Section .0400 – Experience

21 NCAC 08F .0401 Work Experience Required of Candidates for CPA Certification

(a)  G.S. 93-12(5)(c) sets forth work experience alternatives, one of which is required of candidates applying for CPA certification. In connection with those requirements, the following provisions apply:

(1) the work experience shall be acquired prior to the date a candidate applies for certification; and

(2) all experience that is required to be under the direct supervision of a CPA shall be under the direct supervision of a licensed CPA on active status in one of the U.S. states or jurisdictions.

(b)  The following provisions apply to all candidates seeking to meet the work experience requirement of G.S. 93-12(5)(c)(3) by working in the field of accounting:

(1) One year of work experience is 52 weeks of full-time employment. The candidate is employed full-time when the candidate is expected by the employer to work for the employer at least 30 hours each week. Any other work is working part-time.

(2) All weeks of actual full-time employment are added to all full-time equivalent weeks in order to calculate how much work experience a candidate has acquired. Dividing that number by 52 results in the years of work experience the candidate has acquired.

(3) Full-time-equivalent weeks are determined by the number of actual part-time hours the candidate has worked. Actual part-time hours do not include hours paid for sick leave, vacation leave, attending continuing education courses, or other time not spent directly performing accounting services. For each calendar week during which the candidate worked actual part-time hours of 30 hours or more, the candidate receives one full-time-equivalent week. The actual part-time hours worked in the remaining calendar weeks are added together and divided by 30. The resulting number is the additional number of full-time-equivalent weeks to which the candidate is entitled.

(4) The candidate shall submit experience affidavits on a form provided by the Board from all of the relevant employers; provided that when such experience was not acquired while employed with a CPA firm, the candidate shall also submit details of the work experience and supervision on a form provided by the Board. Experience affidavits for part-time work shall contain a record of the actual part-time hours the candidate has worked for each week of part-time employment. Both the experience affidavit and the form for additional detail shall be certified by the employer’s office supervisor or an owner of the firm who is a certificate holder.

(c)  Rule .0409 of this Section applies to teaching experience acquired pursuant to G.S. 93-12(5)(c)(2) and (4).

21 NCAC 08F .0409 Satisfaction of Experience Requirement By Teaching

(a)  Teaching Experience. The requirement of “four years experience teaching accounting,” G.S. 93-12(5), means teaching accounting full-time for four years.

(1) Full-time teaching as described by the rules of the educational institution where the applicant taught will be accepted by the Board to be full-time teaching. However, in no case will less than 12 semester hours, or the equivalent, be accepted by the Board as full-time teaching.

(2) If the applicant has not taught accounting full-time for four years, credit will be allowed by the Board for teaching accounting less than full-time on a pro rata basis based upon the number of semester hours required for full-time teaching at the educational institution where the applicant taught. However, in no case can an applicant receive credit for a full-time teaching year for teaching done in less than one academic year or more credit than one full-time teaching year for teaching done within one calendar year.

(3) Courses outside the field of accounting will not be counted toward full-time teaching. Such courses include, but are not limited to: business law, finance, computer applications, personnel management, economics and statistics.

(4) Of the four years of full-time teaching experience, teaching accounting principles (below intermediate accounting) cannot be counted toward the educational requirement for more than the equivalent of two full-time years. The remaining two full-time teaching years must be taught in at least two different areas of advanced accounting such as auditing, income tax, intermediate financial accounting or advanced managerial accounting, and the applicant must have taught at least nine semester hours, or the equivalent, in at least two of the different areas.

The purpose of this Subparagraph is to render unacceptable as meaningful experience both the continuous teaching of the elementary accounting course and the continuous teaching of the advanced courses in only one area of accounting.

(b)  Required Information. Applicants must submit with their application a letter from each institution where they taught, certified by the applicant’s dean or department head at that institution. The letter must state:

(1) the number of credit hours which the applicant taught each year;

(2) the names and academic level of the courses taught; and

(3) the number of hours set by the rules of the institution as full-time teaching for each relevant year.

(c)  Burden of Proof. An applicant having taught in an accredited community college or technical institute has the burden of proving that the credits earned by students taking those courses which the applicant taught would transfer to a four-year accredited college or university.

21 NCAC 08F .0410 Education Required of Candidates for CPA Certification

(a)  G.S. 93-12(5)(a) sets forth the education required of candidates applying for CPA certification. The 150 semester hours required include:

(1) a concentration in accounting, as defined by 21 NCAC 08A .0309; and

(2) 24 semester hours of coursework that includes one three semester hour course from at least 8 of the following 10 fields of study:

(A) communications;

(B) computer technology;

(C) economics;

(D) ethics;

(E) finance;

(F) humanities or social science;

(G) international environment;

(H) law;

(I) management; or

(J) statistics.

(b)  Anyone applying for CPA certification who holds a Master’s or more advanced degree in accounting, tax law, economics, finance, business administration, or a law degree from an accredited college or university is in compliance with Subparagraph (a)(2) of this Rule.