CPA

How to become a CPA in India: the complete guide

September 23, 2024

9 min read

Content Marketing Specialist

Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) are highly respected professionals all over the world. While most CPAs take the CPA Exam and ultimately practice within the United States, you can get your license internationally as well. India is one of the most common countries outside the US to become a licensed CPA.

Learn about the advantages of licensure and how to become a CPA in India, as well as the best CPA course in India to help you achieve this goal.

Why become a CPA in India?

India has one of the largest economies in the world, with both thriving national corporations and an increasing number of international services in finance and accounting. There is therefore a high—and growing—demand for skilled CPAs in India, as this license grants authority to your accounting expertise and proves that your skills are up to international standards.

By becoming a CPA in India, you’re entitled to:

A wider range of job prospects
Higher annual salary
International opportunities
More services to offer
Greater reputation and authority

What does a CPA in India do?

A CPA has proven competency in advanced accounting topics — a highly desired asset for any person or organization that needs help with complex accounting and finance tasks.

These accounting professionals have demonstrated that they possess all the required knowledge and skills to practice public accountancy. This can include analyzing and certifying financial statements, financial planning, preparing taxes for individuals, businesses, and corporations, performing internal and external audits, and many other specializations within accounting.

In both India and in the United States, being a CPA is very different from being a non-CPA accountant. There are many things a CPA can do that an accountant can’t, including:

Representing clients before the IRS
External audits
SOC audits
SEC reporting

How to become a CPA in India

As an accountant in India, you apply for CPA licensure from any of the 55 state accountancy boards in the United States, as long as you meet that board's requirements.

When deciding which jurisdiction to choose, however, you will need to extensively review its requirements. Some, for example, have residency requirements that may be difficult to meet. These states are considered "friendlier" for foreign CPA applications⁴:

Colorado
Delaware
Michigan
New Hampshire
California
Montana
Illinois
Virginia
Guam
Alaska
Washington

After deciding the jurisdiction in which you want to apply, you'll follow these general steps:

Meet education requirements
Pass the CPA Exam
Meet additional requirements (education, experience, etc.)
Apply for licensure

Passing the CPA Exam is the most difficult—but most essential—of all these steps in becoming a CPA.

Get your free guide to the CPA Exam

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CPA Exam in India

What is the CPA Exam?

The Unified CPA Exam is the standardized assessment designed and administered by the AICPA and NASBA. It consists of four exam Sections: three Core Sections that all candidates must take, and one of three Discipline Sections of your choosing. Each Section covers a different topic area within public accounting:

Core Sections (all three required)
- Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR)
- Auditing and Attestation (AUD)
- Taxation and Regulation (REG)
Discipline Section (candidate selects one)
- Business Analysis and Reporting (BAR)
- Information Systems and Controls (ISC)
- Tax Compliance and Planning (TCP)

You must pass all four CPA Exam Sections within your jurisdiction’s established time frame.

Successful completion of the CPA Exam is the benchmark to prove that you have the skills needed to practice public accounting and continue with the process to licensure.

CPA Exam academic requirements in India

Most state boards require candidates to have 120 credit hours in accounting or finance related subjects to sit for the CPA Exam. However, it’s important to note that each jurisdiction sets its own requirements for both exam and licensure, so be sure to check the state CPA requirements where you plan to apply for your license to be sure that you’re meeting the right criteria.

Also be aware that, to earn full CPA licensure after passing the CPA Exam, you'll need to meet additional education requirements, normally amounting to at least 150 semester hours (225 quarter hours) of higher education. However, since standard, four-year bachelor’s degree programs normally require just 120 hours, the 150 credit hours CPA requirement has long been polemic in the profession. The AICPA and NASBA have therefore recently proposed an alternative option, which proves eligibility through a competency-based experience pathway.¹ This is still in discussion but may come to fruition in the coming years.

CPA Exam application in India

Each CPA jurisdiction defines its own application process to take the exam. As a CPA candidate in India, therefore, you choose a jurisdiction participating in the international administration of the Exam and apply through that state’s process.²

Nearly all jurisdictions participate in international administration. However, the following four do not, and you therefore cannot apply through them:

Alabama
Idaho
North Carolina
Virgin Islands

Once you decide which jurisdiction you will choose for the CPA Exam, simply:

Contact your jurisdiction to obtain application materials
Fill out the application
Send it in with any required fees and documentation. You’ll likely need to include materials like:
1. Education transcripts
2. Higher education degree
3. Personal identification documents
Receive your NTS (Notice to Schedule)

Note that, in addition to the jurisdiction’s application fee, you’ll also need to pay a $390 international exam fee for each Exam Section.²

CPA Exam Review in India

The best way to pass the CPA Exam in India—or anywhere else in the world—is by partnering with a trusted and extensive CPA Exam review course.

The CPA Exam is notoriously one of the world’s most difficult professional examinations. It covers so much material, looks for such specific skills and knowledge, and is formatted in a unique test-taking environment—that it makes studying alone an uphill and discouraging battle. You save yourself immeasurable time, headache, and heartache (from a probable failure) by choosing a course that offers the guidance to help you pass the first time.

Becker is the USA’s most trusted name in CPA Exam Review, with over 60 years of expertise helping nearly two million candidates pass the CPA Exam. And the great news: Becker is present in India to support you!

These are a few of the reasons that Becker is the most effective review to help you pass:

Our CPAs and curriculum experts design each Section review around the AICPA’s latest exam blueprints, focusing your study on exactly what you’ll see on the exam.
Our course includes print and digital textbooks, lectures and accompanying slides, printable flashcards, practice tests and simulated exams, a personalized study planner, adaptive technology to focus your study, and more.
Our instruction staff includes a diversity of the best CPAs in the United States.
We offer unlimited practice tests and questions with accompanying explanation videos.
We host live webcasts and class events for interactive study experiences.
You’ll take simulated exams that exactly mirror the real CPA Exam in length and format.
Our on-call academic support is second-to-none and will answer your question in under 24 hours.

Make the most of your study time with the guidance and focus of a CPA Exam Review course that will help you pass on your first try.

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Get a free trial of our leading CPA Exam Review and see how we've helped nearly 2 million students pass their exams!

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Take the CPA Exam in India

Prometric is the company that the AICPA and NASBA trust to administer the CPA Exam. After you have applied and received your NTS (Notice to Schedule), you will log in to Prometric’s website and use your NTS to schedule the date, time, and location for your CPA Exam.² There are Prometric testing centers available throughout India, so you likely won’t need to travel too far to take the exam.³

When the big day arrives, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed. Remember that you studied hard and are ready for whatever the exam puts in front of you. And if you’ve studied with Becker, you’ll already be familiar with the testing and question format, so you can put aside the nerves and focus on delivering the information you know!

Apply for CPA licensure in India

After passing all four CPA Exam Sections and celebrating, you’ll ask yourself: “I passed the CPA Exam. Now what?”

Of course, the short answer is that you’ll get ready to apply for full licensure and finally achieve the coveted title of CPA. However, although the biggest hurdle is behind you, there are a few more steps to cover before you’re eligible to submit your final application.

Again, all jurisdictions set their own process to licensure, so be sure to check with the state CPA requirements where you have passed the CPA Exam. However, the basic requirements include:

Additional education requirement
Experience requirement
Ethics requirement

After you’ve met your jurisdiction’s additional requirements, you’re ready to submit the application for your CPA license!

Start your CPA journey

If you have decided to become a CPA, you’re already on your way to a successful career in accounting. You have an exciting road ahead, and Becker is here to support you along your whole career journey—both before exam day and after.