[Vanquished]

Hey everyone,

So I passed my last exam last Thursday (I’m still pinching myself because it seems surreal) and I’m wondering what the next steps are, I’m going for New Jersey.

I do not have the required education hours to get licensed. I will need to continue on with my MBA and and come up with another 21 hours to meet the 150 req, I do have the required experience, I’ve been in an accounting role under CPAs for the last 6 years. I also saw that I need to pass an ethics exam?

Is there any time limits I should be aware of? I checked the website and didn’t see any time limit to get the education, my plan will be to take 15 hours or so a year and get my MBA in 2 years. I also didn’t see a time limit on the ethics exam.

Would really appreciate anyone’s NJ specific knowledge on this. Thanks!

[AGI]

As far as I know, NJ has the same standard as NY, your score doesn't expire. The website said you do need to take an ethic course and take the exam six months before or after licensing. Check to see if taking ethics in college will exempt you from the class.

One thing to be mindful of is where you are currently working. If your job sent you across the state border than it might be a different story. Let say to NY, CT, PA.

https://www.njcpa.org/build-career/become-a-cpa/requirements/faqs

If you want to be absolutely sure, check if you should apply for the license ahead of time and let it see at the board for two years. Usually paying the application fee means locking the requirements. (Just a thought… )

New York - NYC
Passed CPA Exam (11/2014)
In search for a position in NYC that will fulfills the license requirement.

[Vanquished]

Thanks.

I'm in florida where I work and live. Nothing I do at my company requires me to have a CPA in my state of residence so I picked NJ. My company's HQ is there anyways but I have been doing accounting work for a public corporation under a licensed CPA for the last 6 years or so.

I was wondering about the ethics course. I'm sure I took a business ethics course in college but I'm fine taking the ethics exam anyways. Glad to know that it comes later and not right now.

[Sam]

Congrats!! Definitely live in that moment, it's an awesome one. I passed my last exam two months ago and only just did the ethics exam this past weekend. It's required for licensing in some states but not others, so definitely check that. After getting the materials, it took me about 5 hours to get through pretty thoroughly, then I passed the exam on the first attempt with a 97.

The material is boring, but there is a little overlap from BEC/REG, and it's somewhat intuitive. The MCQs were definitely easier than the actual exams which is nice – they'd use words like always and never which obviously are rarely correct answers. Open book helps too haha (I had the exam on one screen and the online book on another monitor, CTRL + F works wonders).

I'd definitely recommend doing the required steps on your end ASAP so you can get the waiting timeline going. Less to worry about when we're just waiting on them. No hard requirements to my knowledge, but it's nice to not have it on a backburner to remember to get done at some point, which is what's been happening with me.

[Vanquished]

Sam wrote:

Congrats!! Definitely live in that moment, it's an awesome one. I passed my last exam two months ago and only just did the ethics exam this past weekend. It's required for licensing in some states but not others, so definitely check that. After getting the materials, it took me about 5 hours to get through pretty thoroughly, then I passed the exam on the first attempt with a 97.

The material is boring, but there is a little overlap from BEC/REG, and it's somewhat intuitive. The MCQs were definitely easier than the actual exams which is nice – they'd use words like always and never which obviously are rarely correct answers. Open book helps too haha (I had the exam on one screen and the online book on another monitor, CTRL + F works wonders).

I'd definitely recommend doing the required steps on your end ASAP so you can get the waiting timeline going. Less to worry about when we're just waiting on them. No hard requirements to my knowledge, but it's nice to not have it on a backburner to remember to get done at some point, which is what's been happening with me.

Thanks for the input. Sorry for not replying sooner. Work has been horrible since I passed my exam (thank God because there is NO way I could study for it and pass it now). I spoke with the NJ people and it seems like they said I just need to fill out the 150hours. Should I just go do fluff classes to get licensed? I had/have plans on getting my MBA but with work right now I dont know how ill be able to focus on real courses for a while.

Thoughts?

[Author]

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