Tennessee CPA License Reinstatement: What a Lapsed License Costs

If your Tennessee CPA license has already lapsed

What it actually takes to get a lapsed Tennessee 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.

Reinstatement Fee

$250

Board's reinstatement page states a $250 application fee for reinstatement of an expired individual or firm license.

Catch-Up CPE Required

80 CPE hours 80 hours in technical fields of study, all earned within the 6 months immediately preceding the reinstatement application -- explicitly labeled 'penalty hours' that cannot be applied toward subsequent renewal CPE.
2 ethics hours, within that total.

Source of record Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0020-01-.08(6)-(7) (delinquent vs. expired, late fee); 0020-05-.03(6) (80-hour penalty CPE incl. 2 ethics hours) read the rule →

Sourcing note: The $250 reinstatement application fee is stated clearly on the Board's own page, but couldn't be located verbatim in any codified rule reachable this pass (only the separate $100 delinquent/late-renewal fee is codified) -- it may be set by a fee schedule outside the CE/licensing chapters checked. Recommend a manual check with the board if you want the fee confirmed against a published rule.

What triggers lapsed status: A license is 'delinquent' from 1 day to 6 months past its biennial expiration date ($100 late fee applies). Once more than 6 months past expiration, the license is deemed expired, triggering the reinstatement process above.

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 Tennessee's CPA license renewal deadline →

How many CPE hours does Tennessee require? →

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