Interstate Reciprocity Checklist

Applying for a Washington State CPA License* - Interstate Reciprocity

Checklist & Instructions

1. Application: Submit a complete Application for License of Certified Public Accountant by Interstate Reciprocity form and the $330.00 fee. Be sure you complete all parts of the form.  When you complete the License Application form you must certify that you have completed the required Continuing Professional Education (CPE) within the 36 months immediately preceding your application. 
2. Education: Unless you are applying under the "Three in Five" or "Five-In-Ten" rule [see 7 below] you must submit official college transcripts to verify that on the date the license application is received by the Board, you must:

• meet the current education requirement or
• meet the education requirement that was in effect in Washington when you first sat for the examination and Washington's experience, and ethics requirements that were in effect at the time of issuance of your initial license in your original state/jurisdiction of licensure.

See Board Education Policy 1998-1 to obtain detailed information on the education requirement in effect when you first sat for the CPA examination in your original state/jurisdiction of licensure.

3. Status:  You must submit verification that you currently hold a valid CPA license to practice public accounting issued by another U.S. state/jurisdiction, that the license is active and in good standing, the license issue date, the absence of disciplinary proceedings, and that you achieved passing grades on the uniform CPA exam.  This verification can come from any U.S. state/jurisdiction where you are currently licensed (it does not have to come from the original state where you were initially licensed).
4. Ethics: You must submit verification that you have passed a qualifying ethics examination.  You may utilize an ethics examination taken in any U.S. state/jurisdiction where you were previously licensed, provided the examination is the AICPA's Professional Ethics for CPAs or a similar examination (for example: The California ethics examination).

   If you have not completed a qualifying ethics examination, you must complete the AICPA's self-study course titled Professional Ethics:  The AICPA's Comprehensive Course with a grade of 90% or better and request to have notice of your grade mailed directly to the Board.  For information on the self-study course and the examination contact:

   1. Washington Society of CPAs at (425) 644-8199 or (800) 272-8273 (in Washington only) or www.wscpa.org;
   2. American Institute of CPAs at (888) 777-7077 or www.aicpa.org
5. Verification from Other U.S. States/Jurisdictions: To request verification of your status, exam grades or ethics examination information from another U.S. state/jurisdiction, complete Section A of the Request to Transfer Exam and Licensure Information to Washington State form and submit the form directly to the applicable state(s) to request verification of the above information to be sent to the Board. You may need to send a verification form to more than one state.
6. Experience: Unless you are applying under the "Five-In-Ten" rule [See 7 below] you must submit:
   • A complete current Experience Affidavit which provides for a minimum of twelve months (consisting of at least 2000 hours) of experience meeting the Board's competencies, or
   • A complete Experience Affidavit-Public form which provides for a minimum of twelve months (consisting of at least 2000 hours) of public accounting experience.

   You may use experience obtained at any time up to eight years prior to the date your initial license was issued in the original state/jurisdiction of licensure.

7. Three-in-Five or Five-In-Ten Rule - If you have a minimum of three years of experience in public practice within the five years immediately preceding the date the application is received by the Board or five years of experience in public practice within the ten years immediately preceding the date the application is received by the Board, you are not required to submit any college transcripts to verify you meet the Board's education requirement, nor are you required to submit an Experience Affidavit.  However, you are required to submit the following documentation to verify this experience:

   1. Copies of IRS Form 1040, Schedule C (or equivalent from corporate or partnership returns), or
   2. Letter(s) from employer(s) stating you were employed as a CPA in a CPA firm for a specific period of time, or
   3. A combination of items (1) and (2) above.

   Services considered to be within public practice include: tax, tax advisory, audit, review, compilation, other attest, accounting, management advisory, information technology consulting, human resource consulting, and similar services. The three or five years do not have to be continuous.  If the applicant's experience includes part-time work, the applicant must compress the part-time work hours to the approximate full-time work hours.  For example, an applicant who was employed in public practice for 20 hours a week for two years has one year of public practice experience.

8. CPE: You must certify that you have completed 120 hours of Continuing Professional Education (CPE), with a limitation of 24 hours of non-technical subjects, within the 36 months immediately preceding the date you submit your application for a Washington State license.  See WAC 4-25-830 and Board Policy 2000-01.  Note:  the Board performs random audits to determine compliance with the CPE requirements.  You may be contacted to provide supporting documents.

To facilitate the processing of your application, be sure you fully complete all required forms and submit all required information.  If you have questions, feel free to contact the Customer Service at (360) 753-2586 or e-mail customerservice@cpaboard.wa.gov.  Note, you may not use the title CPA in Washington State until you submit a complete application.

* The Board is required to comply with the Public Disclosure Act Chapter 42.56 RCW.  This Act establishes a strong state mandate in favor disclosure of public records.  As such, the information you submit to the board, including personal information, may ultimately be subject to disclosure as a public record.