[jpmarche]

To keep it brief…I live in Michigan, have the 150 credit hours needed, worked for a Big 4 firm in Audit for 2 years (2012-2014) then moved to a corporate accounting job. At one time I had 2 CPA exams down but stopped and they expired.

If I were to go through the process of getting study material and getting signed up and all that again…does my experience expire? It’s been 5 years at this point since I have worked in public accounting.

Thanks for any help!

[Asja]

Experience is experience…they don't take that away…

[jombe]

A lot of firms have a recordkeeping policy, which means records do “expire” after certain # of yrs. “Records” can be a liability, you know?
Unless you left your old firm in great terms and the managers you worked w/ are still there, you might run into an issue.
I've heard of instances where the firm refused to sign off, because they no longer had access to how many hours this candidate worked at their firm.
I'd contact the firm asap and find out what they can do for you.

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[jmd496]

If I were you I would just get a job doing an accounting role for a smaller company, one that only works you 40 hours a week, and then begin studying again on the side. After you pass the CPA exam, and also have recent experience performing accounting functions, you will be able to move on to more important roles.

[mtlgemini]

I believe you can also contact the AICPA if a previous manager or firm refuses to sign off on hours. I've read about some refusing to do this, but I was confused about the responses from others because I remember reading about what to do if that situation happens. Some say you are out of luck if they refuse. This seems strange to me. In a profession that stresses ethical behavior and actions, I would think that a CPA's refusal to verify whether or not someone worked would appear as if they were not doing their part in terms of being ethical and honest.

I have all of my previous pay stubs, notes, and whatever other random employment documentation from the last firm I worked for. If you have any sort of proof that you did work in public accounting, I would hope that the board can help you out. After all, it is expected that your CPA supervisor/manager will sign off on the hours, regardless of your relationship with them. If they're giving you problems, I would definitely gather what proof you can find and contact the board. I'm not sure if these rules vary from state to state but the information I've read has been in regards to becoming licensed in California.

I'm not sure if you can get the work experience verified before you pass the exams. The form I found looks like it needs to be filled out after. I didn't spend much time on it though and maybe I missed something. I've heard others say you can get it verified before. Maybe this varies from state to state. If you find out that you can do it before, I would get that going right away.

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