[Anonymous]

I sat and passed all four sections in Missouri but landed a Big4 job in Texas. I’ve started working and had to contact the state board this morning for clarification on some things that weren’t clear. Here’s the skinny:

Texas has the additional requirement for 2 semester Accounting/Tax research, 2 semester hours of written business communication, and 3 semester hours of a board-approved ethics course. This is in addition to the 30 hours of accounting courses above the principals level and 24 hours of other business related classes. If you went to an out of state or a school not on their list, you must have taken classes that are the equivalent of those three and submit the course syllabus so that the board can determine if it meets their standards. Not a course description found in an academic catalog, but the actual syllabus handed out by your professor. If you have passed any section of the exam and either, 1: NOT have completed a similar class or, 2: the board determines that the class does NOT meet their standards, you can NEVER transfer that credit to Texas. Even if you take and complete approved Texas classes the very next day, you can NEVER transfer the credit, and thus, never obtain an original license from Texas. You’re only option is then to obtain an original license out of state and transfer it via reciprocity. BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE HEADACHE.

So even if you do obtain a license in another state originally, Texas requires you to have completed 120 hours of CPE DURING the past three years prior to application. So in other words, you pretty much will have to get licensed plus two more years before you can even apply for reciprocity in Texas. So now I have to maintain my Missouri residency (since they require it for licensing and maintenance) and live in Texas for 3 years. At least Missouri allows any CPA from any state to sign off on my work experience, if acquired out of state.

I feel like Tom Hanks in the movie “The Terminal”

[Anonymous]

That is crazy! I am so sorry that this happened to you. Have you talked to HR? Maybe they can help you get the syllabus and other documentation to prove you have met the TX requirements.

[Tux]

Just a thought –

What if you do all 120 hrs of CPE at the same time – NOT over 3 years?

Would that help?

FAR - 86 - 2/27/14
AUD - 75 - 5/29/14
BEC - 80 - 8/31/14
REG - 89 - 2/27/15
Praise Jesus! I'm done!!

Study resources:
Becker
Wiley test bank

[Mjganier]

I'm in Louisiana and plan on transferring to Texas via reciprocity. There are 2 good sites for CPE that won't cost an arm and a leg for 120 hours. Cpethink.com and cpestore.com. I can't remember which one but you can pay a one time fee and take as much as you need. As soon as I pass, I'm going to be doing CPE and then apply to transfer.

FAR 8/18/2014--87
AUD 10/18/2014--78
REG 11/24/2014--76
BEC 2/28/2015--76

"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough"-Albert Einstein

Study Mats: Cpaexcel study text and EQ, Ninja MCQ, Ninja notes

[mla1169]

CPEthink is something like $300 for unlimited CPE credits for 2 years. I got all 80 credits for my first renewal and will have all 120 for my second renewal before my CPEthink expires.

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

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[Anonymous]

The Texas requirement is not just 120 hours CPE, but 120 hours CPE with a minimum of 20 hours per year for the 3 years prior. So in other words, you have to hold your license in the other state for at least three years. Anyway you slice it, Texas is a b!tch when it comes to transfering license/credits. However, I've come to terms with the fact that I'm going to live in Texas but obtain and hold a Missouri license/residency for the next three years. Then, (and only then) is the reciprocity process fairly painless for Texas.

[Trele6]

I just got an email from the licensing division for Texas and they said the 120 hr CPE will be waived for newly certified accountants.

First go at the CPA! Only using Becker
Reg / Nov 2015 - 87
Far / Apr 2016 - 79
Bec / May 2016 - 80
Aud / Aug 2016

[aspencookie]

“I just got an email from the licensing division for Texas and they said the 120 hr CPE will be waived for newly certified accountants. ” UHHHHH…I am in Texas and im still deciding what state to apply out of because I still have not fulfilled the 1 year experience requirement..yet…..I was thinking about doing it from an easy state (I think IN is one) and then transferring to Texas.

TRELE6 Could you please please elaborate on what you meant by them saying that they will waive the fee for newly certified accountants….i am still a CPA newborn so i still dont know where I will apply out of …but elaborating on your statement will help me a lot…i mean do i not need to hold an out of state license for ATLEAST THREE YEARS before i can apply for a transfer?

thank you

[Anonymous]

Can anyone tell me how their story ended?
I'm a military spouse that lived overseas for 7 years. While I was overseas I did all of my upper level accounting courses online and my gen-ed face to face on the base. I now have 153 hours including my Bachelors in Accounting so I can test in literally any state except Texas because I do not have the upper-level accounting face to face courses. I now live in Texas, I have a 1 year old and a full time job so Im hoping to avoid having to take a bunch of night classes. Im wondering if I test in another state will I be able apply for reciprocity without the face to face courses? Any advise would be greatly appreciated!

[PonyUP]

Texas is the hardest state to get licenses because of a few bad apples (Enron and Arthur Anderson). Thanks guys!!!!!

@Sail and Sail – Thank you for your family’s service. I 100% believe that professional license should be adapted to military and families. You gave up so much for this country, we should make it better when you come back to the states.

I am not sure which region you live in but in Dallas check out Mountain View, in Houston look at Lone Star. They have face to face classes that are friendlier to scheduling and are low cost. Also, check out http://www.ratemyprofessor.com for reviews.

For ethics, Austin Community College has a great Accounting Ethics online that counts. The Texas board has very strict rules on which ethics classes are approved to be taken online. Here is the list.

https://www.tsbpa.state.tx.us/pdffiles/l0015.pdf

Texas is horrible about counting the research classes. I took two classes because they were on the list of approved research classes. Then they changed the list and now they are not counting them. Every 6 months they change the rules. It is horrible!

I switched to getting my license in Colorado. They do not have the face to face requirement.

I do know that once you pass the 4 exams you are locked in on the requirements. Being grandfathered in a state that is constantly changing their requirements is a valuable thing. This is why I gave up on Texas and switched to Colorado. At least the requirements will stop changing.
After passing all 4 then I will work on getting licensed in Texas. But right now my focus is on just passing.

[Sunni]

There is a chance I would have to move to Texas. I can apply for licensure in IL once i am done with ethics since I have the 1 year work experience requirement. I am still trying to avoid moving there at all cost.

[Sunni]

Also is a CPA of another state a worthless designation in Texas? What can and can't you do with it?

[PonyUP]

I am not in public accounting (Big 4), and I am not in private practice (audit/tax). But I can speak from a Corporate Accounting/Finance and Consulting perspective only. I have 20+ years experience in industry.

Because most large companies do not operate in only one state or only one country, they are less focused on what state you are licensed in. I have only worked for large billion dollar multinationals. Everyone moves around these days. I live in Dallas, which is growing fast right now. I hardly ever run into someone licensed in Texas. People are from all over the US. It is different now than 10 or 5 years ago. People almost expect you to have a license in other states. The state only matters if you are signing an attestation or tax return.

I truly believe that 10-20 years from now we will have a national standard. People are moving around to much in the US and getting licensed in every state is going to be cost prohibited for the Big 4. I have seen some of the spreadsheets my co-workers have to use to track CPE's by state. It is crazy.

[rencpa]

The original date of the post was from 2014. Is there anyone who currently transferred credits/license to Texas?

Strongly appreciate any help.

Thanks

[jpj230]

Hello, I got licensed in Texas at the end of 2017!

My education was done in Tennessee and I worked there for the first few years of my experience. Tennessee allows you to get licensed if you are a non-resident. It's much easier to get reciprocity to Texas than to apply directly to Texas, thanks to substantial equivalency rules. All I had to do was a 3-hour online CPE for Texas ethics. I did not have to get the specific upper-level classes approved by Texas.

[rencpa]

@jpj230. CONGRATULATIONS on your CPA! Thank you. It's a good news.

Mind elaborate a little bit more about Tennessee requirements for CPA. I have been taking the exams based on the New York state. How many educational credits did you need for Tennessee? I applied before the NYS changed the rules; based on 120 credits (even though I graduated with 146). I hope to finalize my CPA journey in 2018 (be done forever).

It is just funny that any time I drive from TX to NY and I pass TN, I feel like this is the state where I would like to live.

[Author]

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