These are the requirements to either qualify as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the state of Wisconsin or to acquire a Wisconsin CPA license. While each state has its own set of unique requirements, here we will solely be focusing on Wisconsin. In addition to passing the CPA exam, which is infamous for its difficulty, you must also meet the course credit, educational and work requirements.

In order to make this process easier for you to navigate, we have listed all of the relevant information below, as well as the contact information for the New Wisconsin Accounting Examining Board. We recommended confirming all information with the board to ensure that you qualify, and that the charges have not been updated since this piece was published.

Age

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

Residency

There are no residency requirements for the state of Wisconsin.

Citizenship

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

Exam Educational Requirements

CPA candidates require a bachelor’s degree or higher from a regionally accredited institution and at least 120 semester hours of education at an institution that include course work in accounting and business subjects, as determined by the examining board to sit the exam. They are also required to meet to have acquired at least 150 semester hours by the time they apply for licensure.

Wisconsin recognizes four possible educational routes for licensure:

  1. Earned a Master’s degree in Accountancy from a Board-recognized institution
  2. Earned a Bachelor’s degree or higher from either the AACSC, the IACBE or the of the AACSP. The educational courses must include 24 semester hours of Accounting at the undergraduate level or 15 semester hours of Accounting at the graduate level, including:
    • Financial Accounting
    • Taxation
    • Auditing
    • Accounting Information Systems
    • Cost or Managerial Accounting
  3. A bachelor’s degree or higher from a Board-recognized college or university, including:
    • 24 semester hours of Accounting at the undergraduate level or 15 semester hours of Accounting at the graduate level, including:
      • Financial Accounting
      • Taxation
      • Auditing
      • Accounting Information Systems
      • Cost or Managerial Accounting
    • 24 semester hours of Business or Economic courses at the undergraduate level or 15 semester hours of Business or Economic courses at the graduate level, including:
      • Finance
      • Economics
      • Business Law
      • Statistics or Data Analytics
      • Information Technology
  4. Completed coursework that the board determines is reasonably equivalent to the course content and semester hours requirements specified above

Other specifications

  • Credits from junior and community colleges must be transferred to an accredited institution which offers a bachelor’s degree in order to be accepted toward the education requirements. An official transcript from each institution must be submitted.
  • CPA review courses are not acceptable
  • CLEP, Correspondence and online courses are acceptable if they are included on the transcript of a regionally accredited college or university

Accredited institutions

A college or university’s credits are recognized by the Wisconsin Accounting Examining Board if it is accredited through one of the following institutions:

Foreign Educations

Foreign students can have their credentials evaluated by any member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES.)  If they are found to be substantially equivalent the results must be sent directly to the Board by the service. The applicant will then be able to sit the CPA exam

Work Experience

Wisconsin has a work requirement of one year’s worth of work that must be completed before you can apply for licensure. This can be accrued part-time over no more than five years prior to applying for licensure. experience before you will qualify for licensure. No more than one day of experience can be acquired per one calendar day. This experience should include any combination of attestation services, tax return preparation, financial advisory services and/or compliance and internal control evaluation. Experience obtained while performing attest, compilations, financial advisory services or tax advisory services must be performed while employed at a public accounting firm.

Ethics

The Wisconsin Board of Accountancy requires all applicants to take the state ethics exam. The exam consists of 50 questions on the Wisconsin Statutes and Administrative Code governing the profession. Applicants are required to receive a score of 80% or higher to apply for licensure. The exam costs $75.00.

How to Apply for the Wisconsin CPA Exam

  • Wisconsin CPA exam applications are run by NASBA. As such all official transcripts should be sent directly from the Registrar of the applicant’s colleges or universities to NASBA. This can either be done electronically to etranscript@nasba.org. or sent via post to Wisconsin Coordinator CPA Examination Services PO Box 198469 Nashville, Tennessee 37219-8469
  • Submit an official copy of the international evaluation where applicable
  • Submit a Testing Accommodations Request Form  where applicable

Fees

First Time Application

  • 4 examination sections – $1185.60
  • 3 examination sections – $934.45
  • 2 examination sections – $683.30
  • 1 examination section – $432.15

Re-Examination Application

  • 4 examination sections – $1,102.60
  • 3 examination sections – $851.45
  • 2 examination sections – $600.30
  • 1 examination section – $349.15

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

Locations

Any Prometric Testing Center

How to Apply for a Wisconsin CPA License

The Wisconsin Accounting Examining Board processes their own CPA license applications. When submitting their application for their initial license, the applicant must:

  • Have the sealed, official transcripts proving 150 semester hours of education from their accredited institutions sent directly to the Wisconsin Accounting Examining Board
  • Have a bachelor’s degree or higher with an accounting concentration
  • Pass all four sections of the Uniform CPA exam within an 18-month timespan and submit the results to the board
  • Pass the Board’s ethic exam
  • Submit an Experience Verification Form
  • Submit the application form to the Board
  • Pay the fees

License Reciprocity

Interstate License Reciprocity

Wisconsin recognizes interstate license reciprocity on condition that the ONE of following requirements are met:

Route A

  • They meet the Board’s current requirements of application at the time that they apply
  • They hold a current CPA license that is in good standing with the issuing Board
  • They provide proof of passing the Uniform CPA exam
  • They have practiced for at least 5 out of the 10 years prior to application according to the experience requirements outlined above

Route B

Their educational evaluations will be made individually by the board to assess substantial equivalency.

In both cases, applicants are required to meet the basic educational, work experience and ethics exam requirements.

Practice Privilege

An out-of-state CPA license holder is permitted to work as a CPA without licensure on condition that their license is considered to be substantially equivalent to that of Wisconsin’s. However, they will only be permitted to do so provided that:

  • Their license is valid and in good standing with the Board
  • They work for a firm whose primary office is locate out of state
  • An out of state firm that does not have an Wisconsin presence would only need to register if they provide audit services to Wisconsin clients
  • These rules are always subject to change, so it is nest to verify with the Board beforehand

International License Reciprocity

Wisconsin may allow for license reciprocity for international license holders who hold licenses from issuing bodies that form part of International Qualifications Appraisal Board’s (IQAB) Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs.) The license will need to be on good standing with the issuing authority and they must also have completed the Board’s ethics exam and the International Qualification Examination (IQEX) in place of the full Uniform CPA exam.

The institutions that currently form part of the MRA are:

Other foreign license holders

License holders from non-equivalency jurisdictions will need to have their credentials evaluated by a state-recognized credentials evaluation service and then take the full CPA exam as outlined above under ‘Foreign Educations.’ Additionally, they will need to acquire some of their experience in the US before they will be eligible to apply for licensure.

NTS Validation Period

After your application is accepted and you have paid the exam fee, you will receive a Notice to Schedule (NTS) from NASBA. 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

Wisconsin CPA license holders are required to renew their licenses biennially by December 14th of every odd year. During this time, they are required to accumulate 80 hours of continued professional education (CPE) and must report a minimum of 20 CPE per year. There is also a biennial requirement of 3 CPE hours of ethics courses.

Renewal applicants must submit:

  • The renewal application form
  • The CPE reporting form
  • The renewal fee of $43.00

Other specifications

  • 1 CPE credit will be earned for every 50 minutes of engagement. Credit may be earned in on-tenth credit increments, starting with the first one-tenth CPE increment. This equates to 5 minutes.
  • Accredited college courses will be awarded 15 CPE per semester hour or 10 CPE per quarter hour. Non accredited college courses will be awarded 1 CPE per class hour
  • At least 40 hours of CPE must be in technical subjects related to accountancy and attestation
  • Instructors may earn up to 3 CPE hours per hour of class time. Instruction may not be reported multiple times unless the classis substantially different
  • Up to 40 CPE may be carried over from one period to the next
  • Complete and report 3 CPE hours in Wisconsin-specific ethics
  • CPE hours used for reinstatement may not be claimed on renewal application
  • There is a minimum requirement to report 2P0 CE per annum
  • Further details can be found here

Inactive license holders

A license holder can register to have their license made inactive. They may neither practice as nor use the CPA title while listed as inactive and must renew their license on or before December 14th of every odd year. While inactive, they cannot practice as a CPA or use the CPA title without ‘inactive’ listed after it. In order to practice as a CPA, they will need to reactivate their license.

  • Renewal before five years have passed since the license lapsed
    • They must meet the 80 CPE requirements within the two years prior to application as described above
    • They will need to pay the late renewal fee of $25.00 and the renewal fee of $43.00
  • Renewal after five years have passed since the license lapsed:
    • They will need to provide proof of fulfilling 120 hours of CPE within the one year immediately preceding their application for reinstatement
    • They will need to pay the late renewal fee of $25.00 and the renewal fee of $43.00
    • They may also be required to retake the Uniform CPA exam
    • They may also need to provide proof of meeting the Board’s current educational requirements for CPA licensure

Expired licenses

Licenses that are not renewed by the renewal date will expire and will need to be reinstated in order for the license holder to be able to practice as a CPA again. In order to reinstate their license, they will first need to fulfill one of the following conditions:

  • Reinstatement before five years have passed since the license lapsed:
    • They must meet the 80 CPE requirements within the two years prior to application as described above
    • They will need to pay the late renewal fee of $25.00 and the renewal fee of $43.00
  • Renewal after five years have passed since the license lapsed:
    • They will need to provide proof of fulfilling 120 hours of CPE within the one year immediately preceding their application for reinstatement
    • They will need to pay the late renewal fee of $25.00 and the renewal fee of $43.00
    • They may also be required to retake the Uniform CPA exam
    • They may also need to provide proof of meeting the Board’s current educational requirements for CPA licensure
    • Provide proof of meeting any disciplinary requirements stipulated by the Board

State Board

Wisconsin Accounting Examining Board