[Larry]

Received a rejection letter from California to my CPA application. It said I needed an “Accounting Ethics class taken at an upper-divisional or higher level, or at a community college”. I took Ethics as a sophomore as part of my undergrad accounting degree. I got my degree before “Accounting ethics” was required, so back then my school just called it “Ethics”.

I called the head of CA’s licensing group, who is new and has no experienced interpreting this rule. She promised to think about my questions, but am guessing she will take the safe route and require I take an “Accounting Ethics” class. Wanted to ask if anyone has been through these issues, and has any advice.

Also, does anyone have suggestions for on-line community college courses that are easy to get enroll in and can be completed at an acellerated pace? I’d like to complete the course as fast as possible.

Thanks!

[mvhoover]

Texas tried to do the same thing to me, so I licensed in Utah first. I did all my schooling in Utah, so that helped, but the key ingredient for Texas was also an Ethics course they said I had to go back to school and take.

However, Texas told me that if I successfully licensed in Utah, I would not need to go back to school for Ethics and I could just transfer my license to Texas for a fee and then do all of their licensure requirements (Take a 4 hour CPE in ethics and get my fingerprints done) Maybe see if California would let you do that? NASBA can transfer your scores to a different state, see if there is a state that you meet all the requirements for. Best of luck.

[Shannon]

I’m in California also. I haven’t taken my ethics course yet but from my research, the top choice is the online class through Foothill Community College – which is in CA. (www.foothill.edu) I went through the application process and got approved in less than a month but decided to wait until I passed all four exams to enroll.

[Road2CPA]

I live in Texas and had the same issue regarding the ethics course. Texas actually wouldn't accept about 2 other courses that I took in undergrad. I would just suggest finding a different state to get licensed in. I decided on Arkansas since that's where I received my undergrad, and I met all of the requirements. You can google requirements by state and pick a state that would accept all of your courses. I plan to do what @Mvhoover is doing by transferring my license to Texas once I'm licensed in Arkansas.

[Ben]

I'm in Southern California but didn't have any community colleges offering the course within a reasonable drive. Ultimately took the course @Shannon is eluding to. There were several offerings ranging over different periods of length. I took a 4 unit course over 5 weeks completely online. It was a straightforward class centered around writing assignments.

[bigstakk]

I would double check each of your courses. I got a letter saying I needed 1 2/3 more Ethics units, but I reviewed the requirements identified by the CBA and found a course that they counted towards business units instead of ethics. They reallocated the course which qualified under the management of an organization category and I was able to fulfill the ethics requirement as a result. Some courses that qualify for ethics that are unsuspecting include courses on religion, philosophy, like I mentioned, management of organizations. Good luck!

[Kathy Kachaturian]

@bigstakk: I met 10 units required under the Ethics section but was told I need to take specifically an ‘Accounting Ethics' course. The title must state this in the course.

I will actually have more than 10 units under the Ethics section after taking this course.

Did you take an ‘Accounting Ethics' course?

[Author]

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