Wyoming CPA Requirements

Age

Wyoming has minimum age requirement of 18 to sit the CPA exam.

Residency

Wyoming has a residency requirement to sit the CPA exam. This must be proven with documentation such as copies of your Wyoming driver’s license, your current Wyoming physical residential address, being employed currently or having official documentation stating that you will be employed in Wyoming within the next six months or proof that you are currently a student at Wyoming college of university.

Citizenship

Wyoming does not require US citizenship to take the exam.

Exam Educational Requirements

Wyoming CPA 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. They are also required to meet to have acquired at least 150 semester hours or equivalent prior to sitting the exam.

These semester hours must include:

• Accounting subjects (24 semester hours) including some or all of the following subjects:
  • Financial Accounting and reporting for business organizations
  • Financial accounting and reporting for government and not-for profit entities
  • Auditing and Attestation Services
  • Accounting Information Systems
  • Cost/Managerial Accounting
  • Taxation
  • Governmental Accounting
  • Accounting or Tax Research and Analysis
  • Fraud Examination
  • Internal Controls and Risk Assessment
  • Financial Statement Analysis
  • Ethics
  • Other areas that are relevant to the CPA exam
• Business subjects (24 semester hours) such as:
  • Economics
  • Statistics
  • Business Law
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Business Communication
  • Technical Writing
  • Data Analytics
  • Financial Information Systems
  • Computer Science
• No more than 6 semester hours may be earned towards the above through internships
• One quarter hour is equivalent to two-thirds of a full semester hour

Recognized accreditations:

• 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
• American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)

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

Wyoming has a work requirement of 1 years’ experience before you will qualify for licensure. This equates to 2,000 hours of either full or part time work which can be obtained in no less than 1 year and 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 Wyoming Board of Certified Public Accountants requires the candidate to take the AICPA self-study Professional Ethics: AICPA’s Comprehensive Course (For Licensure) and their corresponding exam, or an equivalent course. The applicant must achieve 90% or higher in order to apply for licensure. This can be done either before or after taking the CPA exam.

How to Apply for the Wyoming CPA Exam

• Create an online account with the Wyoming Board of Certified Public Accountants
• Submit the application form
• Request the Registrars of all your colleges and universities to send your official transcripts directly to the Wyoming Board of Certified Public Accountants
• Provide a copy of a form of identification such as your driver’s license. The name on your application form must exactly match that on the form of identification submitted
• Submit the CPA Examination Application form
• Submit a Request for Accommodation of Disabilities if applicable
• Submit a Professional Evaluation and Documentation of Disability if applicable
• Pay the $110.00 fee

Fees

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

The reapplication fee is $50.00.

NTS Validation Period

After your application for the Wyoming CPA exam 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.

Locations

Prometric Testing Centers in Wyoming

How to Apply for a Wyoming CPA License

The Wyoming Board of Certified Public Accountants processes their own CPA license applications. 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
• Submit the Original Certificate Application form
• Submit the Verification of Lawful Presence form
• Submit the Employer Verification form
• Request that the AICPA send proof of your passing the Ethics exam satisfactorily directly to the Board
• Pay $225.00 license fee

License Reciprocity

Interstate License Reciprocity

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

• Their license is considered to be substantially equivalent to that of Wyoming’s as per NASBA’s National Qualification Appraisal Service (NQAS)
• Their license is valid and in good standing with the issuing board
• Submit the Reciprocal Certificate Application form
• Submit the Verification of Lawful Presence form
• Submit the Authorization for Interstate Exchange of Information
• Provide proof of passing the AICPA Ethics exam
• Pay the fees

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 Wyoming can apply for a practice permit from the Wyoming Board of Certified Public Accountants. In order to apply, they must have:

• Their license is current and in good standing with the issuing board
• Their primary place of business must be outside of Wyoming
• Practice privilege will be lost as soon as the CPA license expires in the issuing state

International License Reciprocity

Wyoming recognizes substantial equivalency evaluations conducted by the U.S. International Qualifications Appraisal Board (IQAB.) As such, they will offer license reciprocity for international license holders who have passed NASBA/IQAB’s International Qualification Exam (IQEX.) This applies to all the of issuing authorities that have Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) with IQAB. They will then need to follow the same procedure as outlined above for ‘Interstate License Reciprocity.’

Other foreign license holders

License holders from non-equivalency jurisdictions will need to follow the same procedure as for those outlined under the ‘Foreign Education’ heading above.

License Renewal Requirements

Active license holders

Wyoming CPA license holders are required to renew their licenses annually by December 31^st. They will be sent a notice of renewal by no later than October 1^st each year However, the Continued Professional Education (CPE) requirements are based on a triennial cycle.

The CPE requirements are as follows:

• For initial license holders – a 4-hour course on Wyoming CPA Act and Wyoming Rules must be completed within 6 months of receiving their initial license
• Otherwise, every cycle a 4-hour Board-approved ethics course should be completed
• 80 CPE must be in technical subjects that contribute to the skills and understanding of accounting and attestation
• Further details can be found here

Renewal applicants must submit:

• The renew their license through their online account
• CPE for that year must be reported with the license renewal, although applicants can apply for an extension until 90 days after renewing your license
• Pay the renewal fee of $200.00

Inactive license holders

A license holder can register to have their license made inactive. In active paid license holders will be required to renew their license annually for $80.00 but will be exempt from reporting CPE during that period. They may neither practice as nor use the CPA title while listed as inactive. In order to reactivate their license, they will need to follow the same steps as for license renewal, with the additional step of paying the ‘Activate from Inactive Status’ fee of $210.00

Expired licenses

Licenses that are not renewed on time or whose CPE is not fulfilled even with the CPE extension will expire. The license holder will then need to apply for their license to be reinstated. This will entail fulfilling the triennial CPE and Ethics course requirements as outlined under License renewal.’ However, this will also incur an ‘Activate from Expired’ fee of $270.00 and a ‘Reinstatement’ fee of $1,000.00.

State Board

Wyoming Board of Certified Public Accountants

• Mailing Address: 325 W 18th St, Suite 4 Cheyenne, WY 82002
• Phone: (307) 777-7551
• Email:  wycpaboard@wyo.gov
• Website: https://sites.google.com/a/wyo.gov/wyoming-cpa/
• Resources:
  • Wyoming Accountancy Statues and Rules
  • NASBA CPA Candidate Bulletin
  • Application forms