CPA / Accounting License from California to Delaware: Does It Transfer? (2026)

What's different between California and Delaware

Computed from both states' verified data rows, in both directions, and from the route every other origin gets into Delaware. Exam notes are our summary of each board's published rules, with sources below.

Route, each way

California to Delaware (this page): Full reciprocity.

Delaware to California (the reverse move): Licensure by endorsement.

The two directions differ: California and Delaware do not give each other's licensees the same route.

Does coming from California matter?

Coming from California does not change the answer: every origin (the other 49 states and DC) gets the same result for a move into Delaware.

Application fee

Delaware lists $187 for an out-of-state applicant and California lists $650 for the reverse move; neither may be the full cost.

Processing time

California lists about 4 weeks for the reverse move; Delaware has no verified processing-time figure on file, so the two cannot be compared here.

Education (semester hours)

Delaware's first-time-applicant standard is 150 semester hours of education for initial licensure; California's is 150.

The two standards are the same.

Exam rules on record

Delaware and California carry different exam notes (our summaries, below); any state law or jurisprudence exam is listed with each state's requirements.

• Delaware (this move): The Uniform CPA Examination is not retaken; each jurisdiction where you hold or have held a license sends a licensure verification directly to the Board. Delaware adds no state law exam. An applicant whose license comes from a substantially-equivalent jurisdiction needs only the application, fee, and those verifications; an applicant from a jurisdiction that is not substantially equivalent qualifies through a NASBA National Qualification Appraisal Service (NQAS) individual substantial-equivalency evaluation or, failing that, by documenting education, CPA exam scores, and the required experience.
• California (the reverse move): California does not grant traditional reciprocity; the Uniform CPA Examination is not retaken, but the applicant must have their exam grades transferred from the state where they sat. Effective July 1, 2024 the PETH ethics examination was eliminated for licensure; instead a two-hour Regulatory Review CE course is required by the first license renewal (after licensure).

What changes, California → Delaware

The destination column is what you must satisfy — Delaware sets the rules for this move.

Step by step

1. Confirm Delaware's current requirements on the Delaware Board of Accountancy (Division of Professional Regulation) website (linked below) — rules change.
2. Submit the endorsement application to the Delaware Board of Accountancy (Division of Professional Regulation) (application linked below).
3. Arrange license verification from your current state via the verification system.
4. Hold an active CPA license/permit in good standing from another US jurisdiction.
5. Have a State/Jurisdiction Licensure Verification sent directly to the Board from each jurisdiction where you hold or have ever held a license.
6. If your jurisdiction is not substantially equivalent: submit a NASBA NQAS individual substantial-equivalency evaluation report, OR document education, CPA exam scores, and at least four years of experience completed after passing the CPA exam and within the past ten years (Affidavit of Supervised Work Experience).
7. Non-equivalent applicants without an NQAS evaluation whose license was issued more than four years before applying must also show 80 hours of CPE taken in the two years before applying.
8. Apply online through DELPROS.
9. Pay the fees listed above, and allow for the processing time shown there.

Official links

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