[Jaycon86]

So I graduated with my bachelors and have completed all the requirements besides the 150. Well I took the remaining 18 hours this last semester in random classes at a community college to finish in time for my new job. I just found out the that the board won’t accept the classes because of some weird loophole. If I had had transferred the classes before graduating I would be ok but they won’t accept them after unless they’re upper division from a university. Now I have the predicament of finding options for classes as well as the impact this will have on my new public accounting job. Has anyone been in this situation that can give me some guidance?

[waffle_house]

I live in Texas and graduated with my bachelors with about 9 credits short. Technically I had 145 credits but in Texas you can't just take “any random” classes at a community college to get to your 150. Most universities only provide you with 24 UPPER LEVEL accounting credits and you need 30 upper level accounting credits to satisfy the 150 rule. Meaning instead of taking those random accounting courses you should of took a few more “upper level” courses at Lone Star or HCC. Also don't forget the ethics course is a requirement even if you have 150 credits. Might want to check out the TSBPA website for more info.

[Jaycon86]

All the requirements were met including the ethics requirement except the 150. I took the remaining acc hours at lone star but ran out of acc classes to take hence the random classes. What other options for upper level would I have at a community college? Also do you think this will affect my job status?

[Jaycon86]

Bump

[Anonymous]

Thankfully, I was able to get all of mine in during undergrad. I would suggest getting in touch with the state board. They have been extremely helpful when I have contacted them. As far as how this might affect your job it all depends on what kind of public accounting firm you're in. B4? Local?

[Gabe]

Not in Texas, but, to my knowledge, community colleges don't offer the upper level classes needed for the 150 requirement. Most of my friends, enrolled in a commuter school (i.e. NOT a community college) to get their additional 6 hours needed to reach 150.

CPA, CFE
CISA- Experience will be completed by August 2016

[lauren725]

Jaycon – I completed my 150 hours taking accounting classes at Lone Star College (they are on approved list of Texas Community Colleges for upper level accounting classes). I met with an advisor a few years ago and went over the Texas Board's requirements and what classes counted and went from there. What is the loophole that they wont approve? Do all your classes match the criteria for TX? I took around 10 accounting classes through LoneStar I believe – over 30 hours.

AUD - 73,91
FAR - 79 - Thank you God!
BEC - 73,79!!!!
REG - 92 whatttt??!

I used Becker review + flashcards, Ninja Audio, Ninja MCQ supplement on BEC and REG.

Done! Praise God!

[Jaycon86]

Lauren I only have a couple accounting classes i could take at lonestar without repeating. I assumed any class would do for the 150 but I should have dug deeper instead of going off word of mouth. The pressure to finish in time for my new job was also a factor. Were you able to take all these classes online?

[lauren725]

If I were you I would try to get in contact with some of the accounting professors over there that are familiar with the Texas requirements to see what you have left and meet with someone. There are a lot of people in this area that get their 150 acct hours at Lonestar and they have a few campuses so a lot of acct classes offered. There are restrictions on how many online classes you can take, I can't exactly remember the rule. I think I took 3 or 4 online and then did the rest at night.

AUD - 73,91
FAR - 79 - Thank you God!
BEC - 73,79!!!!
REG - 92 whatttt??!

I used Becker review + flashcards, Ninja Audio, Ninja MCQ supplement on BEC and REG.

Done! Praise God!

[Jaycon86]

I live in San Antonio so since I already took my remaining accounting classes online I don't know if I will have many options besides re enrolling at my University. Right now the real issue I'm having is how to break the news to my job. I just started an Audit Associate position with a regional firm and I found out after the fact that I wouldn't meet the requirements with those classes. Is there a good chance they will let me stay on and finish up my remaining requirements or will this warrant termination?

[lauren725]

I think you should just be honest with them and get a game plan together. I did all of my required acct classes while working for a regional firm myself. I let them know I was serious and I would only take a class or two at a time so it would not interfere with my work. I was paying for school myself, so they didn't have that loss and they were very understanding. They knew it was my ultimate goal to be a CPA and saw that I was serious. I suggest taking that route and hopefully they will understand!

AUD - 73,91
FAR - 79 - Thank you God!
BEC - 73,79!!!!
REG - 92 whatttt??!

I used Becker review + flashcards, Ninja Audio, Ninja MCQ supplement on BEC and REG.

Done! Praise God!

[Anonymous]

I contacted Lone Star College (Houston area). They offer Ethics course (lower level) and tax research course (upper level) it's weird, but yeah just be careful..

[Anonymous]

If you need more accounting and/or business hours, you CAN take those at community colleges that have been approved by the state board. If you've already met the 30 hrs of accounting requirement and the 24 hours of business requirement and still need upper division hours, you can take them at a 4-year school on campus OR via extension. The courses do NOT have to be accounting or business related. They just have to be upper division.

Most extension programs do not require application to or enrollment in the university, and you still get an actual transcript from the school showing the course(s) and your grade(s), just like a normal student. The only logistical issue you might have is taking midterms and finals for them, since most courses will require you to take exams at a testing center on campus. If you live too far away from the campus in question, you can usually arrange to take your exams at a testing center on a campus that is closer to you.

I ran into this problem because I majored in finance and accounting, so I was still well short of 150 hours after meeting the accounting and business course requirement, so I just took upper division extension courses until I had 150 hours. I just took whatever upper division classes were available that seemed interesting to me, and everything was approved by the state board. Even better, I got As in all of them and raised my undergrad GPA (for potential MBA applications). The convenience of self-paced classes and not having to sit in a classroom two or three nights a week was nice.

[23K]

I got my undergraduate in Finance so I needed a lot of hours to sit for the exam.

I decided to get my masters in Accounting which solved the requirement problem and got a degree of out it.

Just my experience

AUD--52,68,83, expired. Retake = 74 RETAKE - 7.24.26
FAR--73,70,68,75
BEC-- 79
REG-- 68,62,75

[Author]

Replies