Almost there

We had yet another person quit the firm yesterday. She was part-time but had worked here for a while and had several clients that she did on her own. She’s actually going to work for a client of ours, so we’ll still see her. That makes this week’s tally four people quitting and another who will soon be gone when she finds a job.

Actually, all of the people quitting is not unusual for a public accounting firm. Most CPAs get their feet wet in public accounting because it’s the quickest way to get the experience one needs to become licensed, and then they move on to other jobs. It used to be a CPA candidate needed two years of public accounting experience, but a few years ago they changed the requirements so now candidates only need one year of experience, but they also now need 150 college credit hours with a certain number of those hours in accounting courses. They’ve also changed the exam from a pencil-and-paper exam that was offered only twice a year to a computerized exam that candidates will be able to take four times a year. Luckily I passed on the last pencil-and-paper exam and will not have to worry about the new exam changes or the doubling of the cost.

One of the other requirements to obtaining a CPA license is the passage of an ethics exam. This is an open book exam that is basically no big deal, it just costs another $125. I know people who have copied the exam answers from other people who have taken the test. I will not be doing this – it is an ethics exam after all. I obtained the materials this week and will try to finish it this weekend. Then all I have to do is send it in, wait for the results (which should only take a couple of weeks as opposed to the three months I had to wait for the CPA exam results), and complete the paperwork to obtain my license (and probably pay more money in the process). After three years of trying I can’t believe the process is almost complete!