Question about the CPA Certification - which state should one get certified?

[Qianglong]

So..my gf has to make up her mind pretty quick on which state she needs to get her CPA qualification. She will be doing canadian tax/accounting primarily but now the firm gives her an option to get a CPA first.

Which state should she get her qualification? She did an audit based on her courses taken at university level and the instructor told her to go take the Illinois or New Hamshire CPA. We really have no clue how each state differs. Maybe the CPAs here can shed some light?

 

[Qianglong]

bump

 

[ballmode]

what is the big 4? the CPA firm I market for always talks about the "big 4"

 

[George P Burdell]

Originally posted by: ballmode
what is the big 4? the CPA firm I market for always talks about the "big 4"

Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, KPMG

 

[sactoking]

Will she be doing business in any state? If so, she needs to test in that state. If it's a matter of just having it to have it, between Illinois and New Hampshire, I would recommend Illinois.

Illinois reciprocity

Illinois has reciprocal agreements with pretty much every state and territory EXCEPT Colorado, Delaware, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, Vermont, and the US Virgin Islands.

I could not find any useful information on the New Hampshire website about reciprocity, but unless they go with considerably more states (unlikely) I'd say Illinois is the way to go.

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: Qianglong
So..my gf has to make up her mind pretty quick on which state she needs to get her CPA qualification. She will be doing canadian tax/accounting primarily but now the firm gives her an option to get a CPA first.

Which state should she get her qualification? She did an audit based on her courses taken at university level and the instructor told her to go take the Illinois or New Hamshire CPA. We really have no clue how each state differs. Maybe the CPAs here can shed some light?

Well, I got my CPA about 25c years ago; not sure if it's changed much. But:

Back then people had a couple of thoughts on it - (1) List the state where you intend to live/work, or (2) see which state is easier to pass (while the exam was identical for every state, it is graded on a curve so some states are easier to pass than others.)

Another thing, some states have more rigorous requirements than others (more courses etc). If you pass the CPA for an *easy* state, it may make it more difficult to get reciprocity with another harder state should she move.

E.g., Mine is form Florida, one of the toughest states. When I working for KPMG in Miami a partner transfered in from California and got in a little trouble. Florida made him take more college courses before they would grant him reciprocity and allow him to function as a partner in our Miami office.

I see her accounting professor has suggested two states, she should consider why he recommend those. If he didn't explain why those two states, I suggest she ask him.

Fern

 

[CPA]

Originally posted by: sactoking
Will she be doing business in any state? If so, she needs to test in that state. If it's a matter of just having it to have it, between Illinois and New Hampshire, I would recommend Illinois.

Illinois reciprocity

Illinois has reciprocal agreements with pretty much every state and territory EXCEPT Colorado, Delaware, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, Vermont, and the US Virgin Islands.

I could not find any useful information on the New Hampshire website about reciprocity, but unless they go with considerably more states (unlikely) I'd say Illinois is the way to go.

sactoking's pretty much hit it on the head here. It's a matter of reciprocity. Florida and Colorado are your big states that generally don't allow reciprocity from any state test, but most other states do.

And as Fern stated, look at the states requirements. It's been a while since I took the test, but different states have different requirements on what parts have to be taken when and what grades you need to pass.

I would too ask why those states were selected.

 

[krunchykrome]

so she's going to be practicing in Canada but she wants to get certified in the United States first?

if you're asking which state is the easiest to get certified in, I would say one of the 120 credit hour requirement states, such as PA.

If she plans on practicing in a specific state in the US, then she needs to get certified in that state.

 

[Qianglong]

Thanks everyone for your replies. So as sactoking mentioned, illinois is probably one of the better states to get the CPA and certification since it allows reciprocity with many other states? She will be working primarily in canada but her firm (PWC) have a US group in Canada which she can transfer to and get the required hours.

As for the 150 credit hour requirement, the only way to find out would be to have her degree/transcript assessed by the CPA board?

 

[krunchykrome]

CPA Exam requirements by state