Oklahoma CPA Requirements
Exam and License Requirements to Become a CPA

Are you thinking about becoming a CPA in Oklahoma? Let's get started by understanding the Oklahoma CPA Exam and license requirements. This guide will give you all you need to know as you take your first steps toward obtaining a CPA license in the Sooner State.

Oklahoma CPA Requirements

Obtaining a CPA license in Oklahoma requires candidates to pass all CPA Exam sections, obtain work experience, and pass the ethics exam. The Oklahoma Accountancy Board (OAB) is the state's governing body for CPAs. It works closely with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Oklahoma is a two-tiered state, meaning an applicant will receive a certificate from the state upon passing the CPA Exam, which will be used to obtain a license after fulfilling the other requirements.

To sit for the CPA Exam in Oklahoma, you must fulfill specific Oklahoma CPA education requirements. As per the OAB, all CPA candidates must have a bachelor's degree or higher with at least 150 semester hours from an accredited institution.

Of the 150 semester hours, at least 76 must be from upper-division courses, 30 must be from upper-division accounting courses (including one course on external auditing standards), and 9 must be from upper-division business courses in any or all of the following subjects:

• Economics
• Statistics
• Finance
• Business management
• Marketing
• Business law
• Business communication
• Risk management
• Insurance
• Management information systems
• Computer science

The Oklahoma CPA education requirements for licensure are the same. This means that all candidates will have met their education requirements before sitting for the CPA Exam.

Working in a real-world environment helps CPA candidates polish their skills. Hence, the OAB requires all candidates to obtain at least one year of full-time experience (1,800 hours) within the four years prior to applying for certification. The experience must be verified by a CPA and may be in academia, public accounting, government, or industry. The experience must be submitted via an Experience Verification Form that includes the supervising CPA's full name and license number.

Oklahoma participates in the International CPA Examination Program and allows non-U.S. citizens to become CPA license holders in the state. Foreign candidates must have their credentials evaluated by a member organization of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services, Inc. (NACES). Upon evaluating your credentials, the OAB will proceed toward facilitating your aspiration to become a CPA. The board also considers international reciprocal licenses in conjunction with the International Qualifications Appraisal Board (IQAB). The following jurisdictions meet the qualifications of substantial equivalency with Oklahoma:

• Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (ICAA)
• CPA Australia
• Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA)
• Instituto Mexicano de Contadores Públicos (IMCP)
• Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI)
• Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA)
• New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (NZICA)