The path to modernizing the CPA licensure process in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has taken a significant step forward with the passing of Act 27 of 2025 which was signed into law by Pennsylvania’s governor, Josh Shapiro, on June 30, 2025.
The public accounting profession is driven by motivated individuals, many of which aspire to obtain their CPA license. For more than a decade prior to the signing of Act 27 of 2025, a candidate seeking CPA licensure in Pennsylvania needed to have 150 credit hours of post-secondary education including the requisite number of accounting-related courses.
The profession has been stressed due to the retirements of senior leaders in many firms coupled with an alarming trend of fewer accounting enrollments in our colleges and universities.
With rising college costs, the 150-credit hour requirement has been perceived as a barrier to entry into the profession.
Pennsylvania has now joined 22 other states that are offering multiple paths to CPA licensure. Below is a summary of the newly enacted paths:
Additional benefits of Act 27 of 2025 include the portability for practitioners’ practices outside of Pennsylvania and a rolling 30-month time frame with which to pass all the parts of the CPA exam.
Kudos to the legislators that sponsored and co-sponsored this bill and to the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) and the other parties that built the momentum to enable this change. This legislation is anticipated to significantly help the public accounting profession within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and throughout the entire country as more states continue to evaluate ways to modernize the path to CPA licensure while still preserving the high standards that come with the designation.