[dj]

Hey everyone,

My professor forwarded this to me and I figure I post it here. *This is applicable to CPA’s in Massachusetts*
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Several changes to the rules and regulations governing the accounting profession, approved by the Massachusetts Board of Public Accountancy last year, took effect on Friday, May 19, 2017. Highlights of the changes that affect CPA Exam and Certification requirements follow. To view the regulations as they were proposed and accepted, please visit https://www.mass.gov/ocabr/docs/dpl/boards/pa/proposed-cmr/252-cmr-002-redline.pdf

1. Community college credits earned at a regionally-accredited institution will be accepted to satisfy the 150 hour requirement. Credits earned before the implementation date of May 19 will be accepted.

2. Students will be able to take the exam 90 days before their official graduation date. They will ultimately need to provide an official transcript to prove that they have earned a bachelor’s degree with a minimum of 120 credits and coverage in the required subjects.

3. A non reporting license will no longer be issued. No waivers of experience will be offered to students currently enrolled in a graduate program.

4. ALL candidates for a CPA license will be required to have an equivalent of 1 year of public accounting experience. Three years of nonpublic accounting experience will be deemed equivalent to one year of public if the position is above entry level, under the supervision of the CPA, and the responsibilities are substantially equivalent to public accounting.

5. Candidates for a CPA license will no longer be required to have experience that includes a total of 1000 hours of attestation.

6. There will no longer be a time limit to reach the 150 hour requirement after passing the CPA Exam.

7. Anyone who tested in April – May 2017 who is at risk of losing conditional credit because of the delayed score release will automatically be given a 3 month extension (there is no need to make a special request).

The FAQs and information available on the websites of the Board of Public Accountancy and NASBA will be updated in the coming weeks.

Best,
Barbara

Barbara M. Iannoni
Academic & Career Development Director
Massachusetts Society of CPAs
105 Chauncy Street, Boston, MA 02111
617.303.2415 (direct)

[Anonymous]

Interesting! as I was going for a non-reporting license…However, I do have an equivalent of 1 year of public accounting experience as I have been in a non-entry level position for way longer than 3 years, but thank you-I will have to double check on their website to make sure I can get licensed, now that I am half-way through this process!

[Anonymous]

Has anybody verified these changes? I am also going for a non-reporting license, so the fact that they “will no longer be issued” worries me. Any advice or updates on this?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I verified with MSCPA as the state board hasn't returned my call.

[Anonymous]

Thank you anyatver; does this mean that I should discontinue my studies for the MA exams and apply to another state. My public accounting experience was in tax, so I'm not eligible for a reporting license (at least I don't think).

Maybe I'm misunderstanding..

[Anonymous]

With the new requirement, you need either 1 year of public experience or 3 years of non-public under a CPA in a non-entry capacity. They removed 1,000 attestation hours requirement, so if you have public experience in tax you would still qualify. I would reach out to the state board and confirm, but that's how I understood it.

[Ne’O]

Ah-ha.

Talk about life altering moments. I was sitting in the library studying here in Florida for my last exam (FAR) next month. I have been pursuing the non-reporting license since March 2016.
Stumbling on the MA change and verifying it here, I packed up the books and the laptop and drove home.
It has been 8 years of a pursuit, and I am ready to give up.

I am a COO and PM of a hedge fund, for 14 years now. We are a small fund with no CPAs on hand- MBAs and CFAs, not no CPAs. For 13 years I lead handle the audits with our auditors (often having to guide them gently along) and preparing the K-1s with our regional accounting firm. We do the accounting and they do the K-1s.
After 2008-2009 hurt us, I decided it was time to have a solid credential. I set for the CPA. I went postbacc for Accounting, then the Masters program- nightschool and weekends. Having the masters, the last year+ has been the exams. This took quite a long time while managing a business.

The non-reporting license was to allow me to obtain the CPA, then take a year to close out or down the fund, and transition into a new profession.
I don't have the formal work experience, and cannot casually close the company to pursue it.
The non-reporting license was to be a bridge over the gap.

I am sure to call the MA Society of CPAs on Monday, but here on a Saturday feeling a bit stunned and desperately searching for workarounds on the internet.
I feel like Andy Dufresne in Shawshank Redemptiong having just crawled through 1 mile of sludge to find a new grate freshly welded on the end of the tube.
If anyone has concrete advice, I would immensely appreciate it.

Ne'O

Newbie CPA Candidate

[Radez]

@Ne'O The board at its discretion can substitute 3 years of non-public experience for 1 year of public. They don't require the attestation. I'm in a similar position but with lower stakes. My plan is to continue, pass the exam, submit the application, and have a CPA who was involved in my work, but not in a direct supervisory capacity attest to it. Since it's at the board's discretion, they may find it acceptable. The chance the board rejects the application as deficient is non-zero, but not so likely that it's not worth the cost to evaluate.

Someone else mentioned that they had their auditor attest to their work, since the auditor was signing off on the financial statements anyway. It might be worth exploring whether your auditors would be willing to provide that for you.

Also, @reckedracing posted this link to the NY form for experience disclosures:
https://www.op.nysed.gov/prof/cpa/cpa4b.pdf

It details what counts as experience at a more granular level than the MA regs, and could be useful in evaluating whether you think you can make a solid argument for experience under 3 years of non-public.

[Ne’O]

Thank you Radez.
I've been mentor so long in so many areas of finance and trading that it feels odd to be the one drowning rather than life-guarding.
Feeling relatively confident about the FAR exam chances, I was beginning to grow excited about finally reaching an 8 year goal.
Today's discover on the MA CPA site and little else on the internet have led to a crisis in a tea-cup… on a Saturday.
The only people to help are here on Another71. I owe this site a lot and hope to give back once / if I finally become a CPA.

My signature is on 13 years of audit reports and K-1s tax return work. Several of our fund's LPs are former CPAs. But I have never worked for a CPA- just hired them, and reluctantly had to fired one long ago.
The auditors with whom we have had a great working relationship for much of the last 6 or 7 years all left their regional firm last year.
Their replacements were not particularly competent. It felt that we had to teach them extensively and I even chose to check at one point to verify the lead auditor was actually a CPA. Having the current auditor attest to our work seems a bit foolish. I will reach out to our previous auditors and explore this avenue with them.

It seems I could most be helped by understanding ‘experience' as the MA Board of Accountancy.
While I feel I have accumulated a significant amount of experience, will they see it as such?

Ne'O

Newbie CPA Candidate

[Radez]

I hear you. I had a mini-freak out in a different thread on this topic a week ago, so I can empathize. I'm including a link to the text of the regs themselves so you can read them. Relevant texts are 2.07 section 2b and 2.07 section 5a. 2b provides the definition for experience and states: 1. All applicants for a certificate as a Certified Public Accountant shall obtain experience providing any type of services or advice using accounting attest, compilation, management advisory, financial advisory, tax and consulting skills.

2.07 section 5a is the section that allows for their discretion. The NY state form references exactly this same list of skills in its description of experience, but then it goes further to define what sort of tasks qualify under each, which is why I think it can be a useful guide in structuring the letter describing your work experience.

https://www.mass.gov/ocabr/docs/dpl/boards/pa/252cmr2.pdf

[Ne’O]

I attempted to call Ms. Iannoni (or Lannoni? hard to tell from the font of the original post).
Her phone answering message was unclear and I could only hear part of ‘may be difficult to call you back'.

Since I am very new to this quadrant and have never contacted the Massachusetts Society of CPAs before, anyone able to recommend another
contact there that might help clarify some of our questions and concerns?

I will keep pressing to finish the FAR exam, but wondering if I should consider another state.

Ne'O

Newbie CPA Candidate

[allstr921]

I was also going to go for a non-reporting license so glad I saw this. I failed my first try in March trying for a hail mary before the exam change. Since you need 1 year verified by a CPA, I am going to have to change the state I sit for. I see Virginia and Illinois allow for one year of experience to be signed off by a non-CPA. Does anyone have experience sitting for those states?

[stcloud25]

I was going for the non-reporting MASS CPA license. My experience is limited to working part-time for various CPAs during tax season. Self employment for myself filing return and amending previously filed returns for customers who messed up using turbo tax or tax act. Any advice which state will give me a license with little experience under a CPA?

[tferriter]

Was anyone able to obtain a licence with an exception? I met the 150 hour requirement and was met the requirements when I first sat for the exam. However, the changes took effect before I could finish. I have been self employed for 12 years and have no experience under the supervision of a CPA. I finally passed all four sections and; I sent my application with a request for the board to review and consider granting an exception. I'm wondering if anyone has had a similar experience.

[Missy]

You would have needed public accounting experience or a master's degree before the changes. I think they'll insist on your experience being supervised by a CPA.

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

[tferriter]

Thank you Missy. I had my Masters degree completed before the changes. I also passed two exams before the changes. Do you know if they are considering any of that?

[Author]

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