Kentucky CPA Requirements

Kentucky Residency and Education Requirements

General Requirements

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 shall apply for a license within 5 years from the last day of the testing window during which the candidate successfully completed the exam.

Education Requirements

CPA Exam candidates must have completed 120 semester hours that include a bachelor’s or master’s degree conferred by a Kentucky Board of Accountancy-approved college or university with a concentration in accounting or equivalent as defined by the board.

A concentration in accounting means a minimum of 27 semester hours in accounting-related subjects and 12 semester hours of business-related courses.

An accounting course is 1 that contains in the course prefix or title the word “accounting” or some variation thereof.

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

An exam and license applicant who received College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) credit, or credit hours from a college or university for completing an internship or co-op program, may use a maximum of 6 of those hours from each program for a total of 12 hours solely toward satisfying the 150-hour requirement for licensure. 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 DANTES Subject Standardized Test (DSST) credit.

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