Rhode Island CPA Requirements

Age

Rhode Island has no minimum age requirement to sit the CPA exam.

Residency

You are required to be either a resident of Rhode Island, be regularly employed in Rhode Island or have a place of business in Rhode Island to take their CPA exam.

Citizenship

Rhode Island has no citizenship requirements to sit the CPA exam.

Education

Rhode Island has a credit requirement of 150 semester hours to sit the CPA exam. It further requires that one of the following educational routes be fulfilled:  

• Earned a graduate degree with a concentration in accounting from a program that is accredited in accounting by an accrediting agency recognized by the Board
• Earned a graduate degree from a program that is accredited in business by an accrediting agency recognized by the Board and completed 24 semester hours of Accounting at the undergraduate level, or 15 semester hours of Accounting at the graduate level, or an equivalent combination thereof, including:
  • Fundamental Accounting (6 hours)
  • Intermediate Financial Accounting and Reporting (6 hours)
  • Advanced Financial Accounting and Reporting (3 hours)
  • Tax Accounting (3 hours)
  • Auditing (3 Hours)
• Earned a baccalaureate degree or higher degree at an institution that is accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the Board and completed not less than:
• 24 semester hours of Accounting at the undergraduate or graduate level, including:
  • Fundamental Accounting (6 hours)
  • Intermediate Financial Accounting and Reporting (6 hours)
  • Advanced Financial Accounting and Reporting (3 hours)
  • Tax Accounting (3 hours)
  • Auditing (3 Hours)
• 24 semester hours in Business courses (other than accounting courses) at the undergraduate or graduate level, including:
  • Business Law (3 hours)
  • Economics (3 hours)

Non-recognized educations

If an applicant applies and has something other than what it mentions, then the Board will have to review on a case-by-case basis which could result in an approval or denial.

Foreign Educations

Accountants who graduated from international institutions must have their transcripts evaluated by a board-recognized credit evaluation service.

The state of Rhode Island recognizes those of:

• NASBA International Evaluation Services (NIES).
• Foreign Academic Credentials Service, Inc.

The evaluation service will then notify the applicant whether their education was found to be substantially equivalent to that of the Rhode Island Board of Accountancy’s educational requirements. If not, they will be informed of which requirements need to be fulfilled. If they are found to be substantially equivalent, then the applicant can request the evaluation service to send an official copy of their evaluation to the NASBA CPA Examination Services (CPAES). The applicant must also request their educational institutions to send official, unopened copies of their transcripts to the NASBA CPA Examination Services (CPAES), along with certified translations of the documents where necessary.

Work Experience

Rhode Island CPA applicants need to acquire a year’s worth of experience before they are eligible to apply for licensure. This equates to 1,820 hours of work, which can be acquired in no less than one year and no more than three years prior to application for licensure. This experience must be supervised by a US CPA whose license is valid and in good standing with the board.

This experience must demonstrate to the Board that he or she has obtained a portfolio of experience consisting of providing any type of service or advice involving the use of accounting, attest, management advisory, financial advisory, tax or consulting skills all of which was verified and supervised by a licensee, meeting the requirements of these regulations. It can be acquired through either public practice, governmental accounting, industry or educationally as an instructor at a college or university.

Ethics

The Rhode Island Board of Accountancy requires the candidate to take the AICPA self-study Professional Ethics: AICPA’s Comprehensive Course (For Licensure) and their corresponding exam, or an equivalent course. The applicant must achieve 90% or higher in order to apply for licensure. This can be done either before or after taking the CPA exam.

Applying for the Rhode Island CPA Exam

• The applicant will need to request the registrars of all of the colleges and universities that they attended to submit copies of their transcripts directly to the NASBA CPAES by either:
  • Email: etranscript@nasba.org.
  • Paper mail: Rhode Island Coordinator
    CPA Examination Services
    PO Box 198469
    Nashville, Tennessee 37219-8469

• A certificate of enrolment if they are within 120 days of graduating to fulfill the last of their educational requirements
• Any international evaluations if applicable
• Submit to a criminal background check
• Proof of residency as described above
• Proof of identity

NTS Validation Period

You will receive your Notice to Schedule (NTS) upon paying for your Payment Coupon. You will have 6 months from the date of issuance in which to write your exam, or the NTS will expire. You will then need to reapply for the exam. Therefore, before trying to save money by applying for multiple exams at once, make sure that you will be able to study for them and schedule them in beforehand.

Fees

Reapplication fee: $85.00.

Fees are non-refundable. Most exams can be rescheduled. 

Locations

Prometric Testing Centers in Rhode Island

Applying for CPA Licensure

Once you have passed all parts of your CPA exam with at least 75%, you will be eligible to apply for you CPA license.

To do so, you will need to:

• Submit your initial application form to the Board
• Provide proof of meeting the work requirements
• Provide proof of passing the AICPA exam
• Submit your proof of identification
• Pay the $375.00 license fee

Practice Privilege for Out-of-State License Holders

A CPA who holds an out-of-state license recognized as substantially equivalent to that of Rhode Island’s can apply for a mobility permit without applying for a state CPA license on condition that:

• They have a valid CPA license that is recognized as being substantially equivalent to that of Rhode Island’s
• Their principal place of business is in the state of licensure
• The individual will stop practicing in Rhode Island should the license expire in the issuing state

Reciprocal Application

Interstate License Reciprocity

Rhode Island recognizes interstate reciprocity of CPA licenses from jurisdictions who CPA licensure requirements are considered to be of substantially equivalent to Rhode Island’s. In order to apply for CPA license conversion, you will need to submit the CPA license application form, as well as:

• A ‘Letter of Good Standing’ from all state boards from which you have received licensure
• Proof they have taken and passed the AICPA ethics exam with at least 90%
• They have met the work experience requirement mentioned above

International License Reciprocity

Rhode Island defers to The International Qualification Board (IQAB) to determine whether the foreign jurisdiction is considered to be substantially to that of Rhode Island’s They therefore accept the applications from any issuing body that forms part of NASBA’s Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRA.) They will be permitted to apply for international license reciprocity on condition that:

• They take the NASBA’s International Qualification Examination (IQEX) in lieu of the full CPA exam. The IQEX exam fee is $835.
• They take and pass the AICPA ethics exam and get at least 90%
• They meet the work experience requirement mentioned above

Other foreign license holders will need to apply to take the full CPA exam, as outlined under ‘foreign educations’

License Renewal Requirements

Rhode Island CPA license holders are required to renew their licenses triennially by June 30^th. During that time, they are required to fulfill a continued professional education (CPE) requirement of 120 hours. 6 hours should be dedicated to ethics. The next renewal years are: 2022, 2025, 2028 and 2031.

Other CPE specifications

• One 50-minute period is equal to one CPE hour
• 25 minutes is equal to one-½ CPE hour. Half hour increments will only be accepted after one full hour has been completed
• Nano learning classes will be valued at one-fifth credit per 1- minute segment. This includes any individual segment lasting between eleven (11) and twenty-four (24) minutes
• Lecturing will be counted as 2 CPE ours for every class hour. These cannot be counted more than once unless the class is substantially different. Noe more than 60 CPE can be accumulated in this way per cycle
• PCE from published works cannot exceed 60 CPE per cycle
• College course hours are calculated at 15 CPE per semester credit hour
• Further stipulations can be found here

Renewal Fee: $375.00

Inactive license holders

Rhode Island CPA license holders can opt to change their license status to ‘inactive.’ This will allow them to maintain their license by paying the renewal fees, without the need to meet the CPE requirements. However, they will not be permitted to practice as a CPA until their license is made ‘active’ again. They will also not be permitted to change their status as a means to avoid disciplinary action for missing the renewal deadlines. In order to switch their license status back, they will need to apply for reinstatement and meet the license renewal requirements stipulated above.

Reinstatement fee: $500.00

Expired license holders

In order to reactivate an expired Rhode Island license, the expired license holder will need to submit a reinstatement application form and meet the following requirements:

• Meet all of the requirements for license renewal
• Proof of earning at least 120 hours of CPE credits in the three years preceding the reinstatement
• Pay the $500.00 reinstatement fee
• Pay the $250.00 license expiration fine
• If it has been more than five years since the license expired, the applicant will need to provide proof of acquiring an additional 120 CPE, for a total of 240 hours during the preceding three-year period

State Board

Rhode Island Board of Accountancy

• Address: Dawne Broadfield, Board Executive | 560 Jefferson Blvd., First Floor
• Warwick RI 02886
• Phone: (401) 889-5446
• Phone: (401) 889-5446
• Fax: (401) 462-9532
• Email: dawne.broadfield@dbr.ri.gov
• Website: https://dbr.ri.gov/divisions/accountancy/
• Resources:
  • CPA Candidate Bulletin
  • Rhode Island Accountancy Regulations
  • Application Forms