JonboyE

I have tried to find the answers to these on-line, but failed. Honest.

Assuming you have the pre-requisite credits and hours of study you can apply to any State to become a CPA and take the national exams. Once you have passed the exams you have to fulfill that State's requirements before you are issued a license. I have looked at many State's requirements and they all seem to require a minimum of one year's experience working under the supervision of a licensed CPA. This makes it quite difficult for a foreigner to gain a CPA license.

I have two questions if anyone knows the answer:

1 Are there any States that do not have this experience requirement?

2 If you pass the national CPA exams, can you use the CPA designation, even though you are not licensed to practice in any State?

JAJ

1. Illinois, Colorado and (perhaps) Florida are the states that come to mind that don't have an experience requirement for those with "150 hours" (5 years university education). If you become a CPA in Illinois or Florida this way you don't get a license, just a certificate (but you can still call yourself a CPA).

None of the three states above require state residence or U.S. citizenship.

If you want to get foreign experience accepted, some states may accept experience attested to by an overseas qualified professional. Try Georgia, Oregon, Washington, New Hampshire, Vermont and Delaware. If you have less than 5 years university equivalent education, then NH, VT and DE are probably the main options, plus Colorado.


2. Absolutely not. You need to be a CPA (licence or certificate) in at least one U.S. state or territory. And even then you need to be careful about using the designation in general as many states do not like "out of state" CPAs using the "CPA" designation within their state borders.


If you are a Canadian CA (by examination) you should have a simplified route to becoming a U.S. CPA.

JonboyE

Nope, Canadian CGA unfortunately. But thank you for the information. It looks like my friend in Chicago will be seeing more of me than he thought in the next year or so.

JAJ

Not totally sure what you mean by this but since the Uniform CPA Exam went computer based, you do not have to sit the exam in the state of which you are a candidate. So you could sit for the Uniform CPA as a Florida candidate at a test center in Washington state.

As you say you're a CGA you must have a degree and some professional study - depending on circumstances, it might be enough to meet some states 150 hour rules.

The alternative is to become an ACCA (U.K.) by mutual recognition, and use your ACCA status to apply to sit for the CPA exam as a Colorado candidate (ACCA members are automatically eligible in Colorado). You'd still have to meet Colorado's requirements for license afterwards - 1 year public accounting work experience or 150 hours total education in specific areas - to get fully qualified as a CPA. If you pass the exam as a Colorado candidate you can apply to transfer your credit to another state.

Presumably you're a Canadian citizen or otherwise admissible to the U.S. - some CPA candidates find their exam plans ending at the border where they are refused entry through not having a U.S. tourist visa.

You should be aware that if you become a U.S. CPA while living in Canada, most if not all provincial (Canadian) CA institutes will not allow you to become a CA by mutual recognition.

Foreign CA institutes such as Australia (and perhaps Ireland) that recognise CPAs won't have a problem as long as you can show 3 years work experience and have a practising licence (certificate is not enough).

JonboyE

I was being a little flippant (not a great idea on the internet I agree) as I know I can sit the exams in any State. As well as the CGA designation I have a Diploma in Management and an MBA. The Diploma and MBA are from a UK university so I will need to submit these for assessment. However, I am hoping between them all they will be accepted as the equivalent of 150 hours of study.

I don’t intend to practice as a public accountant in the US, so the State I am licensed in really doesn’t matter.

I am a Canadian citizen now and intend to remain in Canada. Without going into too much detail the business plan I am working on is a consultancy to help foreign companies establish a business presence in North America. My partners are either US Citizens or PRs. I know I can do all I need to do from an office in Canada but as most of our clients will be looking to the US I think a CPA designation is important. Whether on not I have the designation I will need to make sure I have a way to keep my knowledge of US tax and Commercial Code up-to-date.

Do you have any experience of Becker CPA courses? They seem to cover the material I will need Uniform CPA exam, but I have yet to meet anyone who has graduated through them.

Once again, thank you for your knowledge and help.

smithkline

I have plans to sit for US CPA, and had done a lot of browsing. The
informations collected, i would like to share, which i believe would be useful for those planning to sit for US CPA. An attachment about experience requirement, licensing requirement, inter-state equivalent conditions, etc. is available. Hope, it is useful.

JonboyE

Thankyou smithkline - this is useful information.

angellyc

Hello Everyone,

I have met many people who have graduated from Becker CPA. JonboyE, you're form Vancouver? I know for a fact they have a rep in Vancouver since they hold live classes there. I can find her name & # if you want.

Smithkline, the IQEX is only good if you're a CA who wants to take the CPA. FOr CGA's, they would have to take the normal route. Fortunately, there are many states that have a 2-tiered system (you can use the designation without having to get the license). Are you a Canadian CA?