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Frequently Asked Questions
CPA Eligibility
Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is a license issued by the 55 states or territories of U.S. that authorizes the holder to practice as a CPA in that jurisdiction. To earn the prestige associated with the CPA license, an individual is required to demonstrate knowledge and competence by meeting high educational standards, passing the CPA exam and completing a specific amount of general accounting experience. The two most important aspects of becoming a CPA are passing the Uniform CPA Exam and meeting licensing requirements in the state where you want to practice.
US Professional qualifications "Complement" University Education- e.g. to be a CPA, CMA or CFA, a university degree is mandatory. Therefore the content and focus is only on skill-gaps that are needed to be a F&A professional. Hence, graduation is mandatory to be eligible to appear for the CPA exams.
Each State in the U.S. has a "State Board of Accountancy" that is responsible for licensing Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) who practice in that state. Each board issues rules that govern what a person must do in order to become eligible to take the Uniform CPA exam. As such, most State Boards require an individual to have 120 US semester hours credit to be eligible for the exam.
Generally, most Indian B.Com graduates are eligible to take the CPA exam. Every year of university education in India is equivalent to 30 semester credits of US Education, totalling to 90 credits at the end of 3 years. If B.Com is completed in 1st division from a NAAC 'A' university, the 3 year B.Com would be treated as 4 years of US education, i.e., 120 credits for B.Com alone. Having a 2-year Masters degree (e.g., M.Com, MBA) contributes to 60 education credits. Further, professional qualifications like CA/CS/CWA are recognized by few States as 2 years of US education.
For non-eligible candidates, Miles facilitates an online Post Graduate Diploma in Public Accounting as a bridge course; the diploma is from Amity University, a NAAC 'A' rated University based in Noida. You can get further information on this link - https://mileseducation.com/cpa/amity-bridge-course
Yes, few of the State Boards recognize professional qualifications like CA/CS/CWA as 2 years of US education and award 60 credits respectively.
Each of the 55 US State boards have different rules and regulations with regard to the CPA examination eligibility and licensure eligibility. While a student may select a specific state for the exam and/or licensure, their approval is subject to satisfaction of the terms and conditions of the specific states. Therefore, we highly recommend that you seek the evaluation advice from our academic team who have thoroughly researched and identified the most suitable US states from where exams could be written and licenses obtained.
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