Verified November 6, 2026 against the state board. Rules change, so read the board’s current rules before relying on them.
New York State Board for Public Accountancy (NYSED Office of the Professions) licenses CPAs in New York. Its rules and forms are the authority for everything on this page.
New York CPAs complete either 24 contact hours concentrated in one recognized subject area or 40 contact hours in any combination of subject areas each calendar year, plus 4 hours of professional ethics every three calendar years (Education Law 7409; 8 NYCRR 70.9).
Sources: op.nysed.gov/professions/certified-public-accountants/mce-questions-answers, op.nysed.gov/certified-public-accountants-mandatory-continuing-education, op.nysed.gov/sites/op/files/documents/opfeechart.pdf
New York CPA licenses are for life, but practice requires a current registration renewed every three years. Renewal costs $292: a $242 registration fee and a $50 continuing education fee.
Sources: nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/EDN/7404, op.nysed.gov/sites/op/files/documents/opfeechart.pdf, op.nysed.gov/registration-renewal/online-registration-renewal, op.nysed.gov/professions/certified-public-accountants/general-license-requirements, op.nysed.gov/professions/certified-public-accountants/licensure-endorsement, counsel.nysed.gov/rules/indices-fulltext/2026/04
New York licensure has a 150-semester-hour pathway with one year of experience. Chapter 530 of the Laws of 2025 adds a 120-semester-hour pathway with two years of experience, effective November 21, 2026. Applicants also pass the Uniform CPA Exam, are at least 21 and have good moral character.
Sources: op.nysed.gov/professions/certified-public-accountants/initial1202year, op.nysed.gov/professions/certified-public-accountants/initial150, op.nysed.gov/certified-public-accountants/certified-public-accountants-initial-license-requirements, counsel.nysed.gov/rules/indices-fulltext/2026/04, nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/EDN/7404, nysscpa.org/news/1044613-hochul-signs-cpa-licensure-pathway-bill-capping-a-strong-year-of-advocacy-for-the-nycpa-2025-11-24, law.cornell.edu/regulations/new-york/8-NYCRR-52.13
New York CPAs complete either 24 contact hours concentrated in one recognized subject area or 40 contact hours in any combination of subject areas each calendar year, plus 4 hours of professional ethics every three calendar years (Education Law 7409; 8 NYCRR 70.9). Four contact hours of professional ethics are due every three calendar years and count toward the 24 or 40 hours in the year completed. Behavioral ethics does not qualify. A CPA whose principal place of business is New York, or who is licensed only in New York, must take a NYSED-approved ethics course; a CPA based in another state meets the requirement under that state's rules. No carryover. Education Law 7409 requires CPE each calendar year, and hours above the requirement cannot move to a later year. Licensees prevented from practicing can request an adjustment for physician-certified medical reasons, military service with current orders, or extreme hardship, on the Registration Renewal Addendum. Inactive registrants have no CPE requirement but must show 24 hours in the prior 12 months to reactivate.
CPE runs January 1 to December 31. Licensees do not report hours each year; they affirm compliance on the triennial registration renewal and keep completion certificates for at least five years. The State Board audits CPE records monthly. One CPE hour is a contact hour of at least 50 minutes. CPAs who supervise attest work or sign attest or compilation reports need 40 hours of accounting, auditing or attest CPE in the prior three calendar years or the year of the service.
New York CPA licenses are for life, but practice requires a current registration renewed every three years. Renewal costs $292: a $242 registration fee and a $50 continuing education fee. Triennial registration. Before the current three-year registration period ends; online renewal opens in the final five months of the period and stays available up to four months after it ends. The triennial re-registration fee is $292 ($242 registration, including the 15% surcharge on the $210 statutory fee, plus the $50 CE fee under Education Law 7409(1)(b)). The fee for licensure and first registration is $427. Education Law 7404 also lists $220 for exam admission and $115 per re-examination.
From November 21, 2026 (Chapter 530 of the Laws of 2025), a CPA in good standing in another state whose principal place of business is in that state can practice in New York without a New York license if the CPA meets either New York education-and-experience pathway and has passed the CPA exam (Education Law 7406; 8 NYCRR 70.7). Licensure by endorsement needs a license from a significantly comparable state, 4 years of acceptable experience in the last 10 years, and 40 CPE hours (or 24 in one subject) in the past 12 months.
To sit for the exam, a candidate needs 120 semester hours including one course in each of five accounting areas (financial accounting and reporting, cost or managerial accounting, taxation, auditing and attestation, accounting information systems) and five business areas (information technology and systems, business law, business data analytics, economics, finance). From November 21, 2026, the 120-hour licensure route needs a NYSED-registered CPA-120 program or an equivalent accounting degree with 27 accounting hours and 30 business hours (8 NYCRR 52.13(d), 70.2). All four exam sections must be passed within 30 months, and passed scores do not expire. The 150-hour pathway remains with one year of experience; from August 1, 2027 it uses the revised curriculum in 8 NYCRR 52.13(c), with at least 33 accounting hours and 36 business hours. The 120-hour pathway with two years of experience takes effect November 21, 2026. New York had a 120-hour route before August 1, 2009.
Two years of full-time experience on the 120-hour pathway and one year on the 150-hour pathway (8 NYCRR 70.3). Full-time means a five-day week of at least 35 hours; two part-time weeks of at least 20 hours equal one full-time week. Experience must be supervised by a U.S. CPA licensed in the jurisdiction of the supervisor's principal place of business and verified by the supervisor on Form 4B. NYSED also offers a 15-year experience route in place of education.
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