The rules in Indiana regarding eligibility for the CPA examination and licensure have changed a few times over the last few years. Below are select excerpts from the Indiana Code as of August 2023:
872 IAC 1-1-6.1 Educational requirements for licensure
Authority: IC 25-2.1-2-15
Affected: IC 25-2.1-3-2; IC 25-2.1-6
Sec. 6.1. (a) As part of the one hundred fifty (150) semester hours required under IC 25-2.1-3-2 (b) for first time CPA candidates, a candidate must have earned a baccalaureate or graduate degree from a college or university that is accredited by an accrediting organization as included in section 6.3 of this rule and completed:
(1) for a baccalaureate degree, twenty-four (24) semester hours in accounting at the undergraduate or graduate level, including courses covering the subjects of financial accounting, auditing, taxation, and managerial accounting;
(2) for a graduate degree, at least twenty-four (24) semester hours in accounting at the undergraduate level or fifteen (15) semester hours in accounting at the graduate level or an equivalent combination thereof; and
(3) for either a baccalaureate or graduate degree, at least twenty-four (24) semester hours in business administration and economics courses, other than accounting courses, at the undergraduate or graduate level.
The business administration courses may include up to six (6) hours of business and tax law courses and up to six (6) hours of technology or computer science courses, including, but not limited to, data analytics, data interrogation techniques, digital acumen, information systems technology (whether taken in business school or in another college or university program), and other business-related content areas included in the Uniform CPA Examination Blueprints, or as may be approved by the board. The accounting hours must include courses covering the subjects of financial accounting, auditing, taxation, and managerial accounting. If the accounting hours are a mixture of graduate and undergraduate hours, the higher number of required hours applies. An equivalent combination of undergraduate and graduate semester hours under subdivision (2) would be a total of twenty-four (24) semester hours calculated at the rate of one and six-tenths (1.6) semester hours for each actual one (1) semester hour in accounting at the graduate level and one (1) semester hour for each actual one (1) semester hour in accounting at the undergraduate level.
(b) College courses with substantial duplication of content may be counted only one (1) time toward the requirements in IC 25-2.1-3-2 and this section. This subsection shall not apply to internships.
872 IAC 1-1-9 Requirements for examination
Authority: IC 25-2.1-2-15
Affected: IC 25-2.1-3
Sec. 9. A candidate wishing to take the examination must:
(1) complete the application provided for in section 2 of this rule; and
(2) pay the candidate's cost of purchasing the examination by paying a fee directly to and in the amount set by the examination service.
IC 25-2.1-3-1 Qualification for certificate
Sec. 1. The board shall issue a CPA certificate to an individual who does the following:
(1) Demonstrates good character through lack of a history of dishonest or felonious acts.
(2) Meets the requirements set forth in this chapter and IC 25-2.1-4.
(3) Pays the fee established by the board.
IC 25-2.1-3-2 Examination; qualifications; education requirement
Sec. 2. (a) A first time examination candidate must have at least one hundred twenty (120) semester hours (or the equivalent if a different grading period is used) of college education that includes an accounting concentration or equivalent as determined by the board to be appropriate.
(b) A candidate for an initial issuance of a certificate must have:
(1) at least one hundred fifty (150) semester hours (or the equivalent if a different grading period is used) of college education; and
(2) a baccalaureate or higher degree conferred by a college or university acceptable to the board. The educational program must include an accounting concentration or equivalent as determined by the board to be appropriate.
IC 25-2.1-3-10 Qualifications; experience requirement
Sec. 10. An applicant for the initial issuance of a certificate under this chapter shall show that the applicant has had one (1) year of experience. To qualify as experience under this section, an applicant may provide any type of service or advice that:
(1) constitutes the use of accounting, attest, compilation, management advisory, financial advisory, tax, or consulting skills as determined under the rules adopted by the board; and
(2) is verified by the holder of an active certificate issued under this article or the corresponding provisions of another state, as determined by the board.
Experience of the type described in this section applies equally toward meeting the experience requirement of this section regardless of whether it is gained through employment in government, industry, academia, or public practice.
As added by P.L.30-1993, SEC.7. Amended by P.L.179-1997, SEC.1; P.L.128-2001, SEC.21; P.L.6-2003, SEC.6; P.L.14-2023, SEC.2.
IC 25-2.1-3-11 Advanced degree instead of accountancy experience requirement
Sec. 11. An advanced degree in accounting or business administration from a college or university recognized by the board, and the satisfactory completion of the semester hours in accounting, business administration, economics, and other related subjects that the board determines are appropriate, may be substituted as the board determines appropriate for experience of the type described in section 10 of this chapter.
As added by P.L.30-1993, SEC.7. Amended by P.L.128-2001, SEC.22.
IC 25-2.1-3-12 Good character requirement
Sec. 12. (a) The board may refuse to grant a certificate on the ground of failure to satisfy the good character requirement only if there is a substantial connection between the lack of good character of the applicant and the professional responsibilities of a licensee.
(b) A finding by the board of lack of good character must be supported by clear and convincing evidence.
(c) When an applicant is found to be unqualified for a certificate because of a lack of good character, the board shall furnish the applicant:
(1) a statement containing the findings of the board;
(2) a complete record of the evidence on which the determination was based; and
(3) a notice of the applicant's right of appeal.
As added by P.L.30-1993, SEC.7.
For more information regarding requirements to sit for the CPA exam, log onto nasba.org or call CPA Examination Services 800-CPA-EXAM. Their hours are Monday-Thursday between 8 a.m. and 11:00 p.m., Friday 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., Saturday closed, Sunday 3:00 a.m.-11:00 p.m.
To access the Title 25 Indiana Code, log onto iga.in.gov/laws/2023/ic/titles/25