| Do you aspire to become a CPA and are currently | | | | the exam, but in order to get the full license you'll have |
| living or working in Massachusetts? In fact, even if you | | | | to get 150 semester units but you can get it done after |
| live outside of MA, you can consider to sit for the | | | | the CPA exam. |
| exam through Massachusetts because of its uniquely | | | | 1. CPA Licensing Requirement #2: Exam |
| favorable CPA exam requirements. I am going to | | | | Studying and passing the CPA exam is probably the |
| provide a step-by-step explanation in the following | | | | toughest part in your CPA journey. This is a grueling |
| article. | | | | 14-hour exam decided into 4 sections: Financial |
| The 3 Requirements To Become A CPA | | | | accounting, Auditing, Regulation (Tax), and Business |
| You may have realized that the granting of the CPA | | | | Law & Ethics. You can take the 4 sections separately |
| license is actually done by individual states instead of | | | | within the 18-month window. |
| the federal US government. In other words, there are | | | | Most candidates, especially those who aim to pass on |
| altogether 55 jurisdictions in the US that can grant the | | | | their first attempt, take CPA exam review courses to |
| CPA qualification, and each of them have slightly | | | | increase their chance of passing success. Statistics |
| different rules and exam requirements. | | | | has shown that the students from various CPA exam |
| In the old days, the CPA exam requirements varied | | | | review courses have almost double the passing rate |
| widely from state to state which led to many | | | | of the overall CPA candidate pool. |
| challenges for CPAs who wanted to practice out of | | | | CPA Licensing Requirement #3: Experience |
| their licensed territory. | | | | Once you have passed the CPA exam, you will have |
| Since 2000s, the AICPA and NASBA have worked | | | | to take an Ethics Exam (which is much easier in |
| hard to standardize the CPA exam requirements, and | | | | comparison), and the next challenge is to fulfill the |
| nowadays 45 out of the 50 states have essentially | | | | working experience requirement. |
| adhered to the Uniform Accountancy Act. | | | | One thing special about the Massachusetts CPA |
| In a nutshell, aspiring CPAs need to fulfill the "3Es" to | | | | licensing is that CPA candidates are given two |
| become a CPA: | | | | choices: you can either get a reporting license or a |
| 1. Education | | | | non-reporting license. The difference between the two |
| 2. Exam | | | | is that for non-reporting license holders, they cannot |
| 3. Experience | | | | sign audit reports and thus can't be owning a CPA firm |
| 1. CPA Licensing Requirement #1: Education | | | | as a sole owner or partner. They may also have |
| In Massachusetts, you'll need to have at least a | | | | restrictions in practicing in other states. |
| bachelor degree, preferably a master's degree in | | | | However, the benefit of having a non-reporting license |
| accounting and/or business to sit for the exam. In any | | | | is that you don't need any working experience if you |
| case you will have to fulfill at least 21 semester units of | | | | have a graduate degree. For under-graduate degree |
| accounting (including financial accounting, cost | | | | holders, you'll have to fulfill one year of public |
| accounting, auditing and taxation) as well as 9 | | | | accounting experience or 3 years of non-public |
| semester units of business courses, including business | | | | accounting experience. |
| law, finance, information systems. | | | | Please note that Massachusetts or Colorado are the |
| Some states allow you to take the exam when you | | | | two remaining states that allows candidates to |
| are "almost" done with your courses, but for | | | | become a CPA without working experience, and |
| Massachusetts you will have to complete all courses | | | | these rules are likely to be phased out in a few years |
| before getting qualified. | | | | for the states to fully comply with the Uniform |
| All in all, you'll need to fulfill 120 semester units to sit for | | | | Accountancy Act. |