[Resacups]

On 11/21/12 I was the happiest person in the world. The 10 month journey of passing the CPA Exam was over. I had been very proactive in obtaining everything I would need for my license application so that I could get my experience verified immediately after Thanksgiving and file my application. On 11/29/12 my favorite partner happily signed off on my work experience and I completed my application for a CPA License in Georgia through NASBA Licensing services that afternoon.

Yesterday I was notified via email that my application was not accepted as NASBA, not the State of Georgia, has determined that I only have 21 credit hours in Business Courses. By my review of my transcript I have 51 hours in Accounting, 21 undergrad and 30 grad, plus 6 hours in business law, 4 hours in statistics and 3 hours in econ. At both my undergraduate and graduate universities, accounting is a part of the business school. Nowhere in the O.C.G.A (official code of Georgia, annotated) is there a definition of a business course for CPA licensure.

To spend years in school, pass the hardest exam(s) I have ever taken, worked 19 months in public accounting and then be told, I am sorry, you don’t have enough business courses to be a CPA…….to say the least, I am devastated. Sure taking one more class is what I will ultimately have to do, but when you find out on 12/12/12 that you are one class shy, it’s too late for spring admissions anywhere. (I finished grad school in the summer of 2011, so I would actually have to reapply to school) At the earliest, it will be late August, most likely September of 2013 before I can officially become a CPA in the state of Georgia.

Has anyone been dealt this similar hand? I feel there has to be a formal appeal process, but the Georgia State Board of Accountancy website has not shed any light on this situation.

BEC: 01/09/12 PASSED
AUD: 05/29/12 PASSED
REG: 07/19/12 PASSED
FAR: 11/12/12 PASSED

[SeePeeAyy]

I am not familiar with Georgia laws, but shouldn't they have notified you of this during your initial application for a NTS?

Anyway, that is awful keep your head up though you have accomplished so much. Try to sign up for a summer course at a different university, maybe they will take the credits?

[Starlight]

Wow that would be devastating. Here in VA they check your education requirements when you apply for the exam. Is there a course you could take at a community college that would satisfy the requirement?

REG: 86
AUD: 92
FAR: 84
BEC: 87
Ethics: Passed!
Licensed 11/20/12

Supporting my husband on his CPA journey: 75% of the way there!

[Anonymous]

You can try an online college or maybe even your community college? They admit up to the first week of classes from what I understand.

[FearTheBeard]

Do something easy at a community college. No need to go to an actual university. Here's a Kanye West verse that's relevant to your situation: “Now I'm in the shop class or the basket weavin, with all the rest of the muh'f***ers underachievin”.

Take a basket weaving class at DeVry or Strayer, if you can get through the rigorous application process.

[homerun07]

i agree with taking a class at a comm college. but also find it strange that they would have notified you of this before giving you an NTS…

[littlenumberrobot]

A lot of states have different requirements for testing and licensing. So sorry this happened! Good luck and I am sure there is an easy way to take care of the issue.

CA CPA - All because of the journey listed below
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FAR - 53('10), 8/25/12 79 PASSED!
REG - 66('11), 69('12), 12/06/12 77 PASSED!!
BEC - 58('10), 74('12), 01/05/13 77 PASSED!!!
AUD - 43('11), 66('12), 69('13), 74('13) 7/29/13 85 PASSED!!!!!

(Combinations of Roger, Yaeger, Wiley Book, Wiley TB, & NINJA Notes)

Ethics 90%

[Da Bears]

When you first applied did you pay for a transcript review? In IL they do and I think they would everywhere else and that would/should have caught it…..but it's governement so at that point they might not have as much effort put into it since they are essentially collecting a fee there plus all the other fees. At the point you're at they probably look with greater detail and it is a shame they have done this to you. I would send an email to someone at the office asking HOW in the world this could happen if you indeed had paid for a transcript review to even be deemed “eligible” to sit for the exams. This is definitely on their hands and I would be driving down to wherever the building is to give them a piece of my mind.

With that said I would try to check what is deemed a business course and have that included in your email with a through explanation why you meet the requirements. Assuming you did a Macc or MBA you should have more than enough business hours. This just seems way to fishy to me and someone must have only looked at one transcript(grad or ugrad and neglected other) IF that falls through take a BS online business course at the local CC. Do minimal work to get a C, which is nothing at a CC basically. Good luck, let us know if they messed up!

FAR- 8/14/12 91
AUD- 10/16/12 88
BEC- 11/07/12 92
REG- 01/05/13 86
NIU CPA Review

[Maverick]

You can't just take the course from any college. It has to be an accredited college. Good luck.

F - Passed...THANK YOU, LORD. GLORY TO GOD.
B - Passed...THANK YOU, LORD. GLORY TO GOD.
A - Passed...THANK YOU, LORD. GLORY TO GOD.
R - Passed...THANK YOU, LORD. GLORY TO GOD.

Ethics - 95

Licensed CPA

I COULD NOT HAVE DONE THIS WITHOUT MY LORD. THANK YOU.

"According to your faith will it be done to you." Matthew 9:29

[JWS]

University of Phoenix. Classes can be completed in 5 weeks and they count towards CPA. I had to do this same thing. It's a bit pricier, but it cracks down on the wait time and you can usually start a class within a week since they don't operate on traditional semesters.

[Anonymous]

Thats miserable but I agree with everyone saying it should've been caught during the original application. TBH, I am very surprised they are allowing your exam scores to count because you need to have met requirements in order to be eligible to even sit for an exam. I believe that fact alone proves they made a mistake but don't want to admit to it. I'd challenge them on the facts of your case and stir things up a little bit. This is definitely their fault for approving your application in the first place.

[g_freeman]

This is terrible for you, but at the same time, FIX IT! You'll never look back, and it's just another bump in the road.

Reality sucks too often, but all we can do is work to fix it.

Regardless, you have my empathy. I would find that extremely discouraging.

FAR - 94
AUD - 99
REG - 88
BEC - TBD

[FearTheBeard]

@g_freeman

Morgan Freeman! I love your wise quotes (“Reality sucks too often, but all we can do is work to fix it.”)! Also, I enjoyed your work in “The Shawshank Redemption”.

[g_freeman]

Thank you, and thank you. I live to serve the public through acting in motion pictures and the enforcement of GAAP.

FAR - 94
AUD - 99
REG - 88
BEC - TBD

[Resacups]

For those of you following this, I received my transcript back from NASBA and they are not acknowledging Principles of Accounting I and II nor Statistics as business classes.

BEC: 01/09/12 PASSED
AUD: 05/29/12 PASSED
REG: 07/19/12 PASSED
FAR: 11/12/12 PASSED

[Resacups]

@bmsheppard87, In the state of Georgia the 24 hours of business courses only applies to licensure. You only need 120 and 20 hours of accounting to sit for the CPA Exam, so my scores are VALID.

BEC: 01/09/12 PASSED
AUD: 05/29/12 PASSED
REG: 07/19/12 PASSED
FAR: 11/12/12 PASSED

[Author]

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