1. A. An applicant for a certificate shall complete the application form provided by the board and demonstrate to the board's satisfaction that the applicant:

   1. (1) is of good moral character and lacks a history of dishonest or felonious acts; and
   2. (2) meets the education, accounting experience and examination requirements of the board.
2. B. The board may refuse to grant a certificate on the ground that the applicant failed to satisfy the requirement of good moral character.

3. C. The education requirement for examination shall be:

   1. (1) a baccalaureate degree or its equivalent from a college or university acceptable to the board plus completion of an additional thirty semester hours of higher education in accounting or business;
   2. (2) a baccalaureate degree from a college or university acceptable to the board with a concentration in accounting or business; or
   3. (3) a master's degree from a college or university acceptable to the board with a concentration in accounting or business.

4. D. The education and accounting experience requirement for a certificate shall be:

   1. (1) a baccalaureate degree or its equivalent from a college or university acceptable to the board plus completion of an additional thirty semester hours of higher education in accounting or business and evidence of at least one year of accounting experience;
   2. (2) a baccalaureate degree from a college or university acceptable to the board with a concentration in accounting or business and evidence of at least two years of accounting experience; or
   3. (3) a master's degree from a college or university acceptable to the board with a concentration in accounting or business and evidence of at least one year of accounting experience.
5. E. The examination for certification shall be offered continuously via a computer-based testing system at a designated testing center and shall test an applicant's knowledge of the subjects of accounting and auditing and other related subjects as prescribed by the board. The board shall prescribe the method of applying for the examination and the dissemination of scores, and it shall rely on the American institute of certified public accountants for the grading of the examination. The board may use all or any part of the uniform certified public accountant examination services of the national association of state boards of accountancy to perform administrative services with respect to the examination. The board or its designee shall report all eligibility and score data to the national candidate database, and it shall, to the extent possible, provide that the passing scores are uniform with passing scores of other states.
6. F. An applicant must pass all sections of the examination to qualify for a certificate. A passing scaled score for each section shall be seventy-five percent. Sections may be taken individually and in any order. Credit for any section passed shall be valid for thirty months from the date the passing score is released to the applicant, without having to attain a minimum score on any failed test section and without regard to whether the applicant has taken other test sections. An applicant must pass all four test sections within a continuous thirty-month period, which begins on the date that the first passing scores are released to the applicant. If all four test sections are not passed within the continuous thirty-month period, credit for any test section passed outside the thirty-month period will expire, and that test section must be retaken.
7. G. An applicant shall be given credit for examination sections passed in another state if such credit would have been given in New Mexico.
8. H. The board may waive or defer requirements of this section regarding the circumstances in which sections of the examination must be passed, upon a showing that, by reason of circumstances beyond the applicant's control, the applicant was unable to meet the requirement.

History: Laws 1999, ch. 179, § 8; 2004, ch. 34, § 2; 2008, ch. 30, § 2; 2020, ch. 27, § 1; 2023, ch. 85, § 26; 2025, ch. 105, § 2.

ANNOTATIONS

Delayed repeals. — For delayed repeal of this section, see 61-28B-29 NMSA 1978.

The 2025 amendment, effective January 1, 2026, amended the education requirements for examination and certification as a certified public accountant, increased the time that examination sections that have been passed are valid, increased the time period within which all four test sections must be passed for certification, and removed a provision related to required work experience; in Subsection C, in the introductory clause, after the colon, deleted "a baccalaureate degree or its equivalent conferred by a college or university acceptable to the board, with thirty semester hours in accounting or the equivalent as determined by the board. An applicant for a certificate shall have at least one hundred fifty semester hours of college education or its equivalent earned at a college or university acceptable to the board" and added Paragraphs C(1) through C(3); added a new Subsection D and redesignated former Subsections D through G as Subsections E through H, respectively; in Subsection F, after "valid for" changed "eighteen" to "thirty", and deleted "eighteen-month" and added "thirty-month" preceding each occurrence of "period"; and deleted former Subsection H.

The 2023 amendment, effective July 1, 2023, adjusted the length of time an applicant for a certificate as a certified public accountant has to pass all parts of the certification examination; and in Subsection E, after "Credit for any section passed shall be valid for eighteen months from the", deleted "actual", after "date the", deleted "applicant took that section" and added "passing score is released to the applicant", and after "which begins on the date that the first", deleted "section passed is taken" and added "passing scores are released to the applicant".

The 2020 amendment, effective May 20, 2020, required the New Mexico public accountancy board to offer examination for certification as a certified public accountant continuously via a computer-based testing system at a designated testing center, and removed certain limitations on testing; in Subsection C, deleted "After July 1, 2008"; in Subsection D, after "shall be offered", added "continuously", and after "testing system", deleted "at least four times per year at a designated testing center" and added "at a designated testing center"; in Subsection E, after "in any order", deleted "An applicant may not take a failed test section within the same three-month examination window."; and deleted former Subsections F and G, which provided for credit for portions of the certificate examination, and redesignated the succeeding subsections accordingly.

The 2008 amendment, effective May 14, 2008, deleted former Subsection C and added a new Subsection C.

The 2004 amendment, effective March 2, 2004, rewrote Subsections D and E to provide for the examination to be offered four times a year by a computer-based testing system instead of at least twice a year and to change the number time period for passing all four sections of the exam, added new Subsections F, G and H and redesignated former Subsections G and H as Subsections I and J.