West Virginia CPA Requirements

Age

West Virginia has a minimum age requirement of 18 to sit the CPA exam.

Residency

West Virginia does not require residency to take the CPA exam, but it does require residency to apply for CPA licensure.

Citizenship

There is no citizenship requirement to take the CPA exam in West Virginia.

Exam Educational Requirements

In order to sit the West Virginia CPA exam, candidates require a bachelor’s degree or higher from a regionally accredited four-year institution with either an accounting major or an education that the board deems equivalent to an accounting major along with the educational requirements stipulated below.

These semester hours must include:

• Accounting subjects (30 semester hours), including:
  • Financial or Intermediate Accounting (6 hours)
  • Taxation (6 hours)
  • Auditing (min. 3 hours)
  • Auditing or Accounting Information Systems (3 hours)
  • Taxation (6 hours)
  • Governmental Accounting, Not-For-Profit Accounting Cost or Managerial Accounting (3 hours)
  • Accounting Electives (9 hours) – including Ethics if not used in Business-Related Electives
• Business subjects (30 semester hours), including:
  • Business Law (3 hours)
  • Economics (3 hours)
  • Statistics (3 hours)
  • Finance (3 hours)
  • Management (3 hours)
  • Marketing (3 hours)
  • Business-related Electives
• Ethics (3 hours)
• Credit from CLEP, DSST and online courses will be accepted as long as they appear on an official transcript from an accrediting institution

Recognized Accrediting Institutions

• Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
• New England Association of Schools and Colleges
• North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
• Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
• Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
• Western Association of Schools and Colleges

Foreign Educations

Foreign applicants can have their credentials evaluated by NASBA’s International Evaluation Services (NIES). If they are found to be substantially equivalent, they will be able to sit the CPA exam. Otherwise, they will need to fulfill the outstanding requirements and have their credentials evaluated by the NIES again.

Work Experience

West Virginia has a work requirement of one years’ experience before you will qualify for licensure. This can be accomplished on a part-time basis in no more than 4 years within applying for licensure. The applicant can meet the work experience requirement either before or after taking the CPA exam. This experience should comprise of any combination of providing a type of service or advice involving the use of accounting, attest, compilation, management advisory, financial advisory, tax or consulting skills, and be satisfied through work experience in government, industry, academia or public practice. All experience must be supervised and verified by a licensed CPA with a valid license.

Ethics

The West Virginia Board of Accountancy requires exam applicants to complete a college-level Ethics course that awards 3 semester hours of credit prior to taking the CPA exam.

How to Apply for the West Virginia CPA Exam

• Submit the online application form to the Board
• Request the Registrars of all accredited educational institutions to send your official transcripts directly to the West Virginia Board of Accountancy either via email to wvboa@wv.gov or via post to West Virginia Board of Accountancy, 405 Capitol Street, Suite 908, Charleston, WV 25301-1744
• Submit the character reference form with three references from non-family members
• Submit the foreign transcript evaluation where applicable
• Submit one 2 x 2” color passport-style photo with a plain background
• Once accepted, you will need to submit an Intent to Sit

Fees

All fees are non-refundable, but the exams can be rescheduled.

Locations

Any Prometric Testing Center

NTS Validation Period

After your application is accepted and you have paid the exam fee, you will receive a Notice to Schedule (NTS.) You will then have 6 months in which to schedule the exam, or the NTS will expire. You will then need to pay the fee again. Therefore, make sure that you are able to take the exams within that time frame before registering.

Initial License Requirements

When submitting their application for their initial license, the applicant must:

• Pass all four sections of the Uniform CPA exam within an 18-month timespan and submit the results to the board
• Request the Registrars of all accredited educational institutions to send your official transcripts directly to the West Virginia Board of Accountancy either via email to wvboa@wv.gov or via post to West Virginia Board of Accountancy, 405 Capitol Street, Suite 908, Charleston, WV 25301-1744. These must prove the fulfillment of the 150-semester hour requirement for licensure
• Submit the Interstate Exchange of Information Form if parts of the exam were passed in another state
• Submit to a Criminal History Record Check 
• Submit an Experience Verification Form
• Provide Proof of being a resident of West Virginia in terms of either:
  • Resident of this State
  • Will be establishing a business in this state
  • Are an employee of a firm or business entity in this state
• Pay $120.00 license fee

License Reciprocity

Interstate License Reciprocity

Substantially Equivalent Jurisdictions

West Virginia recognizes interstate license reciprocity on condition that the following requirements are met:

• Their license is considered to be substantially equivalent to that of West Virginia’s
• They must request the submission of an Authorization and Interstate Exchange of Examination and Licensure Information form directly from the issuing board to that of West Virginia’s
• Provide a head-and-shoulders style 2 x 2” passport photo with a simple background
• Submit a copy of their current license
• Submit to a Criminal History Record Check 
• Submit the character reference form with three references from non-family members
• The issuing Board offers similar reciprocity for West Virginia license holders
• Submit the application form for substantially equivalent license holders
• They must pay the $200.00 application fee

Non-Substantially Equivalent Jurisdictions

Applicants from a non-substantially equivalent jurisdiction or whose qualifications do not meet substantial equivalency requirements can apply for a reciprocal license by:

• Submitting official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended directly to the Board of Accountancy from the institution. This includes those institutions whose credits were transferred to another school
• Request that the issuing board submit an Authorization and Interstate Exchange of Information Form directly to the West Virginia Board of Accountancy
• If applicable, a copy of their military discharge or DD-214
• Submit the character reference form with three references from non-family members
• They must submit an Experience Verification Form Provide a head-and-shoulders style 2 x 2” passport photo with a simple background
• Submit a copy of their current license
• Submit to a Criminal History Record Check 
• They must pay the $200.00 application fee

Practice Privilege

An out-of-state CPA license holder or holder of a foreign license of substantial equivalence whose principal pace of business is not in West Virginia can apply for a practice permit from the West Virginia Board of Accountancy. In order to apply:

• Their license is current and in good standing with the issuing board
• They cannot:
  • Be a resident of in West Virginia
  • Have established a business in West Virginia, or
  • Are an employee of a firm or business entity in West Virginia
• They must apply for either an Authorization to Perform Attest Services as an Out-of-State Firm or an Individual Practitioner 
• Practice privilege will be lost as soon as the CPA license expires in the issuing state

International License Reciprocity

The board shall issue a certificate to an applicant of good moral character who holds a foreign designation in public accountancy if:

• The foreign authority that granted the designation regulates the practice of public accountancy and allows a person holding a certificate issued by this state to obtain the foreign authority’s comparable designation
• The applicant meets the education, examination, experience and continuing education requirements specified by the board by rule
• They must request the submission of an Authorization and Interstate Exchange of Examination and Licensure Information form directly from the issuing board to that of West Virginia’s
• Provide a head-and-shoulders style 2 x 2” passport photo with a simple background
• Submit a copy of their current license
• They must pay the $200.00 application fee

License Renewal Requirements

Active license holders

West Virginia CPA license holders are required to renew their licenses annually by June 30^th. However, the continued professional education (CPE) reporting is based on a triennial period. Licensees are expected to submit their CPE report anywhere between January 1^st and December 31^st annually, with a minimum requirement of 20 CPE per year and 4 hours of Ethics at any time during the triennial period.

Renewal applicants must submit:

• The renewal application form
• Pay the $85.00 renewal
• Submit the CPE reporting form

Other CE specifications

• A list of accepted CPE courses can be found here
• A non-resident CPA can report those hours that they fulfilled towards the license renewal of that state. However, if that state does not require CPE, then the license holder will need to

Renewal extensions

If the applicant is unable to report the CPE on time, they can apply for an extension. This can be submitted on or before June 30^th, along with a $75.00 fee. This will grant an extension until January 31^st. They will then need to pay an additional $150.00 to process the CPE hours.  However, until the outstanding CPE is met, they will be unable to renew their license. This means that they will not be able to practice as a CPA past January 1^st of the new cycle.

Inactive license holders

A license holder can register to have their license made inactive. Inactive license holders will be required to renew their license annually but will be exempt from reporting CPE during that period. They may neither practice as nor use the West Virginia CPA title while listed as inactive.

In order to reactivate their license, they will need to:

• Submit their application for reactivation
• Complete the 40 CPE credit requirement within the two years preceding application
• Fulfill the 4-hour Ethics CPE requirement
• Pay the $85.00 fee

Expired licenses

Licenses that are not renewed on time will expire. The license holder will then need to apply for their license to be reinstated. The process is the same as for inactive license holders with the additional requirement of meeting outstand CPE requirements beyond the 40 CPE and paying the delinquency fees.

State Board

West Virginia Board of Accountancy

• Mailing Address: WV Board of Accountancy
  405 Capitol Street, Suite 908
  Charleston, WV 25301-1744
• Phone: (304) 558-3557
• Fax: (304) 558-1325
• Email: wvboa@wv.gov
• Website: https://www.boa.wv.gov/
• Hours: Mon-Fri:
• Resources:
  • West Virginia Accountancy Board Laws
  • NASBA CPA Candidate Bulletin