CPA 

The Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the statutory title of qualified accountants in the United States who have passed the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination and have met additional state education and experience requirements for certification as a CPA. In most U.S. states, only CPAs who are licensed are able to provide to the public attestation (including auditing) opinions on financial statements.

Services Provided by CPAs
The primary function CPAs fulfil relates to assurance services, called public accounting. In assurance services, also known as financial audit services, CPAs attest to the reasonableness of disclosures, the freedom from material misstatement, and the adherence to the applicable generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in financial statements. CPAs can also be employed by corporations – termed 'the private sector' – in finance functions such as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or Finance Manager, or as CEOs subject to their full business knowledge and practice. These CPAs do not provide services directly to the public.

Although some CPAs serve as business consultants, the consulting role is under scrutiny following the corporate climate in the aftermath of the Enron scandal. This has resulted in divestitures in the consulting divisions by many accounting firms. In audit engagements, CPAs are (and have always been) required by professional standards and Federal and State laws to maintain independence (both in fact and in appearance) from the entity for which they are conducting an attestation (audit and review) engagement. However, most individual CPAs who work as consultants do not work as auditors, or vice versa.

CPAs also have a niche within the income tax preparation industry. Most small to mid-sized firms have both a tax and an auditing department. Someone's CPA is one of that individual's most trusted experts. CPAs are scattered throughout the business world.

Whether providing services directly to the public or employed by corporations or associations, CPAs can operate in virtually any area of finance including:

Assurance and Attestation Services
Corporate Finance (Merger & Acquisition, Initial Public Offerings, share & debt issuings etc.)
Corporate Governance
Estate Planning
Financial Accounting
Financial Analysis
Financial Planning
Forensic Accounting (preventing, detecting, and investigating financial frauds)
Income Tax
Information Technology, especially as applied to accounting and auditing
Management Consulting and Performance Management
Tax Preparation and Planning
Venture Capital

While some CPAs are generalists and offer a range of services (especially those in small practices) many CPAs specialize in just one area and do not provide all the services listed above.

The CPA exam

To become a U.S. CPA, the candidate must sit for and pass the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination (Uniform CPA Exam), which is set by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and administered by the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy.

Eligibility

Eligibility to sit for the Uniform CPA Exam is determined by individual State Boards of Accountancy. Typically the requirement is a bachelors degree that includes a minimum number of qualifying credit hours in accounting and business administration with an additional one-year study.

CPA for Indian students

The information given below is applicable to students from the following fields: 

Chartered Accountants (CA)
Company Secretaries (CS)
Cost and Works Accountants (CWA)
Chartered Financial Analysts (CFA)
MBA-Finance/Accounting/Financial Markets

Indian qualified accountants seeking to become U.S. CPA may be eligible to sit for the International Qualification Examination as an alternative to the Uniform CPA Exam. However since the exam is administered only in the US, the candidates will have to apply for a visitor visa and travel to the U.S. to appear for the exam.

International Qualification Examination

The International Qualification Examination (IQEX) is an examination set for non-U.S. qualified accountants seeking the Certified Public Accountant designation in the United States.

The examination is set by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and administered by the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA).

Administration

The administration of the IQEX exam is similar to that for the Uniform CPA Exam, with a few key differences:

• Application is made directly to NASBA, not to a state board of accountancy
• The exam can be sat at Prometrictest centers outside the United States (although Canada is the only other country in which the exam is normally offered)
• Instead of being available all year round, IQEX is only offered for three weeks in October or November each year.
• Results are sent directly to the candidate by NASBA (normally in February, following the exam in November)
• The fee to sit IQEX is US$845 as a first time candidate, and US$795 as a re-examination candidate.

To know the Syllabus of IQEX click here

To register for IQEX click here

To download the CPA Information Bulletin click here

To read CPA Computer-Based Examination FAQs click here

Licensure or certification as a CPA

After successfully passing IQEX, candidates must still meet the requirements of one of the 55 State Boards of Accountancy in order to be licensed or certified as a CPA.

Although state boards are not involved in the IQEX examination itself, they still reserve the right to decide on CPA licensure and certification.

Most successful IQEX candidates (who do not need a license from a particular state) apply for a CPA certificate from the Illinois State Board of Accountancy. This is the most straightforward option, as Illinois does not require any further educational, ethics or work experience requirements for certification.