Virginia General Assembly passes legislation widening pathways to CPA licensure effective Jan. 1, 2026

New legislation passed in the Virginia House and Senate will widen the current pathways to CPA licensure effective Jan. 1, 2026.

Beginning in 2026, CPA candidates can choose one of three pathways to licensure in Virginia:

• Pathway 1: A master's degree and one year of experience.
• Pathway 2: A bachelor's degree, 30 additional credit hours, and one year of experience.
• Pathway 3: A bachelor's degree and two years of relevant experience as defined by the board.

All three pathways replace the current requirement of 150 hours of education. The third pathway allows candidates to replace credit hours with an added year of experience. The additional experience requirement will be defined by the board and the current experience requirement may change.

All three pathways still require candidates to pass the CPA Exam and complete a bachelor's degree with an accounting concentration of 24 upper-level accounting credits and 24 business credits. The details of the concentrations are defined by the board.

You can find current licensure requirements here: https://boa.virginia.gov/individual-cpas/initial-license/

Please note: Any candidate applying for licensure under these new pathways will not necessarily have practice privilege (mobility) in other jurisdictions, so it will be important for a Virginia licensed CPA to check with any jurisdiction's Board of Accountancy to understand what their laws and rules are regarding practice privileges/mobility prior to practicing in that state.