Certified Public Accountant (CPA)

Course details

CPA(USA) - Certified Public Accountant
 

• Stands for Certified Public Accountant  - A certification awarded by AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)

• Trusted financial advisor who helps individuals, businesses, and other organizations plan and reach their financial goals

All CPAs are accountants, but not all accountants are CPAs
 
To Become a CPA
 

• 3 E's are required for licensure:
  • Education
  • Exam or Uniform CPA Examination
  • Experience
  • 55 states in US having their own criteria for licensure
  • State Boards of Accountancy determine the laws and rules for each state/jurisdiction

Evaluation (Internal & External Evaluation to determine eligibility for CPA)
Evaluation of educational documents for assessing the eligibility for CPA Exam is two folds;

•  Internal Evaluation - Carried out by the NAIS internal evaluator
•  External Evaluation - Documents are then sent to external evaluator in USA for final assessment;
  •  NASBA - National Association of State Board of Accountancy
  •  IERF - International Education Research Foundation
  •  FACS - Foreign Academics credentials service

This evaluation process normally takes 4 - 8 weeks.
Course of Study

• Part-I              BEC (Business Environment & Concepts)   
• Part-II             AUD (Auditing & Attestations)
• Part-III            FAR (Financial Accounting & Reporting)
• Part-IV           REG (Regulations & Taxation)

Every state has its own criteria but in general it requires at least a minimum of Bachelor's degree with Subjects in Accounting, Finance, Taxation, Cost & Management Accounting and Business courses.

• 3/4 years ;
• 4 years Bachelor of Business Administration 
• 2 years Master of Commerce () 
• 2 years Master of Business Administration (MBA)

Updated on 31 May, 2018