Verified November 6, 2026 against the state board. Rules change, so read the board’s current rules before relying on them.
Rhode Island Board of Accountancy licenses CPAs in Rhode Island. Its rules and forms are the authority for everything on this page.
Rhode Island CPAs complete at least 120 hours of formal CPE in each three-year period ending June 30, including at least 6 hours of regulatory or behavioral ethics.
Sources: rules.sos.ri.gov/regulations/part/400-00-00-1, nasbaregistry.org/cpe-requirements/rhode-island
Rhode Island CPA licenses are issued for three-year terms that end June 30. The renewal fee is $375.
Sources: rules.sos.ri.gov/regulations/part/400-00-00-1, nasbaregistry.org/cpe-requirements/rhode-island
Rhode Island added a bachelor's-plus-two-years route to CPA licensure under S 3076 / H 8128, signed June 23, 2026. The 150-hour route with one year of experience remains.
Sources: rules.sos.ri.gov/regulations/part/400-00-00-1, dbr.ri.gov/building-design-fire-professionals-board-accountancy/board-accountancy, cfodive.com/news/rhode-island-governor-signs-cpa-bill-law/823925, rilegislature.gov/senators/SenateComDocs/2026%20Commerce/S3076%20Rhode%20Island%20Board%20of%20Accountancy.pdf
Rhode Island CPAs complete at least 120 hours of formal CPE in each three-year period ending June 30, including at least 6 hours of regulatory or behavioral ethics. At least six of the 120 hours must be regulatory or behavioral ethics. A CPA's first renewal cycle requires at least 4 ethics hours. Retired status, open to CPAs aged 55 or older, carries no renewal or CPE requirement. The Board grants extensions for good cause, and a Governor-declared state of emergency of 30 days or more in the final 12 months of a cycle allows hours to be made up in the next cycle. CPAs whose principal place of business is another state meet Rhode Island CPE by meeting that state's renewal CPE, attested on the renewal application.
The CPE period runs July 1 through June 30 three years later; hours are reported at renewal and records kept for Board audit. Caps per period: 80 hours of self-study (QAS or interactive), 60 hours of teaching credit (preparation counted at no more than twice presentation time), 60 hours of publication credit and 24 hours of personal development and marketing. No CPE is due in the year a certificate is first issued; the first renewal requires 80 hours including 4 ethics hours.
Rhode Island CPA licenses are issued for three-year terms that end June 30. The renewal fee is $375. Triennial, July 1 through June 30 of the third year. June 30 of the renewal year. Renewal is $375. Reinstating an expired license requires 120 CPE hours from the preceding three years, a $500 reinstatement fee and the $375 renewal fee. A license expired five years or more also requires a Board-approved classroom CPA review course or 240 CPE hours in the preceding three years.
To sit, an applicant needs at least 120 semester hours and one of: a graduate accounting degree; a graduate business degree plus 24 undergraduate or 15 graduate accounting hours; or a bachelor's degree with 24 accounting hours and 24 non-accounting business hours. Accounting hours include 6 each in fundamental and intermediate financial accounting and 3 each in advanced financial accounting, tax and auditing; business hours include 3 each in business law and economics. The traditional route requires 150 semester hours. The 2026 route licenses a bachelor's-degree holder with an accounting concentration who has two years of experience, without the extra 30 hours.
Traditional route: one year, at least 1,820 hours, in public practice, government, industry or education, verified by a licensed CPA. 2026 route: two years of verified experience. Where another jurisdiction's experience requirement is longer, that requirement applies.
A score of 90 or higher on the AICPA Professional Ethics comprehensive course exam.
CORAA AI drafts audit working papers from your client’s QuickBooks books and does the first pass: lead schedules, tie-out, memos, draft notes and letters. CORAA Network reviewers clear every finding. Your firm reviews and signs.
