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Wanted: Accountants for Large Protest; Organizational Skills and Experience with Anything Slightly Resembling a Expense Reimbursement Policy a Plus

As you may have heard, there is a number of mighty upset people occupying various streets around the country. By reading some of the signs being held by these occupants, it’s obvious they’re peeved about a number of things. With such a wide range of gripes, the crowds have gotten quite large and since many people sympathize with the protestors, lots of donations are being made by those passing by, usually in the form of cash. This, as any accountant worth their salt knows, can be problematic, as evidenced by this video:

As the protests have grown, so have the donations. And since protests aren’t exactly bastions of internal controls, the problem of tracking the money coming in and being spent has become quite a chore. That chore has fallen on one person named Victoria Sobel who is functioning as Occupy Wall Street’s “chief treasurer.”


There’s no indication that Victoria is an accountant and, oddly enough, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of ready accountants amongst the occupiers, so the methods currently being used aren’t exactly robust. They started housing collections using “a large cooking pot covered in cardboard and duct tape” and gradually moved towards high-tech tools such as “donation buckets” and “a yellow messenger bag.” Despite these improvements, this system still needs some work Fortunately for Ms. Sobel, a person with some relevant experience recently turned up:

Then the first consultant, a certified public accountant sympathetic to the cause, came to help. Jo Ann Fleming […], who besides her accounting work has a radio show called Flash Talks Cash, sat down in a red tailgating chair next to three activists volunteering on the Occupy Wall Street finance committee.

Fleming heard a rundown of how the operation is working so far: Most of the money comes in through two donation buckets stationed at the ends of the park, where a steady throng of tourists and commuters is always passing by.

Teams of volunteers are split up into working groups for areas like food, sanitation and medical supplies, then spend the money on communal goods. Anyone who wants to be reimbursed for expenses has to get approval from a finance committee member before making a purchase. If it’s less than $100, they’ll sign out some cash, with orders to return with the goods and the receipt. If it’s more than $100, the purchase is supposed to be approved at a town meeting.

Once again, a CPA to the rescue! But since Ms. Fleming can’t quit her day job, she gave the best advice she could to the team on the ground:

After some probing, accountant Fleming determined the group needs to come up with a clear policy on how to get reimbursed for expenses. She suggested more frequent collection of the donation buckets, to avoid the temptation of dipping hands in—“cash is very troublesome.” And she urged them to create a spreadsheet tracking how much was received and paid.

More frequent collections. Clear, common sense policies. Spreadsheets. All excellent suggestions. But perhaps most importantly, Ms. Fleming recognizes when someone is doing the job of three people and is on the brink of cracking up (an important instinct in today’s accounting firms) so she gave Victoria some advice.

She turned to Sobel: “One woman can’t run the show. You’re exhausted; I can hear it in your voice. You need to delegate. You’re going to get burned out.”

Any double-entry experts that have some time on their hands and want to help the cause need to get downtown ASAP.

Anti-Bankers’ Dilemma: How To Process $$ [NHI]

What If Your Spouse Does Not Support Your CPA Exam Plan?

I’m one of those old-fashioned types (yeah right) who believes you should go to college, take and pass the CPA exam, then get married and have kids. Not for tradition’s sake but because it’s generally the easiest way to go. When you’re young and single, you have only yourself to piss off, and focusing is much easier when you don’t have a new wife/husband or – worse – a few cranky kids at home. I’m not talking about my (questionable) life choices, I’m talking about what is the least painful path for someone considering a career in public accounting, so let’s make sure we’re getting that part.


But what happens if you didn’t take that path and find yourself struggling to appease your s struggling through the CPA exam? I’m going to slap a few links on this sucker and call it a post but I am really counting on you all who have been in this situation to speak up and offer some sage words of advice to a fellow CPA exam candidate whose significant other is about ready to walk if he doesn’t hurry up and pass the exam.

We won’t share the dirty details of this particular OP as we don’t want to reveal his identity (his wife might REALLY leave if she knows he’s knocking on my dirty door looking for some guidance and I wouldn’t blame her, I live in the most disgusting part of DC) but here’s the gist: he’s been studying for the exam for… let’s just say “awhile.” All of you who have been studying for “awhile” know exactly how long “awhile” is, no need to elaborate.

The family has been through lots of ups and downs, including her medical issues and, obviously, his CPA exam “issues.” I’m not sure which is worse, but am sure that both are probably bad for this couple. They do have a couple of kids in the mix, no need to go into more detail on the extra level of drama that adds.

The wife gets that hubby needs to study, but she’s (understandably) sick of her husband being locked in quarantine with his CPA review textbooks and not her. That can take the thrill out quickly as anyone who has been in this situation knows. This is why I date someone who works in the same area as I do; we can talk endlessly about the tedium of work (I mean really, would you listen to your girlfriend blabbering about how shitty anonymous comments on a hack tabloid blog made her feel?) and still want to tear each other up at the end of the day because even though we’re on opposite sides of the spectrum, we sort of get what the other is suffering through. But when you’re talking about 3 – 8 hours a day spent studying, you can see how a spouse might get jealous. It’s like cheating, except the filthy mistress is Peter Olinto. The wife can hear him on the other side of the wall “Don’t confuse DDB with ODB. Do you remember ODB? He was a member of the Wu Tang Clan and he’s dead now actually. Don’t confuse DDB depreciation and ODB from the Wu Tang Clan.” That would turn me off too.

So what do couples have to do? Support each other. I don’t expect my partner to go defend me in the Going Concern comment section when strangers are calling me names but I do expect him to listen to me bitch about it every now and then. What do you do when your partner has no idea what you are going through and is fed up with hearing about it?

There is a line. A recent series of University of Iowa studies shows that unqualified support may actually do more harm than good.

Researchers studying heterosexual couples in their first few years of marriage found that too much support is actually harder on a marriage than not enough. Meaning, your wife shouldn’t have to accept you being locked in a room all day for three years trying to pass the CPA exam.

The study also discovered that when it comes to marital satisfaction, both partners are happier if husbands receive the right type of support, and if wives ask for support when they need it. I hope I don’t offend our four female readers by implying all women want the same level of “support” from their man, and imagine women attracted to public accounting are a bit stronger and tougher-skinned than needing tons of support from their partners. More Susan S. Coffey, less sniveling little girl.

But at what point does wifey have a right to walk on this guy? What is it going to take for him to get through the exam and get back to being a husband and father?

Personally (and I say this having had to deal with being in a relationship with another human being, not knowing anything about what it’s like to balance that and the CPA exam except what those going through it have shared with me), I’d say these two need to have a talk and soon. He needs to commit to a date to be passed by (to show he is dedicated to resolving the very obvious issue in their relationship) and follow through on that plan.

Or he can walk. Whatever. Sometimes it doesn’t work out.

Any tales from the frontlines, people? This guy needs your help.

Accounting News Roundup: Another Ernst & Young Resignation; Obama, the Middle Class Warrior; More Women in KPMG’s New Partner Class | 10.11.11

Report: Repatriation Tax Holiday a ‘Failed’ Policy [WSJ]
The 15 companies that benefited the most from a 2004 tax break for the return of their overseas profits cut more than 20,000 net jobs and decreased the pace of their research spending, according to report from the Democratic staff of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released Monday night. The report warned against repeating the tax break, calling the 2004 effort “a failed tax policy” that cost the U.S. Treasury $3.3 billion in estimated lost revenues over 10 years and led to U.S. companies directing more funds offshoretionals often defer bringing back profits earned abroad to avoid paying U.S. taxes on them.

Sky China shares plunge in Singapore after auditor quits [Reuters]
Shares of Singaporelisted Sky China Petroleum Services Ltd slumped as much as 32 percent to a record low on Tuesday after the company said its auditors, Ernst & Young LLP, had resigned. This is the latest in a string of auditor resignations that have hit Chinese stocks listed in Singapore and the United States, sending investors running.

Protest Gets Green Light [WSJ]
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday the city would allow an anti-corporate protest to remain in a Lower Manhattan park indefinitely, his strongest affirmation that authorities would tolerate the demonstrations—as long as they remained law-abiding. “The bottom line is—people want to express themselves. And as long as they obey the laws, we’ll allow them to,” said Mr. Bloomberg as he prepared to march in the Columbus Day Parade on Fifth Avenue. “If they break the laws, then we’re going to do what we’re supposed to do: enforce the laws.”

Call for News Corp vote against Murdochs [FT]
News Corp faced intensifying pressure for corporate governance changes on Monday as the biggest investor advisory group in the US recommended shareholders vote against the re-election of 13 of the media company’s 15 directors, including Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive. The ISS advisory group said that the phone-hacking scandal at News Corp’s London-based newspaper group had “laid bare a striking lack of stewardship and failure of independence” by the board that had led to enormous financial and reputational costs to shareholders.

Taxing Millionaires Casts Obama as ‘Warrior’ for Middle Class Americans [Bloomberg]
Democrats have turned to an agenda that Republicans are calling class warfare, as President Barack Obama presses a “Buffett Rule” to tax the rich, Senate Democrats offer a millionaires’ tax instead and party leaders fulminate against Bank of America’s $5 debit-card service fee. Campaigning for re-election, Obama welcomes the charge. “Then guess what? I’m a warrior for the middle class,” he declared Sept. 22, standing at a Cincinnati bridge linking the home states of the Republican leaders of the House and Senate and setting a new course for his own party.

NBA’s First Two Weeks of Season Canceled [WSJ]
NBA Commissioner David Stern canceled the first two weeks of the season after two straight days of last-ditch negotiating sessions failed to resolve the labor dispute. Mr. Stern said both sides were “very far apart on virtually all issues….We just have a gulf that separates us.” The cancellation came after a seven-hour meeting at a Manhattan hotel on Monday. There are no further meetings scheduled and no timetable for when more games could be axed. Mr. Stern said that any financial losses incurred in the stretch will be factored in as negotiations move forward. The league has said it stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars.

At Long Last, Facebook Releases an iPad App [Bits/NYT]
Trite status updates including “Loving this fall weather!” coming to a tablet near you.

They fuck you up, accountants [AccMan]
Indeed they do.


Ernst & Young employees get dirty, entertain kids at annual day of service [WaPo]
“I came home exhausted and filthy,” said Kevin Virostek, Ernst & Young’s Greater Washington managing partner. “But I never had a better day at Ernst & Young.”

Quarter of KPMG new partners are women [Accountancy Age]
Quite ironic that the article doesn’t quote any women.

Another Ernst & Young Employee Is Yearned for in Craigslist Missed Connections

This past summer, a comely E&Y auditor was the subject of a missed connection for “personal and professional” reasons. As disappointing as that is, we’re hopeful that we can make true Internet love happen, as another E&Y employee is the object of someone’s Craigslist Missed Connections post, which makes us wonder if the firm’s recruiting efforts have taken a turn for the superficial. Regardless, this particular encounter is of anonymous affections but is far less creepy.


I had to split up the post since our lady friend opted not to use the “Return” button. The rest of it is on the next page.

Since this was in Rutherford, we’ll go out on a limb and say that this is a Secaucus employee. If you’ve got some idea of who, what and where, help us figure out a way to get these two together. We’re trying to make some love happen, people.

[via Craigslist]

New Big 4 Associate Wants to Know If His Career Will Go Up in Smoke After Pot Possession Arrest

Welcome to the bullshit-faux-holidays-that-accountants-don’t-get-off edition of Accounting Career Emergencies. Today we have a new Big 4 associate who’s wondering how much trouble he could get in for a recent arrest for pot possession. If his firm finds out will they just blow it off or is his career baked?

Do you need advice on your career as “The Help” to our capital markets? Whether it’s CPA exam anxiety or minding your debits and credits at career fairs or putting together a to-do list after you put in your papers, we’ve got solutions for you. Email us at advice@goingconcern.com if you’re in haze.

Now, then:

I just started at a Big 4 firm and to celebrate the college life being over my friends had a party over Labor Day weekend. To cut to the point, I ended up being arrested and charged with marijuana possession in a city about 2 hours away from my office. I had a prior arrest for marijuana from 4 years prior as well. Basically, my question is, how likely is it that the firm finds out about this incident without me telling them? Also, if they do find out does this mean automatic termination?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Dear Stoney Jabroni,


Let me just say first that I’m not a lawyer, so take this advice for what it’s worth (not much more than a dime bag). Having said, that, your solution is easy. Move to Colorado. Or California. Or anywhere pot is decriminalized. Maybe I’m misinterpreting “arrested” but here in in the MHC, for example, adults don’t really get “arrested” for possession of less than one ounce and thus, there is really no problem. I realize this is probably unrealistic advice but your state’s laws will ultimately determine how “serious” this really is. Generally, this is not a serious issue but if you’re in state that likes to throw the book at marijuana users, then it gets more complicated.

To answer your first question – since you work in a city that’s two hours from where your arrest occurred, it’s pretty unlikely that anyone at your firm will find out you had your little run-in with the law. Unless, of course, there’s townie that would go out of their way to contact your firm to fink on you. That seems unlikely but, hey! you never know.

As far as termination is concerned, it depends on the agreement that you signed when you accepted your offer. If you’re held to specific code of conduct, it’s possible that this arrest could violate that code. If there’s nothing in the agreement that would cover something like this, your firm doesn’t really have grounds to dismiss you. There are plenty of Big 4 employees and partners that enjoy a nice toke every now and again and it is more socially accepted than ever. If someone at your firm does get a whiff of this news, certainly some will frown on this behavior and you may get a talking to but does it mean the end of your career? That’s just wack, man.

Promotion Watch ’11: KPMG Admits 166 New Partners in the Americas

That’s right boys and girls, 166 new lucky Klynveldians will be taking a seat at the big kids table, only to be poached by PwC in the next 2-3 years. Despite the risk that many of these new partners will trade blue squares for autumnal Atari, John Veihmeyer and Henry Keizer were excited to welcome the newest members of the club:

“These new partners are role models for high performance – with a passion for quality, an unyielding commitment to integrity and outstanding service, and a dedication to helping clients cut through the complexity in this dynamic environment,” said John B. Veihmeyer, Chairman of KPMG’s Americas region and Chairman and CEO of KPMG LLP (U.S.).

“We are very proud of each of these new partners, and we look forward to their continued leadership. We’re especially grateful to the spouses, family, friends, coworkers, and mentors who have played a key role in their development and their career success,” Veihmeyer said.

Henry R. Keizer, Deputy Chairman of the Americas region and Deputy Chairman and COO, KPMG LLP (U.S.) said, “With their steadfast focus on technical excellence, professionalism, teaming and relationship building, these new partners have helped us make great strides in achieving our strategic priorities.

“Their ability to engage and motivate our people has also been critical to our efforts in fostering a high-performance culture – thereby driving the firm and our people to the next level,” Keizer said.

The KPMG press release doesn’t have a breakdown of the numbers but luckily we got our virtual hands on an email that has the breakdown. We won’t name names but it’s probably moot since someone at PwC Experienced Hire recruiting probably has them all on a hit list already. ANYWAY, here’s the breakdown by service line for the U.S. (74 new partners):

Advisory – 26
Audit – 27
Tax – 21

And by line of business:

Information, Communications and Entertainment – 12
Financial Services – 17
Healthcare and Pharm – 5
Industrial Markets – 19
Private Equity – 4
Mid Market – 3
Government/Public Sector – 1
Consumer Markets – 9
Other – 4

Congrats to all the new partners!

[via KPMG]

Comp Watch ’11: Big 4 Starting Salaries North of the Border

There’s been quite a bit of chatter out of Canada recently (Happy Thanksgiving, btw) and we now have some of the details for those receiving offers from 3 of the Big 4.

KPMG is offering $40,800 per year. They claim they will pay over time if you work over 40 hours per week.
PwC is offering $40,800 per year with a 0-15% bonus based on performance.
EY is offering $40,500 per year. No mentions of overtime.

This is for the Toronto offices and these figures are all in Canadian Dollars, which comes out to slightly below $40k USD but with the possibility of overtime, obviously the haul could be a lot more. If you’ve heard different numbers (or any Deloitte numbers at all) for these firms, get in touch or discuss below.

Accounting News Roundup: Judge Stalls SEC’s Deloitte Case; Accountant Jobs Up, CPA Jobs Down; Neither Party Likes Cain’s 9-9-9 Tax Plan | 10.10.11

Corporate audit fees up? Beware of trouble ahead [Reuters]
A high or rising audit fee can indicate one of two things, experts say. Either the auditor is charging a risk premium, aiming to cover future legal costs to them of something going awry, or they may just be doing more work on the audit, digging into areas where results are uncertain. The studies’ findings come at a moment when regulators are considering requiring auditors to give out even more information. A proposal under consideration by the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board might have auditors disclosing more than the current minimal thumbs up or down. seem to be telling a valuable story.

U.S. Corporate Profit Rebound Loses Steam [Bloomberg]
Earnings per share for the Standard & Poor’s 500, excluding financial companies, rose 14 percent in the third quarter, the smallest gain since the end of 2009, analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg show. That compares with 19 percent in the second quarter and 20 percent in the first. Analysts have begun reducing forecasts for the current quarter and beyond. S&P 500 futures rose today, indicating the index will extend last week’s rally.

Judge puts brakes on SEC’s Deloitte case [Reuters]
A federal judge on Friday put the brakes on the government’s attempt to quickly get documents related to possible accounting fraud at Chinese companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges. U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson questioned whether she could force a Chinese unit of accounting firm Deloitte & Touche to hand over records to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In September the SEC asked the court to enforce a subpoena it sent to Deloitte seeking information about its Chinese unit’s audits of Longtop Financial Technologies Ltd, a Chinese company under investigation by the SEC.

Qwikster Is Gonester: Netflix Kills Its DVD-Only Business Before Launch [ATD]
While Netflix had to use some strained logic to explain its decision last month, this one is straightforward: It’s not going to force customers to use two different services to rent DVDs and streaming video, because customers hated that idea.

Surrey accountant completes two-thirds of run across US [BBC]
A Surrey accountant aiming to run 3,080 miles (4,957km) across the US to raise £10,000 for Help for Heroes is about two-thirds of the way into his route. Chris Finill, 52, of Cranleigh, has been running about 40 miles (64km) a day since he left San Francisco with athlete Steve Pope on 17 August. The pair, who plan to get to New York by 6 November for the city’s marathon, have just run through Iowa. They said gravel surfaces made recent runs a “nightmare” in a Twitter post.

Accountants Outpace CPAs in Job Listings [CPA Trendlines]
This doesn’t mean you can stop studying for the CPA.

Consistency in Accounting and Legal Discourses: The Overtime Cases [GOA]
Grumpies: “For several years battles have raged in several courtrooms concerning whether accounting firms have a legal obligation to pay junior accountants overtime. We are sympathetic to the position of the accounting firms, but worry about the soundness of their legal reasoning and conclusions. Do accounting firms have to be consistent in different domains? For example, does the logic in legal briefs and oral arguments have to be congruent with ethical principles and auditing standards?”


Practitioners Raise Concerns About Fingerprinting Proposal at IRS Hearing [JofA]
“We have serious concerns regarding the level of burden that the user fee regulations will place on CPA firms, particularly small and medium-size CPA firms,” AICPA Tax Executive Committee Chair Patricia Thompson, CPA, told the IRS panel. According to IRS estimates, 70% to 80% of those affected by the fees are operating as or employed by small entities. Thompson’s testimony focused on the fingerprinting requirement for nonsigning staff working under the supervision of a CPA, and she said the IRS should consider an alternative that would allow CPA firms to use a consumer reporting agency instead. Under that scenario, the costs per applicant would be significantly below what the IRS is likely to charge, and less burdensome to implement ,Thompson said.

Cain’s ‘9-9-9’ tax reform plan under fire from both left and right [OTM/The Hill]
Cain’s so-called “9-9-9” plan has liberals and tax analysts worried that the plan would not take in enough revenue, and that it would cause lower- and middle-income families to pay more. But conservatives have a different concern – that Cain’s plan to install a 9 percent national sales tax, paired with income and corporate taxes at that same rate, would give Democrats a brand new tax stream to try to squeeze out more revenue.

New York Post Goes for the Obligatory Tax Coverage Re: Steve Jobs’s Death

The Post reports that the Jobs family can avoid a lot of taxes on the Apple stock that they will inherit from Steve if they sell the stock right away. He held about 5.5 million shares, priced at just under $370 today. Of course he also was large shareholder in Disney, with shares worth about $4.4 billion. So between those two little grips, maybe Adrienne was right about SJ. [NYP via TaxProf]

Fence-crossing Regulator Wants to Know How to Jump into a Big 4 Firm

Ed. note: Have a question for the career advice brain trust? Email us at advice@goingconcern.com.

I have a senior-level job with a regulator that has jurisdiction over accounting firms. (Don’t want to say much more, because it would be self-identifying.)

I think my credentials may be good enough to land a partner-level job with a Big Four to help with compliance and whatnot. I’d like to pursue this some time over the next several years.

But how should I make the approach? Should I contact the firms directly at the appropriate time? Or go through a headhunter? If a headhunter, which ones have the best contacts for senior positions?

Thanks for your help.

–Fence-crosser (sorry, I couldn’t come up with a witty name)

Fence-crosser,
Give yourself some credit – your nickname is wittier than most (and by most, I mean people usually sign their first and last names and add their Social Security number for good measure).


After a quick (and confidential) search for your background on LinkedIn, I have a much better understanding of your seniority and depth of experience in the regulatory space. Very impressive. Considering your educational background (for those of you playing at home – very strong undergrad and advanced degree programs), I have no doubt that you’ve made your mark within the inner circles of both your industry and your city (major US market).

Before we talk about how to go about pursuing opportunities within the Big 4, let’s talk about this so-called “partner-like” level where you’d like to land. Without a CPA you cannot be a partner, however principals are a non-certified equivalent and directors are nothing to slouch at, either. You’d most easily transition into either 1) a firm’s internal professional practice, helping decipher government regulation and how said firm’s practices are affected by changing laws or 2) a firm’s advisory group, aiding clients with the same issues. The upsides – both monetarily and network-wise – would be in advisory. But do not overlook being an internal expert; they are paid handsomely for their work.

When it comes to seeking out the Big 4’s interest in your particular skillset, I suggest starting with their in-house Experienced Hire recruiters. All of the firms are hot to hire people with your experience. Look into their publicly posted opportunities first; either you will find something in line with your background or at the very least find a name to contact. Check out last week’s post for links to each firm’s experienced hire pages. Your skillset would be an exceptional value added to a firm’s compliance/regulatory departments. Best of luck in transitioning.

Readers – are you familiar with this kind of transition? Have you made the move yourself? Email Caleb and he’ll connect you with Fence-crosser should you be able to help. Are you a recruiter at one of the Big 4? Do the same – contact Caleb and make this happen.

(UPDATE) Thanks for Taking the Going Concern Fall Survey

We got a few emails asking about the iPad drawing so in order to get everyone to calm down, you’ll be glad to know that we’ve picked a winner.


But since no one wants their name to be in lights on this here fine publication, we won’t be sharing the name with you. UPDATE: Perhaps in an effort to wring some out of the readership, our winner has given us the go-ahead to publish their name. Your iPad envy should be directed at John Bialick, who works at Rothstein Kass in Roseland, New Jersey. Congrats, John! Just know that if you didn’t get an email from me telling you that you’re a winner, that means you’re a loser. Unfortunately, the rest of you are still losers. Not in life (unless you still can’t pass the CPA exam) but simply in this particular contest. This is just a quick word of thanks to everyone who took the survey and don’t worry, we’ll throw a chance to win more goodies at you someday.

Thanks for your continued support of Going Concern.

Student Needs Help Dancing Around State CPA Requirements

If you have a CPA exam related question that you’re dying to have answered, please get in touch. Note: bribes will not make me answer your question any sooner.

Hey Adrienne, I was reading an article on GC about sitting for the exam in another state (with less requirements) then transferring it to the state you want to work in. I was wondering if there was a site for this information. If it matters I will be transferring it to Georgia or Texas. My adviser told me they usually do it through Tennessee in the spring of the MACC program so that once you are done with the 150 hours you should already have your CPA.. Just wondering y’alls thoughts. Thanks!


Is there one site that has this information? Oh dear, you’re obviously new to this whole CPA exam nonsense. While the Internet has done a great job of aggregating publicly-available information in the last few years to make searching for answers a tad easier for candidates, it’s still sort of a crapshoot. If you’re good with Google, you might be able to find a few references but other than that, I can’t think of one place that explains this particular trick.

That said, NASBA’s Accountancy Licensing Library can probably help. Plug in your educational experience and you can figure out which states you can sit in.

Because the CPA exam is uniform meaning every state’s candidates take the exact same CPA exam as other states, you’re able to sit for any other state’s exam in your state. You can use this to your advantage if you’re in a 150 state but want to finish the exam while you are still working on your degree by taking the exam in a 120 state that allows non-residents to sit for the exam and then transferring your scores once you meet your state’s requirements.

The best source to go to for more information on this option would be your own state board. Hopefully they are somewhat helpful and can give you a little guidance. You could also try calling NASBA but I doubt they’re very supportive of folks trying to bypass the system.

Keep in mind that your plan sounds like you will be transferring scores, not the actual license. Since most states have experience requirements and many require that experience to be gained under the supervision of a CPA licensed it that state, it is unlikely that you will actually be licensed as a CPA in the state in which you apply for the CPA exam. But you can transfer passing CPA exam scores, usually with just a simple form.

If you’re prepared for the work involved with sitting for the CPA exam while finishing up your degree, I say go for it. Surely there are some Going Concern readers out there who have done exactly this?