[Anonymous]

I recently passed the exam but I am not licensed yet only certified. Can I note this on my resume? I know I cannot call myself a CPA but I still want to bring attention to the fact that I passed the exam to give myself an edge. Has anyone done this on their resume? Please let me know 

[merito_123]

Just put successfully passed all four sections of the uniform CPA exam either on summary or eligibility.

[SeattleCPA]

You want to be really careful about how you use the acronym CPA in things like your resume, job applications, etc.

A while back we had a CPA with an expired certificate apply for a position. He needed a bunch of CPE to get his license reinstated. He told some of the CPE providers that needed the CPE for his CPA… which meant they thought he was a CPA so appended the acronym to his name. Innocent enough, you might think… but when he showed the CPE completion certificates to the state board, they freaked out because they thought he'd be representing himself as a CPA out in the market… and then initiated a disciplinary investigation. Ugh.

[letsrun4it]

I applied for a job and my license was pending and I just didn't want to represent myself as a CPA and get in trouble somehow (with my luck). So when I got invited in for an interview it was a nice little resume update to hand out.

BEC: 85
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AUD: 86
FAR: October?

[Mike J]

You are a CPA CANDIDATE.

I'm in the same boat. I passed my last exam in December. But now I need one year experience.

I'm in New York but suffice it to say you need to be certified (the C in CPA) by your state board. You're merely certifiable like me.

[Anonymous]

This is a tad off-topic, but I've had job interviews recently where the interviewers (one or two of whom were CPAs themselves) said, “Your skills look good but I'm afraid if I hired you, you'd leave the position soon and go work for a CPA firm.” My response, “No, if the job is a fit and the compensation package is good, I would not see any reason to leave.”
Depending on the job I'm applying for, I take ‘CPA candidate' off my resume. Sounds ridiculous, I know, and that's why I think I'm going to stop doing that. If someone wants to hire a general accountant who has no intention of getting the CPA, fine. I do think it's dumb though, for employers to have that attitude about the CPA, especially when some of the hiring managers are CPAs themselves. Come on, it's not like it makes any difference!

[jereumie]

You should refer yourself as a CPA Candidate

[Missy]

Well be careful with CPA Candidate. Someone here put it on their LinkedIn profile and got notified by the state of TX that was an unauthorized use of the title. CPA candidate doesn't mean anything anyway technically anybody who's met the requirements to sit is a “candidate”, much more meaningful to put passed all four sections of cpa exam in the cover letter and in education section of resume.

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[Anonymous]

Very strange that the state of TX would go out of their way to notice something like that AND got notified about it. You'd think they'd have better things to do than go on LinkedIn, which is only a networking tool, not even anything official.

But, to mention or put on your resume that you're in the process of obtaining the license, *I would think*, shows your commitment to your chosen profession and career path.
Different employers react differently to it. Some are quite obviously threatened by it or, in my case, fearful that the candidate (for the job) will run away from their company
after a short time. And yet, some companies prefer to hire someone who is on the CPA track. It all depends. You just never know. Most of those who don't want to hire such a person
probably are concerned that they'll demand a lot more salary because of it – or that eventually if they retain the person after they're licensed, that they will have to cough up more (which is completely true…unless the person doesn't want more money for some dumb reason!) I always get nervous though, when someone
asks me in an interview – and I've been on lots of them this year so far – and asks me about my CPA candidacy. How are they going to react? In an interview yesterday, I met with the controller/CFO of a company. He actually told me in the interview “most of us want to get out of this profession, not get into it”, in reference to my CPA pursual and career path. Most interesting…..

[Missy]

I totally agree that it's strange and we initially thought someone was playing a weird prank on this guy but IIRC he forwarded the email to Jeff and it was legit. I never used the term because I figured CPA's would be lukewarm to it and people who would be impressed by it weren't the people I was trying to impress lol

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[Anonymous]

I believe NASBA send emails to refer to candidates as “CPA exam candidate”

[Author]

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