§ 11.55. Experience requirements for CPA certification.
(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).
Authority 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)).
Source The provisions of this § 11.55 adopted May 7, 1993, effective May 8, 1995, 23 Pa.B. 2231; amended July 27, 2007, effective July 28, 2007, 37 Pa.B. 4055; amended September 22, 2017, effective January 1, 2018, 47 Pa.B. 5940. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (364430) to (364432).
Cross References 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).
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