Information About Becoming a CPA
Here is a listing of courses that would assist someone in qualifying for and passing the CPA Exam:
- Financial Accounting 1A (available at IVC)
- Managerial Accounting 1B (available at IVC)
- Cost Accounting (Available at Irvine Valley College - offered once per year in the fall) Saddleback generally will offer it also.
- Intermediate Accounting I (At Saddleback in fall semester )
- Intermediate Accounting II (Available at Saddleback in the spring semester)
- Internal Controls Under Sarbanes-Oxley (Might not be offered in fall 2013)
- Auditing (Offered at Saddleback - check schedule)
- Advanced Accounting (Possible for the future at Saddleback, contact Tony Teng at Saddleback if you wish to express your interest)
- Individual Taxation (Taught in the fall and spring)
- Business Taxation (Taught in the fall and spring)
- Business Law (available at IVC)
NOTE: If you wish to take individual courses at a CSU or UC without having to go through the full admissions process there, check out the cross enrollment information at http://www.ivc.edu/admissions/pages/crossenroll.aspx
According to the California State Board of Accountancy, qualifying courses don't have to be taken at a four year college. They can be taken at any accredited college. For example, courses taken at IVC would help someone to qualify to sit for the CPA exam.
Taking the above-mentioned courses at a four year college would generally require entry into a master's degree program. This is a good alternative for some individuals and, if you wish, IVC staff will try to help you find the right master's degree program. Since California's four year colleges are not permitting second bachelor's degrees (budget issues), and because their accounting programs are usually impacted, enrolling in the necessary courses at a four year college without entering a master's program can be very difficult. IVC provides several of the courses shown above and is developing more. The additional courses are planned for introduction in the Fall of 2010. In the meantime, Saddleback College has some courses that IVC doesn't.
A CPA candidate doesn't have to take the courses listed above. The intent in creating the list above is to show classes that would be most helpful in passing the exam.
To qualify to sit for the exam, a CPA candidate must have a Bachelor's degree and have taken 24 semester units in accounting related courses and 24 semester units in business related courses. Accounting related courses must be about accounting, e.g., financial accounting, managerial accounting, taxation, and others. They must be offered by the accounting department of an accredited college. Look for the "Acct" in the course number. An example would be Acct 1A – Financial Accounting.
Business related courses should be offered by the business department of an accredited college and be about business. For example, marketing, management, and human resources courses would be appropriate.
More information can be obtained at http://www.dca.ca.gov/cba/publications/applbook.pdf .
Courses not offered at IVC may be offered at Saddleback College or other colleges.
Foreign degrees must be evaluated by a Board-approved foreign credentials evaluation service. The Bachelor's degree requirement doesn't specify that it must be in accounting. It could be in any subject. The California State Board of Accountancy is at: http://www.dca.ca.gov/cba/.
CPA Review Courses are used by CPA candidates to review for the CPA exam shortly before taking it. The following course names are provided for information purposes and neither Irvine Valley College nor the Accounting Society endorses any course.
Becker CPA Review - Check out this link: