For accounting professionals considering their next career step, a common question is whether to pursue an MBA, become a CPA or eventually earn both credentials. A CPA is a state-issued professional license that supports work requiring CPA authority, while an MBA develops broader business knowledge and leadership skills that can support management and strategic roles.
Choosing an MBA, CPA licensure or both depends on your career goals. This guide compares the credentials, their requirements and the types of roles each may support. It also explains how Southern Oregon University’s online Master of Business Administration with a Concentration in Accounting can help professionals build business and accounting knowledge and what additional coursework is needed to pursue CPA licensure.
MBA vs CPA: Understanding the Key Differences
Understanding the choice begins with recognizing that a CPA is a professional license and an MBA is a graduate degree. State boards of accountancy license CPAs after candidates meet jurisdiction-specific education, examination, experience and other requirements. CPA licensure is required for certain audit and attest services and for accountants who file reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission. CPAs also have unlimited representation rights before the IRS, although attorneys and enrolled agents have the same level of representation rights.
An MBA is a graduate academic degree focused on areas such as business strategy, leadership and decision-making. SOU’s accounting concentration adds coursework in accounting information systems, financial statement analysis and business valuation. The MBA with a Concentration in Accounting does not by itself qualify graduates to sit for the CPA exam. At least five additional courses (the Certificate in Accounting) are required before a candidate can sit for the exam. The path to CPA licensure varies by jurisdiction. In May 2025, AICPA and NASBA added an optional model pathway requiring a bachelor’s degree with an accounting concentration, two years of experience and passage of the Uniform CPA Examination.
The pathway does not apply automatically; each jurisdiction must adopt it before candidates can use it. Existing model pathways include a post-baccalaureate degree with an accounting concentration plus one year of experience, or a bachelor’s degree with an accounting concentration, 30 additional credits and one year of experience. Candidates should confirm current requirements with the state board where they plan to become licensed.
SOU’s online MBA with a Concentration in Accounting requires 45 quarter credit hours and can be completed in as few as 16 months. The program page lists total tuition of $19,350, excluding required fees. Tuition and fees are subject to change.
The time and expense required for CPA licensure depend on a candidate’s prior education, chosen jurisdiction, exam preparation and experience. SOU’s MBA follows a defined 45-quarter-credit curriculum, although completion time can vary by course load. Because the Certificate in Accounting coursework is required in addition to the MBA, candidates pursuing both should factor those extra courses into their time and cost estimates. Professionals should compare their career goals, current qualifications, schedules and total expected expenses before choosing either path.
What Is a CPA and Who Should Pursue Licensure?
A CPA in accounting is a licensed professional who has met a state board’s education and experience requirements and passed the CPA exam, granting the legal authority to perform services that non-licensed accountants cannot, including signing audit opinions, issuing attest reports and representing clients before tax authorities. That combination of technical mastery and public trust is why the CPA accounting credential remains the standard for anyone practicing in public accounting, regardless of firm size or specialty.
The CPA path makes the most sense for accountants who want to work in audit, assurance or taxes at a public accounting firm, or who want the flexibility to start their own practice someday. It’s also the right call for anyone whose long-term goal involves a role that legally requires the license, since no amount of business acumen substitutes for it. Under NASBA’s updated framework, candidates can now qualify through a post-baccalaureate degree with an accounting concentration plus one year of experience, a bachelor’s degree plus 30 additional credits and one year of experience, or, where state legislation has caught up, a bachelor’s degree with an accounting concentration plus two years of experience.
When an MBA in Accounting Makes More Sense Than a CPA
An MBA makes more sense for accountants whose goals point away from public accounting practice and toward broader business leadership. Roles like financial planning and analysis manager, corporate controller or eventually CFO reward the strategic thinking, cross-functional communication and decision-making frameworks that an MBA curriculum is built around, skills that a technical CPA credential alone doesn’t teach. An accountant who has spent several years closing the books, for example, may find that the biggest gap in their next promotion isn’t technical accuracy but the ability to present a budget variance to executives and recommend what to do about it, exactly the kind of skill an MBA is designed to build.
For those comparing accounting CPA salary data before choosing a path, the earnings numbers reflect that difference in emphasis. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for accountants and auditors was $83,680 as of May 2025, with employment projected to grow 5% between 2025 and 2035. MBA graduates, meanwhile, are seeing strong starting compensation on the business side: the Graduate Management Admission Council’s 2025 Corporate Recruiters Survey found that the median U.S. MBA starting salary in 2025 is projected to run about $5,000 higher than the prior year’s estimated $120,000, a real increase even after accounting for inflation. For accountants aiming at management or executive tracks rather than licensed public practice, that business-focused earning trajectory is often the more direct path.
Can You Earn Both an MBA and a CPA?
For many accounting professionals, the strongest career case isn’t MBA vs CPA at all; it’s both. A CPA license establishes the technical credibility that clients, auditors and boards expect, while an MBA adds the strategic and leadership training that opens the door to senior finance and executive roles. Controllers and CFOs frequently hold both, using the CPA to anchor their accounting authority and the MBA to support the broader business decisions required for the role.
Pursuing both is possible with some planning. SOU’s MBA with a Concentration in Accounting does not by itself qualify graduates to sit for the CPA exam. At least five additional courses (the Certificate in Accounting) are required first, and requirements vary by jurisdiction. Candidates who want both credentials can plan the MBA and the additional accounting coursework together, but they should confirm with their state board of accountancy how each course counts toward CPA requirements. An MBA with a concentration in accounting builds business and accounting knowledge, and it’s worth weighing alongside the CPA path before treating the two credentials as an either-or decision.
Consider a staff accountant who already holds a CPA license and handles the technical side of the close process without issue. The next step, a controller role, requires something the CPA alone doesn’t provide: the ability to build a departmental budget, defend it to leadership and decide where to cut spending when the numbers come in short. That’s the gap an MBA closes, and it’s why so many accountants pursuing controller or CFO tracks eventually add one to a CPA they already hold, rather than choosing between the two credentials permanently.
See how Southern Oregon University’s online MBA in Accounting fits your goals as you weigh the value of an MBA, a CPA or both.
About Southern Oregon University
Southern Oregon University is a public liberal arts university based in Ashland, Oregon, and one of Oregon’s public universities. SOU is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, and its School of Business holds accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP). ACBSP accreditation indicates that the School of Business has met the organization’s accreditation standards.
For accounting professionals weighing an MBA, a CPA or both, SOU’s online format removes the biggest practical barrier: the ability to keep working while completing the degree. Courses run in accelerated seven-week terms with multiple start dates throughout the year and no GMAT or GRE requirement, so working accountants can build the business and accounting skills their next step requires on a timeline that fits around their current job.
