Exam Tips

How to Become a Licensed CPA in Maine

Maine only requires a bachelor’s degree (120 college credits) to sit for the CPA exam as long as the minimum course qualifications are met. In order to get certified and obtain a license, you will have to take an additional 30 semester hours and accumulate 150 total credits. The ME work experience rules must also be met before licensure.

Let’s take a look at what you need to do to take the exam and get licensed.

Maine CPA Exam Requirements

In order to be eligible to sit for the exam in Maine, candidates must meet the following personal qualifications and educational requirements.

  • No minimum age limit
  • Not Required to be a US citizen
  • Not Required to be a ME resident
  • Valid Social Security Number required
  • ME does participate in the International Examination Program

Educational Requirements to Sit

The Maine education rules are pretty standard among the 150 rule adopters. You will need at least a bachelor’s degree totaling 120 semester hours before you can apply to take the exam. Here what you need to sit.

 

Bachelor’s Degree or higher including:

  • 3 hours in general accounting
  • 3 hours in auditing

These rules are actually pretty lenient compared with most other states that usually require at least 20 credit hours in general accounting studies and 15-20 hours in general business courses.

You may also schedule your test 120 days before you graduate as long as the board has approved your transcripts.

Exam Fees

The total cost to take the CPA exam in Maine is $874.08 including an initial one-time $145 application fee. The cost for each section is listed below.

 

AUD – Audit $192.03
FAR – Financial Accounting and Reporting $192.03
BEC – Business Environment and Concepts $172.51
REG – Regulation $172.51

 

The fees are typically based on the duration of the exam. That’s why the FAR and AUD exams cost the most.

IMPORTANT – Don’t get crazy and register for all the sections immediately. Your notice to sit (NIT) will expire if you don’t take the exam in 6 months and you will have to re-register. The bummer is you will have to pay again in order to register. Re-registration application fees are $65 for one section and vary depending on how many your sign up for at once, so only sign up for the exams that you are ready to sit for in the next 6 months.

Registration Fees

Here are the registration fees you will have to pay. As you can see, registering more exams at once will save you some money.

  • 1 section $65.00
  • 2 sections $80.00
  • 3 sections $95.00
  • 4 sections $110.00

CPA License Requirements

You might be a little overwhelmed by the CPA exam process. It’s okay! You can make it. Registering for the test is only the first step in becoming a CPA in ME. After you pass the exam, there are a few administrative things you must do before you can truly call yourself a Certified Public Accountant. Here is the basic process.

Pass the Exam

You’ll have to pass all four sections of the exam with a score of at least 75 in an 18-month period.

Paperwork

Submit all the required paperwork to the state board usually includes transcripts, license application, and proof of work experience.

Fees

Pay the license/certification fees with your application.

Ethics Exam

No Ethics exam is required.

Additional Education

If you haven’t completed the 150 hours of college classes by the time you passed your exam, you will need to complete this within the required time limit.

Work Experience Requirements

Unlike Maine’s stance on pre-exam course work, their work experience requirements are pretty extensive. You have to have:

2-years or 4,000 hours of general accounting experience in Public Accounting including:

  • 400 hours of compilation, review, and audit procedures
  • 200 hours of financial advisory or consulting services

As you can see, in order to become a CPA in Maine you have to work in public accounting at some point. Some states allow you to get certified with private industry experience, but ME does not.

More Exam Resources and Information

The application process, taking the exam, and organizing your paperwork to be sent in can be quite an involved, especially if you attended more than one college. Yes, the Maine state board will need proof of your education, so you’ll have to send in transcripts from every college you’ve attended. This can be a pain. I know.

I think it’s always a good idea to contact the state board directly to see what they already have on file and more importantly what they need to complete your application.

 

For example, sometimes the state doesn’t receive your test scores from Prometrics. Unfortunately, most state boards rarely notify you that something is missing. It’s important to contact them directly and confirm they have everything they need before you get too far along in the process.

Here is the contact info for the state board.

Maine State Board of Accountancy

Maine CPA Application Forms

    • Dept. of Prof. & Fin. Regulation,
    • Office of License & Regulation
    • 76 Northern Avenue
    • Gardiner, ME 04345

 

  • Phone: 207-624-8603
  • Fax: 207-624-8637