Oklahoma CPA Requirements

Age

Oklahoma has no minimum age requirement to sit the CPA exam.

Residency

Oklahoma has a residency requirement to sit the CPA exam. This must be proven with documentation such as copies of Oklahoma tax returns, college or university enrollment, employment, etc.

Citizenship

Oklahoma does not require US citizenship to take the exam, but you must provide proof of being either a citizen or legal alien.

Exam Educational Requirements

Oklahoma 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 (30 semester hours) above introductory level which must include at least one course in either Auditing or Assurance that has a concentration on external auditing standards. The remaining semester hours can comprise of any of the following:
  • Financial Accounting
  • Accounting Theory
  • Cost/Managerial Accounting
  •  Federal Income Tax
  • Governmental Accounting
  • Not-For-Profit Accounting
  • Accounting Information Systems
  • Accounting History
  • Other Accounting Electives
• Business subjects (18 semester hours) such as:
  • Economics
  • Statistics
  • Business Law
  • Finance
  • Business Management
  • Marketing
  • Business Communication
  • Financial Information Systems
  • Computer Science
• At least 76 semester hours must be earned from upper-division college-level courses or equivalent

Non-accredited institutions

Non-accredited education holders can have their credentials evaluated by NASBA’s National Qualification Appraisal Service (NQAS). If their credentials are found to be substantially equivalent, the applicant will qualify to sit the Oklahoma CPA exam.

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

Oklahoma has a work requirement of 1 years’ experience before you will qualify for licensure. This equates to 1,800 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 Oklahoma Accountancy Board 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. They will also accept the results of ethics exams that are considered to be substantially equivalent to those of the Board’s.

Background Check

• Create an online account with the Oklahoma Accountancy Board
• Request the Registrars of all accredited educational institutions to send your official transcripts to the Oklahoma Accountancy Board
• Submit the Qualification Application form and $75.00 fee
• Submit the Criminal History Information Request Form ($15.00)
• Provide proof of residency
• Provide proof of being legally in the US
• Submit a transfer of credit form and pay the $145.00 to transfer exam results from another state or jurisdiction where applicable
• Supply a full record of all current and inactive licensures from any state or jurisdiction

Fees

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

Locations

Prometric Testing Centers in Oklahoma

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
• Provide proof of passing a Board-recognized ethics exam
• Submit an Experience Verification Form
• Pay $125.00 license fee

License Reciprocity

Interstate License Reciprocity

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

• The submissions of:
  • Their license is considered to be substantially equivalent to that of Oklahoma’s
  • The month and year of the applicant’s successful completion of the Uniform CPA Examination, as well as their results
  • A list of all states or jurisdictions in which the applicant holds or has ever held a license to practice accountancy
  • They have a valid CPA license that is in good standing with the issuing Board
  • Evidence of completing the AICPA ethics exam or similar
  • Provide proof of being of good moral character
  • The application must be filed within 120 days of employment with a public accountancy firm located in Oklahoma or engaging in the practice of public accounting in Oklahoma
• Paying the relevant 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 Oklahoma can apply for a practice permit from the Oklahoma Accountancy Board. In order to apply, they must have:

• Their license is current and in good standing with the issuing board
• They
• Practice privilege will be lost as soon as the CPA license expires in the issuing state

International License Reciprocity

Oklahoma recognizes substantial equivalency evaluations conducted by the U.S. International Qualifications Appraisal Board (IQAB.) This implies that they will license reciprocity for international license holders who have passed the NASBA’s International Qualification Exam (IQEX.)

NASBA has mutual recognition agreements (MRA) with a number of international licensing bodies. This allows these license holders to site the IQEX exam for CPA licensure in lieu of the full four-part CPA exam.

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.

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.

License Renewal Requirements

Active license holders

Oklahoma CPA license holders are required to renew their licenses annually on the last day of their birth month. They will be sent a notice of renewal within 30 days of the date of expiration. However, 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.

Renewal applicants must submit:

• The renewal application form
• The renewal fee of $75.00
• Proof of fulfilling the 120 CPE requirements. These must include:
  • Board-approved ethics (4 hours)
  • A minimum of 20 CE per annum
  • Accounting (72 hours,) including:
    • Accounting, taxation or assurance (8 CPE) annually
    • Compilation engagements (4 CPE) annually

Other CPE specifications

• Instruction will be calculated at 2 CPE per class hour. Repeat instruction cannot be counted more than once unless it is substantially different that the previous presentation
• Published materials can be counted as no more than 10 CPE per calendar year
• All CPE can be through CPE provided that the program is registered with either NASBA’s National Registry or AICPA
• CPE from NANO learning programs is not accepted
• Accredited college courses will award 15 CPE per semester hour and 10 CPE per quarter hour
• Non-accredited college courses are awarded 1 CPE per class hour
• The Board may, in its discretion, waive requirements for CPE on an individual basis for reasons of hardship, such as health, military service, or other due cause, upon written request by the licensee at least 60 days prior to the last day of the triennial renewal period then in effect.

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 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:

• Submit their reinstatement form
• Complete the 40 CPE credit requirement per calendar year
• Fulfill the 4-hour CPE requirement
• Submit three letters of referral from within the last 60 days
• Submit to a criminal background check $15.00
• Submit proof of submitting the AICPA Ethics exam at any time in the past with a 90% pass rate

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 paying the delinquency fee of between $300.00-$5,000.00 as determined by the board.

State Board

Oklahoma Accountancy Board

• Mailing Address: Oklahoma Accountancy Board 201 NW 63rd St., Ste. 210 Oklahoma City, OK 73116
• Phone: (405) 521-2397
• Fax: (405) 521-3118
• Email:  okaccybd@oab.OK.gov
• Exam Coordinator, Rebekah Flanagan email: rflanagan@oab.ok.gov
• Website: https://www.ok.gov/oab_web/
• Hours: Mon-Fri: 07:30-17:00 ET
• Resources:
  • Oklahoma Accountancy Board Rules
  • NASBA CPA Candidate Bulletin
  • Application forms