State Updates
Colorado Enacts 120-Credit CPA Pathway (SB 26-076): Three New Routes Effective January 2027
Governor Jared Polis signed SB 26-076 into law on May 4, 2026, creating three alternative pathways to CPA licensure effective January 1, 2027. The existing 150-credit pathway remains available.
Published May 13, 20265 min readVerified as of July 27, 2026
What Happened
Governor Jared Polis signed Senate Bill 26-076 into law on May 4, 2026, expanding the number of ways future Colorado CPAs can enter the profession. The bill passed the Senate unanimously and the House with strong bipartisan support on April 2, 2026, before reaching the governor's desk. The new pathways become available to applicants on January 1, 2027. Colorado joins a growing list of states that have moved beyond the single-track 150-credit-hour model toward more flexible licensure structures.
The Three New Pathways
SB 26-076 establishes three distinct routes to CPA licensure, each requiring passage of the CPA exam and completion of a board-approved ethics course. The first pathway requires a bachelor's degree (120 credit hours) plus two years of supervised work experience under a licensed CPA. The second pathway requires a bachelor's degree plus 30 additional semester hours of college education and one year of supervised experience. The third pathway requires a post-baccalaureate degree (master's or higher) plus one year of supervised experience. The work-experience trade-off is consistent across the three: fewer credit hours requires more supervised experience, additional credit hours or a graduate degree requires less.
How the Pathways Compare
The new pathways give candidates flexibility to optimize for either time or cost. A candidate who completes a four-year bachelor's degree with the required accounting concentration can begin counting two years of supervised work experience immediately after graduation. Under the new pathway one, that candidate is eligible for licensure roughly two years after graduation. A candidate who takes the master's route (pathway three) finishes school later but needs only one year of experience to license. A candidate using the bachelor's-plus-30-hours middle pathway (pathway two) splits the difference, completing roughly one additional semester of coursework alongside the one-year work requirement. The traditional 150-credit pathway remains available alongside the three new options for candidates whose existing coursework already meets that threshold.
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Interstate Mobility Provisions
SB 26-076 also codifies interstate practice privileges for CPAs licensed in other states. An out-of-state CPA who is licensed and in good standing, who passed the Uniform CPA exam, and who holds at least a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution receives the same practice privileges as Colorado certificate holders. The practical effect is that CPAs licensed elsewhere can practice in Colorado without obtaining a separate Colorado certificate, provided their home-state requirements are substantially equivalent. This brings Colorado in line with the national trend toward mobility provisions seen in recent legislation in Wisconsin, New Hampshire, and Iowa.
Where Colorado Fits Nationally
Colorado is the latest in a wave of states moving on CPA licensure reform in 2026. Wisconsin enacted its own 120-credit pathway under Act 166 on April 2 (effective April 4), Kentucky and Kansas signed their pathways in April with effective dates in July, and Maryland's HB 643 was signed in April with an October 1, 2026 effective date. Arizona signed SB 1181 in early April with a December 31, 2026 effective date, and California's AB 1175 took effect January 1, 2026 with full licensure changes phased in through 2027 and 2028. As of May 2026, 40 states have either enacted, are implementing, or have pending 120-credit pathway legislation, with 20 of those pathways already active. The full state-by-state landscape is in our 120-credit pathway tracker, and the Wisconsin and Colorado pathway article covers both states' signings in greater detail.
What Does Not Change
Colorado already allowed candidates to sit for the CPA exam with 120 credits, so the exam-eligibility side is unchanged. The CPA exam itself is still the four-section Uniform CPA Exam administered through Prometric, and the score-release calendar is unchanged. The Colorado State Board of Accountancy retains licensure authority and continues to handle all applications, renewals, and CPE oversight. Initial license fees in Colorado remain at $100, with biennial renewal at $108. The state's 80-hour-per-2-year CPE requirement also remains in place. Existing Colorado CPAs do not need to take any action; their current licenses remain valid under whichever pathway they originally completed.
What Colorado Candidates Should Do Now
If you are planning to license in Colorado before January 1, 2027, you will need to complete the existing 150-credit pathway with one year of supervised experience. If you are graduating in spring or summer 2027 or later, all four pathways will be available to you, and the choice comes down to whether you have already completed a fifth year of college, are willing to substitute additional work experience for that fifth year, or are pursuing a master's degree. The Colorado Society of CPAs (COCPA) supported the legislation through both chambers and is publishing implementation guidance over the coming months. For candidates still deciding on a CPA review course, the reduced credit pathway may free up time and budget that would have gone toward additional coursework. The Colorado State Board of Accountancy handles all licensure applications and can answer questions about how SB 26-076 applies to specific situations at (303) 894-7800. We have updated our Colorado CPA requirements page with the full breakdown of all four pathways, including coursework, experience requirements, and effective dates.
Sources
- 1.COCPA — CPA Licensure Modernization Signed Into Law(accessed May 13, 2026)
- 2.Colorado General Assembly — SB26-076(accessed May 13, 2026)
- 3.Colorado State Board of Accountancy(accessed May 13, 2026)
Brennan Kolar
Founder, Atlas CPA Index
Brennan Kolar is the founder of Atlas CPA Index, an independent CPA review comparison platform covering all 55 U.S. jurisdictions. With over 10 years of experience with CPA review, he built Atlas to help candidates find the right review course based on how they actually learn, not which provider has the biggest ad budget.
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