<p>Can they be involved in permanent jobs like lawyers do?
After you pass the CPA exam, is that the benefit?
Also, is the CPA exam eligibility/requirements different for each state?</p>
<p>Cool0005, I will attemp to answer your questions:</p>
<p>Can they be involved in permanent jobs like lawyers do?</p>
<p>Response: I am not sure what you are asking. However, accountant certainly can have their own practice and become partners as lawyers.
The type of work may differ ,but the opportunities are boundless if you are good at what you do.</p>
<p>After you pass the CPA exam, is that the benefit?</p>
<p>Response: The CPA is generally the highest level an accountant aspires to. However, it depends on what your goals are. There are new designations for differing goals. For example, if you want to audit fraud , there is a new type of designation and exam for Certified Fraud Auditor. If you want to go into management accounting, there is the Certified Management Accounting exam. There may even be more. However, generally, the CPA has traditionally been deemed the highest of the certifications for accountants.</p>
<p>Also, is the CPA exam eligibility/requirements different for each state?
Response: There may be some slight differences,but to my knowledge the overall requirements are very similar. Most schools adhere to the miniumum requirements set forth by the State Boards of Accounting. Thus, most accounting curriculums are very similar. You should be aware that accounting is a very regimented curriculum. It is also a very tough major. Don't be fooled that it is usually found with the business school curriculum. I majored in accounting and minored in physics, and I found accounting almost as hard as physics! In fact, some of the basic thought processes, problem solving skills etc. are the same as what you would find in sucessful physics students.</p>
<p>Moreover, accounting is a "weed out" profession. Many schools try to flunk out half or more of the students from the major. If that doesn't work, you need 5 years of study to be able to sit for the CPA exam plus at least, in most states, two years of experience. Finally, the exam itself is designed to weed out students. The CPA exam has a 10% pass rate,which is the lowest, to my knowledge, among all professional exams. You can retake the exam and pass several parts at a time,which is the more normal route,but it still is a very hard test.</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>In terms of permanent jobs, do you mean working as a permanent staff member of a non-accounting business? Such as when a lawyer is an in-house employee for a manufacturing? I'm a little confused by that, too. But, if so, the answer is yes. You can do lots of different things, such as being self-employed, working for a public accounting firm, working for a private firm or working for the government.</p>
<p>Taxguy summed up the CPA exam rather well. You don't need it for basic accounting jobs; however, many positions are going to require it. At my university, students will graduate with a business degree (with a concentration in accounting) and take the CPA exam over the summer before they start working in September at a public accounting firm. Whether or not you take the exam depends on your career path, school, etc., but it's highly recommended.</p>
<p>The requirements do vary from state to state, but all states require you to have 150 credit hours of education (which, at my school, is an undergrad degree + a summer's worth of courses). The type of classes may differ slightly. You usually don't need work experience to sit for the exam, but you need it to be certified to perform audits on your own.</p>
<p>My understanding is that the exam traditionally had a 20% pass rate; however, under the new rules, the pass rate has doubled to 40%.</p>
<p>Taxguy, what do you mean by "Don't be fooled that it is usually found with the business school curriculum."</p>
<p>Ryanbis, business school courses, especially those of business management, are traditionally deemed to be easier than that of other types of majors. This may not necessarily be true at some schools such as CMU etc.,but this is the general perception of faculty that I have spoken with (whether it be true or untrue in reality). However, accounting, as I noted, is as tough if not tougher than that of most other majors found in most universities.</p>
<p>I am also surprised that you note that the pass rate has doubled. Are you sure that the first time pass rate is now 40%? That seems very high in comparison to past exams.</p>
<p>I'll agree that accounting can be tough, but I wouldn't say that about business. For one, most larger schools (at least the ones I looked at) don't have an accounting major--you have a degree in business with a concentration in accounting (which, IMHO, is adventageous). While the general content of my non-accounting courses may have been easier, my accounting courses are not even comparable to the general required courses as a whole. You may lose a night's sleep cramming for an accounting exam; however, I can honestly say that my team and I did not sleep or shower for a week when wrapping up our Core project because of the time pressures. </p>
<p>So, while I wouldn't say you're wrong, I would say it highly depends on where you go.</p>
<p>I don't know if you're familiar with the new rules, but you no longer have to take all four parts at once--you have an 18 month window to pass the entire exam. I'm pretty sure the passing rate is per 18-month window. It's still a challenging exam, but studying for it is a bit easier now.</p>
<p>What does IMHO mean?(In My ? Opinion??)</p>
<p>Cool, I think it means "in my humble opinion"</p>
<p>"In my holy opinion" is much funnier :)</p>
<p>I also heard that all accountants starts off with the same salary and then work their way up. If that 's true, does that mean that the college/university you went to does not matter at all? That is, if you are doing accounting, can you go to a much cheaper college rather than an expensive one, and still come into the work force with the same position, salary, etc?</p>
<p>HCube, I believe that attending certain colleges such as Wharton and CMU will get you a high initial salary. However, it isn't that significant a difference in accounting as one would think. Actually, the more important correlation for starting pay is grades. Top grades from just about any school will get you better jobs and better pay in accounting. In fact, the Big 4 accounting firms,who are considered to pay among the best, won't even consider you if your overall average isn't at least 3.5 and should be higher in your major!</p>
<p>I used to help interview applicants for one of the top firms. I have never seen the firm make an offer to someone out of college with less than a 3.6 in their major and a 3.5 overall GPA and many had much higher GPAs. These firms charge very high fees to their clients under the rationale that they employ the best and brightest of the accounting graduates.</p>
<p>Very few biz majors major in mgt. Most go inot a functional area like accting, finance, marketing, etc. Mgt majors are in less demand and start lower than most biz majors from most ug schools.
Mgt classes might be easier than most but the rest of biz classes are fairly tough compared to typical liberal arts classes.</p>
<p>I would tend to agree with Barrons; however, some schools like CMU have very strong tough programs in all areas of business. They would, therefore, be an exception.</p>
<p>I am an accounting major (at my school there is a Business degree with emphasis in accounting track for students who just want to work as an accountant, and there is a straight Accounting major--my major--which prepares one for the CPA exam), and i back up taxguy's statements about the rigor of the program... For example, I spent about 3 hours a week doing homework for my Marketing class, and about 20 hours a week studying and preparing for my Intermediate Accounting class... Accounting is very tough, but I love the challenge.</p>
<p>The CPA exam requirements in my state also require that your bachelor's degree is from a school accredited by either AACSB or ACBSP. Thus, it does matter where you go to school if you want to be a CPA here.</p>
<p>"Very few biz majors major in mgt."</p>
<p>That is not really true. There are schools that only offer a business degree where you concentrate in an area (which is different from simply majoring in accounting). IMO, this is much more desirable than a straight accounting degree. I can also say that my management and strategy classes were much more involved than my functional area classes. Not all schools are have easy management classes.</p>
<p>Also, as someone who just went through the recruiting process, the school you went to and your GPA makes NO difference in terms of your starting salary. Neither will be mentioned once you get an interview. Both are important in terms of getting an interview, but, once you get one, they both are, essentially, irrelevant. If you want to be recruited by the Big 4, for instance, you need to (essentially) be an accounting major/concentrator at a school they recruit at with a minimum GPA of 3.3 (though you may not get an interview with less than a 3.50). Nothing will make a difference in your starting salary, however--while some offices will make exceptions depending on their need, EVERYONE starts at the same base salary. They will tell you that upfront and normally refuse to negotiate even the sign-on bonus. In talking with other people who had also received offers, the only salary difference depended on whether or not you had a masters (which may be a better option depending on your situation) or had just completed the 150 hour requirement with just a bachelor's. Bachelor's degrees received $47k-$50k (depending on the firm), while master's degree received $53k-$55k (I believe).</p>
<p>
[quote]
If you want to be recruited by the Big 4, for instance, you need to (essentially) be an accounting major/concentrator at a school they recruit at with a minimum GPA of 3.3 (though you may not get an interview with less than a 3.50)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Doesn't the big 4 only offer internships to undergrads? But hire grads. I was under the impression, when I went on a "meet the firm" tour of PWC, that they don't actually look to hire undergrads full-time, but wait until they are in grad school so they can get their CPA license ASAP upon being hired.</p>
<p>No. They will hire you if you meet the 150 credit hour requirement and you don't necessarily need a grad degree for that--I happened to be pursuing two bachelor's degrees, for instance, so I was already planning to graduate with 200-some-odd credits. My school also offers a summer program--so most graduates finish their B.S.B.A., take classes for the summer and then start working at the end of August. Many people do get a grad degree, however, and that may be the best option depending on your state and the schools in your area.</p>
<p>Also, you do not get your license upon being hired--they just want you to meet the educational requirements, as it is a pain to finish them while working. Pwc, E&Y and Deloitte (and I assume KPMG) all require that you are certified by the time you make manager, but it doesn't matter until you get to that point. While it is recommended that you take the exam ASAP, it seemed like I was one of the few that planned on taking it before I started working when I was talking to others who had received offers. An while you may take the exam before you start, you are not licensed (in most states) until you have two years under your belt.</p>