CFE vs CPA in 2027: Which Should You Earn First for Forensic Accounting?

CFE vs CPA is a credential against a license. The CFE shows fraud-specific training, and you can earn it without an accounting degree. The CPA is a state license built on education, experience and a four-section exam. For forensic work, plenty of people earn the CPA first and add the CFE, but if you’re coming from investigations or compliance, the CFE can be your starting point.

What Is the Difference Between the CFE and the CPA?

The CFE is a credential. The ACFE awards it after you meet its point rules, pass its three-section exam and agree to its Code of Professional Ethics. The exam covers fraud schemes and financial crimes, fraud investigations and legal issues, and fraud prevention and deterrence. The ACFE says it gives accountants the knowledge to detect and deter fraud, from weak accounting systems to unusual trends in financial data.

The CPA is a license. Your state board of accountancy grants it, and the exam is the same for every candidate while other requirements differ by jurisdiction. The exam covers auditing, financial reporting and taxation, plus a discipline section you choose.

That license carries legal weight. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) says any accountant who files a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) must be a licensed CPA. The CFE has no equivalent role.

The CFE also reaches past accounting. A CPA and CFE on the Another71 forum wrote in 2017 that “a CFE is not just for accountants,” and said people hold it in insurance fraud, loss prevention and anti-money laundering departments.

How Do the CFE and CPA Compare Side by Side?

The CFE and the CPA differ on who awards them, the education and experience they ask for, the exam and the fees.

What Does Each Exam Test?

The CFE exam tests one body of knowledge in three timed sections.

You can test from home with a remote proctor or at a Prometric center. Once you activate eligibility, you get a 60-day window to schedule and finish.

The CPA Exam is a 16-hour assessment: three four-hour Core sections, Auditing and Attestation, Financial Accounting and Reporting, and Taxation and Regulation. Then you add one four-hour Discipline section. Your choices are Business Analysis and Reporting, Information Systems and Controls, or Tax Compliance and Planning.

The CFE asks you to know fraud: how schemes work, how to investigate and interview, and how the law treats the results. The CPA asks you to know accounting deeply, and it asks for much more time. Neither is a substitute for the other. The ACFE says other certifications never award you the CFE automatically.

How Much Do the CFE and the CPA Cost?

The two cost structures don’t line up neatly, because the ACFE sets one national price and each state sets its own CPA fees.

Nebraska’s board lists a first-time total of $1,569.36 for the whole exam, which includes the $111 evaluation fee. That’s one state, so treat it as an example. Your board’s schedule is the one that counts.

On the CFE side, the ACFE posts membership dues in a dues calculator that depends on your situation. The ACFE’s continuing education page asks for at least 10 of the 20 yearly credits to relate to detecting and deterring fraud, and 2 to ethics.

One more cost note. The BLS says employers may pay the costs of the CPA exam. An auditor aiming for forensic work wrote on Reddit that their firm pays for CPA study materials and testing. Ask your employer what it funds before you pick a credential.

What Does the CPA 150-Hour Rule Mean for You?

The BLS says all states require 150 semester hours for CPA licensure, which is 30 more than a usual bachelor’s degree, and a master’s isn’t required to get there. The newer picture is more flexible. The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) now recognizes three model pathways:

Each state has to enact the new models itself, so dates vary. Check your state board before you plan your coursework, and use the AICPA’s roadmap for the general steps.

Several programs we track are built to serve both credentials. Of the 65 we follow, nine say they meet the 150-hour rule.

Carlow University’s online MS in Fraud and Forensics is a one-year program that prepares you for the CFE exam and qualifies you for the 150 hours the CPA exam asks for. The University at Albany’s MS in Forensic Accounting says it meets the 150-hour requirement for initial CPA licensure in New York and prepares you for fraud examination credentials once you hold the license.

York College of Pennsylvania’s online Master of Accounting in Fraud and Forensics prepares you for the CPA and the CFE, and the University of Scranton’s online Master of Accountancy with a forensic accounting specialization does the same. Master’s programs we track have a median cost of $775 a credit, so you can price your options.

If you’re starting from a bachelor’s, Southern New Hampshire University’s online BS in Accounting with a forensic accounting concentration lines its accounting core up with the Uniform CPA Examination and prepares you for the CFE. Purdue University Global’s accounting degree has a Forensic Accountancy concentration whose courses, the school says, may help support CFE preparation. Both give you a base you can build on later.

What Can Each Credential Do for Your Career?

The CPA is the one that carries legal authority. Beyond the SEC rule, the AICPA says the license can open doors to a wide range of careers and often leads to leadership roles. If your forensic work will touch reports filed with the SEC, you need it.

The CFE carries a different kind of weight. The ACFE says many employers encourage public accountants to hold the CFE, the CPA or similar credentials, and it frames the CFE as proof you can spot and follow up on fraud indicators. Per the Another71 forum, people hold it in insurance fraud, loss prevention and anti-money laundering work, whether or not they’re accountants.

A fair way to put it: the CPA is a license to practice, and the CFE is a signal of specialty. Neither one is a job offer, and neither one replaces experience.

How Do You Keep Each Credential?

Both ask for continuing education, but the rules differ. For the CFE, you need at least 20 CPE credits during each annual compliance period, and you pay your membership dues every year. For the CPA, the AICPA says that once you’re licensed you stay a CPA as long as you keep up continuing professional education and remain in good standing. Your state board sets the hours.

One CPA six years past the exam wrote on the Another71 forum in 2017 that the CPA was cheaper to maintain than the CFE, since the CFE brings yearly dues. That’s one person’s experience from an older thread, so check current dues and your state’s CPE rules yourself.

Do You Need a CPA to Work in Forensic Accounting?

Not always, and the people doing the work say so. A Big 4 forensic accountant on Reddit’s r/CFE wrote that “most of my managers only have CFEs,” and that if you only want forensic work the CFE may be all you need.

The same person added that a CPA opens more doors, and a dual holder on that thread said the CPA “is a much harder exam, but definitely worth it.”

The federal government treats the credentials as a set. The FBI lists the CPA, CFE or CFF as preferred certifications for forensic accountants. The BLS adds that many forensic accountants work closely with law enforcement and lawyers and often appear as expert witnesses. That kind of work leans toward the CPA and the Certified in Financial Forensics credential, which we cover in our CFF certification guide.

So think about what you’ll be doing on a Tuesday. Tracing embezzlement for a loss prevention team doesn’t need the same credential as testifying in a damages dispute.

Which Should You Earn First, the CFE or the CPA?

Match the credential to where you’re standing right now.

The ACFE says the CPA is on its list of approved certifications that earn 10 eligibility points. Those points can’t replace the fraud-related experience, so the CPA gives you a head start but not a shortcut.

Many forensic accountants end up with both. A CPA and CFE on the Another71 forum said it didn’t matter which came first, only that they had a purpose for getting both. Pick the one your next job needs, then add the other when the work calls for it. For the CFE side, see our CFE certification guide, the CFE exam guide and the CFE exam cost breakdown.

Does the CFE or the CPA Pay More?

No source compares them head to head, so be wary of anyone who says one pays a set amount more than the other. The ACFE’s 2024 Compensation Guide found that CFEs earn a 32% premium over colleagues who aren’t certified. That’s CFEs against non-certified peers, not against CPAs.

The AICPA makes a similar claim for its license, saying CPAs consistently earn more than non-certified accountants. The BLS reports pay for accountants and auditors as a whole, with a median of $83,680 in May 2025, but it doesn’t split out CPAs.

Each premium is measured against a different group, so don’t treat them as a ranking. For pay by role, see the CFE salary guide and forensic accountant career guide. To find programs that line up with the exam, compare the CFE exam prep programs, the Master of Accountancy programs with a forensic concentration and the master’s programs in forensic accounting.