[Guti]

I received the below email from NASBA this morning. It pretty much says that now Indian students do not have to travel to the US to take the CPA exam as they can take it in Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon and the UAE.

Some Accounting jobs in South Florida have already been outsource by firms in India. The average accountant there gets pay around 10K per year. According to some American companies, Indian accountants were not well versed with Accounting laws and regulations. The clerical work like AP,AR on the other hand was easily outsourced for obvious reasons. Now with this new Law, there are going to be more CPAs in India than what we have in the US. Outsourcing will be a lot easier cause now you will have very competitive CPAs who understand GAAP,GAAS, and our IRS code at least on paper. To put this into perspective, I used to work in a 1.2 Billion dollar company. We had about 43 Accountant and only 5 CPAs. The salary range was from 50K to 150K. With this new law making it easier for Indian students to take the CPA exam, my old company could outsource to India and have 40 CPAs working with a range of 10K to 25K per year.Is this the beginning of the end for American CPAs working in private practice? I dont think Auditors could be outsourced.

Starting October 1, 2014, citizens, permanent residents and long-term residents of India can test for the Uniform CPA Examination in Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon and the UAE.

The CPA Examination application process is the same for U.S. and international candidates. In order to qualify to take the CPA Examination outside the U.S., candidates will have to establish their eligibility through an Accountancy Board participating in the International CPA Examination Administration program.

For a list of participating Accountancy Boards and information regarding international testing, please visit the International Administration of the CPA Exam page on our nasba.org website.

Prospective candidates must select the participating U.S. jurisdiction to which they will apply, contact the Accountancy Board (or its designee) in that jurisdiction to obtain application materials, submit completed applications and required fees as instructed, and once deemed qualified, register for the examination.

After receiving the Notice to Schedule, you may then register to take the examination in an international location and complete the International Administration of the CPA Exam through our Apply to Test Internationally page.

Once the International Administration process is complete, please visit Prometric’s website in order to schedule your examination in an available international test center location.

FAR-84
AUD-
REG-
BEC-

[Anonymous]

Answer to those who are expecting to go to India and bribe a pro metric manager – try that and I am sure you will be reported to the NASBA within minutes. It is very strict over there.

Pro metric centers in India generate income because they are located in INDIA, so its obvious that they will have Indians only as their employees. and also as u mentioned “money talks” .. so is it.. everyone/most of them who is pursuing CPA – i guess its for money. This question was asked by one particular member. hope you have the answer

Gironhe , u r so correct – it is the greed of a corporation which has lead to outsourcing of work.

Now just to let everyone know – India already has a equivalent qualification ” Chartered Accountants” who are are licensed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and not by ACCA. To successfully pass the CA exams and to be licensed as one is very tough , believe me its more tough than CPA. I have been through it. Its 4 subjects for CPA and its almost 18 subjects for INDIAN CA.

Also even before this announcement many professionals/students not only from INDIA but also from other countries come to USA to write CPA. NASBA has just made it little easy for INDIAN aspirants to write the exam and be sure.. in couple of years exams will be administered in INDIA as well.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT INDIA OR CPA , ASK ME

[Guti]

awynash, do they still have arranged marriages there? I have a friend from India who told me that they are now a little more open minded, and you get to go on one date before you decide if you want to get hitched.

FAR-84
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BEC-

[stoleway]

REG -63│ 84!!
BEC- 59│70│ 71 │78!
AUD- 75!
FAR- 87!

Mass-CPA

[Anonymous]

I hate to be that guy, but I do believe that this is messing with the integrity of the license. I understand that capitalism and globalization are occurring, but for all the issues we've had in the U.S. in the last 10-15 years with the capital markets.. ya know the whole PCAOB/SOX404/DODDFrank..maybe we shouldn't be outsourcing the integrity of our testing centers and the security for “convenience”.

I wouldn't expect to be “chartered” by testing here, and I think it's a joke that for all the other international candidates who were forced to respect and comply with the integrity of the guidelines that we are just going to outsource…

just silly if you ask me.

[Anonymous]

@awynash… let's not go there with our's is “harder” argument..

[Guti]

awynash said to ask anything, and I was just curious cause I thought my friends were kidding when they said that. I have a lot of Indian friends from GA tech,so not disrespect to you or anyone else from that country. I'm just curious to know,but you are right I should have asked that at the lounge thread.

FAR-84
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[Anonymous]

The only thing that changes is Indian Candidates no longer have to travel to US for giving the exams. Previously Indians had to spend for Travel, Accomodation etc while coming to US for the exams. Yes, it is true thatt with they being allowed to appear for exams from Middle East, it would mean that more number of candidates from India would start appearing for exams than before. Note that most of them who sit for US CPA exams are already Qualified Indian Chartered Accountants and are working with the Big 4 firms in Asia. They appear for CPA exams to improve upon their credentials and compete with others in Asia who hold multiple qualifications like Indian CA, ACCA, CPA etc. I don't see why an American is worried about losing jobs to people from Asia. Offcourse some low end accounting jobs would get outsourced eventually but there are lot of work that can be only done within states.

Btw I am an Indian working with a Big 4 and passed CPA exams earlier this year before this new rule came into effect. I had to travel to States to complete the course.

[pedrocerrano]

This sounds like a load of crap to me. CPAs present here on USA soil are still in great demand in the workforce, and I don't think that's changing anytime soon.

Will CPAs in other countries understand US tax law and IFRS and other regulations? Yes, people outside the USA may pass the CPA exam, but as you know, the CPA, while still a great accomplishment, really only scratches the surface in terms of knowledge and it's not like there's much IMO you can use immediately from what you learned in passing it to help you serve clients.

Getting a CPA proves you have great discipline and solid smarts, but it's not like you're going to be off the ground and running as some tax expert or IFRS expert or internal controls expert, etc. for clients out there. It's the work experience building off both getting your CPA and foundation knowledge that counts and is going to make you very valuable in the workforce.

If you have recently-minted CPAs from other countries now, most of them aren't going to get the experience you, as a CPA on USA soil, would as an auditor serving USA-based businesses with a firm here in the US. Auditors still have to be present here in the USA to help USA-based businesses with inventory counts, obtaining support from the client's accounting department for audits, etc. I don't think those jobs are going anywhere. The same is true with tax stuff.

The CPA as a profession could try to protect the guild by making it more difficult to enter the CPA profession. Over the years, there's one more hurdle after another (150credits/masters degree, etc.) to earn a CPA license. Since the CPA is expanding to allow those in other countries to take it, the number of exam takers could be at an all-time high and Could NASBA/AICPA make it harder to earn a 75 + score? (in addition to requiring 150cr/masters and coursework,etc.) The pass rates every quarter always end up around 40-50%. According to the AICPA, the way the CPA exam people come up with a 75, it is obviously NOT 75% of the questions NOR is it a curved exam. Rather, a score of 75 or greater is supposed to be a determination on NASBA/AICPA's part that the candidate “demonstrates the knowledge to protect the general public” (which is what seems to be almost like a BS phrase). It almost feels like it's curved/scaled (even though it isn't) just because you always come out of the exam feeling like you surely failed (possibly due to getting hard testlets) only to surprise yourself and end up with a passing score.

[rana_cali]

@Mazen: No just an accountant! What about u?

AUD: 84
FAR: 75
BEC: 78
REG: 75

DONE-ZO!!!!!!!!

REG: Used Becker 2014 book, NINJA MCQ, Ninja notes, ninja audio
_______________________________
CFE since Oct. 2013.

[Herbieherb]

I believe this will make the passing of the exam more competitive, if it is curved…but its not so dont worry 🙂

NEW YORK- DONE

[ScarletKnightCPA]

It's interesting that you say that they are very strict and that bribing does not take place there for exam scores because I've heard the opposite is true, that corruption is rampant in India and bribing takes place all the time.

This wikipedia link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_India

Far: 76 (Wiley Test Bank)
Aud: 77 (Wiley Test Bank)
Reg: 61, 76 (Wiley book, Wiley Test Bank)
Bec: 86 (Wiley Test Bank)

MBA in progress

[Mary 2496]

I've also heard the same. I think it's a standard way of doing business in many countries, particularly where there is a lack of anti-corruption laws. From what I understand, India has always been one of the most corrupt countries and has one of the most corrupt economies.

[005]

I sure hope not.

I'm sure there are some people who like accounting, but no one takes the CPA exam because they like this sh*t. It's long, it's expensive, and it just sucks. Better be worth it.

BEC - ✔
REG - ✔
AUD - ✔
FAR - 11/29/14

CPAExcel, Ninja MCQs, and a sh*t ton of coffee

[How many letters do you need]

This is interesting. However the main issue is still going to be one of communication. We have gone full circle with call centers. Companies are beginning to realize that cost is only important if it is equal quality. How can I believe that there is a large number of Indians who can communicate complex accounting and finance concepts if I can't even trust a call center to understand me that I need to order a new card? Although I am sure the accounting knowledge is still there, the number that will pass and still communicate as well in English are relatively small. Add to all of this the confidentiality involved with some of the more complex of what we do and I'll be willing to bet most companies will decline off shoring anything beyond clerk level. They just like having us close. Some competition? Perhaps, enough to cause concern? Nope!

MBA,CMA,CPA, CFF?, ABV?

[Struggle_Bus]

I'm guessing Big 4 lobbied pretty hard for this one.

This will probably effect enterprise clients (the Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, and Boeings of the world) the most.

I'm fairly confident firms specializing middle market or small (privately held & domestic) companies will not be affected too much by this potential outsourcing.

[Author]

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