Transfer Your CPA / Accounting License to Delaware: Reciprocity & Endorsement (2026)

Because Delaware recognizes substantial equivalency, the Delaware Board of Accountancy (Division of Professional Regulation) looks at your standing, not your origin: a CPA in good standing from any state qualifies for a reciprocal license, and the Uniform CPA Exam does not come back. Read the requirements below as the destination's own layer — a background check, a state ethics or rules-of-conduct exam where one applies, and proof your CPE is current — rather than a re-credentialing.

Settle the mobility question before you file. If Delaware is not becoming your principal place of business — you are serving Delaware clients from elsewhere, or the work is temporary — practice privilege usually lets you work there with no Delaware license at all. Apply for the reciprocal license when Delaware is where you will actually be based.

Delaware issues a reciprocal CPA Permit to Practice to any CPA whose jurisdiction is substantially equivalent (all 55 US jurisdictions qualify) on the strength of the application, fee, and licensure verifications; for the rare non-equivalent case it accepts a NASBA NQAS individual evaluation or, failing that, documented education, exam scores, and four years of experience. Education and experience are normally satisfied through the existing license. Separate from the permit, an out-of-state CPA whose principal place of business stays outside Delaware may practice under practice privilege/mobility with no Delaware permit. The AICPA ethics course/exam is required of examination-track applicants; the reciprocity instructions do not add it for substantially-equivalent applicants. Delaware's examination route now accepts a post-bachelor's degree or a bachelor's with 150 hours (each plus one year of experience) or a bachelor's with 120 hours plus two years of experience, all with an accounting concentration.