Illinois CPA Exam Requirements 2026
A qualified candidate can use the Illinois route with 120 semester hours, subject to every other published rule. Check your education, application route, current known fees, deadlines, and next steps in one place.
Illinois CPA requirements at a glance
Exam eligibility and CPA licensure are different decisions. This page leads with the rules to sit and keeps licensing information in a separate comparison.
Recent rule activity: Do not treat a proposed or future-effective pathway as current.
- Enacted Not Yet Effective: New bachelor's-and-two-year-experience and advanced-education-and-one-year-experience licensure routes begin in 2027. Effective January 1, 2027.
Are you eligible for the CPA Exam in Illinois?
Illinois allows a qualified candidate to sit at 120 semester hours. The application authority makes the final decision from official documents.
What to confirm before applying
- Complete bachelor's degree or higher.
- Complete at least 120 semester hours.
- Complete 24 qualifying accounting semester hours.
- Complete 12 qualifying business semester hours.
Named coursework and accreditation
- Accounting: auditing.
- Accounting: taxation.
- Business: two semester hours of business communication.
- Business: three semester hours of business ethics.
The degree and coursework must satisfy Illinois Board of Examiners accreditation rules. Graduate accounting or business programs with recognized accreditation can qualify under separate curriculum options.
| Question | Current answer | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Can I sit before 150 hours? | Yes, if every other requirement is met. | Keep licensing education separate from exam eligibility. |
| Can I apply before the degree is awarded? | Yes, under the published provisional conditions. | Follow every final-transcript deadline. |
| Must I live in the jurisdiction? | No Illinois jurisdiction-residency rule was identified. | Check separate U.S. residency, citizenship, SSN, and identity rules. |
| Are nontraditional credits accepted? | Treatment differs by credit type. | Use the credit-treatment checklist below and confirm unknowns. |
Education-hour details
| Requirement | Semester hours | Quarter hours | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total college credit | 120 | 180 | The standard bachelor's route requires 24 accounting hours and 12 non-accounting business hours. Internship or life-experience credit is limited to three hours in accounting and three in business, with up to six additional hours usable as general credit. Duplicate course credit counts once. |
| Accounting | 24 | 36 | Named subjects: auditing, taxation. |
| Business | 12 | 18 | Named subjects: two semester hours of business communication, three semester hours of business ethics. |
Credit types to confirm
- Community-college credit: Allowed subject to the published conditions
- Online credit: Allowed subject to the published conditions
- CLEP credit: Allowed subject to the published conditions
- AP credit: Allowed subject to the published conditions
- Pass/fail credit: Allowed subject to the published conditions
- Internship credit: Allowed subject to the published conditions
Illinois eligibility gap planner
Enter your education and personal details to compare them with the published Illinois requirements. Nuanced course classifications still require an official evaluation.
Check 4 published eligibility gates
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How to apply for the CPA Exam in Illinois
Illinois Board of Examiners is the application authority. Application method: online through the Illinois Board of Examiners.
Your application sequence
- Audit your transcriptsMatch total hours, degree status, accounting, business, and named-course requirements.
- Read the current official instructionsConfirm personal rules, deadlines, fees, and the exact application route.
- Submit the applicationApply through Illinois Board of Examiners and pay the amount shown in the live application.
- Send official documentsArrange transcripts and evaluations through the method required by the application authority.
- Resolve follow-up requestsMonitor the applicant portal and respond to education or identity questions.
- Download the NTS and scheduleUse the exact name and expiration printed on the Notice to Schedule.
Documents to prepare
- Illinois credentials-evaluation application.
- official transcripts sent directly by each institution.
- exam request after education approval.
- NASBA foreign evaluation when applicable.
Processing time
Allow six to eight weeks for a credentials-evaluation result.
Always follow the live application instructions in case a recipient, document method, address, or fee has changed.
Build your Illinois application plan
The calculators use currently published numeric fees and time limits. Any amount or period not published is excluded.
Incomplete public fee snapshot
The official sources do not publish the current provider examination charge needed for a reliable total.
Open the official application page and confirm every Board, evaluation, application, administration, and provider section charge before paying. No total is calculated until the provider fee is established.
Never pay for all four sections at once. Life happens. Purchase only the section or sections you can realistically study for and sit before the NTS expires. Keeping flexibility is more valuable than loading all four sections into one NTS or application cycle.
6-month NTS planner
Estimate the end of the published NTS period before purchasing more sections than you can reasonably take.
Illinois application checklist
Check off each step as you finish it. Progress is stored only in this browser.
See what the CPA Exam journey feels like—while fighting off zombies.
Open CPA Exam Survival inside the CPA Exam Arcade and choose Story Mode. You will experience a playful version of the journey from signing up through studying and sitting for the exam.
Choose Story Mode when the game opens. This is an educational game, not an official AICPA or Prometric exam simulator.
Illinois exam, NTS, and retake rules
Eligibility gets you into the exam. These rules determine how long your authorization and passing scores remain useful.
Pass four sections with a 75
Pass AUD, FAR, and REG plus one discipline: BAR, ISC, or TCP. Each required section uses a passing score of 75.
- Core sections are generally available through continuous testing.
- Discipline sections follow the applicable AICPA administration windows.
- Schedule only sections you can reasonably prepare for before the NTS expires.
Your 30-month credit window
Select only the sections you can take before the six-month NTS expires.
- The 30-month period begins on the score-release date for the first passed section.
- Discipline sections follow AICPA testing windows.
Check CPA score-release timing · Compare how long CPA Exam scores last.
Compare review courses by the support you actually need.
Evaluate teaching style, practice tools, access length, guarantees, and total price before spending.
Important limits for international candidates
Foreign-education acceptance, the application jurisdiction, and the country where you physically test are separate decisions.
If your education was earned outside the U.S.
- Foreign education accepted: Yes, subject to evaluation conditions
- Credential evaluation required: Yes
- NIES required: Yes
- Approved evaluation services: NASBA International Evaluation Services (NIES)
- Certified translation: Required
The Illinois Board relies solely on NASBA for the foreign-education report. The Board's foreign credentials application has no separate fee, but NIES charges its evaluation fee.
If you want to test outside the United States
An international Prometric location does not create independent CPA Exam eligibility. You must first qualify through a participating U.S. jurisdiction.
Confirm that Illinois participates for the country where you want to test and check the international administration fee before scheduling.
Check NASBA's current international administration list · Compare CPA jurisdictions for international candidates.
Illinois CPA licensure comparison
Passing the exam is not the same as receiving a CPA license. This limited comparison prevents the licensing threshold from being mistaken for the rule to sit.
| Requirement | To sit for the exam | For licensure |
|---|---|---|
| Education | 120 semester hours plus all applicable degree and coursework requirements | 150 hours under the current rule; new routes take effect January 1, 2027 |
| Experience | Not treated as an exam-sitting requirement unless the application instructions expressly say otherwise | 1 year required; new routes take effect January 1, 2027 |
| Ethics exam | Separate from the Uniform CPA Exam | Required |
| Alternative pathway | Do not apply a licensure alternative automatically to exam eligibility | Enacted Not Yet Effective: Beginning January 1, 2027, Illinois adds a bachelor's-in-accounting plus two-year experience route and one-year routes for a master's degree or a bachelor's degree plus 30 additional hours in accounting. |
Enacted pathways that are not effective yet
Use the current rule until the effective date shown. These routes do not change today's exam-admission requirements.
Published licensure routes
Beginning January 1, 2027, Illinois adds a bachelor's-in-accounting plus two-year experience route and one-year routes for a master's degree or a bachelor's degree plus 30 additional hours in accounting.
Takes effect: January 1, 2027
Pathway timing matters: Effective date: January 1, 2027. The current 120-hour exam and 150-hour certification rules remain in effect in August 2026.
Illinois CPA Exam requirements FAQ
How many college hours do I need to sit for the CPA Exam in Illinois?
Illinois currently lists 120 semester hours for exam eligibility, together with every applicable degree, accounting, business, and personal requirement.
Do I need 150 semester hours to sit in Illinois?
No. Illinois allows a qualified candidate to begin testing before completing 150 hours. Licensure education is a separate requirement.
Do I have to live in Illinois to take the CPA Exam?
No Illinois jurisdiction-residency requirement applies to exam eligibility. Other personal requirements can still apply.
Can I apply before my degree is awarded in Illinois?
Yes, subject to Illinois's provisional or degree-pending conditions. Follow every enrollment-confirmation and final-transcript deadline.
How much does the CPA Exam application cost in Illinois?
Illinois's official sources publish one or more Board or application charges but not a reliable current provider examination fee. The page lists known components without calculating a misleading total.
How long do Illinois CPA Exam credits last?
Illinois provides a 30-month examination-credit window. Follow the jurisdiction's exact start-date rule and the expiration shown in your candidate account.
Can I use education earned outside the United States for Illinois?
Illinois accepts foreign education subject to an approved credential evaluation. The official instructions require NIES.
Your next CPA Exam research steps
Use this Illinois page as your eligibility command center, then move into application timing and study-material research.
Official Illinois sources used for this guide
Open the controlling source before paying a non-refundable fee if your education, residency, identity, or pathway is unusual.
Confirm your situation before applying: We reviewed each requirement against the official sources below. Rules, fees, and Board interpretations can change quickly and sometimes without a widely distributed announcement, and your transcript or circumstances may be evaluated differently. Before you apply, pay a fee, or enroll in coursework, confirm your situation directly with Illinois Board of Examiners.
- Education RequirementsIllinois Board of Examiners · State Board
- Illinois Administrative Code Section 1400.90Illinois General Assembly · Regulation
- Provisional StatusIllinois Board of Examiners · Official Application
- Exam ApplicationIllinois Board of Examiners · Official Application
- Credentials Evaluation ApplicationIllinois Board of Examiners · Official Application
- Illinois Administrative Code Section 1400.140Illinois General Assembly · Regulation
- Public Act 104-0228Illinois General Assembly · Official Legislation
Editorial standard: Proposed rules are not presented as effective, and interactive results are planning guidance rather than official eligibility determinations. Official sources last reviewed: August 8, 2026.
Reviewed by Bryan Kesler, CPA
Bryan Kesler is the founder of CPA Exam Guide. Regulatory eligibility is always determined by the applicable Board or examination authority.