Kansas CPA Requirements

Age

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

Residency

There is a residency requirement for the state of Kansas. This means that you either:

• Live in Kansas
• Have a business in Kansas
• Are a college student in Kansas, or
• Are on military assignment in Kansas

Citizenship

Kansas does not have a citizenship requirement to sit the CPA exam.

Exam Educational Requirements

Kansas CPA candidates require a bachelor’s degree or higher with a concentration in accounting from a regionally accredited institution. They are also required to meet to have acquired at least 150 semester hours prior to sitting the exam.

These semester hours must include

• Accounting Theory and Practice courses (30 hours,) including
  • A Financial Accounting and Reporting for Business Organizations, which may include either:
    • Intermediate Accounting
    • Advanced Accounting; or
    • Accounting Theory
• Business and General Education subjects (42 semester hours), including:
  • A macroeconomics course
  • A microeconomics course
  • An upper-division economics course
  • At least two courses in legal aspects of business or business law
  • College algebra or higher-level math course
  • Statistics and Probability Theory
  • Computer Systems and Applications
  • Finance
  • Management and Administration
  • Marketing
  • Production, Operations Research, or Applications of Quantitative
    Techniques to Business Problems
• Written and oral communications (11 hours)

Semester credit hours earned through internships can be used towards the overall 150-hour requirement, but not towards the abovementioned hours. Up to three of the abovementioned semester hour requirements may be waived by the board under special requirements. Kansas CPA Exam applicants may sit for the Exam up to 60 days before meeting the education requirements. They may submit their final transcripts within 120 days after writing the exam.

Non-accredited institutions:

The Kansas Board of Accountancy will allow candidates to send them photocopies their official college transcripts for evaluation. If approved they will them to sit the CPA exam. Official copies of the transcripts will then need to be sent to NASBA with the rest of the application. However, the board will also need to submit a copy of the Kansas Board’s results letter to them as well.

Foreign Educations

Foreign students can have their credentials evaluated by NASBA’s International Evaluation Services (NIES). If their credentials are found to be substantially equivalent, to that of the Board’s, they will be able to sit the CPA exam.

Work Experience

There is work requirement of one year’s experience before you will qualify for licensure in Kansas. This equates to at least 2,000 work hours. Part-time experience will also be accepted for up to no more than 3 years. The applicant can meet the work experience requirement either before or after taking the CPA exam. Experience can be earned through either public or non-public accounting but must include either service or advice involving the use of accounting, attest, compilation, management advisory, financial advisory, tax or consulting skills, all of which were verified by a certified public accountant holding an active license to practice.

Ethics

The Kansas Board of Accountancy requires the candidate to take the AICPA self-study Professional Ethics: AICPA’s Comprehensive Course (For Licensure) and their corresponding exam AFTER passing the CPA exam. The applicant must achieve 90% or higher in order to apply for licensure.

How to Apply for the Kansas CPA Exam

The Kansas CPA exam application is processed by NASBA’s CPA Exam Service (CPAES). This entais:

• Registering with CPA Central
• Request that the Registrars of all colleges and universities that you attended submit official copies of your transcript to NASBA. Electronic copies can be submitted to etranscript@nasba.org, while physical copies should be addressed to Kansas Coordinator, CPA Examination Services, PO Box 198469, Nashville, Tennessee 37219-8469
• Submit proof of residence in Kansas
• Submit a 2×2″ passport-style photograph of just your head and shoulders to NASBA
• Pay the relevant fees

Fees

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

Locations

Any Prometric Testing Center in the US

How to Apply for a Kansas CPA License

• Pass all four parts of Kansas’ CPA exam
  • NOTE: A failed exam cannot be retaken within the same exam window. A “window” refers to the two months when an exam can be taken followed by the month when it cannot be taken.
• Pass the AICPA ethics exam and submit results to the Board
• Submit the work experience form to the Board
• Submit the application form to the Board
• Pay the license application fee
• Pay the $50.00 issuance fee

License Reciprocity

Interstate License Reciprocity

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

• Their license is considered to be substantially equivalent to that of Kansas.’
• They meet the educational requirements of Kansas
• The applicant passed the examination required for issuance of the applicant’s certificate with grades that would have been passing grades at that time in Kansas, namely 75% for each section of the Uniform CPA exam
• They have acquired four years of experience within the ten years preceding their application for Kansas licensure
• Proof from the licensing jurisdiction that the applicant’s license is current and valid
• Submit the application form
• Paying the $250.00 reciprocal certificate fee

International License Reciprocity

The Board shall issue a license to a holder of a foreign license granted in a foreign country that entitles the holder to engage practicing certified public accountancy, provided that:

• The foreign authority which granted the designation makes similar provision to allow a person who holds a valid certificate issued by this state to obtain such foreign authority’s comparable designation
• The foreign designation
  • Was duly issued by a foreign authority that regulates the practice of certified public accountancy and the foreign designation has not expired or been revoked or suspended
  • Entitles the holder to issue reports upon financial statements, and
  • Was issued upon the basis of educational, examination and experience requirements established by the foreign authority or by law
• Their license has been evaluated by the NASBA International Evaluation Services (NIES) and been found to be substantially equivalent by them
• They have fulfilled the experience requirements and submitted a certificate of experience form to the board
• Submit the Application for an Initial Permit to Practice
• Paid the $250.00 application fee

Practice Privilege

An out-of-state CPA license holder or holder of a foreign license of substantial equivalence according to NASBA’s National Qualification Appraisal Service (NQAS) whose principal pace of business is not in Kansas can obtain a practice permit from the Kansas Board of Accountancy. They can also obtain a permit if they do not practice public accounting. In order to apply, they must meet the following requirements:

• Their principal place of business is not in Kansas
• A current, valid license verified as substantially equivalent to that of Kansas’
• They meet the educational requirements outlined above
• They have met the work experience outlined above
• Practice privilege will be lost as soon as the CPA license expires in the issuing state
• Have paid the $165.00 fee ($82.500 if less than a year)

NTS Validation Period

After your application is accepted and you have paid the exam fee to the Kansas Board of Accountancy, 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:

Kansas CPA license holders are required to renew their licenses biennially, according to the date of their license’s issuance. During this time, they will need to fulfill a continued professional education (CPE) requirement of 80 CPE hours, where the reporting period is between July 1^st – June 6^th of each period. They will need to fulfill the following conditions:

• Ethics (2 hours)
• A minimum of 16 CPE hours per year
• Up to 20 CPE hours can be carried over to the next cycle
• Municipal accountants are required to meet 8 CPE hours in Municipal Accounting or Auditing annually
• Pay the $165.00 renewal fee

CPE Specifications:

• A program that is at least 50 minutes long will count as 1 full CPE hour
• A half CPE hour will be granted per 25 minutes after the first hour has been completed
• College course credits shall be awarded as follows:
  • 15 credits of CPE credit for each semester or trimester credit earned or 10 credits of CPE credit for each credit earned in a quarter
  • Noncredit courses shall be awarded CPE at the rate of one credit for every 50 minutes of in-class participation
• Instructors can calculate their CPE hours to up to twice the time of the course length. However, the same course cannot be counted more than once
• CPE requirements may be waived by the board for reasons of health, military service, foreign residence, or retirement, or for other good causes determined by the board
• Online programs are acceptable if:
  • It is run by a licensed CPA
  • It requires attendance
  • It is at least 50 minutes long
  • The individual is qualified in the subject area
  • The program sponsor issues to each participant a certificate of attendance that reflects the name of the program sponsor, title and course field of study, date and location of the program, delivery method of the course, name of the participant, signature of a representative of the program sponsor, and number of CPE contact hours
  • A record of registration and attendance is retained for five years by the program sponsor
• A full list of other specifications can be found here

In order to reactivate an expired license, you will need to

• Complete the 80 CPE credit requirement mentioned above
• Pay the reinstatement fee as follows:
  • For a late renewal after July 1^st of renewal period – $247.50
  • For more than one year of a biennial period – $247.50
  • For one year or less of a biennial period – $123.75
• Submit the Reinstatement Application Form

Applicants who have had their license suspended may appeal to have their license reinstated according to the above stipulations

State Board

Kansas Board of Accountancy

• Mailing Address: Landon State Office Building, 900 SW Jackson Street, Suite 556, Topeka, Kansas 66612
• Phone: 785-296-2162
• Fax: 785-291-3501
• Email: ksboa@ks.gov
• Website: https://ksboa.kansas.gov/
• Resources:
  • NASBA CPA Candidate Bulletin
  • Application forms
  • Laws and Regulations