Is this the beginning of the end for American CPAs? - Page 2

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  • #189030
    Guti
    Participant

    I received the below email from NASBA this morning. It pretty much says that now Indian students do not have to travel to the US to take the CPA exam as they can take it in Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon and the UAE.

    Some Accounting jobs in South Florida have already been outsource by firms in India. The average accountant there gets pay around 10K per year. According to some American companies, Indian accountants were not well versed with Accounting laws and regulations. The clerical work like AP,AR on the other hand was easily outsourced for obvious reasons. Now with this new Law, there are going to be more CPAs in India than what we have in the US. Outsourcing will be a lot easier cause now you will have very competitive CPAs who understand GAAP,GAAS, and our IRS code at least on paper. To put this into perspective, I used to work in a 1.2 Billion dollar company. We had about 43 Accountant and only 5 CPAs. The salary range was from 50K to 150K. With this new law making it easier for Indian students to take the CPA exam, my old company could outsource to India and have 40 CPAs working with a range of 10K to 25K per year.Is this the beginning of the end for American CPAs working in private practice? I dont think Auditors could be outsourced.

    Starting October 1, 2014, citizens, permanent residents and long-term residents of India can test for the Uniform CPA Examination in Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon and the UAE.

    The CPA Examination application process is the same for U.S. and international candidates. In order to qualify to take the CPA Examination outside the U.S., candidates will have to establish their eligibility through an Accountancy Board participating in the International CPA Examination Administration program.

    For a list of participating Accountancy Boards and information regarding international testing, please visit the International Administration of the CPA Exam page on our nasba.org website.

    Prospective candidates must select the participating U.S. jurisdiction to which they will apply, contact the Accountancy Board (or its designee) in that jurisdiction to obtain application materials, submit completed applications and required fees as instructed, and once deemed qualified, register for the examination.

    After receiving the Notice to Schedule, you may then register to take the examination in an international location and complete the International Administration of the CPA Exam through our Apply to Test Internationally page.

    Once the International Administration process is complete, please visit Prometric’s website in order to schedule your examination in an available international test center location.

    FAR-84
    AUD-
    REG-
    BEC-

Viewing 15 replies - 16 through 30 (of 67 total)
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  • #611527
    Herbieherb
    Participant

    Ya all the customer service jobs in telecom have gone to india already. I knew alot of people who lost their jobs in banking too because of india…1+billion people willing to work for 1/4 of our salaries! Bottom line is there aren't enough work visas to give out for all these wannabe cpas so how are the going to get licensed? Those non reporting states will probably change their experience reqs..you see them post on this forum all the time.

    NEW YORK- DONE

    #611528
    fuzyfro89
    Participant

    The point is to outsource work that can be done offshore easily. Even as long ago as 2010, I remember Deloitte had built up a decent presence in India for the audit teams who could schedule India staff on their engagements for work. Some had CPAs (mostly the managers and above), and would supervise staff who could prepare basic work papers and do some basic testing (journal entry testing, heavy substantive testing with lots of selections, preparing some of the reporting work papers, etc).

    If I recall correctly, their internal bill rates were 1/4 to 1/3 of USA rates for comparably experienced folks, but even those with CPAs weren't getting super complicated work for the most part.

    There's a reason even within the US we usually travel to the client's location to audit… it's because distance work just isn't quite possible yet for 100%.

    #611529

    I don't think the costs of the exam will be any cheaper for the Indian candidates and they will still have to pay $800 US dollars to take the exams and most likely choose US CPA review programs at US prices for the time being. The indian candidates will still have to meet the standards of the “state” that they plan to be licensed in including 150 units from accredited programs. There is definitely barriers to entry for Indian candidates. Not any Indian can climb out of poverty and afford to be a CPA.

    Fortune 500 companies and Big 4 firms will take the opportunity to outsource more and more accounting jobs. However there will be a decent amount of jobs at small and midsize firms and companies for another 10 years or so. Fortune 500 companies will want to be consulted by clean cut americans for quite some time, so managers and partners at public accounting firms should still be available. If things don't change the 30 year picture is looking kind of bleak. Wealth is transferring borders quickly and I wouldn't be surprised if in 30 years the standard of living between China, India, and US becomes similar. US citizens will most likely become poorer while the Asian countries become moderately richer. My guess is the median income and standard of living in the US will be like nothing we could even imagine, but slightly better than what India currently has.I predict that all 3 economies will be owned by the top 1% and the middle class will be about 10%.

    CPAs will make more when the baby boomers retire for a decade or so, but outsourcing can easily bring the CPA wages down to the low income bracket in the future. On the other hand the AICPA may try to maintain the prestige by offering a more difficult exam. The AICPA will not want to give up the prestige; otherwise someone will create a certification called WBCPA(Way Better than CPA).

    This is all speculation but anyone who has any kind of understanding of economics should be aware of the dangers of globilization. In the last 6 years I even noticed that public accounting firms have a larger percentage of retail clients. The US is loosing manufacturing jobs, IT jobs, and every other high demand job. On the other hand for every American who looses middle class status a dozen or so Indians can obtain it, so a person can argue that it is an efficient system.

    The scary thing is not that the jobs can be done for less overseas, but in some cases better overseas. The Indian and Asian countries have cultures that support a better work ethic and a better tolerance for long productive hours. Americans are becoming lazier every generation and many young people today will grow up to have very little opportunities to enter the middle class. The reality is the US economy is shifting to a service orientated society, and the best thing a US citizen can do is accumulate enough wealth that they can invest in these evil multinational companies and partake in the profits. If US citizens were smart they would insist on political change now while we still have wealth to influence our own economics.

    Passed all 4 exams in 2014!

    #611530
    rana_cali
    Member

    Like Sir Study Alot mentioned, it will be crazy expensive for them to take the exams. I live in Lebanon and it costs me $600 per exam, and that's with already being here. To come here (or go to Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE) they will need to pay for their plane ticket, visa, and hotel expenses. Add that to the $600-per-exam fee, and it's pretty costly. Not to mention the expensive study materials…

    Unless their company pays for it or they have very wealthy parents to fund it, I don't see this happening very soon.

    AUD: 84
    FAR: 75
    BEC: 78
    REG: 75

    DONE-ZO!!!!!!!!

    REG: Used Becker 2014 book, NINJA MCQ, Ninja notes, ninja audio
    _______________________________
    CFE since Oct. 2013.

    #611531
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Rana your lebanese ! good to know that other lebanese use this site also 🙂 What test are you currently stuyding for? I currently have only one left. My name is mazen btw

    #611532
    rana_cali
    Member

    Hey Mazen! I'm working on the BEC retake now and then REG. You can help me with REG when i get there 😀

    BEC is so not that hard but the exam is just too random. What state are u testing in?

    AUD: 84
    FAR: 75
    BEC: 78
    REG: 75

    DONE-ZO!!!!!!!!

    REG: Used Becker 2014 book, NINJA MCQ, Ninja notes, ninja audio
    _______________________________
    CFE since Oct. 2013.

    #611533
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    New Hampshire! I suppose it’s the same state you applied to. BEC mesh kteer hard bas REG it's a tricky exam, the material is usually easy to study but the exam is not very pleasing. Are you studying full time or part time (with job)?

    #611534
    rana_cali
    Member

    Haha ur post made me laugh 🙂 Yes New Hampshire too but I want to try to change that once I'm done passing cuz I don't feel like getting the extra education requirements that they require since July 1st. I'm studying part time, and u?

    AUD: 84
    FAR: 75
    BEC: 78
    REG: 75

    DONE-ZO!!!!!!!!

    REG: Used Becker 2014 book, NINJA MCQ, Ninja notes, ninja audio
    _______________________________
    CFE since Oct. 2013.

    #611535
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Hmm Same problem here ya 2i5te : After I finish; I don't know how will I get the extra credits and I don't feel I could find another state that offers this low credits for a certification 🙁 Yes I'm currently studying part- time because I'm working. Are you by any chance an auditor: p

    #611536
    LongShot
    Participant

    Opening up our accounting market's not going to kill our careers. Sure, there may be some adjustments, but it'll hardly be “the end” for us. There are so many CPA's nearing retirement right now there'll be more than enough jobs to go around. This won't kill our jobs anymore than automated accounting systems killed bookkeeping jobs.

    FAR - 75
    AUD - 72; 87
    REG - 64; 74; 84
    BEC - 88

    Done!!

    #611537
    ScarletKnightCPA
    Participant

    I'm was under the impression that automated accounting software + outsourcing did indeed ‘kill' bookkeeping jobs. You can find people advertising freelance bookkeeping from outside the united states for $2 an hour.

    Far: 76 (Wiley Test Bank)
    Aud: 77 (Wiley Test Bank)
    Reg: 61, 76 (Wiley book, Wiley Test Bank)
    Bec: 86 (Wiley Test Bank)

    MBA in progress

    #611538
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Some people just worry too much. Sure the cheaper and less skilled accounting tasks will continue to be sent overseas, but the majority of accountants do not need to worry about this.

    #611539
    ScarletKnightCPA
    Participant

    Okay, why not? Why can't higher skilled jobs be transferred if the individuals in other countries are just as skilled with the same education and certifications but work at a significantly lower rate?

    Far: 76 (Wiley Test Bank)
    Aud: 77 (Wiley Test Bank)
    Reg: 61, 76 (Wiley book, Wiley Test Bank)
    Bec: 86 (Wiley Test Bank)

    MBA in progress

    #611540
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I don't understand, how can you perform remote audit? I mean how is it technically possible? Those guys are probably working for American companies in Asia

    #611541
    zieba
    Participant

    “I don't understand, how can you perform remote audit?”

    having passed FAR and presumably ready for AUD you know you can hire local firms to do piecemeal audit work. 🙂

    I'm just belaboring the point though.

    AUD - 75*, 88 done 5/14! (*exp)
    BEC - 74 , 77
    REG - 65 , 76 (10 point combooo!!)
    FAR - 69 , 75

    Dr: perseverance
    Dr: intelligence
    Dr: luck
    . Cr: . advisory score

Viewing 15 replies - 16 through 30 (of 67 total)
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