North Carolina CPA License Reinstatement: What a Lapsed License Costs
If your North Carolina CPA license has already lapsed
What it actually takes to get a lapsed North Carolina CPA license back —
the fee, the catch-up CPE, and exactly what triggers "lapsed" in the first place. Sourced the same
way every fact on this site is: a board page plus the codified rule itself, never a guess.
Verified
Reinstatement Fee
$100
Reissuance-of-forfeited-certificate application fee (21 NCAC 08J .0106(b)(1)), 'plus penalties' per the Board's own fee schedule -- no primary-law source ties a specific extra dollar figure to routine late-renewal forfeiture, so treat as a floor, not a hard ceiling.
Catch-Up CPE Required
- 40 CPE hours 40 CPE hours completed in the 12 months immediately preceding the reinstatement application (21 NCAC 08J .0106(b)(3)) -- the same total as one year's ordinary renewal, not extra hours. NC does not require make-up CPE for years spent forfeited.
- 8 ethics hours, within that total.
Source of record
21 NCAC 08J .0106 (Forfeiture of Certificate and Reissuance), with 21 NCAC 08J .0101/.0105(c), 21 NCAC 08F .0504, and N.C. Gen. Stat. § 93-12(15)/(7a)/(9)
read the rule →
What triggers lapsed status: License is FORFEITED if not renewed by July 1, the Board mails a demand letter, and renewal (application + CPE + fee) still isn't completed within 30 days of that letter's mailing date.
Last verified: 2026-07-25 · checked against the state's codified
statute or administrative rule, not just a board webpage — if we can't verify a date against
primary law, we say so instead of guessing (
see how we verify every
deadline). Always confirm with the
official state board before relying on this date. License
requirements and deadlines can change.
See North Carolina's CPA license renewal deadline →
How many CPE hours does North Carolina require? →
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