[smoothiezguy]

The light at the end of the tunnel finally seems to be faintly visible – just hoping so hard that I passed my final exam in May. Anyway, I’ve started thinking about the rest of the requirements/process to make this elusive license mine. I passed the ethics exam the other day, and have since moved on to thinking about the work experience requirements, which is what this is about…

Fortunately, I work under an active CPA who is thrilled to sign me off and will do whatever necessary to make sure I meet the work requirements, however, what about down the road when I no longer work at this company and decide to move to another state? I’m contemplating doing consulting work in the future under my own umbrella, but what if I want to move to a different state that requires 2 years experience instead of 1? My situation is sort of interesting because back when I first started studying for the CPA, I signed up under CO because I thought I was going to be moving there, but as things actually panned out, I ended up moving to TN. Whether I license in TN or CO doesn’t really matter for this discussion because both states only require 1 year of work experience sign off, but I anticipate that down the road I’m going to want to move back out west where I’m originally from (MT, WA, ID, OR, UT, etc.) and some of those states require 2 years of experience. If when I move I’ve been doing my own work, then how would I be able to license in that state, assuming I don’t want to go back to work for an employer at low-level?

Basically, I’m wondering if it’s possible to future-proof my experience sign-off in any way?

P.S. even if I move to another 1 yr state, would I have to hunt my current boss up and get him to sign another experience paper?

CMA - 430
BEC - 83
FAR - ?
AUD -
REG -

[Anonymous]

@smoothiezguy Do you expect to be signing off on audits when you move west? That's the biggest concern. If you're consulting, having your CPA is mostly for marketing and doesn't matter where you're licensed (except for TX I believe).

Regardless, virtually all the states have agreed to license under the Uniform Accountancy Act. If you're signing off on audits and own your own firm, you and your business will need to be licensed where business is primarily held; but even then, you can typically have out of state clients without additional state CPA licenses.

Worst case scenario–if you want to get licensed under a 2-year required state, get a lawyer, pull up the UAA provisions, and throw together a petition to the board underlying your credentials and why you deserve the license. This may cost anywhere between $500-$2k if you choose to go the lawyer route but plenty of people appeal to boards on their own and you'd be surprised at the success rate.

[smoothiezguy]

Thanks for the response, Almond! That's really helpful. I don't plan on signing off on audits, so sounds like I'll be okay. Good to know about petitioning the board, too!

CMA - 430
BEC - 83
FAR - ?
AUD -
REG -

[Anonymous]

@smoothiezguy You're welcome! Good luck buddy.

[Skynet]

Marry a CPA. By then he/she would have no choice but to sign off on the experience 😂

[rhayder]

Some states allow you to self attest to experience provided you have had an active license in another jurisdiction for two years.

[Author]

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