New Hampshire CPA Requirements

Age

New Hampshire has no minimum age requirement to sit the CPA exam.

Residency

There are no residency requirements for New Hampshire.

Citizenship

New Hampshire does not require US citizenship to take the exam.

Exam Educational Requirements

New Hampshire candidates require a bachelor’s degree or higher with an accounting concentration from either a regionally or nationally accredited institution that awards at least 120 semester hours of credit. However, they will still need to meet the 150-credit hour requirement to apply for the CPA license itself if you completed the CPA exam after July 2014.

The 120 credit hours must include:

• Accounting subjects (30 semester hours,) including courses in:
  • Financial accounting
  • Management accounting
  • Auditing
  • Taxation
• Business subjects (24 semester hours) in subjects other than accounting

NOTE:

• All educational requirements must be met y the time of application
• All education must be completed through an accredited institution. This excludes professional training such as coursework from a CA program.
• Courses earned at a regionally accredited community college or two-year degree granting institution are acceptable
• The New Hampshire State Board recognizes CLEP, online courses and correspondence courses on condition that they appear on an official transcript
• Although the Board does not accept a three-year bachelor’s degree in combination with professional qualification as equivalent to a U.S. bachelor’s degree, it will accept the combination of a three-year bachelor’s degree and two-year master’s degree

Foreign Educations

The New Hampshire State Board will accept degree or coursework from international institutions that have been evaluated and approved by NASBA’s International Evaluation Services (NIES.)

Work Experience

New Hampshire applicants can meet the work experience requirement either before or after taking the CPA exam. This entails completing one years’ worth of experience in accounting and/or attestation. This equates to at least 1,500 work hours that can only be met in no less than one year. Part-time experience over more than one year will require 2080 hours of experience with 1,500 in accounting and/or attestation within no more than six years of applying for licensure. This must be supervised and verified by either a US CPA or a licensed public accountant from one of the licensing bodies that form part of the NASBA MRA agreements.

Ethics

There is no Ethics exam requirement for New Hampshire.

CPA Exam Application

The entire application process and assessment process for New Hampshire is done through NASBA and the CPA Examination Service (CPAES.) In order to apply for the New Hampshire exam, you will need to:

• Create and account and apply for the exam through CPA Central
• Request the Registrar’s of all your educational institutions to send official copies of your transcripts to NASBA by either:
  • Paper post: CPA Examination Services – NH | PO Box 198469 | Nashville, TN 37219
  • Email: etranscript@nasba.org.
• Submit an International transcript evaluation, where applicable

Fees

NOTE: The registration fee can be applied to multiple sections at once. However, the NTS will still only apply for 6 months from issuance, so your should only choose this if you are sure that you will be able to handle taking those parts within that time frame.

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

Locations

Any Prometric Testing Center

Initial License Requirements

When submitting their application for their initial license, the applicant must:

• Create an account with NASBA here
• Have the sealed, official transcripts proving 150 semester hours of education from their accredited institutions sent to NASBA
• Have a bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited college or university
• Pass all four sections of the Uniform CPA exam within an 18-month timespan
• Submit proof of Experience to NASBA
• Submit proof of good moral character to the Board
• Pay the $75.00 Board fee, the $85.00 NASBA application fee and the $275.00 licensing fee

License Reciprocity

Interstate License Reciprocity

New Hampshire does not recognize interstate license reciprocity. Hence, all applicants will need to meet the full educational and experience requirements outline above, and then meet take the full CPA exam.

International License Reciprocity

International license holders whose licensure is considered substantially equivalent to a CPA license may apply for reciprocal licensure. To determine equivalency, they will need to have their credentials evaluated by NASBA’s International Evaluation Services (NIES.) Similarly, they will also need to have their experience verified by NASBA’s Experience Verification Service.

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 New Hampshire can apply for a a practice permit from the State Board on condition that they meet the following requirements:

• They hold a valid license of good standing that is considered to be substantially equivalent to that of New Hampshire’s
• Their primary place of business is not in New Hampshire
• They will cease practicing in New Hampshire should their license expire in the issuing state or jurisdiction

NTS Validation Period

After your New Hampshire CPA exam 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.

License Renewal Requirements

Active license holders

New Hampshire CPA license holders are required to renew their licenses triennially by June 30^th. The year is based on the beginning of their last name, so that A-F 2023, G-M 2024 and N-Z 2022. Each license, whether Active or Inactive is valid from July 1^st – June 30^th. If the license holder misses the renewal date, the license will expire.

In order to renew your license, you will need to meet the following requirements:

• 120 Continued Professional Education (CPE) hours over a rolling 3-year period, including:
  • Ethics (4 hours)
  • 20 hours CPE minimum CPE per year
• Applicants within their initial license period will require:
  • If it is less than one year, no CPE will be required
  • If they apply for licensure by the end of the first calendar year will require a minimum of 40 hours for that year
  • If they apply for licensure by the end of the second calendar year will require a minimum of 80 hours for that period
  • If they apply for licensure by the end of the third calendar year will require a minimum of 120 hours for that period
• In all cases, the deadline for reporting CPE is June 30^th annually
• Submit the reapplication form
• Pay the $275.00 Renewal fee

Inactive license holders

A license holder can register to have their license made inactive. They will then need to pay a renewal fee for their inactive license of $275.00 at the end of each three-year cycle but will not be required to meet the CPE requirements.

In order to reactivate you license, you will need to:

• Complete the 120 CPE credit requirement mentioned above
• 4 CPE of Ethics
• Pay the full license fee

Expired licenses

Once a license expires, the license holder will then have 60 days to renew the certificate. If the renewal forms and fees are not submitted within 60 days after the expiration date of the license, the licensee shall file an application for return to active practice which shall be required to return to active status. A certificate shall remain valid for the period of time that the board requires to act on the application for renewal, provided that the renewal was submitted in accordance with the rules adopted by the board. The board shall grant or deny any application no later than 90 days after the application is filed in proper form. They will still need to meet all of the CPE requirements listed above.

Additionally, they will need to pay the following fees:

• Return to Active Practice: $275.00
• License Fee: $275.00

Recognized CE

• Instructors can only claim 50% of CPE from lecturing, at a rate of two times presentation time. Repeat instruction within a renewal period is only accepted if material is substantially changed and required preparation time that was more than 25% of the preparation time claimed for the original preparation of the course
• Authors can only claim 50% of their CPE from published works
• Earning course credit at an accredited college or university:
  • One semester-hour of credit for courses at an accredited college or university constitutes 15 hours of CPE and one quarter-hour of credit constitutes 10 hours of CPE
  • Non-credit courses will be awarded one CPE our per course hour
• Half-hours will be awarded after the first hour is completed
• Up to 60 CE may be carried over from one period to the other, but cannot be used to meet the annual minimum or triennial ethics requirements
• The Board recognizes programs that are offered by the National Registry of CPE Sponsors

State Board

New Hampshire Office of Professional Licensure and Certification

• Mailing Address: 7 Eagle Square | Concord, NH | 03301
• Phone: (603) 271-2152
• Toll Free: 1-800-735-2964
• Email: customersupport@oplc.nh.gov
• Website: https://www.oplc.nh.gov/applications-accountancy
• Hours: Mon-Fri: 08:00-1600
• Resources:
  • NASBA CPA Candidate Bulletin
  • Forms and Documentation
  • New Hampshire Accountancy Laws
  • New Hampshire Accountancy Rules