Public Accounting: Careers, Skills, and How to Become a CPA

Licenses are issued by state accounting boards and require additional actions and professional development hours to maintain. In my senior year of college, I studied for and passed the CPA exam. The CPA is an important credential to me, and I still get continuing education credits every year to keep up with our state requirements. This helps me keep current on issues happening in the industry and new accounting pronouncements. A https://www.bookstime.com/articles/purchase-discounts (CPA) is an accounting professional whose knowledge and abilities meet elevated, standardized requirements. CPAs can also perform professional functions that uncertified accountants cannot legally offer.

I decided that I wanted to start my career in public accounting in order to learn a lot in a short period of time and be exposed to different types of clients and different areas of accounting. I was fortunate to get a job offer from a mid-size CPA firm in New England while I was a senior in college, and I spent many years working there as an auditor. Financial controllers head accounting departments in private enterprises.

How to become a CPA

A CPA can help people and companies choose the best course of action in terms of minimizing taxes and maximizing profitability. Dave Wojeski is the founder and Managing Director of Wojeski & Company CPAs, P.C. Prior to founding the firm, Dave worked for a “Big 4” accounting firm. Dave has substantial experience in advising closely held companies on strategic and tax planning, corporate structure, and merger, acquisition and equity related strategies. Dave has represented buyers, sellers, and private equity firms and has been involved in numerous transactions both as an advisor and as an entrepreneur.

The only exception is the ISC discipline, in which multiple-choice questions make up 60% of the score and task-based simulations account for 40%. Previous versions of the CPA exam included the BEC section, which explored corporate governance, information technology, financial and operations management, and economic concepts. The discipline section replaces BEC, certified public accountant allowing candidates to test in an area of interest or advanced skill. The 2024 version of the CPA exam eliminates the business environment and concepts (BEC) section and transitions some portions of FAR and REG into the new disciplines. Since the BEC section was the only one to include a written essay, the essay portion is eliminated from the 2024 CPA exam.

Certifications and Licensure for Certified Public Accountants (CPA)

Re-exam applicants pay a reduced registration fee, plus the standard exam fees for each section. For additional state-specific information, refer to NASBA’s CPA exam portal. Scores are released on a rolling basis, dependent on when the AICPA receives your exam file.

• Thus, earning an accounting bachelor’s can help you fulfill the educational guidelines for your state.
• Besides tax advising and preparation, CPAs might specialize in auditing, bookkeeping, consulting, management or financial advising and planning, to name just a few.
• If all you need is help filing a relatively simple return, though, you may not need the full services of a CPA; a non-CPA tax preparer, or even do-it-yourself tax software, may be enough to get your taxes done.
• CPAs can also perform professional functions that uncertified accountants cannot legally offer.
• “CPAs charge more than regular accountants or tax preparers,” says Jiang.