West Virginia CPA Requirements

West Virginia Requirements & Education Options

General Requirement

Applicants must be of good moral character.

There is no minimum age requirement to sit for the CPA Exam or to apply for a CPA license in West Virginia.

West Virginia residency is not required to sit for the CPA Exam or to apply for licensure. U.S. citizenship is not required.

An examination candidate who passes all sections of the CPA Exam must apply for licensure in accordance with West Virginia Board of Accountancy requirements.

Education Requirement

To sit for the CPA Exam in West Virginia, applicants must complete at least 120 semester hours of college education and earn a Bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited institution. Within the 120 semester hours, applicants must complete 30 semester hours in accounting courses, 27 semester hours in business courses other than accounting, and 3 semester hours each in business law and ethics.

The 30 semester hours in accounting must include 6 semester hours each in Financial or Intermediate Accounting, Auditing or Accounting Information Systems, and Taxation, as well as 3 semester hours in cost, managerial, governmental, or nonprofit accounting and 9 semester hours of accounting electives.

The 27 semester hours in business courses must include 3 semester hours each in economics, finance, marketing, statistics, and management, along with 12 semester hours of business-related electives.

Applicants who earn a master’s or doctoral degree in accounting automatically qualify to sit for the CPA Exam. However, to apply for CPA licensure in West Virginia, applicants must complete 150 semester hours of education.

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.