ALASKA INFORMATION FOR FIRST-TIME APPLICANTS FOR THE UNIFORM CPA EXAMINATION
The Alaska State Board of Public Accountancy (Board) has engaged CPA Examination Services, a division of the
National Association of State Boards of Accountancy, Inc. (NASBA) for application processing, credential
evaluation, and score reporting. Please read this information carefully before completing the application forms.
APPLICATION FORMS
First-time applications must be completed by applicants who:
·have never taken the examination as an applicant of this state;
·have applied previously AND your application was denied as INELIGIBLE or INCOMPLETE;
·have previously taken the examination as an applicant of another state but who have not earned credit;
·have previously taken the examination as an applicant of another state and wish to transfer credit to this state.
APPLICATION PROCESSING
Allow up to six (6) weeks for processing of the complete application.
The following documents must be received before your application will be reviewed. Failure to submit one or more of the following will delay processing time and prevent you from taking the examination:
· A completed First-time application,
· Application and examination fees to CPA Examination Services,
· Official transcript(s) from each academic institution,
· Certificate of Enrollment and/or Foreign evaluations, if applicable,
· Verification of Licensure for CPA Supervisor and/or Verification of Supervised Work Experience, if applicable.
Acknowledgment of receipt of application materials will be sent to applicants according to the method of notification indicated on the first-time application. This notice is sent to applicants only as acknowledgment of receipt of application.
APPLICATION AND EXAMINATION FEES
All applicants are required to pay both an application fee and an examination fee upon submission of the first-time application.
Application fee (non-refundable): $ 150.00
Examination fee
Auditing and Attestation (AUD) $ 230.55
Business Environment and Concepts (BEC) $ 180.95
Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR) $ 218.15
Regulation (REG) $ 193.35
Applicants are able to apply for one or more section(s) of the examination at a time. However, applicants are advised to only apply for a section of the examination they are ready to take within the next six (6) months.
All fees must be paid at the time of application and must be in U.S. dollars. Personal checks, certified checks or money orders must be drawn on a U.S. bank and made payable to CPA Examination Services. Applicants are advised to notate the following information on payment document; candidate name and state.
A fee of $35.00 will be charged each time a check is returned by the bank.
APPLICANTS WITH DISABILITIES
In accordance with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, examination administration modifications are available for applicants who qualify. Such applicants must obtain a form to request modification from CPA Examination Services. Applicants must complete and submit this form each time they apply for the examination and require special modifications. The completed form must be returned to CPA Examination Services with all required documentation. This form may be obtained on our web site at www.nasba.org or by calling CPA Examination Services at 800-CPA-EXAM or 615-880- 4250.
ELIGIBILITY FOR EXAMINATION
All first-time applicants must be:
A. Of good moral character. and
B. Meet one of the following requirements:
I.Degree and Accounting Concentration which includes:
·a completed bachelor's degree, or its equivalent, conferred by a regionally accredited college or university;
·twenty-four (24) semester hours in Accounting;
·three (3) semester hours in Business Law;
·three (3) semester hours in Economics; and
·three (3) semester hours in college level math, statistics and/or computer science.
or
II. Degree and Accounting which includes:
·a completed bachelor's degree, or its equivalent, conferred by a regionally accredited college or university; and
·fifteen (15) semester hours in Accounting.
or
III. Degree In-Progress and Accounting which includes:
·the applicant is within 18 semester hours of completing a bachelor's degree, or its equivalent, from a regionally accredited college or university; and
·have completed 15 semester hours in Accounting.
or
IV. Degree and no Accounting which includes:
·a completed bachelor's degree, or its equivalent, conferred by a regionally accredited college or university;
·have completed less than fifteen (15) semester hours in Accounting; and
·completed one year of public accounting experience under the direct supervision of a Certified Public
Accountant (CPA).
All educational transcripts, Certificate of Enrollments, and/or foreign evaluations are required to be submitted at the time of application. Educational transcripts, Certificate of Enrollments, foreign evaluations, and/or Verification of Licensure for CPA Supervisor must be mailed directly to CPA Examination Services from the institution.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
·Photocopies or transcripts “Issued to Student” are not acceptable.
·CPA Review courses offered by regionally accredited institutions are only accepted to meet the 150-hour requirements. Course will be accepted provided credit is awarded for the course. These courses can not be used to fulfill the accounting or business requirements.
·Commercial CPA review courses are not acceptable.
·Education earned at a community college or 2-year degree granting institution is acceptable.
·Correspondence, on-line courses and CLEP credit are acceptable when a applicant receives credit for the courses at a regionally accredited university. These courses must appear on an official transcript.
EVIDENCE OF EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
I. Applicants who have completed the educational requirement at the time of application must:
·submit to CPA Examination Services relevant official transcript(s) from each institution at which original credit toward the educational requirement has been earned;
·mail official transcript(s) to - CPA Examination Services - AK, 150 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 700, Nashville, TN, 37219-2421.
·if required documentation is not received, the application will be determined to be incomplete and the applicant will not be permitted to take the examination and will forfeit the application fee paid.
II. Applicants who are currently enrolled in college at the time of application must:
·have the academic institution(s) submit to CPA Examination Services relevant official transcript(s) from each institution at which original credit toward the educational requirements has been earned; and
·submit to CPA Examination Services a completed Certificate of Enrollment form. This form is evidence that the candidate is currently enrolled and that all courses, degree requirements will be completed by the date indicated on the form. The form must be signed by the designee listed; and
·the official transcript(s) and Certificate of Enrollment should be mailed to - CPA Examination Services - AK, 150 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 700, Nashville, TN, 37219-2421.
After all educational requirements have been met, the candidate must:
·have the academic institution(s) submit to CPA Examination Services an official transcript to confirm degree conferral and satisfactory completion of courses. The final official transcript must display satisfactory completion of all courses and the degree graduation date. Examination scores will not be released until the final official transcript has been received nor will the candidate be permitted to take future examinations; and
·Failure to successfully complete the courses and/or degree requirements as indicated on the Certificate of Enrollment will result in the examination score(s) being voided; and
·the final official transcript(s) should be mailed to - CPA Examination Services - AK, 150 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 700, Nashville, TN, 37219-2421.
·applicants are advised that if the required final official transcript is not received, the application will be determined to be incomplete and the applicant will NOT receive examination score(s), will NOT receive any credit for any Uniform CPA Examination section taken, and will NOT be permitted to take any future examinations and will be required to reapply as a First-time applicant again. The Alaska State Board of Public Accountancy nor CPA Examination Services will remind applicants to submit any official transcripts as required.
III. Applicants who are qualifying based on one (1) year of public accounting experience must:
·verify completion of at least one (1) year of public accounting experience under the direct supervision of a United States certified public accountant using the Verification of Supervised Work Experience form;
·verify supervising CPA’s license using the Verification of Licensure for CPA Supervisor form. This form is required to be received directly from the office of the state board to CPA Examination Services.
NOTE: If the supervising CPA is licensed in Alaska, this form is not required.;
·mail official transcript to - CPA Examination Services- AK, 150 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 700, Nashville,TN, 37219
·if required documentation is not received, the application will be determined to be incomplete and the applicant will not be permitted to take the examination and will forfeit the application fee paid.
III. Applicants who have completed educational requirements at institutions outside the U.S. must;
·have their credentials evaluated by any member of the National Association of Credentials Evaluation Services, Inc.
Please visit their web site at www.naces.org for a complete listing.
·obtain the form to request this service from the evaluation service.
·submit to CPA Examination Services the original evaluation. The evaluation of a foreign transcript must be a course by course comparison to Alaska requirements. Photocopies are not accepted.
·mail original evaluation to - CPA Examination Services - AK, 150 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 700, Nashville, TN, 37219.
NOTICE TO SCHEDULE
Applicants are advised to see the Candidate Bulletin at www.nasba.org for complete instructions.
After eligibility to take the examination is determined by the Board (or its agent), NASBA will issue a Notice to Schedule (NTS) to applicants.
The NTS is valid for one testing event or six (6) months whichever is first exhausted for each examination section. The NTS includes the date that the NTS expires.
If the NTS is not received after six (6) weeks of submitting a First-time Application, contact CPA Examination Services.
It is sent to applicants by the method of notification indicated on the First-time Application. The email address from which the NTS will be sent is cbtnts@nasba.org. Applicants are advised to add this email address to their email address books.
If your NTS expires prior to taking the examination section(s), applicants will not be able to reschedule, receive a credit or receive a refund on any of the fees paid and will have to reapply for the examination and pay the appropriate fees.
SCHEDULING THE EXAMINATION
Upon receipt of the NTS, applicants are required to contact Prometric, Inc. (Prometric) to schedule the examination. See the Candidate Bulletin for complete instruction on how to schedule the examination. For a list of test centers, visit Prometric’s web site at www.prometric.com. The Alaska State Board of Public Accountancy and CPA Examination Services do not control space availability or location of the test centers.
Applicants who need to reschedule or cancel must contact Prometric. See the Candidate Bulletin for complete instructions on how to reschedule or cancel the examination. Applicants may be required to pay a penalty and/or forfeit examination fees, depending on when Prometric is notified of the change or cancellation.
Applicants arriving for a scheduled testing appointment anytime after the scheduled start time may result in being denied permission to test, as a result applicants will not receive a refund of application or examination fees.
EXAMINATION CREDIT
Applicants may take the examination sections individually and in any order. Applicants shall be deemed to have passed the examination if the candidate obtains credit for passing each of the four (4) examination sections. The passing score for each section is 75. Credit for passing an examination section shall be valid from the date of the examination regardless of the date on which the candidate receives actual notice of the passing score.
Credit for any section passed shall be valid for eighteen (18) months from the date the candidate took that section regardless of the number of sections taken or the scores on any failed sections. Applicants shall pass all four examination sections within a rolling eighteen (18) month that begins on the testing date the first examination section is passed. Applicants who do not pass all four (4) examination sections within the eighteen (18) month period shall lose credit for each section passed outside the period and must retake that section(s).
Applicants cannot retake a failed section(s) within the same testing window.
REQUIREMENTS FOR ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATE AS CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT
Applicants are advised that all education must be completed at the time of licensure.
Applicants are also advised that they are required to pass an open-book examination on professional ethics. The examination is a home-study course prepared by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). It is available from the Alaska Society of Certified Public Accountants.
EXCEPTION TO POLICY
There is no provision for withdrawing from the examination, refunding application and/or examination fees or extending the expiration date of the Notice to Schedule.
Applicants with documented hardships may request certain exceptions under the following criteria:
·VISA rejections;
·Military Deployment;
·Medical emergency;
·Death.
Under these circumstances, the applicant must submit the “Exception to Policy” Form for consideration. The “Exception to Policy” Form is located on the web site. Once on the web site, select “Exams”, “CPA Exam”, select your state jurisdiction, click on “First Time Application”, then select “Exception to Policy Form.”
MATERIALS TO BE SUBMITTED
First-time applicants must submit to CPA Examination Services:
I. Application
·Completed, signed first-time application;
·Verification of Licensure for CPA Supervisor and/or Verification of Supervised Work Experience, if applicable
·An Authorization for Interstate Exchange of Examination Information Form, if applicable;
·Fee payable to CPA Examination Services. (Notate applicant name and state on payment document)
II. Official transcript(s)
·Official transcript(s) from each institution at which original credit towards the educational requirement was earned;
·Foreign Evaluation, if applicable;
·Certificate of Enrollment, if applicable.
Mailing address: CPA Examination Services-AK, 150 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 700, Nashville, TN 37219-2421.
HOW TO CONTACT US
CPA Examination Services
Alaska Coordinator
150 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 700
Nashville, TN 37219-2421
Toll-free: 800.CPA.EXAM Hours: Monday - Friday, 8:00 - 4:30pm, Central Time
Direct: 615.880.4250 Fax: 615.312.3792
Web: www.nasba.org Email: cpaes-ak@nasba.org
