[Liiyum]

Hi,

I’m new here so I’m not sure if this is the right place to be posting this, I apologize in advance if it isn’t.

So I interned at a regional firm last summer and received an offer to start full time in November. It did state in the offer letter that I would have to be CPA eligible by the time of hire. With that said, I do have 225 units along with my degree (so I will be able to sit for the exam), but I am missing 5 units of the ethics portion because my school did not offer enough. I originally thought one of my classes would have counted towards this requirement, but I just found out that it does not. I understand that this was completely my fault and was really stupid for not being thorough, please don’t bite me off for this. I recently enrolled in a class at a community college that will fulfill the final ethic requirements but it does not finish until December (a month after my projected start date). It is a strictly online class so I will not be required to miss work and I plan to finish the homework whenever I get off work. I did get along well with the people during the internship and do have a good GPA (which could maybe show I will pass the class?). In addition, I have been actively studying for the CPA and am scheduled to take FAR in October.

I recently contacted my recruiter and they said they would have to talk to the partners and HR. My question, what do you guys think the likelihood that the firm rescinds my offer? Please let me know what you guys think and any response would be nice! Thanks.

[fivehurdles]

My understanding of CPA eligible is that you are able to sit for the exam. Based upon that, you'd be ok. If you need the additional hours of ethics to sit for the exam, you may not be CPA eligible.

Even so, the fact that you are actively addressing the situation by attempting to resolve it by December works in your favor. Your firm thought well enough of you as an intern to make you an offer, so you might have a little more “capital” than your typical new hire.

I think you're ok – and if you have a NTS for your October sitting then I'd be 100% sure your ok.

2011 Results:
BEC 65 83
AUD 57
FAR 30 (Can you get any worse) (11/10)
REG 70

2015-16 Results:
BEC 78
AUD 77
REG 76
FAR June 10

[.]

Did they ask for your transcripts? I wouldn't worry about it.

FAR - June 2016 - 88
REG - July 2016 - 89
AUD - Aug 2016 - review phase currently
BEC - Sep 2016 -

Wiley CPA Excel & Ninja MCQ

[Liiyum]

Thank you guys so much for the feedback! I sincerely hope they do not revoke my offer, I really enjoyed interning there last summer especially with my intern class (one of the main reasons why I want to start with them). And @Circadian, yes they have asked for the transcripts along with the standard background check information.

[Anonymous]

I highly doubt they'll rescind your offer.
Worst case scenario, the firm may push back your start date a month or two and you may not get a proper orientation if you end up with an awkward start date.

[monikernc]

if you have been approved to sit for FAR in October then you are CPA exam eligible. did your board say anything about not taking FAR in October because of the ethics requirement?
you may be under a board where you meet the requirements to take the exam but must complete the ethics and the exams (plus experience) to get a license.

FAR 7/25/15 76!
AUD 10/30/15 93
BEC 2/27/16 82
REG 5/23/16 88!
Ninja Book and MCQ and the forum - all the way!!!
and a little thing i like to call, time and effort!
if you want things to change, you have to do something different

[Liiyum]

I still have yet to hear a reply from them (although it is busy season). I am registered to sit for the exam because I believe you only need your degree and a certain amount of accounting classes. However, to my understanding that it will not be able to obtain the license until you have the required units/work experience. I believe my firm wishes you to have all of the educational requirements done before the official hire date, but I'm hoping they won't rescind my offer for not having all the ethic units.

[Anonymous]

Have you looked into options for 8-week online courses that would meet the requirements? Depending on how specific they are, you might be able to find a different solution that gets it completed before your start date. I'm starting an online class Monday that finishes mid-October, so if you had one like that, you'd be eligible pre-November.

Likelihood of them rescinding an offer solely over 1 course being 1 month away from finished is slight, but just mentioning that 8-week online options are common, so might be worth checking into.

[Liiyum]

@Lilla, That's a really great idea! I only signed up for my local community college. I did not know some colleges offer 8 week courses, I will start doing some research and finding some to see if I can finish them. If I may ask, do you have any recommendations of where to start looking?

[Liiyum]

Hello,

Just an update for everyone following. They did contact me today and have pushed my start date until after I complete my classes in January. I am overjoyed for them not rescinding my offer and this gives me more time to study for the CPA (and hopefully pass at least 1 of them before I start). Thank you all for your responses! Now time to bust my butt for FAR in October!!

[Anonymous]

!Liiyum I didn't see your question till you posted your update, sorry.

For anyone else looking later, most colleges that have online courses have them as accelerated courses, so most are 8-week courses. If you're looking to start a course around normal-ish start dates, then you could be able to get in for an 8-week course fairly easily at many many colleges. (Normal-ish start dates would be Aug/Sep, Oct, Jan, Mar/Apr, May, Jul – basically every 8 weeks all year long.)

However, if you're looking for an abnormal start date, then you've got fewer options. The option I've used most is LSU – is.lsu.edu They offer self-paced courses that start anytime (usually you're registered within 2 days of when you apply). They're not strict 8 week courses, but they're self-paced, so if you want to get done in 8 weeks, you can, or you can take several months. Their is a minimum time for their courses, it's about 8 weeks. (They have 2 types of courses – “online” and “web-enabled”. “Online” courses have an 8-week minimum; “web-enabled” courses only allow you to submit 3 assignments per week, then have to wait for them to receive the homework before they release the exam, so in my experience the “web-enabled” were usually still in the 7-9 week range minimum.) There are other schools that also have unscheduled semesters, but that's the only one that I'm familiar with and have used.

[Author]

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