Nebraska - Become a CPA

Earning your CPA licensure in Nebraska involves a combination of education, experience and examination. Read through our guide to determine the steps you must take to earn this coveted licensure.

CPA Education Requirements

The first step in becoming a certified CPA in Nebraska is to meet the educational guidelines required to sit for the CPA exam. Besides colleges and universities online, correspondence, and College Level Examination Program (CLEP) credits are all accepted as long as they are notated on the official transcripts of an accredited institution. Because the required education is specific, your first step should be to verify accreditation of your school before you register.

To sit for the CPA exam in Nebraska you must earn an online or on-campus Bachelor of Science with an accounting emphasis and have passed 150 credit hours of education. Of the 150 hours 30 must be undergraduate or graduate level upper-level (not introductory courses) accounting courses as well as 36 semester hours of general business coursework. In addition, 60 hours must be in general education classes covering mathematics, statistics, humanities, arts, social studies, natural sciences, and oral and written communication. Because accounting is a competitive field and the CPA requirements are rigid you may wish to work towards your Master's degree in accounting while you earn your license. The Nebraska CPA exam is overseen by CPA Examination Services (CPAES) and you will apply directly to CPAES during the process. Note that Nebraska requires state residency for CPA certification, so you should also establish your residency (or Nebraska employment) before submitting your transcripts.

Here are the accepted subjects you'll need to take in the 30 hours of upper-level accounting courses you'll need to cover:

• • Accounting information systems

  • Auditing

  • Financial accounting theory and problems

  • Cost and managerial accounting

  • Governmental and not-for-profit accounting

  • Tax preparation and planning

Specifics:

• • The information systems course must be specific to accounting

  • There is a three credit limit for an internship with an accounting prefix

  • There is a three credit hour limit for independent/self study with an accounting prefix

  • Special seminars and topics may be used as long as they are not a "self-paced" course, meet regularly with a professor, and cover at least 25 percent of the coursework subject matter

  • CPA Exam Review courses do not meet the requirement but may be used in the Electives section

For your Business course requirements your 36 hours should cover the following subjects:

• • Business communication

  • Business ethics

  • Business law

  • Finance

  • Macroeconomics

  • Management

  • Marketing

  • Microeconomics

  • Principles of accounting

  • Quantitative applications in business

Once you meet the educational requirements you will have each school send your transcripts directly to CPAES. Keep in mind schools typically take two to six months to post grades to official transcripts and another 10 to 15 days to process requests.

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How to Sit for the CPA Exam

Your first step in taking the CPA exam is to apply via the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) website to access the CPAES for Nebraska. You'll be asked to create an online account; the exam process is lengthy so make sure your personal information is correct and keep the account information updated if you move or change your name. If you're not sure you've met the educational requirements you may pay a $100.00 fee and request an evaluation called the NASBA Advisory Evaluation before you pay your application and exam fees and schedule your exams. If you have a disability that needs special accommodations for the exam you can inform CPAES at this time.

1. Fees

There is an initial application fee of $165.00 payable at the time you apply. The Nebraska CPA exam is in four parts and you can take them all at once or individually. In order to meet licensure requirements all four sections must be taken within an 18 month period. All fees must be paid at the time of application and there is a registration fee each time you sit for exams. This means if you apply for one exam at a time you'll pay the $75.00 fee four times; if you apply to sit for all four exams you'll pay the $75.00 fee once. The exam titles and their corresponding fees are as follows:

2. Notification to Schedule

Once your application is approved you'll receive a Notification to Schedule (NTS) from NASBA with instructions on where and when you may schedule to sit for the exam or exams. You will need your NTS to enter the exam facility so keep it in a safe place. Your NTS will be valid for six months so you should schedule your exams within that time frame. The Nebraska CPA exam is given by Prometric and you will select your exam site, date, and time from their website.

Each exam will take four hours. You may only take your NTS and identification into the exam room; all other personal belonging will be stored in a secure locker while you test. Your scores will be available one to two weeks after you test, and you'll need a minimum 75 percent score in order to pass. Remember that all four exam sections must be completed within 18 months, so if you fail a section plan to retake it within the time frame.

3. Complete the AICPA Ethics Course and Exam

In addition to the CPA exams you'll also be required to take and pass the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA) course in ethics. This is a self-study course and online exam on a basic level and requires no prerequisites or preparation. The topics covered are:

• • AICPA Code of Professional Conduct

  • Acts discreditable to the profession

  • Conceptual Framework

  • Ethics

  • Independence

4. Apply for a Certificate to Practice

Once you've taken and passed the CPA and Ethics exams you'll be eligible for certification. You can apply for your CPA certificate through the Nebraska Board of Accountancy and must have the certificate before you can begin accumulating the required experience for licensure. The AICPA must send a certificate of completion of the Professional Ethics course; a copy will not be accepted.

CPA Experience Needed in Nebraska

Once you've successfully passed all four sections of your CPA exam you'll need to meet the minimum experience requirements before you can apply for your license. In Nebraska CPA experience must be acquired through industry, government, public, or academia accountancy work as follows:

• • A minimum of 4000 hours during a minimum of two years

  • Under the direct supervision of a licensed CPA firm

  • If in government a minimum of three years with the Federal Internal revenue Service, Nebraska Auditor of Public Accounts, or Nebraska Department of Revenue

  • Private and governmental experience may be combined within three years

  • Once you've met the experience requirements your supervising CPA within a registered/licensed CPA firm must complete the Nebraska Public Accounting Experience Form and have it notarized.

Nebraska Licensure Requirements

Your final step to becoming a licensed Nebraska CPA is to submit your Permit to Practice application. You'll need to verify the following information and submit the $200.00 permit fee to The Nebraska Board of Public Accountancy:

• • Educational requirements

  • CPA exam scores

  • AICPA ethics exam score

  • CPA certificate

  • Experience

Once you've submitted the required documentation it will take about 10 business days for the state board to issue your license.

Renewal and Continuing Education Requirements

As a licensed Nebraska CPA you must renew your certification every two years on January 31. During that time frame you are required to complete 80 hours of Continuing Professional Education (CPE). Four hours of ethics training is required; no more than 50 percent of the hours may be in self-study. In addition, a minimum of 40 percent of the hours must be in attestation and accounting subjects and a maximum of 30 percent of the hours may be in non-technical subjects. Qualifying Nebraska CPE hours must be formal programs that contribute to your competence and professional skills, given by a qualified instructor, a minimum length of one hour, with a detailed outline and timeline prepared in advance and you must retain proof of registration and attendance. The Nebraska Society of Certified Public Accountants offers a wide variety of courses in nine locations throughout the state. Coursework is available at conferences, via webcasts and webinars, and self-study materials at nominal fees to both members and non-members of the society. While Nebraska doesn't have strict regulations for CPE the courses and subjects should directly contribute to your professional competency in accountancy.

• • If you teach an accepted course in CPE you can generally claim two hours of preparation for each hour of instruction

  • If you're unsure whether a course is accepted you can file a Program Qualification Form with the board

  • The Nebraska Board of Accountancy accepts all NASBA approved courses for CPE

Because CPE guidelines may change by the time you receive your license you should stay updated on current requirements once you are a practicing CPA. Joining professional organizations will give you invaluable networking resources to enable you to complete your CPE requirements in a timely manner.

Have you taken into consideration taking actions to become a Certified Public Accountant? Or, are you considering it however uncertain just how to deal with it? One of things that needs to be done prior to you can take the actions to becoming a CPA is to obtain an accounting license. In this post I will certainly go over several of the actions that are associated with order to acquire your accounting certificate.

There are three components to the licensing procedure. Initially, you will need to visit a neighborhood office for the declaration of your info. When the details are submitted, you will certainly need to complete a state evaluation for every location of service that you plan to practice.

The examiner for the evaluation will have only one day to analyze you as well as to choose you as being qualified to take the test. Prior to understanding it, you will certainly be a CPA!

Although there are lots of means to end up being a CPA, I will certainly be defining a relatively simple procedure. I intend to give you a little bit even more of an idea regarding what actions you must take in order to become a CPA.

The initial step that you will need to take is to head to high school or to college, where you will certainly take the state examination for your location of service. As soon as this exam is finished, you will certainly require to go to your local area workplace for accreditation of your CPA standing.

The second part of this process is to sit for the test. Although many people think that they will be able to take the test when they are in secondary school, if you need help finding a local or state office to go to for your evaluation you may wish to think about sitting for your evaluation in university or secondary school. Given that numerous people are taking their CPA test prior to they graduate, a lot of them will find out that the test can be challenging.

Certainly, there is a great deal of info that you will certainly need to take in prior to taking the test. Some individuals have actually found that mosting likely going to college can be really practical in this regard. College students commonly have the benefit of taking the exam as well, which enables them to concentrate on other classes.

Now that you have actually completed your state evaluation as well as are now certified to take the test, you will need to head to your regional county office and to do so you will certainly require to pay a cost. The reason you will need to pay the charge is because it is the county office that will certainly be able to determine whether or not you are certified to take the CPA exam.

Once you have paid the charge, you will certainly need to take two hrs to take the examination. These 2 hrs will be utilized to take the state examination. As stated formerly, many people find that they need assistance finding the local or state workplaces for this specific exam.

As soon as you have taken the test, you will certainly after that have to take a written test. Again, some people discover that they need the help of an excellent publication to help them discover what is on the exam. This holds true for many individuals too, that require help doing guide knowledge tests.

When you have actually finished the initial part of this procedure, it is time to experience the second part of the procedure which is to receive your CPA certificate. You will then require to finish the state assessments and to pass the state examination prior to you will certainly be a CPA.

The final step of this process is to really get your CPA permit. This can often be a frustrating job, so you will require to be planned for it.

This is something that I have actually paid attention to various times over and is also a topic that I comprehend rather a little bit around, because I have actually experienced it directly. As a State-licensed accountant occupation trainer with a Certified Public Accountant category myself, I identify efficiently what it was like to undertake those years of looking into, making up tests in addition to putting in your sweat and additionally splits to simply obtain a category that you truly wish would absolutely establish you up on the "best" course completely.

We thought that as long as we obtained our CPA, we could do anything we desired. That we would absolutely be stubborn. Our mother and fathers, friends, classmates, teachers instilled this idea that all you require is this 3 letter expression of a category close to your name and also your life would absolutely be gold. So the majority of us encouragingly travelled with our early profession years with the following idea: After passing all our exams, pleasing the certification requires as well as sustaining the long hours at the accountancy firms or firms we have actually been working at we struck a fork in the road and also hit it.

Yet for the remainder individuals that aren't so sure this question either gets ignored since it's too hard to address (simply to stand out back up again in our heads a bit later on) or is a constant, continuous idea operating on repeat in the back of our minds. Till we got our State-licensed accountant category, we didn't think a lot additionally about what we genuinely desired in our professions.