Is Your Accountant Certified?

Certified Public Accountants, just like lawyers, are professionals who have trained and studied for years to do what they do. Just studying isn’t enough either, one has to be licensed, or certified, as a public accountant before financial statements they prepare are taken as authentic and correct.

For anyone who wants a career as a CPA in the United States, the applicant must apply for and pass the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination or, as it is also called, the Uniform CPA Exam. This examination is sanctioned by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and performed by the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. Certification of accountants has been practiced since 1896.

Who is eligible to take the Uniform CPA Exam depends on standards set by individual State Boards of Accountancy. The most basic requirement is a U.S. bachelor’s degree. This degree should include a minimum number of qualifying credit hours in accounting and business administration, and usually, an additional year of study.

The minimum requirement of 5 years of study is known as the “150 hour rule” and has been imposed by the majority of state boards, although there are still some exceptions. Except for California and a few others, the requirement mandating 150 hours of study has been adopted by 45 states.

Accountants certified in other countries, and who are applying to become U.S. CPA may sometimes opt to sit for the International Qualification Examination as an alternative to the Uniform CPA Exam.

The Uniform CPA exam has questions on general principles of state law such as the law of contracts and agency and some federal laws and statutes.

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