[CPAhopeful2020]

Hi everyone,

Hope everyone is doing well. Hoping to get some advice on a matter that I am dealing with. It is a little long but I wanted to put all the details in one place to ensure that anyone reading this has all the details.

I graduated with a Bachelors in Finance a decade ago and recently decided to sit for the CPA exam. Given that I have not completed 150 credits yet, I decided to complete the requirements for the 120 sit rule, which requires having a college degree and taking four courses. I took three of these courses online in the last six months and one of these courses a decade ago.

My initial evaluation came back that I was not eligible to take the CPA exam given that I needed a course concentrating in cost and/or managerial accounting and that an “Accounting course for non-majors do not qualify towards the New York CPA education requirements.” A decade ago I took a course called “Managerial Accounting for non-majors” as part of my Finance degree. I read through all the requirements and there was nothing saying that this course was not applicable, so I mentally checked off that course requirement.

In response to that initial evaluation, I pushed back saying that two of the CPA’s authoritative websites did not mention anything about a topic of accounting courses for non-majors not qualifying. If this is a requirement, it should be spelled out in those sites. It takes many months of preparation to sit for the CPA exam and if the rules are not spelled out in clear terms, then that is not fair.

I got a response that my initial evaluation was updated and that I should get my NTS within 1-2 weeks. I thought that this ordeal was over, but if it was I wouldn’t be posting this! I just got the Final Evaluation that I do not qualify to sit for the CPA exam and that the quality assurance team is not going to accept my Managerial Accounting course. No explanation to my original request to show me where in the rules this is written was provided.

If I accept this, I have to take three more months to take this course again, which would cost me $1k. Then I would have to submit a new transcript request which would take 1-2 weeks. Then the transcript would need to arrive at the NASBA site, which may take another week or two. Then I would need to go through this evaluation process again, which is taking eight weeks now and will cost me $170. So I am looking at a six month delay and over $1k because of someone making a decision that does not point to any CPA rules that I saw.

CPAs are trained to look to accounting rules for guidance, but CPA organizations do not feel that they need to follow the same standard. Any guidance would be appreciated!

Thank you!

[Recked]

Sorry you are going through this.
NYS is pretty tough to get all the educational credits.
You're not the first person to experience this issue either.
NYS Board of Education tends to look for classes that start with ACC as the course code, anything else they say doesn't count as an accounting course.
I will tell you some websites do not have very good or reliable information, so if I were you and wanted to fight this, I would go to the actual text of the laws that govern the CPA Board and the requirements to sit for the exam. If you can find a definition in the text of the law, you might have a chance, but my guess is the law leaves it up to the interpretation of the CPA Board to govern and decide the rules.
–
You might be able to take some of these credits at a community college to cut down on the costs. $1k seems like a lot for one 3 credit class.

[CPAhopeful2020]

Memento,

Thank you for your message. It is definitely good to know that I am not the only one going through this pain. The weird part is that the course starts with ACC but is entitled “Managerial Accounting for non-majors.” It is the non-majors part that I am being dinged for.

Also, regarding the cost. I agree that the cost is high, but it is because I am participating in online classes, which allow me to go through the classes quickly. I also do not enroll in the degree so I am taking one class at a time.

Thank you,
Dmitry

[Author]

Replies