Massachusetts CPA Certificate Requirements

Requirements for a CPA Certificate in Massachusetts:

150-Hour Education Requirements for the CPA Examination in Massachusetts
[Source: Massachusetts Board of Public Accountancy Website, January 2003]

Effective with initial application for admission to the November 2002 examination , a candidate must have completed 150 semester hours (225-quarter hours) of college or university education to include a bachelor’s degree from a nationally or regionally accredited institution approved by the Board. For the purposes of determining equivalence of quarter hours, four and one half-quarter hours will equal three credit hours. The Board will review successful completion of 3-quarter hour courses; provided that the accounting and business course requirements total 36 quarter hours each. The candidate must have completed the 150-hour education requirement in accordance with one of the following four provisions:

Earned a graduate degree in accounting from a program at a nationally or regionally accredited college or university approved by the Board that is further accredited by the AACSB – The International Association for Management Education (AACSB). Programs not accredited by AACSB must be approved by the Board as having substantially equivalent educational program requirements. The Board, or an Educators Credential Committee appointed by the Board, will review the graduate accounting programs of a nationally or regionally accredited college or university to determine if such programs are substantially equivalent to AACSB standards, upon a written request from such college or university. The Educators Credential Committee will consist of at least three accounting educators selected by the Board from the faculty of nationally or regionally accredited educational institutions located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts;
Earned a graduate degree in accounting, business administration or law from a nationally or regionally accredited college or university approved by the Board. This degree must include 24 semester hours (36 quarter hours) of accounting at the undergraduate level, or 18 semester hours (27 quarter hours) of accounting at the graduate level, or an equivalent combination thereof. Elementary or introductory accounting courses will not qualify for this course requirement. The accounting credits shall include coverage in financial accounting, auditing, taxation, and management accounting. In addition, the degree must include or be supplemented by, 24 semester hours (36 quarter hours) of business courses (other than accounting courses) at the undergraduate level or 18 semester hours (27 quarter hours) at the graduate level, or an equivalent combination thereof;
Earned at least a bachelor’s degree in business from a nationally or regionally accredited college or university approved by the Board. This degree must include 24 semester hours (36 quarter hours) of accounting, exclusive of elementary or introductory accounting courses. The accounting credits shall include coverage in financial accounting, auditing, taxation, and management accounting. In addition, the degree must include, or be supplemented by, 24 semester hours (36 quarter hours) of business courses other than accounting courses. These business courses shall include coverage in the areas of business law, quantitative applications in business, information systems, finance, and coverage in at least one of the areas of economics, business organizations, professional ethics, and/or business communication; or
Earned a bachelor’s degree from a nationally or regionally accredited college or university approved by the Board. This degree must include, or be supplemented by, 24 semester hours (36 quarter hours) in accounting courses at the undergraduate level, exclusive of elementary or introductory accounting courses. The accounting credits shall include at least three semester hours in each of the subject areas of financial accounting, auditing, taxation, and management accounting. In addition, the degree must include, or be supplemented by, 24 semester hours (36 quarter hours) of business courses at the undergraduate level, to include at least three semester hours in the subject areas of business law, business information systems, professional ethics and finance. Courses in quantitative applications in business, business management of organizations, economics, and/or business communication may be included for the business course requirements.

Effective with initial application to the November 2002 examination, the required business and accounting concentration courses must be completed, or accepted in transfer, at a four-year accredited college or university approved by the Board. Associate Degree/Junior College courses will be accepted only if transferred into a four-year bachelor’s degree program.

For a more complete description of the education requirements for the CPA examination in Massachusetts, please go to the Rules and Regulations section of the Massachusetts Board of Public Accountancy website, www.mass.gov/dpl/boards/pa/index.htm.

Experience Requirements to Qualify for a CPA Certificate in Massachusetts
[Source: Massachusetts Board of Public Accountancy Website, January 2003]

The following is for individuals who have met the 150-Hour Education Requirement:

Education and Experience Requirements . An applicant for a certificate as a certified public accountant who has successfully passed the examination, and qualifies otherwise in the opinion of the Board, shall receive a certificate as a certified public accountant upon satisfying the Board that the applicant meets the following requirements of education and experience:

Subsequent to the May 2002 examination, the applicant is a graduate of a college or university approved by the Board with at least a bachelor’s degree, to include 120 semester hours with an accounting concentration, supplemented with an additional 30 semester hours as described in 252 CMR 2.01(4), provided that the applicant has had at least one year of experience in the full-time practice of public accounting of the type described in 252 CMR 2.07(3)(b) (1820 total hours required); or the applicant is a graduate of a college or university approved by the Board with a bachelor’s degree supplemented by graduate degree in accounting, business administration or law, including the course requirements described in 252 CMR 2.01(4), in which case experience in the practice of public accounting is not required for the issuance of a certificate as a certified public accountant.

For a more complete description of the experience requirements for the CPA examination in Massachusetts, please go to the Rules and Regulations section of the Massachusetts Board of Public Accountancy website, www.mass.gov/dpl/boards/pa/index.htm.