[marvin]

I was wondering which firms can call themselves “public accounting firms.” Do they have to be registered with the PCAOB to call themselves this? Would a firm that only audits non public and/or non-profit clients still be considered a public accounting firm if they have a CPA on staff? What if the only CPA in the firm is not a partner? Sorry about all the questions.

[Gatorbates]

“Public accounting firm” has nothing to do with PCAOB or the type of industries they audit or do taxes for. Public accounting means they are doing accounting “for the public” … anyone can come to them for tax or audit work.

Licensed Florida CPA:
B: 71, 73, 79
A: 83
R: 78 (expired), 77
F: 74, 74, 80

It's finally freaking over.

[Gatorbates]

“Public accounting firm” has nothing to do with PCAOB or the type of industries they audit or do taxes for. Public accounting means they are doing accounting “for the public” … anyone can come to them for tax or audit work.

Licensed Florida CPA:
B: 71, 73, 79
A: 83
R: 78 (expired), 77
F: 74, 74, 80

It's finally freaking over.

[marvin]

Excellent, thank you for clearing that up.

[marvin]

Excellent, thank you for clearing that up.

[Kimboroni]

As for the question “What if the only CPA in the firm is not a partner?” I'm not sure if there are any states that would issue a firm CPA license if there aren't any CPAs owning the firm. I've researched many of the states as part of my job, and those that I looked at all require at least 50% of the partners to be CPAs. (This was a recent move away from requiring all of the partners to be CPAs.) Also, non-CPA partners cannot be silent partners– they have to have an active role in the management of the firm.

Just in case that is helpful.

AUD 84 (1/9/14-Wiley books/TB + free materials)
FAR 83 (5/21/14-the above + NINJA 10 Pt Combo Lite)
REG 84 (7/9/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC/Notes)
BEC 76 (10/5/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC)

Disclaimer: My ninja avatar is not meant to imply that I have any affiliation with this site other than being a forum member. That's a pic of a T-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday. 🙂

[Kimboroni]

As for the question “What if the only CPA in the firm is not a partner?” I'm not sure if there are any states that would issue a firm CPA license if there aren't any CPAs owning the firm. I've researched many of the states as part of my job, and those that I looked at all require at least 50% of the partners to be CPAs. (This was a recent move away from requiring all of the partners to be CPAs.) Also, non-CPA partners cannot be silent partners– they have to have an active role in the management of the firm.

Just in case that is helpful.

AUD 84 (1/9/14-Wiley books/TB + free materials)
FAR 83 (5/21/14-the above + NINJA 10 Pt Combo Lite)
REG 84 (7/9/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC/Notes)
BEC 76 (10/5/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC)

Disclaimer: My ninja avatar is not meant to imply that I have any affiliation with this site other than being a forum member. That's a pic of a T-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday. 🙂

[Author]

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