Hawaii CPA Requirements

Hawaii State Requirements & Education Options

General Requirement

Applicant must be at least eighteen years of age.

Applicant must possess a history of competence, trustworthiness and fair dealing. Applicant must provide social security number pursuant to 42 U.S.C.A. § 666(a)(13), Haw. Rev. Stat. § 576D-13(j), and Haw. Rev. Stat. § 436B-10(4).

All Applicants are required to be either a United States citizen, a United States national, or an alien authorized to work in the United States. The Hawaii Board will issue the Applicant a conditional approval that will allow a two-year (2-year) window for the Applicant to obtain authorization to work in the United States by contacting the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. This approval does not constitute a license to engage in the accountancy profession.

Education Requirement

Applicants who passed the Uniform CPA Examination prior to December 31, 2000, or held conditional credits before December 31, 2000, may continue to meet the following education requirements:

A baccalaureate degree or higher conferred by a college/university recognized by the Hawaii Board;

30 semester hours of upper division/graduate level business-related courses in addition to the baccalaureate. (You also have the option to substitute 30 months of professional experience with a public accounting firm for the 30 additional semester hours. These 30 months of experience may not also be utilized to satisfy the experience requirement.); and

18 semester hours of upper division/graduate level accounting/auditing courses, within the first two (2) requirements.