Experience

Response: Under the rules, experience may be obtained in public accounting, private industry or government—as long as it was obtained under the supervision of an individual with a valid license to practice public accountancy. It appears that your past experience may qualify and that you could meet the experience requirements of either Pathway 1 or 2.

Keep in mind that to qualify for licensure you must meet the education and exam passage requirements of the rules, as well as the experience requirement. 

Question:  I completed a bachelor's in business administration with 18 semester units in accounting in 1994. I passed all four sections of the CPA Exam in California in May 1995. I completed an MBA with 6 units in accounting in 1997. Because I had worked in private industry during this time, I could not get certified in California. So, in 2000, I had a California CPA who I had worked with during our company's year-end work verify my level of experience to the Arizona Board of Accountancy and qualified as a CPA in that state. Will I now qualify in some way as a CPA in California under either of the new pathways without doing anything further?

Response:   Having passed all four sections of the exam in one sitting in 1995 and subsequently obtained the additional education, you appear to meet the exam and education requirements of the pathways.

If you have accumulated 150 semester units of study, you may qualify for licensure with a one-year experience requirement under Pathway 2. If you do not have 150 units of education and do not want to complete additional units, Pathway 1 is available to you and has a two-year experience requirement. Experience may be obtained in private industry as long as it is performed in accordance with professional standards and is supervised by a CPA with an active license. If your private industry experience meets this standard, it may be qualifying and you could become licensed in California.>

Question: How can I find my old supervisor? He was a CPA in California, but he moved to another state.

Response: Many state boards have added a license lookup feature to their websites. For information about licensees of the California Board of Accountancy, go to the CBA's License Lookup.

To check the websites of boards of accountancy in other states, visit the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy a www.nasba.org/ and click on Site Map, Links and then Boards of Accountancy. 

Question: What do I do if my employer still won't sign a form for me?

Response: Contact the California Board of Accountancy's licensing manager at (916) 263-3680 for assistance.