Otherwise known as a Certified Public Accountant, this financial professional helps individuals and organizations, including businesses, government agencies, and non-profit organizations, stay current with business accounting and tax and government filing requirements. CPAs also help clients and organizations with strategic financial planning goals. Example tasks that CPAs perform include auditing, cash management, and financial forensics. Other tasks CPAs are involved in include budget development and looking at tax implications for past budget decisions, and how to make future budget decisions based upon current tax regulations.
According to the American Institute of CPAs, no less than 150 semester hours of education, which includes a concentration in accounting classes, is required to sit for CPA certification. While a master's degree is not required to obtain certification, there are different routes to accomplish this educational requirement. One route includes obtaining both an undergraduate and master's degrees in accounting. Another option is to obtain a master's degree in accounting or an MBA with an accounting focus if their undergraduate degree was not in accounting. A third option includes enrolling in a five-year program that grants a student a master's degree in accounting. It is known that each state and federal territory has individual requirements for CPA certification.
CPA EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS & CONSIDERATIONS
Along with meeting this education requirement, many, but not all, states require accountants have at least two years of experience before being able to sit for the exam. Depending on the state and applicant, a certificate may be issued upon passing the exam, but the CPA license isn't issued until the requisite experience is earned. Similar to education and initial licensing requirements, there are state-specific requirements to maintain CPA licensure depending on each state's requirements.