General Requirements
Any use of the title "Certified Public Accountant"
within New York State requires licensure. To be licensed
as a Certified Public Accountant in New York State
you must:
• be of good moral character
• be at least 21 years of age
• meet education, examination, and experience
requirements
You must submit an application for licensure and the
other forms indicated, along with the appropriate
fee, to the Office of the Professions at the address
specified on each form. It is your responsibility
to follow up with anyone you have asked to send us
material.
The specific requirements for licensure are contained
in Title 8, Article 149, Section 7404 of New York's
Education Law and Part 70 of the Commissioner's Regulations.
Copies of both the NYS Education Law and the Commissioner's
Regulations are available upon request from the Forms
Management Unit at opforms@mail.nysed.gov or (518)
474-3817 ext. 320.
Fees
The licensure fee is $345.
Fees are subject to change. The fee due is the one
in law when your application is received (unless fees
are increased retroactively). You will be billed for
the difference if fees have been increased.
• Do not send cash.
• Make your personal check or money order payable
to the New York State Education Department. Your cancelled
check is your receipt.
• Mail your application and fee to:
NYS Education Department
Office of the Professions
Division of Professional Licensing Services, Fee Section
89 Washington Avenue
Albany, New York 12234-1000
Please Note: Payment submitted from outside the United
States should be made by check or draft on a United
States bank and in United States currency; payments
submitted in any other form will not be accepted and
will be returned.
Partial Refunds
Individuals who withdraw their licensure application
may be entitled to a partial refund.
• For the procedure to withdraw your application,
contact the Public Accountancy Unit at opunit3@mail.nysed.gov
or (518) 474-3817 ext. 270 or by fax at: (518) 402-5354.
• The State Education Department is not responsible
for any fees paid to an outside testing or credentials
verification agency.
If you withdraw your application, obtain a refund,
and then decide to seek New York State licensure
at a later date, you will be considered a new applicant,
and you will be required to pay the licensure and
registration fees and meet the licensure requirements
in place at the time you reapply.
Education Requirements
To fulfill the education requirement for licensure,
you must complete:
• an accounting program registered by the
Department as licensure-qualifying, or
• a program determined by the Department to
be equivalent to a registered program, or
• 15 years of public accounting experience
acceptable to the State Board for Public Accountancy.
For a listing of current licensure qualifying programs
see the NYS Education Department's Inventory of
Registered Programs. Please Note: if your program
is not listed, contact your school to determine
if it is a NYS licensure qualifying program.
The curriculum requirements can be met by courses
at the undergraduate or graduate level or by any
combination of the two. You must have an overall
average in the accounting subjects of "C"
or better at the undergraduate level and "B"
or better at the graduate level. Courses in federal
taxation, professional auditing and advanced financial
accounting must be taken at the upper division level
(third or fourth year of an undergraduate program)
or in a higher degree program. All prerequisite
accounting courses must be completed before these
courses are attempted.
If your application (Form 1 and fee) is postmarked
prior to August 1, 2009, you may complete one of
the three options below:
• Option 1 (only available through August
1, 2009)
A bachelor's or higher degree and a minimum of 120
semester hours in the following areas:
o 24 semester hours in accounting, with courses
in accounting principles (including advanced financial
accounting), cost accounting, United States federal
taxation, and professional auditing; and
o 6 semester hours or 4 graduate credit hours in
business law, including coverage of the Uniform
Commercial Code; and
o 6 semester hours in finance; and
o 3 semester hours in business statistics; and
o 21 semester hours in business and accounting electives;
and
o 60 semester hours in liberal arts and sciences;
and
o 6 semester hours of economic principles which
may be used toward fulfilling either the business
elective or liberal arts requirement;
• Option 2
A bachelor's or higher degree and 150 semester hours
in the following areas, which include but are not
limited to at least:
o 33 semester hours in accounting with courses in
financial accounting theory and principles (including
advanced financial accounting), managerial accounting,
U.S. federal tax accounting, auditing and computer
auditing;
o 36 semester hours in general business electives
including business statistics, commercial law, computer
science, economics, finance, and quantitative methods,
and
o 60 semester hours in liberal arts and sciences
including mathematics/sciences, social sciences,
humanities, economics, and computer science.
o The curriculum must also include the study of
business/accounting communications, ethics/professional
responsibility, and accounting research.
• Option 3
Fifteen years of public accounting experience acceptable
to the State Board for Public Accountancy may be
substituted for education for admission to the examination.
This experience must be earned under the direct
supervision of a U.S. certified public accountant
or a New York State public accountant, involve the
application of U.S. generally accepted accounting
principles (GAAP) and generally accepted auditing
standards (GAAS), and contain substantial exposure
to auditing and financial statement preparation.
Examination Requirements
If you intend to take all or part of the CPA examination
in New York, you must:
• File the licensure application Form 1 and
fee with the New York State Education Department
postmarked by the deadline below and submitted to:
New York State Education Department
Division of Professional Licensing Services, Fee
Section
89 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12234-1000
• The NYS license application deadline is:
o February 1, to take the exam in May
o August 1, to take the exam in November
• If you have completed any post-secondary
education outside of the United States, are already
licensed, passed the exam in another jurisdiction
or are planning on taking the exam and wish to have
us determine if your education meets New York State
requirements, use Form 2. Forward Form 2 to your
school for completion and return to the New York
State Education Department so we can evaluate your
education for admission to the exam.
• Submit an application for examination and
fee with CPA Examination Services postmarked by
the deadline below. Readmits must register by telephone
or online with CPA Exam Services by the deadline.
Send your application and fee to:
New York Service Unit
CPA Examination Services
PO Box 198529
Nashville, TN 37219-8529
Phone: 1 (800) CPA-EXAM
Web: www.nasba.org
• The examination application deadline for
new candidates is:
o February 1, to take the exam in May
o August 1, to take the exam in November
• The examination application deadline for
readmissions is:
o March 1, to take the exam in May
o September 1, to take the exam in November
• Request both an education review and examination
application from CPA Examination Services. If you
have been educated entirely in the United States,
CPA Examination Services will review your education
for admission to the exam.
• Demonstrate that you have either fulfilled
the education requirements prior to taking the examination
or will fulfill them within 60 days after taking
the exam.
New York State recognizes the Uniform CPA Examination,
prepared and graded by the American Institute of
Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). In New York,
the examination is administered by CPA Examination
Services, a division of the National Association
of State Boards of Accountancy.
The AICPA is developing plans for the Uniform CPA
Examination to be revised and converted to a computer-based
test (CBT). For further information, please see
this portion of the AICPA site. Additional information
is also provided by the National Association of
State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA).
The passing score for each of the four examination
parts: financial accounting and reporting, business
law and professional responsibilities, accounting
and reporting, and auditing is 75.0. You will be
granted credit when you pass any two or more subjects
at a single examination administration for such
subjects. Thereafter, subjects may be passed singly,
provided you successfully pass all subjects of the
examination within a consecutive three-year period.
Reasonable Testing Accommodations
Applicants with disabilities requesting reasonable
accommodations for an examination need to contact
CPA Examination Services and provide several types
of documentation by the application filing deadline.
Religious Observance
If you are seeking accommodations for an examination
because of religious reasons you must notify CPA
Examination Services when you file the examination
application.
Experience Requirements
An applicant must present evidence, satisfactory
to the State Board for Public Accountancy, of diversified
experience involving the application of generally
accepted accounting principles and the application
of generally accepted auditing standards in the
practice of public accountancy, or the satisfactory
equivalent thereof as determined by the State Board.
The documentation of experience must demonstrate
diversified experience that would enable the applicant,
once licensed, to conduct and report on an independent
audit of a small but complex entity with a minimum
of supervision.
Two years of qualifying experience (full-time or
its part-time equivalent) are required for licensure.
Applicants who have completed advanced study in
an approved accounting program or its equivalent
may petition for a waiver of one year of experience.
A significant portion of public accounting experience
- - a minimum of 75% - - must be in the areas of
auditing services and financial statement preparation;
at least one-half of this time must consist of auditing
services alone. Full-time employment is considered
to be a 5-day, 35-40 hour week, excluding overtime.
Acceptable part-time (no less than 20 hours per
week) experience will be considered on the basis
of one week of experience for every two weeks worked.
See the instructions for Employer Form 4b for further
detail on qualifying experience.
In the case of non-public accounting, a minimum
of 75% of the experience must consist solely of
auditing services. Experience in private or governmental
accounting or auditing of a character and for a
length of time satisfactory to the State Board may
be determined to be substantially equivalent to
audit experience obtained by independent accountants
engaged in public practice which includes the attest
function. This experience shall be devoted principally
to the comprehensive application of generally accepted
accounting principles and generally accepted auditing
standards to diversified field examinations. These
examinations shall culminate in the submission of
independent reports on financial records and statements
that are relied upon by a third party. Limited scope
auditing activities shall not be accepted as equivalent
experience. See the Board policy statement regarding
non-public audit experience for further information.
Experience must be attested to by a CPA licensed
in a division of the United States or by a public
accountant licensed in New York, provided such individual
supervised the applicant in the employing organization.
Completing either 1 or 2 below can reduce the experience
requirement to one year:
1. the 120 semester hour education requirement described
previously as "Option 1", plus a post-baccalaureate
degree and completion of at least 30 graduate semester
hours in accounting or business, including the following
six graduate courses, within or in addition to the
course of study:
o advanced auditing
o economic analysis
o advanced taxation
o finance
o accounting theory
o quantitative measurements
2. the 150 semester hour education requirement,
including a bachelor's or higher degree, described
under "Option 2" in the Education Requirements.
Please Note: All requirements listed under 1 or
2 above must be completed to earn the one-year experience
reduction. No partial reductions can be granted.
If your employer submits a Certification of Employer
(Form 4B) where a percentage of time is shown in
item 7 A, Auditing Services, and the part-time box
in question #4, Section II on the same form is also
checked, the employer should provide a statement
describing the nature of the fieldwork engagements
performed for which experience credit is claimed,
setting forth as much of the following as is practical,
and indicating the extent to which you have applied
generally accepted accounting principles and generally
accepted auditing standards:
a. nature, purpose and location of a sample of representative
engagements and a brief outline of the type of auditing
procedures employed by the applicant.
b. the approximate time the applicant was involved
on each engagement.
c. the type of reports issued on each engagement.
A sample independent audit report on financial records
and financial statements must be included.
In addition, item 5 on the form should show the
number of hours worked per week and the number of
weeks or months of the part-time service included
in the total experience claimed.
This additional documentation of your experience
will be included with your file for review by the
Licensing Committee.
Applicants Licensed in Another State
If you have been licensed in another jurisdiction
and wish to apply for licensure by endorsement,
you must provide evidence of:
• Passing a written examination acceptable
to the State Board for Public Accountancy; and
• Satisfactory completion of the education
and experience requirement in New York State; and
• Good standing as a certified public accountant
in each jurisdiction in which you have been licensed.
The State Board for Public Accountancy may accept
evidence of five years of acceptable public accounting
experience following initial licensure and within
the ten years immediately preceding your application
for licensure in New York State if, at the time
of licensure in the other jurisdiction:
• the licensing standards were not fully equivalent
to the current New York State standards or,
• you passed an acceptable examination but
under conditions not acceptable to New York State
(for example, not passing two or more parts together
prior to passing parts singly or not completing
the examination within a three year period)
Public Accountant License Requirements
An applicant must have filed a declaration of intent
with the Education Department before October 1,
1959. In addition, an applicant must be of good
moral character and meet the experience requirements;
there are no education or examination requirements
for this professional title.
Experience: Must have had a minimum of six years
of public accounting experience between April 23,
1949 and April 23, 1959.
Age: There is no age requirement.
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