How to transfer your Accountant licence to Tennessee (2026)

Accountant work in Tennessee is licensed at state level, by the Tennessee Board of Accountancy. This page says what a accountant licensed or working in another state has to do to work in Tennessee, in the order to do it, and what goes wrong when the order is reversed.

How the transfer works

Bookkeepers and non-CPA accountants are not licensed. CPAs have substantial equivalency in every state, which means a CPA licensed in one state can practise in Tennessee under mobility without a second licence, and applies for a Tennessee licence by reciprocity when Tennessee becomes the principal place of business.

Exam: CPA exam, taken once.

How long: four to eight weeks for reciprocity. Fee: $100 to $300; the current figure is on the licensing body's own site.

What to have ready before you move

• Licence verification
• CPA exam score transfer through NASBA
• Continuing education record

Start the paperwork before you give notice. Every week the licence is not done is a week you are not paid, and nothing in the process needs you to be in Tennessee already.

What people get wrong

• Assuming mobility covers a firm; firm registration is separate

Who hires accountants in Tennessee

Accountants in Tennessee are hired by public accounting firms, corporate finance departments, government and non-profits. The metros with the most of that work are Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga. Employers who could not hire locally and have filed with the Department of Labor are on the Tennessee openings page.

For the money side: the median accountant in Tennessee earned $75,500 a year ($36 an hour) in May 2024 across 26,890 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Tennessee has no state income tax on wages. What that leaves you after tax is its own page.

Everything about Tennessee, on one page

The Tennessee page has the registries and boards, the income tax table, the programs that pay you to come and the openings filed this month. If you know which state you are leaving, the move pages compare the two directly. Creating a free Workmerica profile with your trade and your destination puts you in front of Tennessee employers hiring from out of state.