Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. In the United States, the CPA is a license awarded by each of the 50 states for practicing as a CPA in that geographic region. Although state licensing requirements vary, the requirements include the passing of the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination, college level academic education, continuing professional education (CPE), and experience requirements. Individuals who have been awarded the CPA but have lapsed in the fulfillment of the required CPE or have requested to be converted to inactive status are in many states permitted to use the designation "CPA Inactive" or an equivalent phrase. In most U.S. states, only CPAs are legally able to provide to the public attestation (including auditing) opinions on financial statements. Many CPAs are members of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and their state CPA society. In many circumstances, a CPA licensed in one state is prohibited from using the CPA designation in a second state until a license or certificate from the second state is obtained. State licensing requirements vary widely. To illustrate, Texas prohibits the use of the designations "accountant" and "auditor" by a person not certified as a Texas CPA, unless that person is a CPA in another state, is a non-resident of Texas, and otherwise meets the requirements for practice in Texas by out-of-state CPA firms and practitioners. Many other countries also use the title CPA to designate local public accountants.

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