CPA possible to obtain in private industry?

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  • #190489
    RHNotts
    Member

    I heard from a recruiter in industry that public accounting isn’t necessary to get a CPA license. Apparently, internal auditors can get it if they are supervised by CPAs. This is the first time I’ve heard of this route to certification. Has anyone here done it this way? Assuming this is possible, why don’t more people in industry get their license? Would this work in other positions outside of audit? I’m still 2 years away from graduation and if this is the case I might as well rack up hours now. This seems too good to be true though so I wanted to bring it up here and find out the real deal.

Viewing 14 replies - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)
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  • #620992
    ruggercpa2b
    Participant

    In Tennessee my experience under a CPA in internal audit at a private company counts towards my licensure. Not all people go for the cpa because you have to want to. My job did not require a CPA so having it was not going to get me promotes but it is a personal goal. I work at a Big 4 now and we have a lot of people that don't care to be CPAs so they work for 2 years and they leave to go into industry.

    AUD - 73, 72 retake 7/2/2016
    BEC - 8/20/2016
    REG - TBD
    FAR - TBD

    I am so ready for this nightmare to be over. Been at this way too long.

    #621909
    ruggercpa2b
    Participant

    In Tennessee my experience under a CPA in internal audit at a private company counts towards my licensure. Not all people go for the cpa because you have to want to. My job did not require a CPA so having it was not going to get me promotes but it is a personal goal. I work at a Big 4 now and we have a lot of people that don't care to be CPAs so they work for 2 years and they leave to go into industry.

    AUD - 73, 72 retake 7/2/2016
    BEC - 8/20/2016
    REG - TBD
    FAR - TBD

    I am so ready for this nightmare to be over. Been at this way too long.

    #620994
    Mamabear
    Member

    My 3.5 years as a manager of the accounting department under the Controller (licensed CPA) counts. My staff accountant will go for her CPA sometime next year and as long as I am licensed before then she will be able to be licensed as well. As long as you report to a licensed CPA in Florida and do relevant accounting work (JEs, reconciliations, etc) it counts.

    CPA Exam - Finally DONE (November 2014)
    BEC (08/10/13) 80
    AUD (08/24/13) 65 (11/13/13) 85
    FAR (04/12/14) 81
    REG (07/19/14) 69 (11/29/14) 87!!

    #621910
    Mamabear
    Member

    My 3.5 years as a manager of the accounting department under the Controller (licensed CPA) counts. My staff accountant will go for her CPA sometime next year and as long as I am licensed before then she will be able to be licensed as well. As long as you report to a licensed CPA in Florida and do relevant accounting work (JEs, reconciliations, etc) it counts.

    CPA Exam - Finally DONE (November 2014)
    BEC (08/10/13) 80
    AUD (08/24/13) 65 (11/13/13) 85
    FAR (04/12/14) 81
    REG (07/19/14) 69 (11/29/14) 87!!

    #620996
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    It does vary state by state, so make sure to check in your state; however, in Kentucky, you don't have to work in public. You can work in accounting, auditing, etc. in any situation as long as a CPA signs off on it. In fact, in KY, you don't have to work for the CPA – the CPA just has to be willing to sign. To date, I haven't reported to a CPA (except for about 20 hours of helping out a CPA during tax season), but a CPA I knew was willing to certify my experience and was able to sign off even though at that time he'd never been my supervisor (he's the guy I worked for about 20 hours during tax season, but that was months after he'd signed off on my experience working elsewhere).

    I think that some states require auditing experience and/or require public auditing experience, but not all states.

    #621911
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    It does vary state by state, so make sure to check in your state; however, in Kentucky, you don't have to work in public. You can work in accounting, auditing, etc. in any situation as long as a CPA signs off on it. In fact, in KY, you don't have to work for the CPA – the CPA just has to be willing to sign. To date, I haven't reported to a CPA (except for about 20 hours of helping out a CPA during tax season), but a CPA I knew was willing to certify my experience and was able to sign off even though at that time he'd never been my supervisor (he's the guy I worked for about 20 hours during tax season, but that was months after he'd signed off on my experience working elsewhere).

    I think that some states require auditing experience and/or require public auditing experience, but not all states.

    #620998
    RHNotts
    Member

    This is all very interesting. Do employers care whether you got your license in public or private? Based on my limited knowledge I would think that a candidate that did public would be more competent based on having to deal with more stress.

    #621912
    RHNotts
    Member

    This is all very interesting. Do employers care whether you got your license in public or private? Based on my limited knowledge I would think that a candidate that did public would be more competent based on having to deal with more stress.

    #621000
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I don't think the amount of stress you may have to deal with in public vs private has any relation to competency. There is plenty of stress in industry. One who works in public may have more experience with things such as tax and/or audit whereas someone in industry such as myself will have more experience in financial or management accounting. Neither one is necessarily more competent than the other

    #621913
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I don't think the amount of stress you may have to deal with in public vs private has any relation to competency. There is plenty of stress in industry. One who works in public may have more experience with things such as tax and/or audit whereas someone in industry such as myself will have more experience in financial or management accounting. Neither one is necessarily more competent than the other

    #621002
    mla1169
    Participant

    Depends on the employer and the position. If you're shooting for a management position in a publicly traded company most will prefer public experience since there will be heavy interaction with auditors. If the position is with a privately held company it's less likely to be a factor.

    FAR- 77
    AUD -49, 71, 84
    REG -56,75!
    BEC -75

    Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

    #621914
    mla1169
    Participant

    Depends on the employer and the position. If you're shooting for a management position in a publicly traded company most will prefer public experience since there will be heavy interaction with auditors. If the position is with a privately held company it's less likely to be a factor.

    FAR- 77
    AUD -49, 71, 84
    REG -56,75!
    BEC -75

    Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

    #621004
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    It absolutely depends on your state (so check out your state board of accounting's website).

    Another thing to remember – You need them both to agree to your length of tenure AND for them to sign off on some very specific areas/competencies. Sometimes people tend to forget about the second part and it's experience you are not necessarily going to get in most roles.

    #621915
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    It absolutely depends on your state (so check out your state board of accounting's website).

    Another thing to remember – You need them both to agree to your length of tenure AND for them to sign off on some very specific areas/competencies. Sometimes people tend to forget about the second part and it's experience you are not necessarily going to get in most roles.

Viewing 14 replies - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)
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