passed away, you may still be able to verify your experience. Some boards accept verification from another CPA at the same organization who can review your work history. Others have a formal petition process where you submit project records, performance reviews, engagement letters, and similar documentation to the board directly. Start that process early. Sorting it out after everything else is submitted can delay your license by months.
Non-CPA Supervisors
A few states have carved out exceptions for candidates in government or industry roles where no CPA directly oversees the work. The board may allow an alternative verification process, sometimes involving board review of your work product or verification by a CPA outside your reporting chain. These exceptions aren’t universal, and the documentation burden on the candidate is higher.
The Experience Verification Form
The document goes by different names depending on the state: Verification of Experience, Certificate of Experience, Statement of Experience. They all ask for the same core information. Getting the details right the first time matters because a returned form means weeks of delay.
- Exact employment start and end dates. Most boards won’t accept “to present.”
- Total qualifying hours worked during the period.
- A detailed task narrative describing what you actually did, not just your job title. “Prepared financial statements” is too vague. “Prepared consolidated quarterly financial statements for a multi-entity holding company under GAAP” gives the board what it needs.
- The experience category (public, private, government, academia).
- Hour breakdowns by function on some boards’ forms, for example the share of hours in audit versus tax versus advisory.
- The verifying CPA’s license number, issuing state, and contact information.
- Employer name, address, and sometimes the firm’s registration number.
The supervisor signs the form and may need to sign additional pages if the task description runs long. Keep records of your projects, engagement assignments, and performance reviews throughout your experience period. Reconstructing two years of work from memory produces the vague descriptions that trigger board follow-up questions.
Submitting the Form and What to Expect
Most boards accept the form through an online portal, though some still require hard copies by certified mail. Some require the supervisor to submit the form directly rather than routing it through the candidate. Check your board’s instructions.
Expect a processing or application fee. Fees vary widely, roughly $50 to $500 depending on the state and whether the fee covers just the experience review or the full initial license. Review times range from a few weeks to several months depending on the board’s backlog. The board may contact your employer or supervisor to confirm details during the review.
Discrepancies stall things fast. Mismatched dates, hours that don’t reconcile, a supervisor whose license has lapsed: any of these can hold up your file. Double-check every detail before submitting, and warn your supervisor that the board may call.
Consequences of Falsifying Experience
Inflating hours, fabricating supervisory relationships, or misrepresenting the nature of your work carries serious consequences. State boards can deny a license application permanently and impose substantial administrative fines. A fraud finding also travels. Other states’ boards will see it if you apply elsewhere, and it can surface in employer background checks for years. The verification process exists because the credential carries weight with the public, and boards treat attempts to undermine it accordingly.