[Tom]

Just a heads up to anyone else in Massachusetts who was planning on applying for a non-reporting license:

Source: email from Massachusetts Society of CPAs

“Below are the highlights regarding the changes to the rules and regulations governing the accounting profession, approved by the Massachusetts Board of Public Accountancy last year, that took effect on Friday, May 19, 2017.
1. Community college credits earned at a regionally-accredited institution will be accepted to satisfy the 150 hour requirement. Credits earned before the implementation date of May 19 will be accepted.
2. Students will be able to take the exam 90 days before their official graduation date. Candidates will ultimately need to provide an official transcript to prove that they have earned a bachelor’s degree with a minimum of 120 credits and coverage in the required subjects.

3. A non-reporting license will no longer be issued. No waivers of experience will be offered to students currently enrolled in a graduate program.

4. ALL candidates for a CPA license will be required to have an equivalent of 1 year of public accounting experience. Three years of nonpublic accounting experience will be deemed equivalent to one year of public if the position is above entry level, under the supervision of the CPA, and the responsibilities are substantially equivalent to public accounting.

5. Candidates for a CPA license will no longer be required to have experience that includes a total of 1000 hours of attestation.

6. There will no longer be a time limit to reach the 150 hour requirement after passing the CPA Exam.

7. Anyone who tested in April – May 2017 who is at risk of losing conditional credit because of the delayed score release will automatically be given a 3 month extension (there is no need to make a special request).

The FAQs and information available on the websites of the Board of Public Accountancy and NASBA will be updated in the coming weeks.”

[nqd787]

Hey Folks, I recently received my congratulatory letter for passing the exams (woohoo!) but with that came an attached notice on the 120 hour rule. it states:

“According to our records you were found eligible to sit for the Uniform CPA examination for the State of Massachusetts based on the Boards 120 hour rule.

In order to apply for the certification in the state of Massachusetts you must meet the education requirements (CMR 2.07(2)(a)) for certification within 3 years of passing the last section of the Uniform CPA examination.”

Are the new rules effective yet? I am hoping this was included with my letter as a mistake.

[Pat]

Hi there,
anybody knows how long doe it take to get congrats letter?

Also I just want to update that the cancellation of non-reporting license has not been in effect.

Found this when I registered for the application process;

This application is for candidates that have met the 150 semester hour educational requirement of 252 CMR 2.07(2) (a) and have experience consisting of any type of service or advise using accounting attest, compilation, management advisory, financial advisory, tax, and consulting skills in accordance to 252 CMR 2.07 (b) 1. Do not submit the application until you received the completed AECR from NASBA Licensing Services

Also, as part of the order the board voted to eliminate the non-reporting class type. Currently the board has not determined when this will be in effect as there will be a transition period between 1-2 years possibly. For now we would like to keep the text as is. We will eventually need to revisit and edit the text once Non-Reporting is no longer in effect sometime late in 2017.

[tskits75]

Haven't gotten mine yet from MA, but the NASBA site said they would be mailed by 10/15. Hoping earlier.

AUD - 92
BEC - 79
REG - August
FAR - TBD

[LD]

@Pat how do you know of this transition period? I spoke to the Board directly (via phone) last month and they said the nonreporting license is no longer in effect as of April. I forget the exact day but they confirmed the nonreporting license application is no longer a valid application you can file.

[ukrainiangirl]

Hello all!

I am preparing my application package for the reporting license and realized that my public accounting experience letter that I received from my former employer GT does not have notary public certification. It does include statements regarding the period that I worked there, number of audit hours, signature of the partner and is on firm letterhead.

Has anyone recently sent out the application for the reporting license and received a license without notarized experience letter?

Thank you,

Ukrainiangirl

[falcon900]

Hello all,

Does anyone have any information as to whether the current MA non-reporting CPA license holders will also be affected by the Massachusetts CPA License Requirements Changes?
Any new information will be much appreciated. Thanks.

falcon900

[tferriter]

Tom, were you able to get a licence? I am in a similar situation and am wondering if I'll get approved. I earned my masters in 2012 and had already taken and passed two exams when the new rules kicked in. Any advice?

[Pat]

@LD I saw the information when I registered for online license application. it's on the first page when you start the application.

[brianeddy01915]

I am a sole practitioner. Anyone have this issue in getting these “hours” to get a license? I'm thinking of paying a CPA to sign off if he reviews my work. I have way over 1 year experience doing taxes.

[Anonymous]

is this wise to put on this forum, Brian with your name on it?

[Anonymous]

@ems215 @brianeddy01915 I don't know anything about Massachusetts, but the Texas board allows for these kinds of arrangements. I haven't seen anything where they specifically allow self-employed candidates to do this, but they do have an option for a company that doesn't employ any CPAs to basically engage one as sort of a consultant for this purpose.

[Author]

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