CPA

Welcome

The Board of Accountancy is the state agency responsible for licensing and regulating certified public accountants and certified public accounting firms. The Board is funded solely through fees charged to obtain and renew a license to practice public accounting and to sit for the CPA exam.

Kentucky State Board of Accountancy
312 Whittington Parkway, Suite 200
Louisville, KY 40222

cpa@ky.gov
502-595-3037
Fax: 502-595-4500

Individual License Renewals

Under state law, any odd numbered license not renewed by September 1, 2025 automatically expires, and the holders of the expired license shall be prohibited from practicing public accounting or holding themselves out as certified public accountants. To reinstitute an expired license, an individual must complete the reinstatement requirements set forth on this site.

Even numbered individual licenses and ALL FIRMS will renew in July of 2026. Continuing Professional Education ("CPE") hours must be completed in the two calendar years prior to the year a license is to be renewed. These two calendar years are referred to as the "reporting period." For those renewing their CPA licenses in 2026, this means all CPE hours must be completed beginning January 1, 2024 and ending December 31, 2025. Please review the 201 KAR 1:100 regulations as outlined on our website (cpa.ky.gov) to complete the total required CPE for your employment status.

For odd numbered licenses renewing in 2027, all CPE hours must be completed beginning January 1, 2025 and ending December 31, 2026.

REINSTATEMENT REQUIREMENTS

2026 Core section administration and score release schedule:

If the AICPA receives your exam data file by*:	Your TARGET score release date is:
January 23	February 10
February 14	February 24
March 9	March 17
March 31	April 9
April 23	May 7
May 16	May 27
June 8	June 16
June 30	July 10

*Please note: Your exam can’t be scored until the AICPA has received your file from Prometric, the company that administers the exam.

2026 Discipline section administration and score release schedule:

The Discipline sections will be administered in the first month of each quarter in 2026.

Testing Dates	Your target score release date is:
January 1-31	March 13
April 1-30	June 16

Kentucky Board of Accountancy's Extension of CPA Examination Credits

The Kentucky Board of Accountancy approved the following credit extension policy to aid in the transition to the new CPA Examination beginning January 1, 2024:

Any candidate with Uniform CPA Examination credit(s) on January 1, 2024 will have such credits(s) extended to June 30, 2025.

In addition, during its meeting on June 15, 2023, the Kentucky Board of Accountancy voted to adopt the NASBA Board of Directors' amendment to UAA Model 5-7, and subsequent implementation recommendation from NASBA's CBT Administration Committee, to increase, from 18 to 30 months, the time in which an exam candidate earning an initial exam credit must successfully complete remaining sections of the Uniform CPA Examination. The Board's administrative regulation effectuating this change became effective June 4, 2024, and it is now in place.

CPA Exam Transition FAQs

Below, are frequently asked questions to help you better prepare for the changes coming to 2024 CPA Exam through CPA Evolution. If you have additional questions that are not outlined below please reach out to us at cpa@ky.gov.

CPA Exam Transition FAQs

Reminder of January 1, 2021 Changes to CPE Requirements

Beginning January 1, 2021, 50% of the CPE hours required of all licensed CPAs must be comprised of “technical standards” courses.

Technical standards courses include those with the subject matters of accounting, auditing, business law, economics, finance, information technology, management services, professional ethics, statistics, securities, tax, or specialized areas of industry that contribute directly to the professional competence of a licensee.

Beginning January 1, 2021, CPAs in public accounting firms who perform (a) attest services, as defined in KRS 325.220; or (b) compilation or preparation of financial statement engagements subject to SSARS, must complete 8 hours of CPE in the subject matter of accounting or auditing each year, for a total of 16 hours over the two-year reporting period.

Beginning January 1, 2021, CPAs required to complete 80 hours of CPE per every two-year reporting period may include up to 8 hours of personal development courses toward their requirement, and CPAs required to complete 60 hours of CPE may include up to 12 hours of personal development courses.

An acceptable personal development course improves time management, leadership, team building, goal setting and similar soft skills related to working in an office or professional setting. Human resources courses also qualify under personal development hours.

CPAs who renew their licenses in 2023 (with a reporting period of January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2022) will be the first group required to comply with these new CPE provisions.

FAQS ON RECENT CHANGES TO KY CPE REQUIREMENTS

Reminder of Essential Elements of Required Course Completion Documents

It continues to be required that each CPA obtain, and retain for 5 years, the appropriate documentation to establish that he or she completed the continuing professional education requirements. Such course completion evidence shall consist of a document prepared and provided by the course sponsor to the attendee that includes all of the following [no handwritten information]:

Name of the licensee
Course title
Field of study (ex. tax, ethics, accounting)
Dates attended
Number of CPE hours awarded
Signature of provider or sponsor

Documents that do not contain all of the information above will not be accepted as CPA CPE.

Out of State License Renewal Change

As of July 14, 2018, a firm that does not operate an office in this state, holds a license in good standing from the state where their main office is located, and if applicable complies with the peer review requirements [KRS 325.301(10)] of this state is not required to obtain a license to provide public accounting services to a KY based client.
See KRS 325.301(11) for details.