[cpahopeful222]

Hello, I have read a few posts about this that have been outdated and i would really like some clarity on the subject.

I am graduating in 2 months from a university in my home state of PA. I will have 150 credits upon graduation. in PA, you can sit for the exam after 120 credits AND your bachelors degree (bachelors is a must). In New York, you can sit for exam after 120 credits (no bachelors degree required. My question is can i sit in New York fulfilling the NY requirements (120+ credits, NO BACHELORS DEGREE), pass parts of the exam, and then transfer to PA AFTER i receive my bachelors (like i said, i will have my degree in two months, so i will likely only take one part in NY before fulfilling all requirements of PA.

I am nervous that PA mights not accept the score because at the time i took the part in NY i did not satisfy all PA requirements to sit (holding a bachelors degree). I scoured the PA CPA laws and could not find clarity. I also contacted the PA board of accountancy and they could not provide a clear answer.

DOES ANYONE HAVE EXPERIENCE WITH THIS??

[Tommy]

Interesting idea to try and avoid additional schooling. I bet the only way is to get fully licensed in New York and transfer the license over to PA. Less scrutiny. But either way i hope it works out because anything above 120 is pointless.

[cpahopeful222]

@tommy I'm not necessarily avoiding additional schooling. As i mentioned, i will graduate in 2 months with 150 credits and a bachelors degree. however, i know that i will need to wait two weeks after graduation before my transcript is updated to show diploma, then apply for NTS which is another 4-6 weeks, then schedule exam. Whereas right now i can apply for NTS in NY and get a jump on the process.

[Recked]

Without solid proof I would probably not risk it. I called to inquire of the NYS board if I could start the process under the 120 hour sit, and then transfer over to the 15 year experience pathway once I hit 15 years of full time work. The first person told me that was okay, and then the second person I spoke with to confirm, said once I selected a “pathway” I had to stay on that pathway. It ended up costing me another year and a half to get the approval, but it saved me 30 credits and potentially losing passing scores.
I would be patient over 2 months. The juice is not worth the squeeze.

[Tommy]

Ooohhh you're graduating with 150 with a Bachelor's? Got it! I'd ask myself is two months worth the fees you'll have to pay to transfer scores?

[cpahopeful222]

Thank you for both of the responses. I’m already about 100 hours into studying and had the intention to sit for FAR in early May. If I do wait, this would push back the sit date to potentially mid June. Which is disappointing and will throw off my studying a lot. I guess my last question (for people with years in the workforce) is how important would it be to really have a license in the state that I’m working. I don’t know if I have the intention of staying in public (starting in Big4 audit in the fall) for the long haul and also don’t know if I’ll be staying in PA my whole career. Is there really a significant value added to having the license be active in the state you’re working, rather than just having the license, if I end up leaving public? I can’t see how that would come into play

[Recked]

If you're working in public, you typically need to be licensed in the state you are working, or have some sort of reciprocity.
I'd revert back to Tommy's question on this one. Check out the application/license fee for NYS vs PA, also check out the transfer fees.
If you end up not being able to transfer to PA, you can just finish out and get licensed in NY and then apply for reciprocity in PA, or transfer the scores to PA.
Working in PA and having a licensed PA CPA verify your work experience will probably cause additional delays in being licensed in NY, and the wait to be licensed in NY after you jump through all the hoops is currently running about 16 weeks.
Best of luck to you, I hope it all works out for you.

[Tommy]

I'm licensed in IL but live and work in GA. Has not been a problem for me at all. I do plan on getting a GA reciprocity license as soon as I decide that i wanna spend another $200 … But i'm also an EA and use my EA on POAs.

[Author]

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