[ipasscpa]

Hello all,

I just wanted to share my experience quickly because I know a lot of people are or will be in this boat.

I took the CPA exam for New York Jurisdiction, but at the last moment, my superior told me that her license is not active to sign off on the experience requirement. Luckily, Virginia does not require active CPA signatures on the experience form, and no residency is required. The process is quick and simple.

Steps to follow for the Initial CPA license application;

1) Apply online at https://www.boa.virginia.gov/cpalicense/initiallicense.shtml

2) Transfer your CPA exam score from NASBA to VA board. NASBA charge $25 for this.

3) Send all the official college transcripts.

4) You do need to pass AICPA ethics exam with 90 or above and Virginia Ethics Exam.

5) Experience Verification Form: NON-CPA supervisor can sign it.

The board was very helpful to answer my questions over the phone or the email.

Hope this helps!

CPA- VA

[Anonymous]

@ipasscpa, Lilla or anyone else knowledgeable on the topic:

I know someone in NY who works in government doing auditing. She passed her exams a little over 4 years ago and only have 9 months of the required work experience requirement for NY state.
Can this person transfer her scores to Virginia and have her non-CPA supervisor at her current government job in NY sign off on the VA licensing application? Note: she is not planning to live in VA anytime soon.

If yes, would NY or FL recognize her CPA license? (Can she call herself a CPA while working in those states?) In 2 to 3 years she would like to move back home to California, would she have to retake the exam in California since they do not have reciprocity?

Sorry for the long questions, thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

Can someone address bullandre's question? My situation is similar- currently doing accounting work in Nebraska while my boss doesn't have a CPA. Planning on taking the CPA in Nebraska, applying to Virginia then transferring it to Washington. Will this work?

[TheHoundThatRides]

You need to look up the CPA “reciprocal license transfer” guidelines for the state you want to transfer the license to. Some states will take the license no problem. If it's like CA then you will still need to meet their criteria for qualifying for a license in the first place. (1 year of experience under a CPA, “150 semester units or 225 quarter units” of college)

For example here are some guidelines for Washington if you want to transfer your license from another state. https://www.cpaboard.wa.gov/individual-licensing/interstate-reciprocal-license

BEC - 78 (August 2015)
FAR - 80 (November 2015)
AUD - 73, 67. (Ok I gotta confess I was even more lazy this time around)
REG - August 27th, 2016

[Anonymous]

Just so people know, some states will make you verify that your experience is in fact signed off by a CPA- such as Washington :). So the above does not work.

https://www.cpaboard.wa.gov/individual-licensing/experience

[Anonymous]

bp00, it actually does work. The link you provided is only applicable if you are getting your very first CPA license from WA. WA does generally recognize reciprocity if other states grant it's CPAs reciprocity.

[Anonymous]

CPAEasy which reciprocity rule are you using for Washington then? Under Substantially equivalent they state that you must, “Verify that you hold a license to practice public accounting issued by a state that makes a similar provision for holders of a license issued by this state.” I would presume Virginia would not be included here as it isn't equivalent

For the education and experience method they require that your experience is qualified and they then require an experience affidavit which I don't understand why they would do if there is an obvious loophole in the above?

https://www.cpaboard.wa.gov/individual-licensing/interstate-reciprocal-license

Thanks for your help resolving this.

[Anonymous]

You are correct under the substantially equivalent requirement. That is quite interesting.

[Anonymous]

Correct. Most states recognize substantial equivalency when considering reciprocity. Substantial equivalency is defined by NASBA/AICIPA under the Uniform Accountancy Act and is considered the following:

A CPA with a CPA license in good standing from a jurisdiction with CPA licensing requirements that are essentially equivalent to those outlined in the UAA (degree with 150 hours, minimum one year experience and successful completion of the Uniform CPA Examination) may be granted a privilege to practice in another jurisdiction that is not the CPA’s principal place of business.

Most jurisdictions have adopted a Section 23 privilege to practice

https://nasba.org/licensure/substantialequivalency/

[Anonymous]

@bp0, CPAeasy123 & others:

Thanks for the responses so far but do you know guys know the answer to my question? From my research, it's still unclear whether she could apply for her VA license and then hold herself out as a CPA in NY. (In NY you need 1 year experience under a CPA as opposed to VA where any supervisor can sign-off from anywhere).

From my understanding of substantial equivalency requirements, while working and living in NY, she could apply for her CPA license through VA and then after one year of practice transfer to another state/territory (except USVI). Am I correct?

Here is NYS SE states: https://www.op.nysed.gov/prof/cpa/cpa-mobility-equivstates.htm

[Anonymous]

I will preface this by saying she should always check with the state board in question, and that I am in no way the authority on these types of things. My understanding is this:

She could not hold out as a CPA who is able to perform services in NY. She could say that she was a CPA but she would need to be clear that she is a CPA in VA. It really depends on what she wants to use the title for in my opinion. If it is LinkedIn, then sure I don't see why she couldn't put that she is a VA CPA on there even if she doesn't live there.

[Anonymous]

@CPAeasy123:
According to the SE standards, couldn't she hold out herself as a CPA after satisfying the one year requirement? This SE thing is a little confusing and vague.

[Anonymous]

The one year requirement is in relation to having one year of accounting experience in order to get licensed. I do not believe it has anything to do with once you are licensed for a year you can practice anywhere.

I saw this on the NY BOA website: licensees must be registered in order to practice and use a professional title within New York State; being registered, however, does not necessarily mean the licensee is actively engaged in practice.

That makes it pretty clear that NY doesn't want you acting like a CPA in NY if you don't have a NY license. Why are you so dead set on using the CPA title in NY? If you have a license from any state, you should be good to add it to your resume and LinkedIn as long as you specify the state of licensure. I can't imagine you actually need the title to do your job in governmental auditing?

[ipasscpa]

@bullandre: Based on my knowledge, this person can transfer the score to VA and have the NY supervisor sign it because VA does not require residency. She will have to complete one year of experience to qualify for the License. However, the experience should qualify under what VA board has adopted as an acceptable experience. Also, since it’s been four years this person passed the exam, I believe VA board requires 120 CPE credits in addition to the experience. She will also have to take the AICPA and VA ethics exam that NY does not require. Once this person is a VA licensed CPA, then she can transfer it to NY. This is based on my Knowledge. Please do contact the board and confirm.

CPA- VA

[Anonymous]

@CPAeasy123: This isn't for me. She wanted to eventually transfer her license to NY just in case she opens a tax business on the side so she could sign off as a CPA (even though tax preparers do not require it). I would sign off for the remaining 3 months for her but we do not work in the same company.

@ipasscpa: She emailed NYS, so hopefully she gets an answer by next week the latest. I find it strange that VA would require her to have 120 CPEs being that she took the exams under NY registration and she hasn't been licensed before. She has a supervisor at her work who could sign off her one year immediately tho.

[Anonymous]

She can be licensed in VA and call herself a VA CPA, while working in NY, but she can't call herself a NY CPA unless she is licensed in NY. So, she can't do audit work as an NY CPA unless she is an NY CPA. If she's working in industry, being a VA CPA vs a VA CPA probably won't make that much difference. But she needs to make sure that anywhere she lists herself as a CPA she lists that that VA CPA board is the one that certifies her as a CPA. Different states vary in how strict they are in enforcing this. For example, if her email signature lists “Sally Jones, CPA, 123 Any Street, New York City, NY”, does that infer she's an NY CPA? They might say “yes”, so she might not be allowed to be “CPA” in her email signature or on her business cards. However, she can put it on her resume or on her LinkedIn since those are places where she can put the detail that the VA Board of Accountancy is the Board that issued her CPA license.

As for whether she would be able to transfer her CPA license to NY or eventually to CA, that depends on NY and CA's rules for transferring licenses. CA in particular is pretty strict, so I'd be cautious about expecting it to transfer, without checking into the situation carefully.

Generally speaking, if your goal is to be licensed in your state, just get licensed in your state. If your goal is to work in public, just get licensed in your state. If the requirement that you don't meet is something easily met (ex: additional education requirements), just meet it and get licensed in your state. When licensure in your state would require extensive unreasonable changes (like changing jobs and/or stepping back several levels – switching from industry Controller to public 1st year – or having to get an absurd number of additional credits because your state won't recognize most of yours, I'm talking like 60-90+), only then would I advise getting licensed out of state and hoping it will transfer back. Yes, I've given advise in this thread – and others – on the various states' requirements that would allow licensure in a state other than the candidate's home state, but I'd really only advise that for someone who is looking to beef up their resume but that's it – not planning to transfer it in-state, not planning to use it in public practice, etc. If you're planning to do public accounting work, you really need an in-state license, and if you're going to get an in-state license, meeting the in-state requirements is a much safer route.

[Author]

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