CPAs in Georgia

Georgia’s thriving businesses and large population create strong demand for accounting professionals, including certified public accountants (CPAs).

The state’s Department of Labor included accountants and auditors in its Hot Careers to 2032 list, highlighting Georgia’s CPA needs. To draw more CPAs to the Peach State, Georgia recently adopted new, more accessible pathways to licensure. The new rules take effect in 2026.

Learn about CPA requirements in the state and connect with top accounting schools with Georgia in this guide.

In 2025, Georgia joined a growing list of U.S. states introducing new pathways to CPA licensure. The Georgia Society of CPAs led the push for change, emphasizing the need to attract more young people to CPA careers. Under the new rules, which will take effect on Jan. 1, 2026, you can choose one of three educational pathways to Georgia CPA licensure:

Legislators designed the changes to support three key strategic goals:

Experts believe the new rules will position Georgia to retain its position of regional leadership as an accounting destination.

Georgia has two sets of rules with respect to required accounting and business coursework.

A large majority of Georgia CPA candidates qualify under the requirements that apply if you first sat for your CPA exam after Jan. 1, 1998:

If you first took your CPA exam before Jan. 1, 1998, you can qualify under the legacy pathway:

On Jan. 1, 2026, the longstanding requirement to have at least 150 semester credits or the equivalent in higher education coursework will be removed. The outgoing standard will be replaced by the new pathways approved by state legislators in 2025. However, the accounting and business coursework requirements explained above will remain in place.

Georgia considers each of the first two college-level accounting courses you take to be introductory courses. Therefore, all qualifying coursework must come from additional classes you take as part of your program.

Starting on Jan. 1, 2026, the amount of accounting experience you need to qualify for a Georgia CPA license will become dependent on which of the three educational pathways you follow:

Georgia defines one year of accounting experience as follows:

Georgia also recognizes teaching as a valid experiential pathway. For your experience to qualify, you must teach meeting these standards:

Under Georgia’s rules, one year of teaching experience consists of at least 24 semester hours (36 quarter hours) of coursework taught over at least 12 months and over no more than 36 months.

Regardless of your educational path to Georgia CPA licensure, you must pass the Uniform CPA Examination. This challenging four-part exam is the same in all states, but the exact eligibility standards you must meet to sit for it vary.

The following information applies specifically to Georgia CPA candidates:

Georgia’s CPA exam eligibility requirements are quite straightforward. You need:

With respect to exam eligibility, Georgia imposes the following additional conditions:

You cannot use commercial CPA review courses from unaccredited private organizations or credits earned through College-Level Examination Program standardized tests. If you were educated outside the United States, you must submit your transcripts to NASBA International Evaluation Services for a quality assurance review.

State residency is not required to sit for the CPA exam as a Georgia candidate.

You can apply for the Uniform CPA Examination as a Georgia candidate through the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA). The process involves:

As part of your documentation requirements, you must forward your academic transcripts for NASBA to review. Your transcripts must be official, so photocopies are not accepted. Hard copies must come in an official sealed envelope, and electronic transcripts must be sent directly to NASBA by the issuing institution.

Note the difference between registering for and scheduling your CPA exam. You register for the exam by creating your NASBA account through Okta, supplying your application documentation, and receiving clearance to sit for the exam. The registration process culminates with NASBA issuing you a Notice to Schedule (NTS).

You will receive an NTS electronically, through your online NASBA account. The NTS means you have formal permission to sit for the exam, and you can proceed to choose a testing date, time, and location.

Georgia CPA candidates require individual NTSs for each of the four exam sections. You can take the sections individually and in any order, but NASBA recommends that you only apply for an exam section if you are ready to take the test within the next six months.

The CPA exam includes a Discipline section, which offers a choice of one of four specialized accounting domains. You will select this domain when you schedule your Discipline section.

As of September 2025, the following costs apply:

If you do not pass one or more exam sections on your first attempt, you can retake those sections any number of times. However, you must pass all four exam sections within a rolling 30-month period to qualify for a Georgia CPA license.

Your CPA exam credits will not expire if you pass all four exam sections within the required 30-month period. If you need to accrue additional employment experience or meet any other requirements to qualify for licensure, you may do so before or after passing your exam.

You can apply for your Georgia CPA license through NASBA. An application fee of $140 applies to your initial license, and processing typically takes 2-3 weeks.

If you need to verify your Georgia CPA license to a client or employer, you can do so through the Georgia State Board of Accountancy’s CPA Licensure Search and Verify service.

Individual CPA licenses expire on Dec. 31 of each odd-numbered year. You will normally be notified in writing well in advance of the pending expiration of your license.

Georgia CPAs became subject to updated continuing professional education (CPE) requirements on Jan. 1, 2024. Under these guidelines, you must complete at least:

Furthermore, you can only accumulate a maximum of 15 CPE credits in non-technical areas.

Some special considerations apply:

If you apply for renewal prior to your license expiration date, you can continue to practice under a special status known as “Active-Pending Renewal.” This indicates that you have applied for your renewal and that your renewal application is undergoing an official review.

If you do not take action to renew your license in time, it will go into “Lapsed” status. You cannot continue to work as a CPA until you have your license reinstated.

CPAs relocating to Georgia from other states can transfer their existing credentials to a Georgia CPA license. To do so, you must complete the Georgia State Board of Accountancy’s reciprocal licensing process.