[irishA]

I know this is probably a better question for the state board but they haven’t been very helpful in the past.

A little background: I live in Indiana (about 5 mins from the Michigan boarder) and passed the CPA exam in Indiana about 15 months ago. I have worked for a small consulting company (just boss and I) in Indiana for 6yrs doing collateral field exams for commercial lenders; however, my boss isn’t licensed. So we’ve had trouble finding someone to verify the experience. We do work nationwide, and none of what we do requires a CPA license.

I’ve been considering transferring my scores to Michigan so I can use the NASBA experience verification service for a while now. My question is if I decide to use the NASBA experience verification program and get licensed in Michigan, would I then need to also get a Reciprocal License in Indiana?

[Lindsey_p87]

I'm curious about this topic as well because I currently have no one to sign off on my experience either. So my options are change jobs or use the experience verification service. From what I can tell, you will need to get your experience verified through the program, get licensed in that state, and then transfer your license to your current state. I think each state has difference rules and processes for doing this.

FAR - PASSED 11/14
AUD - TBD
BEC - TBD
REG - First take 2/16

[irishA]

Same for me. I love my job and the company I work for, and don't want to start at the bottom with a new company just for verification. Especially since I don't need a license for what I do and score wont expire, but am hoping can use it to expand our company into additional services.

[vbmer]

You really don't know any CPAs?

Have you looked into licensure in Illinois? They have pretty standard education requirements and will accept work experience verified by any (relevant) supervisor, CPA or not.

[irishA]

The company I work for only has 1 other employee (my boss) who is not a CPA. We asked the CPAs that do our company's books & taxes and they said they didn't feel comfortable signing since “they did really understand what we do” (which was a little concerning too). Could tap into some HS or college friends who are CPAs, but they probably wouldn't have enough knowledge to feel comfortable.

I looked at transferring to IL last year. From the IL website it looks like it costs $345 to do a total score transfer (but may be mistaken), and $150 ethics exam. So might be easier to do the $500 NASBA verification; plus the original question remains. After getting licensed would I need to get a reciprocal license back in Indiana?

[vbmer]

I would first try asking your CPA friends for college if they would be willing to assist. If they're your friends, it can't hurt asking.

In any case, if you do end up getting licensed out of state, it shouldn't really make a difference for you, since it seems you are neither working in nor have any interest in working in public accounting. As long as you don't hold yourself out as being licensed to perform public accounting in Indiana, you're fine. Which state you're licensed in really doesn't matter in industry or consulting. Most CPAs I know just let their license lapse.

[irishA]

That's true, none of what I do now requires a license and I don't work in public or have plans to do so in the near future. I'm working on starting a CAS division within our company to do bookkeeping, accounting/controller services, etc. Like you said wouldn't really need a license for that either, but might help.

[Author]

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