Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 44, November 2, 2024
(a)
General requirements.
Except as provided in subsection (b), a candidate for CPA certification shall
have completed at least 1,600 hours of qualifying experience during the
60-month period immediately preceding the date of application that included
providing any type of service or advice involving the use of accounting,
attest, compilation, management advisory, financial advisory, tax or consulting
skills which were gained through employment in government, industry, academia
or public practice. The 1,600 hours of qualifying experience shall be acquired
over a period of not less than 12 months.
(b)
Exceptions.
(1) A candidate who sat for the CPA
examination before December 31, 2011, but did not pass at least one part of the
examination before that date and satisfies the requirements of §
11.57(a)(1)
(relating to education requirements for CPA certification) shall have completed
at least 1 year of qualifying experience meeting the requirements of
subsections (a) and (c) during the 120-month period immediately preceding the
date of application.
(2) A
candidate who passed at least one part of the CPA examination before December
31, 2011, and satisfies the requirements of §
11.57(a)(2) shall
have completed at least 2 years of qualifying experience meeting the
requirements of subsections (a) and (c) during the 120-month period immediately
preceding the date of application.
(3) A candidate who passed at least one part
of the CPA examination before December 31, 2011, and satisfies the requirements
of §
11.57(a)(3) shall
have completed at least 1 year of qualifying experience meeting the
requirements of subsections (a) and (c) during the 120-month period immediately
preceding the date of application.
(c)
Acceptable areas of qualified
experience. A candidate's experience shall be of a caliber
satisfactory to the Board and may include one or more of the following areas:
(1) Attest activity.
(2) Business valuations.
(3) Preparation of income and nonprofit tax
returns.
(4) Tax research that is
properly documented.
(5)
Representation before a government agency on a tax matter.
(6) Financial forecasts, analyses and
projections.
(7) Management
advisory services that meet AICPA standards.
(8) Management and supervision of accounting
functions and preparing financial statements for profit or not-for-profit
entities.
(9) Professional
accounting-related work in a public accounting firm.
(10) Teaching accounting, auditing, taxation
and related courses for academic credit at an accredited college or university.
Teaching must include at least two different courses above the introductory
level. One year of experience must consist of no less than 24 semester hours,
or the equivalent in quarter hours, taught in a period of not less than 12
months and not more than 36 months. Courses outside the fields of accounting,
auditing, taxation and related courses will not be counted toward teaching.
Nonqualifying courses include, for example, business law, finance, computer
applications, personnel management, economics and statistics.
(11) Other areas of experience acceptable to
the Board.
(d)
Nonqualifying experience. A candidate will not receive credit
for the following types of experience:
(1)
Experience that is not verified in accordance with §
11.56 (relating to verification of
experience).
(2) Experience
comprising nonprofessional work, including recruiting, marketing,
administration and appraisals.
(3)
Paraprofessional work and bookkeeping that does not comply with subsection
(c)(9).
The provisions of this §11.55 amended under
section 3(a)(10)-(12) of the CPA Law (63 P.S. §
9.3(a)(10)-(12)).
This section cited in 49 Pa. Code §
11.56 (relating to verification of
experience); and 49 Pa. Code §
11.57 (relating to education
requirements for CPA certification).
