Proposed Amendments to CPA Licensing Rules - Educational and Experience Requirements

March 12, 2026 Board Meeting – Proposed Rules

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• March 12, 2026

• 1:55 pm

• Rules & Amendments
  The Texas State Board of Public Accountancy (Board) proposes the following changes to the rules:

• 511.22 concerning Filing of the Application of Intent.
Applicants are required to submit an application of intent. If the two years pass (as required by statute) and they have not taken one section of the CPA exam, the application of intent is removed from the Board’s database and the person is required to submit a new application of intent to begin the process again.

Recent legislation has exempted certain military service members and spouses from the application filing fee for a license. The proposed revision recognizes that exemption. The time line for filing that application for exemption is no longer applicable.

The application of intent is required of exam applicant’s and not licensees. It is required for each person who are citizens or non-citizens of the USA.

Applicants who are not citizens of this country are no longer required to pay an additional filing fee when they do not have a social security card.

• 511.26 concerning Applications under Prior Acts. The proposed rule revision makes it clear that an application to take the exam or to be certified prior to the revisions to the Act continues to be effective without the need for refiling. It also makes it clear that the examination referenced in the rule is the UCPAE examination.

• 511.51 concerning Educational Definitions. Deleted no longer needed definitions, terms and acronyms and added new terms.

• 511.53 concerning Evaluation of International Education Documents.
The Board proposes one change to reflect the updated name of the office for validating international education documents. The second proposed revision is not substantive but is proposed for a better read.

• 511.54 concerning Recognized Texas Community Colleges
The Board required 30 hours of academic accounting courses in order to become certified up until this last legislative session. The Public Accountancy Act now permits licensure with a bachelor’s degree and only 27 hours of academic accounting courses. Revision proposes to revise the Board rule to permit licensure with 150 hours of college coursework with 27 hours of academic accounting courses in order to be consistent with the bachelor’s degree pathway to licensure.

• 511.56 concerning Educational Qualifications under the Act to take the UCPAE.
The proposed revision requires the applicant’s official transcripts to evidence the completion of the required college course hours to be certified.

• 511.57 concerning Courses in an Accounting Concentration to Take the UCPAE.
The proposed revision establishes that the applicant must take a minimum of 12 semester hours of the upper level accounting courses as listed with 3 semester hours of listed courses. In addition to those hours a minimum of 9 hours in the courses listed in the rule is required. Beginning on August 1, 2026 the applicant must take a minimum of 12 hours of additional courses listed in the rule. Courses that will not be accepted as coursework for certifications is specifically identified.

• 511.58 concerning Related Business Subjects.
This proposed revision accepts an academic course in accounting/business software from an institution of higher education for purposes of satisfying the academic courses required to be certified.

• 511.59 concerning Qualifications for Issuance of a Certificate with not Fewer than 120 Semester Hours.
Paragraph (d) of this proposed revision identifies courses that will not be accepted for purposes of certification by an applicant with 120 hours.

• 511.72 concerning Uniform Examination.
The American Institute of CPAs has made some changes to the UCPAE. As a result, the disciplines included on the UCPAE have been revised. This proposed rule revision recognizes these revisions.

• 511.73 concerning Notice to Applicant to Schedule Taking a CPA Exam Section.
The effective date in paragraph (a) has expired and is no longer necessary in the rule.

• 511.77 concerning Scoring.
The UCPAE is no longer given quarterly. The proposed rule revision reflects that the testing as events. Replacing the word “communications” with “response” more accurately reflects the content of the UCPAE.

• 511.80 concerning Granting of Credit.
An applicant’s passing score on any section of the UCPAE is good for 30 months from the notification date of passing the UCPAE but this period can be extended if the Executive Director extends the credit based upon unforeseeable or uncontrollable events. With the effective date of August 31, 2026 an applicant for CPA certification under 511.59 has 36 months to meet the education requirements for certification otherwise the exam results will expire.

• 511.82 concerning Application for Transfer of Credits.
An applicant wishing to transfer credits on the exam earned in another jurisdiction has 36 months to demonstrate that they have completed the education required to become licensed in Texas.

• 511.83 concerning Granting of Credit by Transfer of Credit.
Clarifying that an applicant has 36 months after passing the CPA exam to meet the education requirements of 511.59 or 511.164.

• 511.87 concerning Loss of Credit.
An applicant for certification whose exam credits have expired may seek reinstatement of those credits by demonstrating to the executor director uncontrollable and unforeseen circumstances caused those credits to expire. The applicant must seek reinstatement within 90 days of the credits expiration.

• 511.94 concerning Documentation of the Need for an Accommodation.
A proposed revision to the rule to make it clear that an applicant, who qualifies, may seek an accommodation in taking the UCPAE from the Board.

• 511.97 concerning Examination of Applicant Approved with Accommodation.
An applicant to take the UCPAE upon having received an accommodation to take the UCPAE must reimburse the Board for any charges the Board incurs as a result of the accommodations if the applicant fails to appear or cancels, or reschedules the exam without providing at least four days notice.

• 511.107 concerning No-Show, Late Arrival and Late Cancellation.
An applicant to take the UCPAE will be charged a testing fee if the applicant makes a request to cancel or reschedule less than 60 days prior to the UCPAE. This in addition to being charged at testing fee if they provide less than 6 days prior to the scheduled testing.

• 511.122 concerning Acceptable Work Experience.
Addresses the needs of acceptable work experience and requires the work experience necessary to be certified as supervised, evaluated and reviewed by a CPA. It also expresses the need to have received continuous independent thought on important accounting matters. There are also non-substantive grammatical changes proposed. It also addresses the expected work experience standards of an applicant reviewing accounting experiencing in a law firm providing accounting legal advices.

• 511.123 concerning Reporting Work Experience.
The proposed rule revision details the work experience provided by an applicant with 150 course work hours as opposed to an applicant seeking certification with a bachelor’s degree. The applicant with 150 hours of course work requires 12 months of work experience and the applicant with a bachelor’s degree and less than 150 hours, effective August 1, 2026, requires two years of work experience. Part time work for the applicant with a bachelor’s degree must obtain 4,000 hours of work experience in no more than 48 months.

• 511.124 concerning Acceptable Supervision.
The proposed rule revision makes it clear that the firm the applicant is working for must be certified as a firm in order to provide acceptable work experience. It also clarifies that the firm the applicant works for may engage a CPA firm to supervise attest to an applicant’s experience requirements when the firm does not directly employ a CPA to supervise the applicant. It makes it clear that it is the responsibility of the applicant and CPA to assure that the supervision was compliant with board requirements.

• 511.161 concerning Qualifications for Issuance of a Certificate.
The proposed rule implements the new legislation, effective August 1, 2026, that permits the certification of an applicant with a bachelor’s degree and distinguishes those applicants from the applicants with 150 hours of coursework.

• 511.163 concerning Examination on the Board’s Rules of Professional Conduct Requirements.
The proposed rule revision recognizes that an applicant for certification must pass a Board administered Rules of Professional Conduct exam and must wait at least 2 weeks before retaking that exam before retaking it.

• 511.164 concerning Qualification for Issuance of a Certificate with not Fewer than 150 Semester Hours.
The proposed rule eliminates the minimum of two semester credit hours in research and analysis and changes the 30 semester hours of upper level accounting courses to 27 semester hours of upper level accounting courses for those applicants with a Bachelor’s degree. It requires a 3 semester hour ethics course.

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