An overview of the CPA qualifications indicates that the national requirements in the United States of America include the following. Individuals have to showcase a minimum of 150-semester units. These are the post-secondary education units. Furthermore, candidates must demonstrate a one-year experience in accounting or accounting related work. Consequently, the candidates must have passed the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination. These are the minimum requirements that individuals need to have to be licensed as a CPA in the United States of America. Once the successful candidate has been licensed as a CPA in any of the states, then they are free to engage in interstate CPA licensing. These requirements are regardless of the client services that the CPA is offering to the individuals or companies. Interstate licensing is also applicable regardless of how an individual knows the law in the states that they intend on providing the CPA services. The selected state for address is Texas State.
Specific Requirements for CPA in Texas State
For an individual to become a Certified Public Accountant in Texas, there is eligibility that has to be met, which are beyond bare national minimum requirements. First, the person who is applying for the CPA qualification in Texas has to have a degree of training in Accounting. The bachelor’s degree must meet the minimum of 150 educational hours, which should be from a reputable and accredited university or college (Heslop, 2017). Texas is also unique when applying for CPA certification as candidates must have nine semester credit hours of units that include intermediate accounting, accounting theory, managerial or cost accounting, financial statement analysis, control and risk assessment accounting, and accounting research (Heslop, 2017). Moreover, the candidates must demonstrate attendance of up to 12 semester credit hours in units like financial accounting taxation, management information systems, as well as accounting information systems. These are the main requirements in terms of education that the individual must demonstrate while applying for CPA certification in Texas. Some individuals attend online courses. In Texas, the non-traditional courses, which include online degree programs, have to be subjected to review and approval. The Texas State Board does the permission, and it is before the graduate candidates apply for the CPA license in Texas.
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Experience requirements
In Texas State, the applicants must demonstrate work experience, and it should be under the supervision of a CPA who is licensed. The knowledge that will be gained will be through the duties that the applicant will perform. These duties are referred to as non-routine accounting as they are duties that will require the individual to demonstrate independent thoughts and provision of strong judgment on accounting issues. Further, satisfactory work experience that can be shown by the applicant when seeking to license as CPA is the presence of internal auditor’s experience, tax or fraud accounting, or even experience as a financial controller. Despite educational qualifications, there are experience requirements that all the candidates have to demonstrate in their application for a CPA license in Texas.
Fees for CPA license and examination
Candidates in Texas can take one or more of the sections listed below when they are sitting for their CPA exams. While they are taking the units, it is required that they pay the following fees that are directed to the CPA examination services. First, the application fee is $50.00, while the reapplication fees for the exams will vary. Furthermore, these requirements can change at any time, and there is a need to continually check with the website to ensure that these fees are followed appropriately. In the examination fees, the following sections are listed and the prices that the candidate will pay. The first is Auditing and Attestation, which costs $208.40. The second is the Business Environment and Concepts (BEC), and it costs $208.40. The third is Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR), and the cost is $208.40. Lastly, Regulation (REG) requiring $208.40
Information about ethics
Ethics for the accountants is an essential requirement as it guides on their actions and eliminates son any negativity that accountants might conduct in their line of duty. Therefore, the CPA candidates have to be informed about ethics, which they have to adhere to and achieve success in their accounting career as professionals. Ethical training helps in developing professional accountants (Gaynor, Korb, Gerlowski & Zhang, 2019) First, the candidates have to complete a four-hour course that is tailored to ethics aspects. The course also has to be approved by the Texas State Board. Furthermore, the individuals have to pass the Texas Rules of Professional Conduct exam. The pass mark score is 85 percent or higher than that. The reason why the pass mark is high is that it is an open book exam, which is usually mailed to the individual upon confirmation that they have passed the CPA exam. Texas CPA professional ethics committee is also at play and aims at ensuring all the society members abide by the ethical standards and act ethically.
CPE requirements
The total credits that are required for the CPE aspects are 120 hours every three years. In the process, the Texas CPAs must meet at least the minimum of four hours needed in the Texas Specific Ethics. Four hours must be met every two years. The CPE requirements provide for the rolling reporting cycle, and the minimum hours CPAs must attend per year are stated to be 20 hours. The last day of the CPAs birth month in each year is the deadline that they are required to complete on the CPE courses. It should be understood that carry over credits is not allowed in the process.
References
Gaynor, G., Korb, P., Gerlowski, D., & Zhang, T. (2019). An alternate state in mind: the effect of CPA exam credit-hour requirements and economic competitiveness on state-level exam candidate pools and pass rates. Accounting Education , 28 (6), 621-641.
Heslop, G. (2017). Is Community College CPA Examination Preparation Effective? Some Evidence to Date from Texas. Journal of Accounting and Finance , 17 (5).
