Virgin Islands CPA Requirements

Age

The Virgin Islands has a minimum age requirement of 21 to sit the CPA exam.

Residency

The Virgin Islands has a residency requirement to sit the CPA exam either in terms of living there, being employed there or owning a business there.

Citizenship

The Virgin Islands requires either US citizenship or the applicant to have declared their intention of becoming a US citizen.

Exam Educational Requirements

The Virgin Islands has a minimum educational requirement of a diploma from a four-year high school as well as a Bachelor’s degree with an accounting concentration from a Board-recognized college or university. You must have acquired at least 120 semester credit hours by the time of sitting the exam and 150 semester hours to apply for licensure.

These semester credits hours must include

• Accounting (24 hours), including:
  • Auditing and Attestation
  • Financial Accounting and Reporting
  • Taxation
  • Costing and Management Accounting
• Business (24 hours), now more than 6 hours of which can be in accounting courses.
• Principles or introductory accounting courses cannot be considered in determining whether a person has obtained the 48 minimum number of semester hours required for an accounting concentration or equivalent
• Other courses:
  • Research and Analysis (2 hours) through an undergraduate or graduate accounting course
  • Communications (2 hours) through an undergraduate or graduate accounting or business course
  • Accounting or business course in Ethics (3 hours)

Alternative methods

• If the degree is from a recognized college or university, they are required to acquire three years of experience, immediately preceding application in public accounting or in governmental accounting as an auditor or internal revenue agent
• If the applicant holds a degree from a recognized college or university and has completed 30 or more semester hours in Accounting, Business Law, Economics, and Finance (of which a minimum of 20 semester hours are in accounting, then they will require 2 years of experience to apply for licensure
• This should be verified by the Board

Accredited 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
• Any institution accredited by an accrediting organization recognized by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA)

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. They will also need to meet all of the other requirements both to take the exam and to apply for licensure.

Work Experience

The Virgin Islands 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 3 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. Internships will only be counted if they do NOT appear for credit on a college transcript.

Ethics Exam

The Virgin Islands does not require applicants to take an ethics exam.

How to Apply for the Virgin Islands CPA Exam

• They must submit the application form to the Board
• They must submit to a criminal background check ($250.00)
• Pay the $100.00 application fee
• Request the Registrar of each college and university that you attended to send official copies of your transcripts directly to the State Board
• Have met the educational requirements

Fees

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

Locations

Prometric Testing Centers in the Virgin Islands

How to Apply for a Virgin Islands CPA License

Applicant must be a resident of the U.S. Virgin Islands for at least thirty (30) days immediately prior to submittal of application:  You will need to submit the following:

• A copy and notarized application form must be submitted to the NASBA Online Licensing Application System
• Three (3) 2×2 photographs of applicant
• List and submit letters for five (5) references:
  • Two of which must be residents of the Virgin Islands
  • Three of which must be practicing Certified Public Accountants, along with copies of current registrations for each practicing CPA used as a reference
  • At least one practicing CPA must be licensed in the Virgin Islands
• A certified copy of applicant’s college transcript sent directly from the Registrar of the institution to the Board
• A certified copy of CPA certificate from NASBA (or applicants applying for a Virgin Islands CPA certificate by reciprocity must request a certified copy of their CPA certificate be mailed directly to the Board.)
• NCIC Criminal Background Check ($250.00)
• A certified copy of applicant’s CPA current registration from another state (if applying by reciprocity); and,
• State Board Verification of current license status (if applying by reciprocity)
• The $100.00 application fee

License Reciprocity

Interstate License Reciprocity

The Virgin Islands recognizes interstate license reciprocity on condition that the following requirements are met:

• Applicant must have passed the Uniform CPA Examination
• Their license must be valid and in good standing with the issuing board
• Applicant must have passed the Local CPA Examination
• Applicant must have four years of experience equivalent to experience required of a first-time licensee as described above. This must be fulfilled within the ten years immediately prior to the application date
• The must submit the application form and pay the $150.00 reciprocal license 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 the Virgin Islands can apply for a practice permit from the Virgin Islands Board of Public Accountancy. In order to apply, they must have:

• Their license is current and in good standing with the issuing board
• They will not be required to meet the CPE requirements of the Virgin Islands, provided that they meet those of their issuing state or jurisdiction’s
• Practice privilege will be lost as soon as the CPA license expires in the issuing state

International License Reciprocity

The Virgin Islands recognizes substantial equivalency evaluations conducted by the U.S. International Qualifications Appraisal Board (IQAB,) as well as the Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRA) between them and the various foreign licensing bodies that for part of them.  These license holders will be able to apply for international reciprocity on condition that the work experience and educational conditions are also met. They will also need to have been residents of the Virgin Islands for at least 30 days prior to application and to have legal alien status in the US. They must also take the local CPA exam and have acquired the equivalent of 4 years’ experience as described above within the ten years prior to applying for licensure.

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

Virgin Islands CPA license holders are required to renew their licenses annually by June 30^th. 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, with a minimum requirement of 20 CPE per year. There is a total requirement of 120 CPE per cycle, 4 hours of which must include either Regulatory Ethics or Behavioral Ethics. This cycle goes according to the date of initial license issuance and must be completed by the year preceding that year’s renewal date. Full details regarding acceptable CPE requirements can be found in the Board’s Rules and Regulations.

Renewal Fee: $135.00

Non-resident CPA license holders

Non-resident license holders will be exempt from meeting the Virgin Islands’ CE requirements if they meet those of the state in which they are currently licensed and practicing. However, if that state or jurisdiction has no CE requirements, they will need to meet those of the Virgin Islands instead.

Inactive license holders

A Virgin Islands CPA 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. However, in order to reactivate their license, they will need to demonstrate that they completed the 120 CPE hour requirement during the three years prior to application including the 20 CPE annual minimum requirement, as outlined above. They may neither practice as nor use the CPA title while listed as inactive.

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. To do so, they will need to show evidence of completing the 120 CPE hour requirement in the three years prior to applying for reinstatement. They will also be required to identify and complete a program of learning designed to demonstrate the permittee’s competencies directly related to his or her area of service and to pay the relevant fees.

State Board

Virgin Islands Board of Public Accountancy

• Mailing Address: Golden Rock Shopping Center | 3000 Estate Golden Rock, Suite 9 | St. Croix, VI 00820-4311
• Phone: (340) 713-3522
• Fax: (340) 718-6982
• Email:  nathalie.hodge@dlca.vi.gov
• Website: https://dlca.vi.gov/boardcertifications/steps/cparequirements/cpalist.htm
• Hours: Mon-Fri: 07:30-17:00 ET
• Resources:
  • Virgin Islands Rules and Regulations
  • NASBA CPA Candidate Bulletin