What Does CPA Eligible Mean?

A common question I get asked by my students is: "what does CPA eligible mean?" or "can I put CPA eligible upon graduation on my resume?" The answer to this question is very important when looking for jobs and today, I'm going to shed some light on what it means for students and young accountants. 

What is CPA Eligibility?

Many employers (particularly public accounting firms) want to have employees that are or aspire to be certified public accountants (CPA) in the United States. The credential is issued by state boards and each state has different requirements surrounding education and working experience. By mentioning that you are CPA eligible on your resume, you are communicating to your future employer that you are eligible to register for an exam and meet the requirements for full licensure in a relevant state or territory (usually the same one that is on your resume) based on your college transcripts.

It's important to note that saying you are CPA eligible on your resume does NOT imply that you have passed any exams, or you have met the work hour requirements for your state. It is generally understood that this only means you have met the education requirements, but those aren’t all the requirements. 

Many companies do not want to deal with the hassle of you splitting your time between classes and full-time employment. This is why some employers really care about this information because they want you to represent that you will not need to go back to school while working to become certified. 

What if I am NOT CPA Eligible?

Most students ask this question because they have completed the appropriate classes to become a CPA but don't have all the required college credits. This circumstance occurs because many states require a certain mix of accounting classes as well as a minimum credit threshold to obtain a license. Very often, this credit threshold is more (150 credit hours) than what a student needs to graduate (120 credit hours). 

If you are not CPA eligible because of the amount of credits, you need to figure out exactly when you plan to take those classes, especially if you are trying to get into public accounting. Public accounting firms interview and recruit on a pipeline hiring model, which assumes that the candidate is CPA eligible by the time they start their full-time employment. This means that you can be the perfect candidate and be smarter than everyone else but if you are not expected to be CPA eligible on that hiring date, you will likely not get an interview. It's important to remember that this also applies to internships in public accounting because those internships assume that the intern will be CPA eligible in about a year or so following the conclusion of the internship. 

What Should I Do With This Information?

Students, you absolutely need to know when you will be eligible to take the CPA exam and get licensed. This is a critical component of the hiring process at many firms and unfortunately there are some who graduate with a degree in accounting that are not CPA eligible because of the credit requirements. The last thing you want to do is graduate and realize that you need to go back to school and have not planned for it. Make sure you also know when you are taking which classes. Some states allow you to take the CPA exam at 120 credit hours so long as you have the right courses and have a bachelor's degree in hand. If you are in one of these states, you can graduate with a bachelor's degree in accounting or have the equivalent courses and start taking the exam while you are gaining those 30 additional credits. I recommend doing this because it will help you get the exam out of the way as soon as possible, which will make your life much easier in the long term. 

Now you know what CPA eligibility means, go see when you will be CPA eligible and make sure you put that on your resume to find the right opportunities to suit your timeline. Good luck!