California CPA license lookup.

What the record shows

The CBA says you may use the lookup to determine whether a person or firm is currently authorized to practise public accounting in California, and that all information available through the search is public. A found record lists name, licence type and number, status, experience completed, expiration and issue dates, address of record and whether there are disciplinary actions or licence restrictions. Searches for a name only work under the present name, so a CPA who changed names needs to be searched under the current one or by number.

What a "yes" for discipline leads to

The Details link goes to the CBA Public Enforcement Documents. The board says these contain summaries, accusations and final decision orders for decisions since July 1, 1993 for licences revoked or surrendered and for licensees with restrictions, and for decisions taking effect on or after January 1, 2005 that placed a licence on probation. Currently effective interim suspension orders and temporary restraining orders are also included.

The board also defines its terms. An accusation is a formal document that charges violations, and its charges are allegations, not a final determination of wrongdoing. Probation means the licensee may continue the activities that require a licence under specific terms and conditions. Read these terms before drawing a conclusion from a record.

When the lookup returns nothing

The CBA lists reasons a search can come back empty: the name is misspelled; you are searching for a CPA or firm when the person is actually an enrolled agent, a California Tax Education Council registrant or an attorney, who can provide tax services without being CPAs; or a city filter excluded the licensee because their mailing address with the CBA is not their office location. The board suggests broadening the search, asking for the licence number, and entering digits only.

If you cannot find someone who advertises or holds themselves out as a CPA, the board says they may be engaging in unlicensed activity and points to its Reporting Unlicensed Activity resources.

Out-of-state CPAs: no results is not a ban

California allows an individual whose principal place of business is not in California and who holds a valid licence from another state to practise, with limited exceptions, without a California licence. To qualify for this practice privilege they must have practised as a CPA in another state for at least four of the last 10 years, or come from a state the CBA lists in Regulations section 5.5 as substantially equivalent, or individually hold qualifications the CBA has found substantially equivalent.

The CBA states plainly that if a search of its records on an out-of-state licensed CPA returns no results, this does not mean the individual is not authorized to practise public accountancy in California. Its out-of-state search shows a California practice privilege status and says it does not confirm whether the person is authorized to exercise a practice privilege; for that it points to CPAverify and the person’s home licensing board. Under the Authorized to Practice status the CPA may practise but is not authorized to maintain an office or principal place of business in California.

A worked example (hypothetical)

A small business owner in Fresno is choosing an accountant who gives a licence number written as "CPA 123456". He searches the California licensed CPA tool using 123456 only, not the prefix. If the record is active with no discipline, the check is done. If nothing appears, he tries the out-of-state search, because the CPA may be licensed in Nevada with a practice privilege. He reads the status there and also checks the home state. No real person or number is described.

What this page does not cover

The CBA pages we read do not set out a licence-number format beyond the digits-only instruction, so this guide offers no number validator. Other states’ boards are not covered; see the national CPA guide for that. Firm registration rules for out-of-state firms (audits, reviews and some compilations for California-headquartered entities) are on the CBA page and are not repeated here.

Sources

Read November 1, 2026. Each page was opened and checked against the claim next to it.

• CBA License Lookup: search types, out-of-state practice privilege criteria and the no-results statement.
• CBA: What to Know About Your Search: record fields, public enforcement documents and enforcement definitions.
• CBA: Unable to Find a Licensee on License Lookup?: reasons for empty results, digits-only licence numbers and unlicensed activity.
• CBA out-of-state licensed CPA search: practice privilege statuses and what the search does not confirm.