[Anonymous]

Hi everyone

I need some frank advice re: becoming an accountant. I have audit experience from the stone age (full-time job while in college the first time) in the hospitality industry, and I also volunteered as tax preparer when I was in the military many moons ago. I am very much a number cruncher and enjoy the zen when all is in balance, and have the aptitude and desire.

My goal is to work as a temp tax preparer while in school and perhaps dual track in public accounting and auditing. I am older, as you can tell, but still very sharp-> but I accept that age is a (big) handicap. If I am unable to get a job when finished with my studies and hopefully certify as a CPA, I may try tax preparation and temp/seasonal work while working on higher goals. Ultimately, I really want to work in international finance and financial intelligence in the private sector, but wonder if it is too late.

Fwiw, I have a liveable arts bachelors degree (pun intended) and 50 hours of grad school credit in an IT-related field, but did not complete my thesis due to life’s twists and turns (like being called up for deployment).

So, my questions are – for anyone willing to be generous with their time and wisdom:

1. What state(s) offer(s) the easier path to be eligible for either the CPA or CPM exam? I just want to get into the shallow end of the pool as soon as possible and can relocate.

2. If I had a prior bankruptcy (part of that twist and turn saga) and previous issues with the IRS, am I hallucinating about this career path, would it even matter, or would it depend on the state? And would the IRS ever in a million years allow me to become an enrolled agent if I have repented (and otherwise qualify)?

3. Are the online training programs and degrees a viable method for learning the material and completing the required education?

So, thanks for reading this; I look forward to your brutal honesty!

[Anonymous]

Here's my thoughts:

1. KY is one of the easier ones for the CPA – they're not as particular about the experience and their education requirements aren't overly strict. Certain number of credits in accounting, certain number in business, and 150 overall – not one of those states that requires a huge list of specific classes, and the number of credits in accounting and business isn't too bad (don't remember them offhand, though – maybe 24 and 36?) – accounting credits count towards the business credits requirements. So, if you could find a college where you already had most of the gen eds, then all you'd need is about 12 classes for business and accounting if I'm remembering the credit counts right. Check out the KY site – cpa.ky.gov For your unique situation with older experience, KY would be attractive too since you don't have to have a supervisor sign off on your experience, just any CPA who was licensed when you gained it. So, if, say, you have an uncle in Montana who's a CPA and was when you worked in audit years ago, if he's willing to attest to the fact that you did the work, he can sign off for your KY license. I'm not familiar with the CPM exam so not sure where would be good for that.

2. If you have resolved everything (aka have paid your back taxes to the IRS and fulfilled your bankruptcy requirements), then that shouldn't be a problem, provided your issues with the IRS were not major ethical ones. (Ex: If you had “issues” because you falsified tax returns intentionally, you might be permanently barred from practicing before the IRS, so CPA or enrolled agent or anything else wouldn't be allowed; however, if you had “issues” because you got behind in your tax payments, then after paying their interest and penalties off, they should be happy with you now.)

3. I took all my accounting classes and most of my business classes online and for me, it worked great. I learned the material well (was able to pass the CPA exams in about 5 months a year after completing my degree and with the cheapest prep materials, which should be an indication that I did learn accounting through my online degree), was able to work at the same time, and saved a lot of money. I got my degree through Thomas Edison State College in New Jersey. They are a government school which specializes in working with students who aren't your traditional college kid looking to live on campus and party for 4 years and hopefully have a degree at the end of it. 😛 Their target audience, instead, is primarily adults who are returning to school and already have a hodge-podge of credits that need to be sculpted into a final degree. One of the ways they do this is by allowing for a LOT of transfer credits – basically, if your class is accredited, they don't care whether it came from their institution or not. You're only required to take 1 class through them in order to graduate through them. They also accept CLEP and DSST tests for credit and have their own credit-by-exam offerings, too, which allow you to get credit for a class with independent study and a single, $100 exam. This was attractive to me since it fit my schedule and my budget. I took my accounting classes through Louisiana State University's online program, is.lsu,edu – at the time, they were $364 each, but I think are just over $500 now. With the combination of LSU's classes and transferring them to TESC, I was able to complete my degree and the extra credits, and fulfill KY's education requirements without an issue. I'd strongly urge you to look into TESC (tesc.edu) and see if their flexibility might help you to complete an accounting degree and/or the education requirements for your target state.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, Lilla, for the thoughtful, detailed and informative answer. That was an exceptional response. I really appreciate your sharing personal insights and recommendations – they are invaluable and hard to come by.

I have often thought about returning to Kentucky (I'm a graduate of UK) , and you have just given me extra motivation 🙂

Thank you again!

[Anonymous]

Ahh a UK grad! You could get licensed in KY even if you don't return to KY (I have a friend in Japan who plans to get licensed in KY), but if you've got reasons to return anyway, this can be the frosting on the cake. Life's different in KY than elsewhere in the country, but I like to think it's a good different. 🙂 I live in southeast KY, so the land of UK fans but not the UK life; however, all of KY is the same in some ways.

[Author]

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