State of Maryland Department of Labor
Maryland State Board Of Public Accountancy
1100 N. Eutaw St
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
(410) 230-6322 (Baltimore area),    (888) 218-5925 (Toll Free)

CPA Requirements Sheet


Examination Requirements


CANDIDATES MUST SIT FOR ALL SUBJECTS OF THE EXAMINATION IN ORDER TO OBTAIN CONDITIONAL CREDIT. The written uniform examination shall be conducted in May and November of each year. The 2 day exam shall include Business Law & Professional Responsibilities, Auditing, Accounting & Reporting, and Financial Accounting & Reporting. As a prerequisite to issuance of a certificate, an applicant is required to successfully complete a Home Study Course in Professional Ethics that is offered by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

An applicant who was present for examination in all subjects and who received a grade of 75 or higher in two subjects in the examination shall be given conditional credit in the subjects passed, if the applicant has a minimum of 50 or better in each subject which the applicant has failed to pass. A candidate must sit for all of the remaining subjects at each sitting within the next five succeeding examinations by the Board, and must again have a minimum score of 50 in each subject failed to get credit for any subject passed.

Transfer of grades applicants who sat for the uniform examination in November 1993 and prior candidates, who achieved conditional credit, are allow to pass two parts and average 50 on the parts failed. If candidates passed at least three parts, it does not matter what grade was achieved in the other part or parts.

Education Requirements and Information for Maryland CPA Candidates

Foreign (Non-United States) Academic Credentials

1. Foreign Education Credentials / Transcripts. The Maryland Board does not evaluate any non-United States transcripts. It is the candidate's responsibility to submit your foreign transcripts to the Foreign Academic Credentials Service, Inc. (FACS) for an evaluation prior to the submission of an application to the Board. A copy of the FACS evaluation must then accompany your application. Do not submit foreign transcripts with your application. The request form for a FACS evaluation is available from the Board office. Be advised you are required to have completed U.S. Business Law and U.S. Federal Income Tax.

Applicants may elect to request an evaluation of their foreign degree from any service under the National Association of Credential Evaluators provided that the evaluation is performed based on Maryland's requirements.


Academic Credentials From Accredited U.S. Institutions

1. Transcripts. Candidates must submit official transcripts (official means they carry the registrar's signature and the embossed seal of the school) for each institution attended. These transcripts must be submitted either with the application or prior to submitting an application. Your application cannot be fully processed unless all transcripts are received by the Board's office. See below for credits necessary to sit for the exam.
2. Degree Information. Your official transcripts must carry the degree you have been awarded and the date of conferral for said degree. (Official means it carries the registrar's signature and the embossed seal of the school). Candidates still enrolled in courses needed to qualify are ineligible.
3a. Coursework / Credit Requirements. Effective April 1, 1990 for those initially applying to take the examination, a major in accounting on the baccalaureate level, or its substantial equivalent ( a baccalaureate in any field) shall be considered as being constituted of a minimum of 45 semester hours in accounting and related accounting subjects as follows:
Group 1 - You must have three (3) semester hours in each of the following FIVE subjects (for a maximum total of 15 semester hours) as follows: [3 credits in STATISTICS]; [3 credits in COMPUTER SCIENCE, INFORMATION SYSTEMS OR DATA PROCESSING]; [3 credits in ECONOMICS]; [3 credits in CORPORATION OR BUSINESS FINANCE] AND [3 credits in MANAGEMENT].
Group 2 - You must have a minimum of three (3) or more semester hours in each of the following subjects to qualify (a total of 30 semester hours must be met in Group 2 subjects): [AUDITING]; [FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING]; [COST ACCOUNTING]; [FEDERAL INCOME TAX]; AND [BUSINESS LAW]. The following courses are acceptable so long as they appear on the transcript and you receive a passing grade and credits for the course: College level entrance programs (CLEP), credits earned by examination, correspondence and independent study.
3b. Management means a course in general business management dealing with such topics as planning, organizing, controlling, decision making and leadership. Courses listed as Management, Principles of Management, or Organization and Management clearly meet the requirement. Courses in specialized areas, i.e. "Personnel", "Marketing", "Production" do not qualify even if they have the word "management" in the course title.
3c. U.S. business law includes the analysis and study of the law of contracts, agency, employment, negotiable instruments, real property, personal property, sales and insurance. (NOTE: See #4 below.)
3d. When qualification is sought on the basis of graduate courses, 6 undergraduate level semester hours shall be considered as equivalent to 4 graduate level semester hours.
4. Supplemental Course Descriptions. Candidates who have attended schools that do not regularly educate Maryland CPA candidates may be required to submit additional information relating to specific courses, due to differing catalog / transcript titles and requirements for graduation. This information generally entails submission of catalog course descriptions, copies of course syllabuses, the names and copies of tables of contents for textbooks used, as well as a supporting letter from the professor of the course on official school stationary. If the course you mean to qualify as a Business Law course is not titled as such, you should include this information with your original application submission to avoid delay in the processing of your application.
5. Non-Accredited Institutions. When an applicant has received the accounting degree, or has taken coursework to supplement a non-accounting degree, at a school or college not a member of the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business or not accredited as provided by the Business Occupations and Professions Article, Title 2, Annotated Code of Maryland, the Board may decide to reject, or to accept within its lawful discretion, either all of the academic program or any part thereof. If only a part of the academic program is accepted, the Board will specify which courses shall be taken at accredited institutions for the applicant to qualify.