[vasaline]

For those working in public accounting, have any of you worked with or known anybody in the field with an unrelated degree (no bachelors or masters in business/accounting) such as biology, history, psychology etc. and have gotten their CPA requirements by going through the community college route. If so how common is it?

[Anonymous]

I love all the diverse backgrounds!

[Anonymous]

Joining in the chorus of those that didn't start as an accounting majors..My BA (5-years/200 credits) in Psychobiology..and worked at genetics lab and interned at NIH..degree.now called Neuroscience and Behavior…I like @sarita got my General Business and Accounting requirements at University of California Extensions….Plenty of credits with another 80+ units in Bus and Acctg….and I also have over 20-years business experience in Marketing, Sales and Business Development. I have many stories to tell about high tech start-ups and also worked at IBM and Oracle….I hope that my life experience along with a broad academic background is seen as unique and valuable to any CPA firm. I've certainly seen business from the inside out..now I hope to observe it from the outside in.

[Anonymous]

Joining in the chorus of those that didn't start as an accounting majors..My BA (5-years/200 credits) in Psychobiology..and worked at genetics lab and interned at NIH..degree.now called Neuroscience and Behavior…I like @sarita got my General Business and Accounting requirements at University of California Extensions….Plenty of credits with another 80+ units in Bus and Acctg….and I also have over 20-years business experience in Marketing, Sales and Business Development. I have many stories to tell about high tech start-ups and also worked at IBM and Oracle….I hope that my life experience along with a broad academic background is seen as unique and valuable to any CPA firm. I've certainly seen business from the inside out..now I hope to observe it from the outside in.

[vasaline]

Anybody else with experience in CPAs working in public accounting firms without accounting / business degrees?

[vasaline]

Anybody else with experience in CPAs working in public accounting firms without accounting / business degrees?

[vasaline]

I have been looking for a position at a cpa firm but been having no luck. I see that most postings have a requirement for a accounting degree. Since I have the cpa exams passed and a degree in psychology, do you guys think that it is my lack of degree in business / accounting that is holding me back? Haven't gotten any feedback from any firms, so I don't know if its my degree that is hindering my job search.

[vasaline]

I have been looking for a position at a cpa firm but been having no luck. I see that most postings have a requirement for a accounting degree. Since I have the cpa exams passed and a degree in psychology, do you guys think that it is my lack of degree in business / accounting that is holding me back? Haven't gotten any feedback from any firms, so I don't know if its my degree that is hindering my job search.

[peetree]

The CPA is basically almost a trump card.

If you passed this exam, you're probably doing something right in terms of understanding the profession. Do you have any experience in business @vasaline? If you're only work background is psy, that might be what is holding you back.

FAR 02/21/13 - 95
REG 07/02/13 - 87
AUD 08/02/13 - 94
BEC 08/30/13 - 85
Ethics Exam - 90

Illinois candidate awaiting his license

Used Becker Self Study | Ninja Audio | Becker Flash Cards | Ninja Notes | Wiley Test Bank

[peetree]

The CPA is basically almost a trump card.

If you passed this exam, you're probably doing something right in terms of understanding the profession. Do you have any experience in business @vasaline? If you're only work background is psy, that might be what is holding you back.

FAR 02/21/13 - 95
REG 07/02/13 - 87
AUD 08/02/13 - 94
BEC 08/30/13 - 85
Ethics Exam - 90

Illinois candidate awaiting his license

Used Becker Self Study | Ninja Audio | Becker Flash Cards | Ninja Notes | Wiley Test Bank

[vasaline]

My work back ground currently is in pharma. manufacturing auditing. Basically I do internal and supplier audits to ensure that the product is manufactured within cGMP (kinda like GAAP but for pharm.) guidelines. Still do procedures like ticking and tying but for different type of field. I was hoping to leverage my experience into public accounting.

I'm thinking about going for masters as last resort but really would not like to since I would have to quit my full time job since it has demanding hours.

[vasaline]

My work back ground currently is in pharma. manufacturing auditing. Basically I do internal and supplier audits to ensure that the product is manufactured within cGMP (kinda like GAAP but for pharm.) guidelines. Still do procedures like ticking and tying but for different type of field. I was hoping to leverage my experience into public accounting.

I'm thinking about going for masters as last resort but really would not like to since I would have to quit my full time job since it has demanding hours.

[Anonymous]

If you think that having an accounting degree would help you, I would suggest that you look at Thomas Edison State College ( tesc.edu ) degree requirements for their accounting degree: https://www.tesc.edu/business/bsba/Accounting.cfm It is technically a Bachelors of Business Admin in Accounting, but it's still accounting. The beauty of TESC is that you can transfer in all those credits and are only required to take 1 class from them, as long as your transferred credits fulfill the degree requirements. It'll still cost you around $3000, but could get you an accounting degree to give a title to your accounting classes. My degree is from them, and I haven't been held back by the fact that it's a BSBA in Accounting rather than just a BS in Accounting.

And…if you can pass the CPA exams, then if you need more business credits, you can easily get them with CLEP and DSST tests. I met most of hte business requirements with CLEPs and DSSTs and transferred in the others since I'd taken the classes before looking into TESC.

[Anonymous]

If you think that having an accounting degree would help you, I would suggest that you look at Thomas Edison State College ( tesc.edu ) degree requirements for their accounting degree: https://www.tesc.edu/business/bsba/Accounting.cfm It is technically a Bachelors of Business Admin in Accounting, but it's still accounting. The beauty of TESC is that you can transfer in all those credits and are only required to take 1 class from them, as long as your transferred credits fulfill the degree requirements. It'll still cost you around $3000, but could get you an accounting degree to give a title to your accounting classes. My degree is from them, and I haven't been held back by the fact that it's a BSBA in Accounting rather than just a BS in Accounting.

And…if you can pass the CPA exams, then if you need more business credits, you can easily get them with CLEP and DSST tests. I met most of hte business requirements with CLEPs and DSSTs and transferred in the others since I'd taken the classes before looking into TESC.

[vasaline]

Since I already passed the exams I don't need any more credits for cpa eligibility. Anybody in public accounting know someone with no business or accounting degree or masters? Need some insight on this issue.

[vasaline]

Since I already passed the exams I don't need any more credits for cpa eligibility. Anybody in public accounting know someone with no business or accounting degree or masters? Need some insight on this issue.

[Author]

Replies