Mississippi CPA Exam Requirements

Requirements for Examination [Section 2.2.1]  (Revision Pending at June 30, 2016)

Education - Effective February 1, 1995, a first-time examination candidate must have completed at least 150 semester hours of college education including a baccalaureate or higher degree conferred by a regionally accredited four-year college or university or the equivalent acceptable to the Board, with an accounting concentration determined by Board rule to be appropriate. Candidates who first sat before February 1, 1995, must have met the requirements in effect at that time. NOTE:  Mississippi law (Code Section 73-33-5)) has been revised effective July 1, 2016, to allow examination candidates to sit for the CPA exam with a baccalaureate degree of at least 120 collegiate-level semester hours.

Minimum 48 semester hours upper division or graduate level accounting and business related courses. Accounting courses must be a minimum 24 of the 48 hours and include at minimum, three semester hours in:

• Financial Accounting
• Auditing
• Taxation
• Management/Cost Accounting
• Government/Not-for-Profit Accounting

Residency - The candidate must be a resident of the State of Mississippi, except when proctored by another jurisdiction as outlined in Section 2.2.

Good Moral Character

Licensure Requirements [Section 2.1]

Residency - The applicant must be a resident of the State of Mississippi or have a place for regular transaction of business within this state.

Good Moral Character - Effective November 1, 2015, Applicants for Initial Applications and Reinstatement Applications for Original MS CPA Licenses and Reciprocal CPA Licenses (not for CPA Exam applications, firm permit applications/renewals, or for annual renewal of CPA licenses) will be required to complete an online background check.

Passing the CPA Exam - Applicant must make application for licensure within 3 years of passing the CPA examination.

Experience - The candidate must have at minimum, one year meaningful experience gained by full time employment within three years rom the date of successful completion of the CPA examination, under the supervision and direction of a CPA licensee such as:

• Accounting and Auditing
• Management Advisory
• Financial Advisory
• Preparation of Tax Returns or Tax Advice

Reciprocity [Section 2.6]

Required when other states' CPAs are performing public accounting for a Mississippi client or holding-out as a CPA in Mississippi and all of the following exemptions are not met:

• Principal place of business is not in Mississippi, and
• Hold a valid CPA license from a substantially equivalent state, and
• Satisfy the mobility (practice privilege) requirements of Miss. Code Section 73-33-17.

Qualifications:

• Experience - four out of last ten years in practice of public accounting as a licensed CPA;
• Substantial equivalence with Mississippi conditions for licensure.

Shall comply with all of the same Rules and Regulations as holders of original Mississippi licensees.

Retirement of a License [Section 2.5]

Qualifications

• Retired Status: An individual who holds a current license issued by the board who is 55 years old or older and has timely filed a request for retired status on a form prescribed by the board which indicates the licensee does not perform or offer to perform for the publi