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New Jersey CPA Exam Requirements

New Jersey State Board allows candidate to sit for the exam with 120 credit hours, but ultimately in order to get the license, you will have to accumulate the standard 150 credit hours to complete your CPA journey.

Note to international candidates: social security number is strictly required in the license application form.

NJ CPA Exam and Licensing Requirements

1. Education Requirements to Sit For the Exam:

Please note that in the two options presented below, candidates are required to fulfill the 150 credit hours at the end. So we would suggest that you aim for “option 2″ but you can choose to take the exam before you complete the full requirements.

(a) Option 1 (<150 credit hours)

  • 60 semester hours selected from courses in English, history, foreign languages, mathematics, general psychology, philosophy, biological sciences, physical sciences, economics, sociology, religion, government, political science, geography, fine arts and music; and
  • a minimum of 60 semester hours in professional courses including:
    • Accounting including municipal and government accounting: 24 hours
    • Business law: 6 hours
    • Finance: 6 hours
    • Economics: 6 hours
    • Related business subjects: 18 hours
  • Note: you will still need to complete what is required below (i.e. 150 credit hours) to obtain the license.

(b) Option 2 (150 credit hours)

150 credit hours plus one of the following:

1. Graduate degree in accounting from schools accredited by AACSB or ACBSP:

  • Automatically qualified

2. Graduate degree in business from schools accredited by AACSB or ACBSP:

  • 24 hours (undergrad level) or 15 hours (graduate level) of accounting
  • An equivalent combination of undergrad/grad coursework can be done based upon a 3:2 ratio
  • Should include financial accounting, auditing, taxation and management accounting

3. Undergrad degree in accounting or business from schools accredited by AACSB or ACBSP:

  • 24 hours in accounting courses including financial accounting, auditing, taxation and management accounting
  • 24 hours in business courses

4. Undergrad degree in general:

  • 30 hours in accounting courses including financial accounting, auditing, taxation and management accounting
  • 24 hours in business courses

2. Additional Requirements To Get CPA License:

Education

  • No additional requirement

Work Experience

  • 1 year of public accounting experience (or equivalent) supervised and verified by a licensed CPA in New Jersey and possibly other states within the US. Please check with NJ state board for details (refer to p. 10 of NJ Accountancy Regulations)
  • Part-time work is acceptable as long as applicant can accumulate 1,750 hours within 2 years.

Ethics Qualification

  • There is no need to take the CPA Ethics Exam by AICPA. Instead, you’ll need to take an ethics course offered by these providers.

3. Residency & Age Requirements:

  • US citizenship not required
  • NJ residency not required
  • Minimum age: 18

4. Fees:

  • First-timers: $723 (4 CPA exam fees) + $225 (initial application fee)

5. Continuing Education Requirement

CPE is required for license holders

6. Other Useful Information:

7. Contact:

New Jersey State Board of Accountancy
124 Halsey Street, 6th Floor
PO Box 45000
Newark, NJ 07101