Yes, if eligible. Living in France does not determine which board can approve you. Choose a US jurisdiction whose exam and licensing rules you can meet.
Your French education
Have your degrees and courses evaluated against the chosen state’s requirements.
Your state eligibility
Check education, residence, identification and international-testing participation.
Your future license
Check experience and verification rules before you pay for the exam route.
A concrete example: Washington
Its CPA Exam application has no state residency or Social Security number requirement. Foreign education must be evaluated by NIES. This makes it an option to investigate, not an automatic approval for every French degree.
Get a feel for the US exam. Try questions with worked explanations.Explore free questions
02
Application dates and exam dates are different
Apply
No single French intake date
Apply when your state’s file is ready. Evaluation and processing happen before you receive a Notice to Schedule (NTS).
Book
Your NTS has an expiry date
Book and sit within that validity period. It is separate from both the exam calendar and the expiry of passed-section credit.
2026 testing calendar
Seat availability applies
Core: AUD · FAR · REG Discipline: choose BAR, ISC or TCP
JanCoreDiscipline
FebCoreNo discipline
MarCoreNo discipline
AprCoreDiscipline
MayCoreNo discipline
JunCoreNo discipline
JulCoreDiscipline
AugCoreNo discipline
SepCoreNo discipline
OctCoreDiscipline
NovCoreNo discipline
DecCoreNo discipline
Core sections are available throughout the year. Discipline windows are January, April, July and October. Applications can be prepared outside those windows.
2026 Core exampleFile received by 30 SeptemberTarget score: 9 October
2026 Discipline exampleTest 1-31 OctoberTarget score: 15 December
NASBA’s list reviewed on 11 September 2026 does not include France. A Prometric center offering other exams is not proof that it offers the CPA Exam.
Start in FranceCompare these approved countries
Germany
Check CPA-specific centers and available appointments in Prometric.
England
Check CPA-specific centers and available appointments in Prometric.
Ireland / Scotland
Check CPA-specific centers and available appointments in Prometric.
1Receive your NTS
2Pay the international fee
3Wait at least 24 hours
4Schedule with Prometric
Compare appointment availability, travel costs and entry requirements before choosing a country. These are country options, not confirmed seats. NASBA registration steps · Find a CPA appointment
04
One US state board. Three different meanings of “credit.”
Your US jurisdiction assesses you even while you live in France. “Credits” can mean three very different things:
A
Education credits
Your French study is assessed for US degree equivalence, semester hours and required subjects. An ECTS total alone does not prove eligibility.
Evaluator + state boardB
Passed exam sections
The Uniform CPA Exam is the same exam across jurisdictions. Your board’s rules control how long passed sections stay valid.
Exam-credit recordC
Your professional license
A state issues your CPA license after all its requirements are met. A US state license does not automatically grant French practice rights.
Separate approval
Can I choose any state or combine credits from different states?
Choose a state you qualify for. If you later change jurisdiction, request an official score transfer and a review under the receiving board’s rules. Do not assume expired section credits, another state’s education evaluation or licensing approval will transfer automatically.
Washington currently requires 24 semester hours in accounting and 24 in business, alongside a qualifying degree. Its exam-credit window is 36 months from score release. Those are Washington rules, not a France-wide or US-wide standard. Verify the current rules
05
Your application document checklist
Prepare the file for your evaluator and US board. These are the core items; the board’s instructions determine the final submission.
Prepare your file
A preparation checklist, not an eligibility decision. Resets when you leave the page.
Bring your valid NTS and the identification required by the current Candidate Guide and your international appointment instructions. Check the name match and ID validity before travelling.
Passing the exam is a milestone. Licensure is a separate step.
Build the license plan before your first exam. Passing all four sections does not, by itself, make you a licensed CPA.
1
Pass the exam
Pass AUD, FAR and REG plus one Discipline within your board’s credit rules.
2
Meet the education pathway
Complete any additional education needed for the license, even if you were already eligible to test.
3
Document qualifying experience
Record the work, duration, competencies and verifier your state requires. Work in France needs to meet those same rules.
4
Complete ethics and apply
Submit the required ethics result, experience verification, other forms and fees to the licensing authority.
5
Receive and maintain the license
Wait for board approval before claiming licensed status. Meet renewal, continuing education and any applicable practice rules.
Example: what Washington requires after the exam
Washington pathways, reviewed September 2026. Each requires an accounting concentration or equivalent.
Education route
Minimum experience
Bachelor’s degree (US equivalent)
24 months + 4,000 hours
Postgraduate degree (US equivalent)
12 months + 2,000 hours
Bachelor’s + 30 semester hours
12 months + 2,000 hours This route expires 31 December 2035.
These are evaluated university degrees, not the French baccalauréat. A qualifying verifier must meet Washington’s active-CPA and five-year licensing rules. A French Expert-Comptable credential alone should not be assumed to meet that verifier requirement. Plan the verification of French work experience before relying on it.
Washington also requires at least 90% on a course covering the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct. Additional continuing education applies if more than four years have elapsed since passing the exam.
Working in France under a US qualification: employer recognition is different from regulated practice rights. Check the Ordre’s foreign-qualification process if your goal is French public practice. French recognition rules
Is there demand for US CPAs in France?
There are French roles that value US CPA skills. The evidence below separates actual credential wording from the wider accounting job market.
Employer evidence · 11 September 2026
A small Paris job-posting sample
2 distinct postings · 1 employer · not a France-wide census
1explicitly prefers US CPA
1prefers CPA, country unspecified
0requires US CPA specifically in this sample
CFGI · Paris, France
Finance & Accounting Advisory - Manager
US CPA explicitly desirable
Listed alongside DEC, DSCG and Chartered Accountant; 4-6+ years of relevant experience.
These are examples of advertised preferences, not a count of all open US CPA jobs. A posting may recruit more than one person or close after review. No comparable historical US CPA sample is available here, so a US CPA hiring growth rate is not reported.
The wider French accounting market, 2022-2025
Market context only: these Apec figures count French job ads for accounting occupations. They do not measure US CPA demand, unique vacancies or a salary premium.
17,800accountant ads in 2025
-13% vs 2024
Annual job ads on apec.fr · Comptable
21,230
2022
20,480
2023
20,500
2024
17,800
2025
Source: Apec, 2026 edition, p. 29. Bar scale adjusts to the selected role; every bar starts at zero.
View all figures in a table
Apec annual ads, France. These counts do not identify US CPA requirements.
Role
2022
2023
2024
2025
Accountant
21,230
20,480
20,500
17,800
Accounting manager
6,350
7,470
6,280
5,420
Accounting director
940
700
760
820
Use the two views together.
The Apec series shows how the broader market changed. The employer examples show where CPA credentials appear. Neither promises a job; compare the experience, language and accounting standards in roles you actually want.
Your next study step
See what the US CPA Exam asks you to do.
Try questions with explanations, then build a study plan around the sections and concepts you need to learn.
CPAPass helps you prepare. Your evaluator, board and Prometric handle eligibility, licensure and scheduling.
Quick answers to common questions
Can I apply while living in France?
Yes, if you meet your selected US jurisdiction’s rules. France is where you live; the US state board decides exam eligibility and licensure. For example, Washington has no state residency or Social Security number requirement for its CPA Exam application.
Can I take the US CPA Exam in Paris?
France is not on NASBA’s international CPA testing-country list reviewed on 11 September 2026. Consider an approved site in Germany, England, Ireland or Scotland, subject to Prometric availability and your travel eligibility.
Does a French DEC let me skip the US CPA Exam?
The French Ordre is not on NASBA’s current mutual recognition agreement list. A DEC alone does not provide an IQEX shortcut. A separate qualifying membership could change your route.
Do ECTS credits automatically become US semester hours?
No automatic eligibility decision follows from an ECTS total. A board-approved evaluator assesses the degree, US-equivalent hours and accounting and business subjects for your chosen jurisdiction.
Can I use a US CPA license to practise as an Expert-Comptable in France?
A US CPA license does not automatically grant French practice rights. Foreign-qualification recognition and Ordre registration are separate French processes; check the route that applies to your nationality and qualifications.
Sources & review notes
Requirements and employer postings reviewed on 11 September 2026. Apec’s 2026 report contains annual ad counts through 2025. Confirm current rules and seats with the linked authorities before applying.
The employer sample includes two distinct CFGI Paris posting IDs with visible job descriptions and application links at review. Duplicate URLs and query-string variants count once. One explicitly names US CPA; the other says CPA without specifying the jurisdiction. Both describe a preference among alternatives, not a US CPA requirement.
This is a convenience sample from one employer. Search-result totals, unrelated uses of “CPA,” US-located jobs at French employers, and unverified remote-location claims are not counted. Annual Apec data is displayed separately and is never added to the sample.