State Updates
Texas and California Both Rewrote CPA Licensing: SB 262 vs AB 1175 (Jul 2026)
The two largest CPA markets both replaced the strict 150-credit rule with a 120-credit plus two-year experience path. The dates and details differ, and California phases in over three years.
Published July 15, 20267 min readVerified as of July 15, 2026
Two Big States, Two New Laws
Texas and California, the two largest CPA markets in the country, both passed laws in 2025 that open a 120-credit route to licensure and shift toward individual mobility. Texas did it through Senate Bill 262, with the new pathway becoming available to applicants on August 1, 2026. California did it through Assembly Bill 1175, which phases in over three years. Neither bill has a single clean effective date, which is where candidates get confused.
Texas SB 262: A New 120-Hour Pathway
Texas SB 262 adds a licensure pathway requiring a bachelor's degree with an accounting concentration, passing the CPA exam, and two years of experience. The statute itself became effective September 1, 2025, the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy adopted the implementing rules effective October 10, 2025, and the pathway becomes available to applicants on August 1, 2026. Under the board rules, this route requires at least 120 semester hours, including 21 upper-level accounting hours and an ethics course, plus the two years of experience. Texas handled mobility in a separate 2025 law, SB 522, which preserves individual practice privilege for out-of-state CPAs and took effect September 1, 2025.
California AB 1175: A Split Timeline
California AB 1175, signed October 3, 2025, is more complicated because its pieces take effect on different dates. The mobility changes take effect January 1, 2026, moving California to a no-notice practice-privilege model where an out-of-state CPA with a current, active, unrestricted license can practice in the state. The new education and licensure requirements become operative January 1, 2027. The old 150-unit education rule stays valid as a transition track through December 31, 2028 and is repealed January 1, 2029, so from 2029 on only the new requirements qualify.
The Common Thread
Both states did the same core thing: they removed the 150-credit-hour requirement and raised the experience requirement to two years in exchange. California's new standard is a qualifying bachelor's degree with an accounting concentration plus two years of experience, up from one year under the old rule, with a master's degree able to substitute for a year. Texas built its 120-hour figure into the board rules rather than the statute. The trade is consistent across the country: less time in a classroom, more time doing supervised work.
What Candidates Should Do
If you are licensing in either state, the timing dictates which rules apply to you, so check the exact operative dates before you plan your credits. For the full state breakdowns, see our Texas CPA requirements and California CPA requirements pages. For how these fit the national shift, see our 120-credit pathway tracker and our explainer on individual CPA mobility.
Sources
- 1.Texas State Board of Public Accountancy — Notice of Senate Bill 262(accessed Jul 15, 2026)
- 2.Texas Legislature — SB 262 Bill Analysis (89R)(accessed Jul 15, 2026)
- 3.California Legislature — AB 1175 Bill Text (2025-2026)(accessed Jul 15, 2026)
- 4.California Board of Accountancy — California Legislation(accessed Jul 15, 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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