Blog: Licensing

Most CPAs who work across state lines do not need a second licence. Many of their firms do need a second registration, and that is the distinction that causes the trouble.

Get the two apart at the outset:

Mobility, or practice privilege, is an individual concept. A CPA holding a licence in good standing in their home state can generally practice in another state without obtaining a licence there, without notice, and without a ...

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Licensing:
Insurance Licensing for Accountants: Expanding Into Financial Services7/29/2026

Variable annuities and variable life insurance are securities as well as insurance products. Selling them requires an insurance licence and securities registration — typically a Series 6 or Series 7 with a sponsoring broker-dealer, plus the state securities requirement.

So an accountant who obtains a life licence has not thereby become able to sell variable products. Preparation for that side sits in the

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Licensing:
Securities Licensing for CPAs: Series 65 and Series 7 Explained7/20/2026

The question CPAs ask is "which securities licence do I need." The question that actually determines the answer is different:

How are you going to get paid?

Not what you want to advise on, not how sophisticated your clients are, and not which exam looks more impressive. Compensation structure determines the licence, and once you know the compensation structure the rest follows almost mechanically.

The Two Paths

Fee-based advice about

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Licensing:
What Happens After You Pass the CPA Exam? Licensing Steps Explained7/13/2026

Passing all four sections does not make you a CPA.

It is a reasonable assumption and it costs candidates months. There are typically three to five steps remaining, at least one of them takes considerably longer than the exam did, and several candidates discover a requirement at this stage that they could have satisfied a year earlier.

What Remains

The experience requirement, which is usually the longest remaining item and the one that derails

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