I Want to Become a CPA

Graduate School Business School - MBA
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<p>I'm econ and applied math undergrad at University of Washington. I want to become a CPA but will only have taken 2 accounting classes because I'm not in the business school.</p>

<p>I looked at the requirements for becoming a CPA and I need 24 semester credits in accounting classes. I have 10 credits of quarter credits. Does this mean I have to join an MBA program to be able to take the CPA?</p>

<p>Are there any good universities that offer online certificate programs that prepare me for the CPA? I was looking at:</p>

<p>Accounting</a> Certificate Online Summer 2009 - UC Berkeley Extension</p>

<p>Any advice would be great thanks</p>

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<p>No clue but you definitely don’t want to join an MBA program. A Master in Accountancy would be more appropriate.</p>

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<p>Hello nchung88;</p>

<p>Good on ya mate, I’m studying to be a CPA myself. First off you need to translate quarter credits to semester credits. Washington is like Texas (where I am) in that, so 10 quarter credits is the same as 6 semester hours (2 semester credits for every 3 quarter credits, no partials). You should also make sure that the courses you have taken qualify for the state’s requirements. </p>

<p>The State of Washington advises that you’ll need three things in addition to passing the CPA exams; the educational requirement, the experience requirement, plus passing the ethics course and examination.</p>

<p>[Get</a> Your First CPA License | Washington State Board of Accountancy](<a href=“http://www.cpaboard.wa.gov/CertificateLicense/first_license.shtml]Get”>http://www.cpaboard.wa.gov/CertificateLicense/first_license.shtml)</p>

<p>For education, you will need a bachelors degree, plus 24 semester credits in accounting, of which at least 15 must be upper-level accounting courses, plus an additional 24 semester hours in business administration subjects.</p>

<p>[Meeting</a> the Education Requirements | Washington State Board of Accountancy](<a href=“http://www.cpaboard.wa.gov/CertificateLicense/education_requirements.shtml]Meeting”>http://www.cpaboard.wa.gov/CertificateLicense/education_requirements.shtml)</p>

<p>You will need to make sure the board accepts your school as properly accredited,</p>

<p>[Board</a> Recognized Schools | Washington State Board of Accountancy](<a href=“http://www.cpaboard.wa.gov/CertificateLicense/schools_accreditation.shtml]Board”>http://www.cpaboard.wa.gov/CertificateLicense/schools_accreditation.shtml)</p>

<p>and that the courses you take will be accepted by the requirements.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.cpaboard.wa.gov/Files/Education_Handbook.pdf[/url]”>http://www.cpaboard.wa.gov/Files/Education_Handbook.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>As for experience, I have good and bad news. The good news is that you can meet that requirement after taking the CPA exams, but the bad news is that you cannot be a licensed CPA until you have completed that requirement, a miniumum of 2,000 hours of work supervised and verified by a licensed CPA. </p>

<p>[Experience</a> | Washington State Board of Accountancy](<a href=“http://www.cpaboard.wa.gov/CertificateLicense/experience.shtml]Experience”>http://www.cpaboard.wa.gov/CertificateLicense/experience.shtml)</p>

<p>If you take the time to look at the students who have passed the CPA exams, one thing which will jump out at you is that some schools do much better in preparing candidates to take the exams. In addition to the ethics test, the four exams of the Uniform CPA Examination take fourteen hours and ask hundreds of questions, both multiple-choice and what are called simulations, where you are given a situation and must explain what you do, in detail and with support for your decision. Nationally, only around ten percent of applicants pass all four sections of the CPA Exam on their first attempt; per section the average pass rate nationally is between forty and forty-five percent, which means the average CPA applicant will fail all four sections on their first attempt.</p>

<p>Sounds like fun, huh? </p>

<p>What I’m getting at, is that while it’s allowed to take the required courses at any of the accredited schools in the State of Washington, they are not at all the same in preparing you for the actual CPA exam. Here in Texas for example, just 13 schools make up over 90% of applicants who have passed a section of the CPA exam for the last five years, so obviously I keep that in mind when chosing my school for coursework.</p>

<p>If you want to be a CPA, you have a number of options, but the quickest road would be to change majors to earn a BBA or a Bachelor’s in Accounting, followed either by the courses needed to meet the education requirement or by earning an MBA. In my case, my Bachelor’s was a Liberal Arts degree, so I had to get all the accounting and business courses from scratch, so it just made sense for me to pick up the MBA on the way. You can also go for a Masters in Accountancy, but you’d still have to take the upper-level business courses, or you can go for the MBA and take additional upper-level accounting courses. Which is better depends on the company where you want to make your start, and of course on personal preference. </p>

<p>As for schools, you should start by looking at schools in your area, call them up and tell them you want to sit for the CPA exam and ask them how well their school’s candidates have done on the CPA exam. The good ones will let you know right away. It’s worth the cost and effort to get the best school you can afford, because if you don’t get what you need from the schools, you’l spend at least that much after graduation taking the review courses to find out what you did not get at school, or worse, you’ll suffer the CPA Exam over and over without success <a href=“sadly%20this%20happens%20a%20lot%20-%20about%2024%%20of%20all%20CPA%20candidates%20eventually%20give%20up%20without%20passing%20the%20exam”>i</a>*. A strong accounting school really is an investment that will pay for itself - first, you’ll get offers from the Big 4 which will help you meet that experience requirement in your regular job, second you will impress your employer by showing you know your stuff, which in many cases means the company will sponsor or assist your post-graduate coursework to prepare for the CPA exam, and you will have a solid accounting foundation for your test work and career.</p>

<p>And no, at this point you don’t need to choose which branch of accounting you will have to follow, when you become an intern you will do a little of everything though mostly audit work at first. But just like college, when you start you will be a generalist and you can follow which course you like best as you proceed.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>MBA Grad, thank you so much for your informative response. I still had a few more questions I was hoping you could answer since it seems you more than knowledgeable about the CPA.</p>

<ul>
<li>do you have the source that shows the list of the best schools/programs for passing the CPA?</li>
<li>have you heard anything in particular about the UC Berkeley Accounting Extension?</li>
<li>Is California easier or more lax with the CPA requirements than WA state? I read somewhere that California doesn’t require the 24 credits.</li>
</ul>

<p>Basically I will be graduating with a BS in economics with 10 quarter credits in accounting, which is 6 semester credits. That means I need 18 more semester credits. How can people get these credits if they’ve already graduate from college in a degree unrelated to accounting? Do they have to get a Master’s in accounting? Does this also take 2 years? What are some schools that offer a Master’s in accounting?</p>

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<p>The reason why I am interested in the UC Berkeley Extension is that it seems easier to get into than any MBA program. </p>

<p>I only have a 3.1 GPA. First two years of college I did really poor.</p>

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<p>One last thing! What’s the difference between CPA and CMA?</p>

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<p>Hello again, nchung88. I need to start with a question – why do you want to earn a CPA license? That helps focus the best road to get there. For example, let’s say you just finished earning your CPA license and are seeking a permanent position. What kind of company and position would you consider your dream job?</p>

<p>That asked, I now move on to your questions:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>The Uniform CPA Exam is a single national test, but it is administered in each state, separate from the others. As a result, the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) </p>

<p>[NASBA[/url</a>]</p>

<p>publishes an annual performance bulletin on the exam process, and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) reports on the national passing rate for each of the four sections of the exam each quarter,</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.cpa-exam.org/download/PassRates08.pdf[/url]”>http://www.cpa-exam.org/download/PassRates08.pdf](<a href=“http://www.nasba.org/nasbaweb/NASBAWeb.nsf/WPEP2]NASBA[/url”>http://www.nasba.org/nasbaweb/NASBAWeb.nsf/WPEP2)</a></p>

<p>but I could not find a single source which identified the schools’ rates in Washington. In Texas I got that information through the State Board of Accountancy, but the Washington board does not include that information.</p>

<p>The Washington Society of CPAs (WSCPA) offers a survey which seems to include the passing rates in Washington State, but you have to be a member to get them.</p>

<p><a href=“https://www.wscpa.org/wscpa/Resources/survey.cfm[/url]”>https://www.wscpa.org/wscpa/Resources/survey.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>So it looks like the best way to get the skinny is to find schools you like and ask how their students performed in the CPA exams. For example, the University of Washington boasts a 66.7% pass rate, which is pretty darn impressive.</p>

<p>[Foster</a> accounting grad receives top honor for CPA exam performance - Michael G. Foster School of Business - University of Washington, Seattle](<a href=“http://foster.washington.edu/new/full_stories/accounting_grad_CPA_exam_2008.html]Foster”>http://foster.washington.edu/new/full_stories/accounting_grad_CPA_exam_2008.html)</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I had not heard about this program, but it seems pretty flexible. It offers completely online classes and at least five classes that meet state educational requirements.</p>

<p>[Accounting</a> Certificate Online Summer 2009 - UC Berkeley Extension](<a href=“http://www.unex.berkeley.edu/cert/accounton.html]Accounting”>http://www.unex.berkeley.edu/cert/accounton.html)</p>

<p>The State of Washington allows you to take courses online without penalty (here in Texas, at least half your classes have to be taken face-to-face in a classroom). Just make sure your classes to meet the requirement are ‘upper level’, which generally means you have to take a pre-requisite in the same subject. Courses which include “introduction” or “general” or “overview” are not likely to be accepted by the board.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Well, let’s see. The California State Board of Accountancy has the following requirements to sit for the CPA exam:</p>

<p>Bachelor’s degree
24 semester credits of accounting
24 semester credits of business classes
Overall education of at least 150 semester hours total
2 years of ‘general experience’ in accounting work <a href=“for%20license%20-%20can%20be%20fulfilled%20after%20taking%20the%20exam”>i</a></p>

<p><a href=“http://www.dca.ca.gov/cba/publications/exambk1.pdf[/url]”>http://www.dca.ca.gov/cba/publications/exambk1.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>So, pretty much the same as Washington. Also, you should be aware that in 2012 California will enact rules just about the same as Texas and other states with the toughest requirements. The move towards uniform national standards was passed in the legislature in 2008 and will take effect in almost every state in the next 2-3 years.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Speaking bluntly, it’s not easy. You have to get the 150 total credits, the 24 upper-level business credits and the 24 upper-level accounting credits <a href=“in%20my%20state%2030”>i</a>* in order to sit for the exam. Working the math, it allows for 102 credits to be taken in something other than upper-level accounting or business, but when you take out the 12-18 credits needed for the prerequisite accounting and business classes, only about 84 credits can come from something outside accounting or business. That gives a big advantage to the student with the BS in Accounting or the BBA, and makes it tough on everyone else. It’s not necessary to get an MBA, but for me it made sense since the classes needed for my CPA requirements fit the requirements for an MBA with a concentration in Accounting. There are a lot of schools that offer Master’s degrees in Accountancy, but I do not know any schools which offer an MS in Accountancy which do not require a Bachelor’s in Accounting. </p>

<p>There are a lot of schools, however, which offer either certificates in Accounting or accept students for post-graduate work to meet the CPA requirements. Dozens. The easiest road to choose is to do an online search and then ask each school about what if offers, what it costs, and how long it takes. You might also want to ask each school how well it works with students to find work in their field; a lot of schools offer placement assistance to undergraduate students but far fewer offer programs for graduate and post-graduate students. Most programs which offer an MBA offer programs from one year to three years, but obviously the shorter programs are much more intense. </p>

<p>

</p>

<p>That may not be a problem. Most school looking for graduate and post-graduate students use a formula which mixes your last 60 hours of work with your GMAT score. So, a strong finish and a solid GMAT score <a href=“generally,%2050+%20points%20over%20whatever%20the%20school%20says%20is%20the%20minimum%20for%20acceptance%20or%20a%2097th%20+%20percentile”>i</a> will get you into a solid school. If you want a top-tier program, you should try for a GMAT of 750+, that never fails to get you considered unless you really finished badly at the undergraduate school. Washington is a good enough school that your application will get a look, especially if you finished strong.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>They are different professional designations. CPA of course stands for Certified Professional Accountant, while CMA stands for Certified Management Accountant. CPA is better known and is generally more prestigious, because it shows the holder has proven credentials in taxation and financial reporting, essential qualities needed in CFOs and CAOs. The CMA designation is more important for operational positions, as it deals with
Internal cost measures and management priorities. Most major US corporations now expect mid-to-top level accountants to hold both licenses. </p>

<p>More information about the CMA license can be found here.</p>

<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.imanet.org/certification.asp]Certification[/url”>http://www.imanet.org/certification.asp]Certification[/url</a>]</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>“Certified Professional Accountant”</p>

<p>Of course it’s Certified Public Accountant. The public part has to do with the traditional role of providing independent attest services. This is important because attest services have become increasingly specialized and less attractive to the majority of accountants, even the ones who are already CPAs and who could perform independent attest services if they wanted to.</p>

<p>I would say that working on independent audits and other attest services is a wonderful way to learn how the world of accounting works on a micro level, but would be a perfectly horrible long term career for most people. The good part is that you don’t have to commit to a long term career to get hired as an audit staffer and you become highly marketable after only a couple of years for a wide range of non-audit employment opportunities.</p>

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<p>My bad, Stephen. Of course it is Public, I had a ‘senior’ moment.</p>

<p>Your comment about Auditing reminds me of a specialty which is gaining popularity and respect; the Forensic Auditor. Some time back, the Forensic Auditor primarily went through the documents of a failed company (such as a bankruptcy) to find out what went wrong. Now the services of a Forensic Auditor can also be used to diagnose a company’s financial health in light of its governance and operating policies. Many large corporations use Forensic Auditors as part of the due diligence before mergers, and the specialty is rapidly growing in respect and pay. Of course, you need a CIA designation <a href=“Certified%20Internal%20Auditor”>i</a>* in addition to your CPA license to go that road, but it’s pretty cool, at least from where I sit.</p>

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<p>I just wanted to add that if you are looking at getting a MACC or MS/ACC online, there are a few AACSB accredited programs offering online programs now. Most of these programs take a year to complete. AACSB accreditation is important, particularly if you are interested in public accounting at a big 4 or large regional firm. Some schools that are AACSB accredited that offer online programs include Univ. of Connecticut, Univ. of California/Sacramento, and Stetson University.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that many MACC programs require you to take Intermediate Accounting I and II prior to applying, so if you’re considering this route you should get those out of the way first. These classes will also help you to decide if accounting is right for you before you pay out for a grad program only to find out you hate accounting.</p>

<p>Also keep in mind that while CPA pass rates may seem daunting, they are very passable regardless of where you get your accounting education. It just takes a good review course and a lot of determination. Good luck! :)</p>

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<p>tbradford, you mean Calif State Univ. Sacramento, right? UC doesn’t have a Sacramento campus.</p>

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<p>Sorry you’re correct. :)</p>