The American Institute of Certified Accountants (AICPA) is a national accounting professional organization in the United States and the largest professional association of accountants in the world, with nearly 370,000 members in 128 countries and regions. Its purpose is to improve the professional level; Establish a unified accounting professional organization in conjunction with national certified public accountants; Exchange professional knowledge through lectures; Establish a trade library; Ensure that the professional title of certified public accountants is recognized by national laws.
First, the background of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
Before 1870, American accountants were little known as a profession. American Institute of Public Accountants was founded in 1887. The incident benefited from an unexpected visit by a British accountant. 1886 10 October Thomas Wade &; Edwin Guthrie, a partner of guthrie, crossed the Atlantic to the United States to deal with the dispute caused by the sudden death of his partner in new york. Mr. guthrie spoke highly of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, which was established in 1883. 19 16 AAPA changed its name to American Institute of Accountants. A year later, it was renamed American Institute of Accountants again. 1957 replaced "accountant" with "certified public accountant", hence the name AICPA, which continues to this day. For the convenience of writing, AICPA will be used below.
When AICPA was founded, there were only 3 1 members. In the initial stage, AICPA's position as a national accounting professional organization was severely challenged twice. The first time was the American Association of Public Accountants, which was founded in 1902. The second time was the American Institute of Certified Accountants established by 192 1. Because of the mainstay of a group of people of insight such as Robert H. Montgomery, the American accounting community has not repeated the mistakes of many professional institutions in Britain. In June 1905, 10 and June 1936, 10, AICPA merged with American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and American Institute of Certified Public Accountants respectively.
Second, the development direction
Foreign companies, multinational companies, chief financial officers of SEC, chief financial officers, and international accounting firms carry out accounting measurement and certification services stipulated by GAAP standards in the United States. Enterprise risk control, strategic management, cost control, financial budget, etc.
Iii. AICPA application process
1, read the examinee handbook.
AICPA Association issues examinee handbook to AICPA candidates all over the world, which is convenient for candidates to know the relevant information of CPA exam in the United States.
Click here to download the handbook for American CPA candidates.
Click here to download the frequently asked questions of American CPA exam.
2. Understand the qualification requirements of national examinations that China people often apply for.
Fifty-five states and regions in the United States have formulated different American CPA examination qualification policies. Many states do not allow non-American candidates to take their own CPA exams in the United States, and some states require candidates to have American social security numbers or live in the United States, which greatly limits the range of states that China candidates can choose to take. Fortunately, many states still allow candidates from China to apply. The states that domestic candidates often apply for are: New Hampshire, California, Maine, new york, Washington, Montana, Colorado and so on. Candidates should know the detailed requirements of these States and see if they are qualified to apply for the exam according to their own conditions before taking the exam.
Click here to learn about the states that China candidates often apply for and the corresponding examination qualification requirements.
3. Credit pre-assessment
When candidates choose to apply for the country, the most important job is to compare the national credit requirements with the credits they have obtained, especially whether the accounting credits, business credits, total credits and agreed accounting and business course credits meet the requirements. This work needs strong professionalism, especially the credit of China candidates will be evaluated by American credit rating agencies before they can be recognized by American states. However, the discounts offered by various credit evaluation agencies in the United States in the process of handling the credit evaluation of China candidates will vary greatly. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you submit your own credit report, academic degree and other information, and a self-consulting professional teacher will complete the free credit pre-assessment for you. At the same time, we will also recommend the state that best suits your conditions.
Contact us to get the credit pre-assessment report for free. Please submit the following information:
1) credit report card
2) Education and degree information
4. Prepare official credit transcripts, academic qualifications and degree certificates.
Different credit rating agencies in the United States have different requirements for transcripts, academic qualifications and degree certificates. We will give you very specific suggestions based on our pre-evaluation results to help you obtain these materials from the school or through notarization. We strongly recommend that candidates contact our assessor to get transcripts before going to school, and learn more about the list, format, number of copies, stamp requirements and envelope requirements.
5. Formal credit evaluation (estimated to take 4-6 weeks)
After obtaining the credit report card and other related materials, we also need to prepare a US dollar bill for you to pay the credit evaluation fee. Generally, US dollar bills need to be withdrawn through China Bank. For different credit rating agencies, the title and amount of the bills need to be different. It is recommended that you inquire about the name and charging standard of the credit rating agency in detail before withdrawing the US dollar bills from the bank.
6. Get the credit evaluation report and sign up for the exam.
After receiving the credit evaluation report, we need to check whether there is any conflict between the final report and the credit pre-evaluation when we decide to apply for the exam. If all goes well, we can complete the work of filling out the exam application form, choosing the subjects to apply for and paying the exam fee on NASBA official website.
7. get the NTS admission ticket and make an appointment for the examination room.
One month or so after paying the examination fee, candidates can get the admission ticket-which is what we often call NTS. With NTS, we can make an appointment for the examination room immediately and prepare to take the exam in the United States eventually. You can make an appointment at any of the more than 300 Prometric test sites widely distributed in the United States, or you can make an appointment in Guam or Hawaii. If you are a permanent resident of Japan or Middle Eastern countries, you can also make an appointment in Japan or Middle Eastern countries. Booking an examination room somewhere and taking an exam somewhere are two things that have nothing to do with which state you apply for. Many candidates apply for Maine, but it is normal and in line with the rules to go to Los Angeles or Hawaii to take the exam. If you need to take an exam in Guam, you need to pay an extra Guam exam fee (US$ 1 10 per subject) two days in advance. We will especially remind you of this exception.
8. Prepare visa information and obtain an American visa.
(The interval between appointment and interview varies from US consulate in China. I suggest you make an appointment in advance and reserve a month to wait for the interview. )
Before or after booking the examination room, you need to prepare some materials for visa to the United States, among which NTS is an essential material, and the more other materials, the better. But most of the time, the interviewer only looks at NTS, not income proof, asset proof, work proof, study proof and other materials. Nevertheless, we suggest that you prepare as much as possible if it is convenient, just in case. At present, there have been no cases in which students who have taken CPA exams in the United States give up their exams without getting a visa.
9. Book air tickets and hotels
We generally recommend that you book air tickets and hotels after obtaining a visa. Although the ticket price may fluctuate, it is safer to do so. Since it has become a channel to provide all kinds of booking air tickets and hotels, it will also help you contact your classmates who took the exam together. When there are a large number of examinees, we will also organize teachers to lead them to the United States to take exams, which will not only provide guidance on the itinerary, but also provide guidance on study and preparation at any time, which will bring great help to your exam trip.
The round-trip ticket price to Guam (including tax) is generally around 5000 yuan;
The round-trip ticket price to Los Angeles (including tax) is generally around 8,000 yuan;
The round-trip ticket price to new york (including tax) is generally around 9000 yuan;
The round-trip ticket price to Hawaii (including tax) is generally around 8000 yuan;
It is recommended that you budget your accommodation expenses in 400 yuan RMB/night throughout the United States;
10, go to the United States to take an exam
Before the exam, we will have a detailed information checklist to ensure that you will not forget the necessary information, so as not to delay the exam and trip. We also encourage you to share your examination experience with other candidates in the AICPA Learning Forum. In fact, in our forum, you can find various detailed American AICPA exam strategies, which will greatly ease your psychological pressure. Travel is as exciting as exams. I wish you success in your exam!