[juuustin]

I am so mad at myself right now. For the past year, I was under the impression that I would have a chance at qualifying for the Colorado licensure through the education in lieu of experience. I mapped out all of the credits, checked and re-checked. I had the 3 credits of U.S. GAAS as well as 3 more credits in Fraud Examination. Somehow I messed up. I am a few classes short of the requirements.

I have no intention of ever getting enough experience to be licensed through the conventional method. I have a pretty lucrative career in law enforcement and there is no chance I would ever take a 30k year job just to get my license. I want the CPA in order to make myself more attractive to agencies such as the FBI, IRS, SEC, etc. etc. in law enforcement.

I applied two days ago through Colorado on the NASBA site. I was already going to be under-the-gun to finish all four parts and submit the application before July 1, 2015, but there was at least a chance. I was feeling super motivated. Now, I don’t know what to do. I know there are states (Montana, Alabama) that offer the two-tier system. The first-tier inactive CPA Certificate is definitely still attractive to me, but since I already started my application with Colorado I don’t know what to do. NASBA offers a change of jurisdiction but you have to re-pay all of the application fees and everything.

Does it make more sense to just go ahead and take all four parts through Colorado and then transfer scores, or should I bite the bullet and just change jurisdictions now? I would love for NASBA to be kind and simply refund everything since it is so few days since I applied but I know that will not happen.

MD Candidate: 10/1/14

FAR - 87 (11/23/14)
REG - 87 (1/30/15)
BEC - 89 (4/19/15)
AUD - 98 (5/30/15)

Ethics - 100

Experience - In Progress!

[y_u_no_pass]

Why can't you just take the additional classes? I'm not familiar with Colorado, but usually you have 3 years after passing to meet educational requirements.

Florida CPA!
Took final exam 2/25/15.
Sent in Application 3/12/15.
Issued License 3/20/15.
Used CPA Excel solely for all exams.

[juuustin]

The education in lieu of experience pathway to licensure expires June 30, 2015. Also, I don't really want to take the extra courses.

Basically, I applied to Colorado solely because they had this highly desirable pathway. I misfigured somewhere along the line and now the pathway will not be available to me. I am wondering if its better to just take the parts under Colorado knowing full-well that I will transfer them upon completion, or should I just transfer jurisdiction right now to avoid headaches in the future. I just really don't want to spend the application fees over again if I don't need to.

MD Candidate: 10/1/14

FAR - 87 (11/23/14)
REG - 87 (1/30/15)
BEC - 89 (4/19/15)
AUD - 98 (5/30/15)

Ethics - 100

Experience - In Progress!

[mla1169]

If you don't want to meet the experience requirement, and don't want to take the extra courses, where do you think you would transfer jurisdictions to? Have you met the requirements in Montana or Alabama? You know in Montana the 24 credits have to be upper level (300 or 400 level classes) and the equivalent of 100 and 200 level courses don't count?

I know in MA you have to have a Masters degree to waive the experience.

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

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[stoleway]

@juuustin

Looks like you want the license to be handed down to you on a silver platter, are you interested in the certificate or the license?

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

Mass-CPA

[impska]

On the bright side, you haven't actually taken any exam.

Your application fee is non-refundable, but you can contact NASBA and cancel the application to get the NTS fees refunded.

I don't really know where or why you would take the exam, at this point. You -might- be able to tell NASBA you selected the wrong state and get them to switch your application over.

But you'll want to make sure you actually meet the requirements if you do. I also don't know what kind of flexibility they have regarding the application fee. They are pretty clear that it's non-refundable.

REG - 94
BEC - 92
FAR - 92
AUD - 99

[juuustin]

Thanks for the responses.

I don't think I was looking for it on a silver platter. Colorado offered a no experience pathway and I intended on meeting the requirements. I'm not sure how I made the mistake but I did. It is obviously my fault alone.

I want the Certificate because it allows me to qualify for the Accounting Critical Skill for the FBI. The ~$2000 will be completely and totally worth it to me for this exact reason. I targeted Colorado because I figured if I was going to go for the certificate, I might as well get fully licensed for no extra effort.

@mla – I understand Montana requires 24 ACCT upper level credits and I have quadruple checked that I have 27. I also have added up my general business credits multiple times and I show 27 there as well.

The main reason I think transferring jurisdictions now might be the best idea is so that I can already be approved by Montana and not have to worry about any hiccups down the road. I was simply looking for possible ways to switch jurisdictions without incurring major costs.

MD Candidate: 10/1/14

FAR - 87 (11/23/14)
REG - 87 (1/30/15)
BEC - 89 (4/19/15)
AUD - 98 (5/30/15)

Ethics - 100

Experience - In Progress!

[impska]

The only thing you have potentially lost out on is your application fee. You will eventually have to apply to Montana down the road anyway, so you're “out” the CO application fee, one way or another. You are allowed to cancel the NTS application, though, and get that refunded.

With only 2 days behind you, you should just cancel the CO application and apply to Montana. See if you can call NASBA and ge tthem to switch your application over.

At worst though, you are only out $150-200 for your mistake.

REG - 94
BEC - 92
FAR - 92
AUD - 99

[juuustin]

To update anyone interested in the refundability of CPA fees:

I finally found a human that is directly involved with the application process and left her a lengthy voicemail with a follow up email. She got back to me yesterday and informed me that all fees will be refunded to my credit card. Sure enough, tonight all $514 (reg fee + 2 tests) was refunded to my credit card.

And in a further alignment of the stars, I have an out of nowhere Big 4 audit associate interview next Wednesday. Working in public was not on my radar until a few days ago but it looks like it may happen after all!

MD Candidate: 10/1/14

FAR - 87 (11/23/14)
REG - 87 (1/30/15)
BEC - 89 (4/19/15)
AUD - 98 (5/30/15)

Ethics - 100

Experience - In Progress!

[Guti]

Justin, I have the 24 credit upper division (bachelors) but I can't meet the 150 hr requirement. I was just checking Beckers site for states that do not require the 150 hours and it shows Montana as a state where you don't have to have the 150 hrs to sit but you need it to get the license. I'm also under Colorado cause you don't need to have the 150 hrs. They only want you to have 27 credits of upper division accounting. This will change on July of next year. How are you going to get your license in Montana without these extra credits?

FAR-84
AUD-
REG-
BEC-

[Guti]

juuustin, do you need the 150 hrs under Montana or Becker's site is incorrect?

FAR-84
AUD-
REG-
BEC-

[juuustin]

Gian:

I have 177 completed credits. My recently completed Accounting degree was my second Bachelor's degree. Right now, I am in a holding pattern because I may end up taking the test through Maryland if I end up working in public accounting.

MD Candidate: 10/1/14

FAR - 87 (11/23/14)
REG - 87 (1/30/15)
BEC - 89 (4/19/15)
AUD - 98 (5/30/15)

Ethics - 100

Experience - In Progress!

[Author]

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