Oregon - Become a CPA
There's no better state to pick for becoming a CPA than Oregon. It's a beautiful place to live and the I-5 corridor is growing by leaps and bounds. You are sure to find a lucrative, successful career as well as a rich and rewarding lifestyle.
The road to becoming a CPA is nearly as difficult as hiking the Oregon Trail, however. There are many specific requirements that must be met, and loads of hard work is involved, too. Since Oregon has its own unique approach to CPA licensure, this document is here to help you navigate your way clear through to your CPA license.
Academic Requirements for Oregon CPAs
To become a CPA in Oregon it is going to demand a lot of intellectual and academic rigor. You must hit the books early, late, and as often as possible. The general requirement is 150 semester hours of college or graduate work. That should include matriculation with at least a bachelor's degree and a major concentration in accounting. The state's minimum requirement is 24 hours of accounting courses and 24 hours of business-related coursework.
Your accounting hours should be above the intro level, so courses like Principles of Accounting or Introduction to Accounting will not suffice. For your licensure, concentrate on courses such as:
Audits
Governmental or nonprofit accounting
Financial reporting
Taxation
Your business courses can go farther afield. These will help broaden your view of the business world and may even inspire you in other ways. Consider studying subjects such as:
Statistics
Business law
Economics
Marketing
Management
Business ethics
Business communications
Technical writing
Finance
Organizational psychology
Sociology
Business.
Computer science
Confer with your academic in the accounting department to ensure that your business electives are recognized by the Board as being business-related subjects. Keep in mind that courses taken at the master's level likely carry more hourly clout than undergraduate coursework.
1. Accreditation
The Oregon Board of Accountancy not only demands that you take a certain number of courses, but that your education be of a quality recognized by a credible accrediting agency. Your college or university should have received regional accreditation by an institution acknowledged by the board. For example, one of these institutions is acceptable:
Western Association of Schools and Colleges
Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)
New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC-CIHE)
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC)
2. Non-college alternative
Interestingly enough, Oregon still offers a way for those with no college credit to become a CPA. If you have graduated with high school diploma and have two years of experience in public accounting, you are eligible to sit for the CPA examination.
Since your experience is vital to your application, make sure that you are diligent in accounting for it. First off, you must verify that you have a minimum of 2 years in full-time employment under a licensed CPA. During your time, make sure that you note how you use accounting skills such as:
Auditing
Attestation
Financial reporting
Financial analysis
Personal finance advisory
Management advisory
Consulting
Tax preparation
Tax advisory
Your supervisor should be prepared to sign off, in a notarized document, for all of your experience. The board will contact them individually to verify your tenure in accounting.
While this is an intriguing option, confer with your employer as to how you can be best prepared for the exam. Since the pass rate for the exam is around, or below, 50%, you may need to take some college-level coursework to prepare. At a minimum, seek out an accredited review course for the test. This will help solidify your knowledge and provide you with college credits that you might use later.
Featured Online Programs
Oregon's CPA Exam Requirements
To sit for the CPA exam in Oregon, the Board requires that you be fully prepared with 150 semester hours of college work, including a baccalaureate degree, or a high school diploma and a minimum of two years working full-time for a licensed CPA.
If you take the academic route, you will also need to complete an experiential portion later. However, your scholarly work should ensure that you are fully prepared for the exam and your future practice in accountancy. To satisfy the board your official transcripts should reflect 24 hours studying accountancy and 24 hours of general business coursework.
Your accounting courses should be upper-level courses. That is, introductory courses will not be included when the Board reviews your transcript. This is often standard practice when universities qualify students to graduate in a major concentration. Thus, if you can receive the major there's a good chance you've satisfied the Board.
Your business-related courses can include courses such as Business Law or Business Ethics. You would be well advised to take at least one course that covers business communications. The Business Environment and Concepts portion of the four-part CPA examination includes 3 written items.
When you have completed all of the required 150 semester hours (or 225 quarter hours), you may apply to sit for the exam. Your application should be accompanied by a payment for $150 for your first time. Returning applicants pay $50. Payments should go through the NASBA website, or by providing a credit card number via phone.
On your application, you will indicate the sections of the test that you are prepared to take. Only list the section(s) for which you are fully prepared. Your application should also include your name exactly as it appears on your driver's license or other state identification. Otherwise, the testing center is likely to refuse your reservation for the test. If there is some error, you can contact the Board and request an amendment.
Once you have received a notification that your application is approved, you can pick from one of six testing centers throughout Oregon:
Portland area
Sylvan Learning Center
1122 NE 122nd Ave
Portland, Oregon
503.254.4159
Sylvan Learning Center
14623 SE McLaughlin Blvd
Milwaukie, Oregon
503.659.0486
Southern Oregon
Sylvan Learning Center
1500 Valley River Drive, Suite 310
Eugene, Oregon
541.485.4589
Southern Oregon University
Higher Education Center Room 122
101 South Bartlett St
Medford, Oregon 97501
541.552.8100
Central/Eastern Oregon
Sylvan Learning Center
2150 NE Studio Rd #10
Bend, OR 97701
Prometric Testing Center
1901 Adams Ave
LaGrande , Oregon 9785
The exam is broken into four sections, each of which is allotted 4 hours. The sections are:
Auditing and Attestation (AUD): 72 multiple-choice questions and 8 task-based simulations
Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR): 66 multiple-choice questions and 8 simulations
Business Environment and Concept (BEC): 62 multiple-choice questions, 4 simulations, and 3 written items
Regulation (REG): 76 multiple-choice questions and 8 task-based simulations
They are all quite difficult and many people re-take one or more parts of the exam. Consider these passing rates from 2017:
Auditing and Attestation: 48.5%
Business Environment and Concepts: 53%
Financial Accounting and Reporting: 44.4%
Regulation: 47.2%
A passing grade on each test is 75. Once you have completed the test, your scores will be available for private viewing on the NASBA website.
Oregon's Experience Requirements
Once you have passed the academic and examination portions of the road to your CPA licensure, you will need to put your knowledge to the test in a real-world accounting firm. Oregon requires one year of full-time employment under the direct supervision of a licensed CPA, PA, or chartered accountant. If you work part-time, you must complete 2,000 hours to complete your application.
During your experiential portion, you may work in public practice, government, industry, or in academia. To satisfy the board, you should record all of your activities related to the following skill sets:
Accounting
Attestation
Compilation
Management advisory
Taxation
Consultation
Your supervisor will be asked to verify your experience in a separate communication.
Licensure Requirements
The general requirements for an Oregon CPA license are in four parts: experience, education, ethics, and examination. If you have 150 semester hours of college (or greater) work, you need one full year of full-time experience. With a high school diploma, you must work for a minimum of two years on a full-time schedule.
For the education portion, you can simply stop your education after high school, though it's strongly recommended that you pursue a baccalaureate degree. The Board requires 150 semester hours that include 24 hours in accounting courses and 24 in business, or related, coursework. You must also take and pass an ethics course, as well as all four parts of the CPA examination.
The ethics portion can be satisfied in one of two ways. You can take the AICPA's professional ethics course or the exam created by the Oregon Society of CPAs.
Once you have received your CPA license, you will need to continually maintain it with further education.
Oregon's Continuing Professional Education Standards
Oregon is not alone in requiring that its CPAs complete CPE hours every year. For every two-year period, you should complete 80 total hours. Every year, however, you must complete a minimum of 24 hours. While you will mostly take courses that apply to accounting, attestation, taxation, and similarly technical courses, you must also take four CPE hours focused on ethics. The Board website has a lengthy list of registered sponsors who can provide Board-approved ethics instruction.
Your other CPE units can be acquired by taking courses through professional organizations, colleges or universities. The board will determine the hourly value of your work on a program-by-program basis.
Note that the board does offer CPE waivers for military service, illness, or individual hardship. You may not, however, waive the CPE requirements for more than three years. If you need more time, and desire to return to the profession, consult with the Board.
Your career as a CPA is bound to be fruitful and a large part of the continuing success of the state of Oregon. Your hard work will be the basis of a deeply rewarding career.
What is a CPA? It's a question that has actually been asked a great deal of times by both supervisors as well as people in accounting positions, but never ever truly answers. The information needed to answer the inquiry has actually been offered for a very long time, but really few individuals know what it means or what it entails.
So, in order to respond to the concern of what is a CPA, we need to comprehend a little bit much more regarding CPA certification. Generally, the CPA license is required for individuals in accounting work due to the fact that it is a prerequisite to anyone that desires to open an accounting business.
That makes sense, so, what is a CPA? An accountant is somebody that can help people comprehend as well as manage their economic documents, making it easier for people to keep track of their funds.
These individuals take care of the people that use their monetary records, in turn, making it much easier for them to see how they are investing their money and whether they are in fact utilizing it for the things that they claim they are. This enables the administration of an individual's funds, enabling them to live a frugal life.
So, since we have answered the concern of what is a CPA, what does it include? To be a certified public accountant, you must complete the following:
* The Financial Statement Evaluation test - A great deal of people are surprised to find out that the primary step on the path to coming to be a CPA is taking this test. In order to end up being a CPA, you need to pass this examination.
* The Financial Statement Evaluation examination - This test is essentially a two hr examination where you are demonstrated how to examine the monetary statements of a company. You require to know how to identify if a company remains in the black and also if it has the cash to do so. Additionally, the understanding you obtain in this test will certainly enable you to locate problems that may exist in your company's economic records, therefore offering you a side over other rivals.
* Taxes 101 - Knowing tax legislations, where the financial resources for a firm originated from, as well as exactly how they are utilized to pay them are all part of what the financial declaration analysis test covers. These are all crucial parts of the business globe, and also you will be utilizing them every day. These three points are necessary in being a CPA.
* Accounting Principles - This test will help you choose if you have actually done anything wrong, which might result in disciplinary activity or even the loss of your qualification. Finding out about these 2 essential topics is vital, because otherwise, a CPA might wind up having a career destroyed.
* The "International Financial Reporting Specifications" test - This examination is designed to be easy for an average Joe to take, that makes it perfect for the CPA, as it is quickly achieved by anyone who is interested in getting licensed as a certified public accountant. Having the ability to check out as well as comprehend the financial records of a firm submits, and having the ability to determine exactly how they are using their cash to complete their objectives is an important skill to have when you are a CPA.
* The "Concepts of Internal Control" examination - This is likewise called the "Principles of Internal Control," as well as it is the structure of every element of accounting that an accountant will ever encounter, or use. It is necessary to understand all of the ins and outs of just how a company regulates their funds, due to the fact that it is the basis for everything that occurs within the company's daily operations.
In conclusion, coming to be a certified public accountant suggests that you have passed every one of the tests that belong to the process. If you wish to end up being a CPA, that is great, but most significantly, you have to pass these 3 examinations, and those are the only needs that a CPA's license needs.
Getting your Certified Public Accountant certification opens up the kind of doors that can fast-track you right into popular work in every sector. Whom do you think the FBI recruits to check out criminal fraudulence? What line of work is normally a stepping-stone to holding placements like Principal Financial Law Enforcement Agent (CFO) and Ceo (CEO)? Who helps rock celebrities manage their money, as well as stop going damaged? View the profession chances location.
It's a very difficult expert track, however the advantage is that Certified public accountants are taken into account the most depending on specialists in business. Along with completing organisation in addition to audit courses in college and passing a comprehensive nationwide evaluation, Certified public accountants continue to maintain as well as upgrade their abilities as part of their dedication to an actually vivid profession.
The timeline to licensing includes education and learning and also discovering, assessment along with experience. Before you do anything else, complete a program of research in accounting at a college/university. The AICPA recommends at the very least 150 term human resources of college coursework. The following activity is to sit for the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Exam. While the Examination is created as well as ranked by the AICPA, credentials to rest for the Certified Public Accountant Examination is developed by the state board of book-keeping in each of the 55 United States.