SBOA: Information on Reciprocity

Receiving a Connecticut Certified Public Accountant Certificate by Reciprocity

The law

Sec. 20-281d. (d) The board shall issue a certificate to a holder of a certificate issued by another state upon a showing that:

(1) The applicant passed the examination required for issuance of his certificate with grades that would have been passing grades at the time in this state; and

(2) The applicant meets all current requirements in this state for issuance of a certificate at the time the application is made; or the applicant, at the time of the issuance of the applicant's certificate in the other state, met all such requirements then applicable in this state; or the applicant has had five years of experience in the practice of public accountancy no earlier than the ten years immediately preceding the applicant's application or meets equivalent requirements prescribed by the board by regulation.

Our current requirement as prescribed by regulation

20-280-21 Requirements to obtain a certified public accountant certificate

(Effective April 21, 1995)

To obtain a certified public accountant certificate an applicant shall fulfill the following requirements:

(1) Application. File an application prescribed by the board.

(2) Fee. Pay the applicable statutory fee at the time the application is filed.

(3) Good character. Submit evidence satisfactory to the board of good character, as defined in subsection (b) of section 20-281c of the general statutes.

(4) Education. Possess the educational qualifications set forth in section 20-280-22 of these regulations.

(5) Examination. Pass the examination as provided in section 20-280-23 of these regulations.

(6) Ethics. Attain a grade specified by the board on such examination in professional ethics as the board may prescribe.

(7) Experience. Obtain and document the experience as provided in section 20-280-24 of these regulations.

20-280-22 Education Requirements to obtain a certified public accountant certificate (Effective June 1, 2007)

The following educational requirements shall be met before an applicant is eligible to apply for a certified public accountant certificate pursuant to section 20-280-21 of these regulations:

(a) An applicant who takes the examination prior to January 1, 2000 shall be a graduate of an accredited college with a degree of bachelor. The college shall be accredited by the regional accrediting commission subscribing to the national policies and procedures established by the federation of regional accrediting commissions of higher education; or a college of equivalent accreditation as determined by the Connecticut State Board of Accountancy. The candidate shall have received credit for at least 46 semester hours from such an accredited college in the study of accounting and related subjects, including, but not limited to business law, economics, and finance; of which at least twenty-four semester hours shall be in the study of accounting.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of these regulations to the contrary, an applicant who takes the examination prior to January 1, 2000 need only have the educational qualifications set forth in subsection (a) of this section to retake any or all parts of the examination on or after January 1, 2000.

(c) An applicant who takes the examination for the first time on or after January 1, 2000 shall have completed 150 semester hours of college education, including a baccalaureate degree, at a college or university accredited by a regional accrediting commission subscribing to established national policies and procedures or of equivalent accreditation as determined by the Board. Such an applicant shall have received credit for at least 36 semester hours in accounting education, which may include the basic or introductory accounting course; at least 30 semester hours in economics and business administration education other than accounting; and at least 60 semester hours in general education. The balance may consist of any for-credit courses, including courses in excess of the minimums set forth in the preceding sentence.

(d) In lieu of subsections (a), (b) or (c) above, an applicant shall hold an authority to practice as a public accountant in the state of Connecticut under Section 20-281b of the General Statutes.

20-280-23 Examination

(Effective June 1, 2007)

(a) Educational qualifications to sit for the certified public accountant’s examination.

An applicant shall be eligible to apply for the examination for the first time on or after May 26, 2007 if he or she is a graduate of an accredited college with a degree of bachelor. The college shall be accredited by the regional accrediting commission subscribing to the national policies and procedures established by the federation of regional accrediting commissions of higher education; or a college of equivalent accreditation as determined by the Connecticut State Board of Accountancy. The candidate shall have received credit for at least 46 semester hours from such an accredited college in the study of accounting and related subjects, including, but not limited to business law, economics, and finance; of which at least twenty-four semester hours shall be in the study of accounting.

(b) Application process.

(1) Requirements to take the examination. An applicant shall:

(A) Submit to the board an application prescribed by the board together with the fee of $100.00 by the due date set forth in the application;

(B) Submit to the examination service authorized by the board to administer the examination any additional application, documentation and proof of identity that the examination service may require, and pay any additional fee that the examination service may require;

(C) Submit documentation that, prior to applying for the examination, the applicant has met the educational qualifications set forth in subsection (a)of this section;

(D) Submit to the board satisfactory evidence of good character, as defined in subsection (b) of section 20-281C of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(2) Notice. The Board, or its designee, shall for each application and eligible candidate:

(A) Determine the eligibility of each applicant;

(B) Forward notice of the time and place of the examination to each eligible candidate; and

(C) Forward notification of eligibility for the computer-based examination to the National Association of the State Boards of Accountancy’s National Candidate Database;

(3) Failure to appear for the examination. A candidate who fails to appear for the examination shall forfeit all fees charged for both the application and the examination.

(1) Auditing and Attestation;

(2) Financial Accounting and Reporting;

(3) Regulation;

(4) Business Environment and Concepts.

(d) Passing Grade. A candidate shall attain a scaled score of seventy-five points in each section.

(e) Granting of Credit. The exam shall be administered four times annually during three month examination periods as scheduled by the board or its designee. A candidate may take the required exam sections individually and in any order. Credit for any section(s) passed shall be valid for eighteen months from the actual date the candidate took that exam section, without having to attain a minimum score on any failed exam section and without regard to whether the candidate has taken other exam sections.

(1) Except as provided in subdivision (3) of this subsection, candidates shall pass all four exam sections of the examination within a rolling eighteen-month period, which begins on the date that the first exam section passed in taken. Any exam section passed outside the eighteen-month period shall expire and that exam section must be retaken.

(2) Candidates cannot retake a failed exam section during the same examination period.

(3) For reason of health, military service, or other individual hardship, the board may, in its discretion, extend the time limit for passing all remaining subjects beyond that set forth in section (1) of this subdivision.

(f) Credit for examinations taken out-of-state

(1) Any individual who has obtained credit for any section of the uniform certified public accountant examination as graded by the Board of Examiners of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants from a state other than Connecticut or other examination approved by the board, and who qualifies under subsection (a) of this section to take the examination in Connecticut shall receive credit for such sections subject to the provisions of this section.

(2) A candidate who has received full credits from a state other than Connecticut shall make application on forms prescribed by the board, and such application shall be filed with the board. A candidate’s out-of-state credits shall not be accepted unless at the time the candidate received his out-of-state credits the state of issuance had in effect credit procedures and standards equivalent to or stricter than those credit procedures and standards then in effect in state of Connecticut.

(g) Transitional rules for conditional credit. Candidates who, on the date a computer-based examination approved by the board is first administered in this state, have unexpired credit for passing one or more sections of the paper-and-pencil examination:

(1) Shall receive credit for passing the corresponding sections of the computer-based examination, as follows:

(A) Credit for having passed auditing in a paper and pencil format shall be deemed credit for auditing and attestation in the computer-based examination;

(B) Credit for having passed financial accounting and reporting in a paper and pencil format shall be deemed credit for financial accounting and reporting in the computer-based examination;

(C) Credit for having passed accounting and reporting taxation, managerial, and governmental and not-for-profit organizations in a paper and pencil format shall be deemed credit for regulation in the computer-based examination;

(D) Credit for having passed business law and professional responsibilities in a paper and pencil format shall be deemed credit for business environment and concepts in the computer-based examination.

(2) Shall be allowed a transition period to pass all remaining sections of the computer-based exam. The transition period shall equal the remaining number of opportunities under the paper and pencil examination, multiplied by three months. Any exam section passed outside the transition period shall expire and that exam section must be retaken.

(h) Hardship. For reason of health, military service, or other individual hardship, the board may, in its discretion, extend the term of any credit.

( i ) Cheating.

(1) Cheating by a candidate shall be deemed to invalidate any grade earned by that candidate on any section of the examination, and may warrant summary expulsion from the test site and disqualification from taking the examination for a period of time ranging from until the next administration of the examination up to a life-time ban.

(2) Actions including, but not limited to, the following may be considered cheating:

(A) Falsifying or misrepresenting educational credentials or other information required for admission to the examination;

(B) Communication between candidates inside or outside the examination site or copying another candidate’s answers while the examination is in progress;

(D) Substitution of another person to sit in the examination site in the stead of the candidate;

(E) Possession of or reference to crib sheets, textbooks or other material or electronic media (other than that provided to the candidate as part of the examination) inside or outside the test site while the examination is in progress;

(F) Violating the nondisclosure prohibitions of the examination or aiding or abetting another in doing so;

(G) Retaking or attempting to retake an examination section by an individual who has unexpired credit for having already passed the same examination section, unless the individual has been directed to retake an examination section pursuant to Board order to participate in a "Secret Shopper" program.

(3) In any case where it appears that cheating has occurred or is occurring, the Board or its designee may summarily expel the candidate involved from the examination or move the candidate to a position in the examination center away from other examinees.

(4) In any case where the Board or its designee believes that it has evidence that a candidate has cheated on the examination, it shall conduct an investigation. Such investigation may include hearings conducted in accordance with Chapter 54 of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(5) Whenever the Board or its designee determines that a candidate has cheated on the examination, a hearing shall be conducted in accordance with Chapter 54 of the Connecticut General Statutes. Such remedy may include, but need not be limited to:

(A) Full or partial invalidation of credit for any session of the examination completed for that session;

(B) Permanently or temporarily barring the candidate from taking all, or any of the section of the examination.

(6) Whenever the Board or its designee determines that a candidate has cheated on the examination, it shall notify the national candidate database, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the test center where the examination was administered.

(7) The Board or its designee shall provide information to any State Board of Accountancy, concerning its finding its finding and actions in such cases when a candidate has applied to take the CPA examination in such other state.

(j) Scheduling changes. The Board or its designee may postpone scheduled examination, the release of grades, or the issuance of certificates due to:

(1) A breach of examination security;

(2) Unauthorized acquisition or disclosure of the contents of an examination; or

(3) Suspected or actual negligence, errors, omissions, or irregularities in conducting an examination.

20-280-24. Experience

(Effective April 21, 1995)

(a) Amount of experience. An applicant for an initial certificate shall have the following experience:

(1) For applications received by the Board prior to January 1, 2000:

(A) Three years, except as provided in subdivision (B) of this subsection;

(B) Two years, if the applicant has the following educational qualifications from an accredited college, as defined in section 20-280-22 of these regulations: a degree of bachelor, thirty-nine (39) semester hours of accounting subjects beyond the elementary accounting course, and thirty-six (36) semester hours of general business education, including but not limited to economics, business law, marketing, finance, quantitative applications in business, and organization, group and individual behavior;

(2) For applications received by the Board on or after January 1, 2000:

(A) Two years, if the applicant possesses the educational qualifications set forth in subsection (c) of section 20-280-22 of these regulations;

(B) Two years, if the applicant first took the examination required by subsection (e) of section 20-280-21 of these regulations prior to January 1, 1994 and possesses the educational qualifications set forth in subparagraph (B) of subdivision 20-280-24(a)(1) of these regulations;

(b) When experience can be obtained. For experience to count toward meeting the requirements of this section:

(1) In the case of applications for initial certificates received prior to January 1, 2000, such experience must have been obtained no earlier than four (4) years prior to the completion of the educational requirements for the applicant's initial certificate;

(2) In the case of applications for initial certificates received on or after January 1, 2000, such experience must have been obtained no earlier than five (5) years prior to the completion of the educational requirements for the applicant's initial certificate; provided however, notwithstanding any provision of this subsection to the contrary, in no event shall an applicant receive credit for any experience obtained more than five (5) years prior to the date of the receipt by the Board of the application for initial certificate.

(c) Verification of experience. Experience shall be verified in such form as the Board may require by a person in a supervisory capacity over the applicant who has held either a certified public accountant certificate or a public accountant authority for three years, provided, however, in the case of an applicant whose experience was obtained, in whole or in part, while employed by the Office of the Auditors of Public Accounts and there was no one in a supervisory capacity over the applicant who had held a certified public accountant certificate or a public accountant authority for three years, then the Auditors of Public Accounts may verify said experience. The Board may require an interview of an applicant and an inspection of working papers, reports and other documentation relating to the applicant's claimed experience. Such inspection may at the option of the Board, be conducted at the Board's office or at such other location as the Board may designate, in which case any person having custody of such documentation shall produce it upon request of the Board. All verifications relative to experience shall be made under penalty of perjury.

(d) Computation of time. In computing experience for the purpose of this section, the Board shall consider thirty-five (35) hours per week as full-time employment. If an applicant worked in excess of thirty-five (35) hours in any one week, he shall receive a maximum of one week's full-time employment credit. The Board may accept part-time employment in satisfaction of the experience requirement, provided no credit shall be given for part-time employment for any week in which the applicant has worked for less than twenty (20) hours. The Board shall convert all part-time employment claimed for credit into full-time employment equivalents on the basis of a thirty-five (35) hour week. One year of experience shall consist of fifty-two (52) weeks and shall include vacation, holidays, and time for illness not to exceed eighty (80) hours, but time for vacation, holidays and illness may not be considered in determining whether an applicant has acquired the necessary twenty-five (25%) per cent audit requirement set forth in subdivision (1) of subsection (f) of this section.

(e) Qualifying experience. Experience may be obtained either (1) in the practice of public accounting, as defined C. G. S. Section 20-279b(7), or (2) outside of the practice of public accounting in services relating to an opinion, report or certificate on accounting or financial statements as further described in subsection (g) of this section. Experience must be obtained under the supervision of a person who has held either a certified public accountant's certificate or a public accountant's authority to practice for at least three years. For the purpose of this section, service by a person in the employ of the United States Internal Revenue Service as an agent, or in a position equivalent thereto or higher, or as an accountant, auditor or tax examiner or in a position equivalent thereto or higher for this state, shall be considered to be in the practice of public accounting.

(f) Public practice experience. Where experience is obtained in the practice of public accounting:

(1) At least 25 per cent of the experience shall consist of the application of generally accepted accounting principles and the application of one or more of the following: generally accepted auditing standards; standards of accounting and review services; and standards for accountants' services on prospective financial information, financial forecasts and projections. The Board may in its sole discretion, give credit toward meeting the requirement of the paragraph for the performance of other services which are the subject of comprehensive sets of generally accepted professional standards issued by an appropriate professional standard setting body and which the Board determines are equivalent to the application of generally accepted auditing standards for the purpose of reporting on compliance with generally accepted accounting principles.

(A) Examples of work qualifying under subdivision (1) of this subsection include, but are not limited to: (i) review and evaluation of internal control policies and procedures; (ii) testing of compliance with internal control policies and procedures; (iii) preparation of working papers in connection with elements of work accomplished; (iv) planning, revision or updating of audit programs to be followed; (v) drafting or reviewing memoranda, conclusions, notes; (vi) preparation and/or analysis of financial statements or reports. Also qualifying are the performance of procedures for the verification of the following kinds of accounts: accounts receivable; inventory accounts, including valuation and physical verification; bank accounts; investment accounts; fixed asset accounts, including depreciation; intangible assets; accounts payable, accrued liabilities; reserves, in accordance with specific industry requirements; unrecorded liabilities; and appropriate analytical review of revenues and expenses. The examples set forth in this subparagraph are not intended to be all-inclusive.

(B) One half of the experience required by subdivision (1) of this subsection (f) may consist of the review and preparation of tax provisions and reserves. The review and preparation of tax provisions and reserves includes research for determination of tax provision and related tax reserves, research for determination of taxable earnings and profits, reconciliation of book to tax return adjustments, review of tax returns to determine adequacy of income tax reserves, analysis of tax positions taken in making judgments affecting tax provisions and reserves.

(2) The balance of the experience under subsection (f) may consist of:

(A) Financial statement preparation from the books of account without audit and the preparation of related tax returns; performance of other related services requiring a knowledge of generally accepted accounting principles; tax related activities; review of financial projections; accountings for estates and fiduciaries; or

(B) Preparation of books of original entry, preparation of payrolls, checks, payroll tax reports, sales and similar tax returns, posting to subsidiary ledgers; or

(C) Tax services, including tax services described in subparagraph (B) of subdivision (f)(1) of this section which were not applied to meet the requirements of said subdivision (f)(1); or

(D) Design and installation of accounting, cost or other systems when not related to an extension of auditing assignments; other management advisory services; or

(E) Checking or comparing reports and tax returns; other services for clients not included in bookkeeping services; filing tax or law services, administration;

(F) Other services in the practice of public accounting.

(g) Non-public experience. Experience obtained outside the practice of public accounting may be used to satisfy the requirements of subsection (a) of this section if:

(1) It is obtained under the supervision of a certified public accountant who has held a certified public accountant certificate or a licensed public accountant who has held a public accountant authority for three years, and

(2) The experience is equivalent to that set forth in subdivision (1) of subsection (f) of this section.

(A) To be considered equivalent, the experience must have resulted in reports which commented upon the financial condition and operating results of the agency or organization audited and should be prepared for an executive function which does not have operating responsibility or control for the organization, department, division, or other entity being reported upon.

(B) In determining equivalence, the Board shall consider whether:

(i) the applicant performed work on audits resulting in opinions on financial statements or in opinions on financial analyses, reports or accounts;

(ii) the applicant participated with an independent auditor who relied on applicant's work, wholly or partially, in attesting to his organization's finances;

(iii) the applicant performed substantially financial auditing, compliance auditing, systems design, tax accounting;

(iv) whether any limitations on scope, approach or work were imposed;

(v) whether significant proportions of work consisted of field work as opposed to desk or office audits;

(vi) whether there was exposure to two or more types of industries;

(vii) whether audits were of sufficient duration to permit meaningful involvement in the process.

(h) In assessing whether an applicant's experience involved the application of generally accepted accounting principles, the Board may accept:

(1) Another comprehensive basis of accounting, or

(2) A basis of accounting for governmental or quasi-governmental entities, funds or organizations used by the reporting entity, fund or organization to comply with financial reporting requirements under constitutional, statutory, legislative or other applicable legal administrative authority.

CPE Ethics Exam Requirement

The Board also requires the passage of The AICPA Professional Ethics for CPA’s self study course. A score of 90% or higher is required.