Question: I am a California CPA candidate and will choose Pathway 2 to get my license. I earned my master's in accounting in the United States and my bachelor¹s in China. Could you please let me know if my Chinese academic credits can be used as part of the 150-hour requirement?
Answer: It's possible. Applicants who attended or graduated from foreign schools may be admitted to the examination based upon an evaluation of foreign transcripts by any CBA-approved foreign credentials evaluation service.
Question: I have a foreign degree, including the required accounting and business units. This was evaluated by one of the CBA-authorized foreign credentials evaluators. I'm particularly concerned about qualifying under Pathway 2, since it provides reciprocity with other states, would I qualify? Or would I need an extra 30 units?
Response: It sounds like your education qualifies you to sit for the exam under Pathway 2 requirements since Pathway 2 requires a baccalaureate degree with 24 units in accounting and 24 in business related subjects for the exam. It is important to sit for the exam under the Pathway 2 exam passage requirements (click here for description of the pathways). At the time of licensure you will need a minimum of 150 semester units, or the equivalent from a foreign institution. If your baccalaureate degree was evaluated as the equivalent of 120 semester units, you will need to complete an additional 30 units to total 150. To be licensed, you will also need to complete one year of qualifying experience.
Question: I am a CPA candidate who has passed all four parts of the CPA exam. Until now, I haven¹t gotten my CPA license because of the stringent requirements for foreign graduates (i.e. three years of public accounting experience). I worked at a CPA firm in the Philippines for several years. During my 15 years in California, I have worked as a controller. What are my chances of qualifying as a CPA under either the Pathway 1 or Pathway 2?
Response: You may have a good chance of qualifying under the pathways, but you may need to complete some additional education. If you had a three-year experience requirement, it is likely that your education was not evaluated as the equivalent of a U.S. baccalaureate degree with 20 units in accounting. To qualify under the new requirements you need, at a minimum, a U.S. baccalaureate degree with a minimum of 24 semester units of accounting and a minimum of 24 semester units of business related subjects, or the equivalent from a foreign institution. To qualify under Pathway 2, you will need 150 semester units (or the equivalent from a foreign institution) at the time of licensure. As long as you passed the November 2001 or a prior exam, you may make up the missing education provided you qualify for licensure no later than Dec. 31, 2005.
To qualify for Pathway 2 you need to have passed the exam under UAA requirements. If you did not pass the exam under UAA requirements, Pathway 1 is still an option for you. You will need to complete two years of qualifying experience under the supervision of a person licensed to practice public accounting. Your experience in the Philippines or in the United States may be qualifying depending upon the work you did and the supervision you received.
