Tennessee CPA License

In this article, you will find a step-by-step guide that will help you to get your CPA license in Tennessee.

Step 1. Complete Your Education

1. Find and contact the institutions in Tennessee that offer accounting programs, in order to get information.
2. Make sure that your program is approved by the Tennessee State Board of Accountancy. All the programs in Tennessee need to have accreditation from an agency that is approved by the U.S. Department of Education.

Besides, the credits from two-year or non-accredited four-year colleges can be accepted if they transfer it to the approved school that provides the degree and where you got yours.

Note:

Also, your degrees must be reviewed by a member body of the National NASBA International Evaluation Services. So, if you graduated from an international school. Request the assessment from the department directly.

Enroll in courses that can get you college credit. A bachelor’s degree and the following courses must be included in your 150-semester hours of college credit:

• At least 30 semester hours in accounting. Of these, a minimum of 24 semester hours must be at the upper-division level.
• At least 24 semester hours in general business subjects. Of these, a minimum of 12 semester hours must be at the upper-division level.
• Correspondence, CLEP credit, pass/fail grades and online classes are also counted if you get the credits from an approved institution and it is shown on your original transcript.

Step 2. Pass The Uniform CPA Exam

After meeting the Tennessee State Board of Accountancy educational standards, you may register for candidacy for the Uniform CPA Exam.

a. You can do the registration online via CPA Exam Services. Then, send the application and required documents by mail. Including:

• Request your education institution to send your transcript directly to the CPAES at CPA Examination Services. If your program has electronic transcripts, you can also email [email protected].
• Fee for application and exam of $170
• Passport-sized photos of you take recently

Also include:

• If during the first submission you are studying in a college, you must submit a Certificate of Enrollment (COE) form. This guarantees that you can finish your courses and graduate within 200 days of taking your first CPA exam section. Additionally, it must be signed by you and an approved member of the college’s administrative staff.
• If you need disability accommodations under the American Disabilities Act, complete the ADA Modification Form.

b. Once the Board gets your application, required documents, and fees, they will be forwarded to the Authorization to Test (ATT) to the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA), and then you will get your Notification to Schedule (NTS). So, you will get a notification in five days after paying the fees.

After 20 days you must get your NTS, if you didn’t get it to try to contact CPAES by email at [email protected].

c. In order to make an appointment for the exam in Tennessee visit the Prometric testing center website. After getting the NTS you have six months to register for the exam.

d. Choose one of the exam sections and prepare for that. For one time you can pass up to four sections. The acceptable score for each section is 75. Also, you must pass them in an 18-month period.

e. Finally, you will get your Uniform CPA Exam result note by mail, or you can check their exam scores online.

Step 3. Get The Necessary Experience.

Once you pass the Uniform CPA Exam, the next step is to complete Tennessee’s practical work experience for a year to get your Tennessee CPA license.

a. Complete the Home Study Course on Professional Ethics offered by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Which must be passed with a score of 90 percent or higher and also provide the certificate. Get information about this here.

b. Find the institution that will help you to satisfy the experience requirements. Here are some criteria that you need to satisfy in order to meet the experience standard.

• Work experience in finance, business, academia, or public accounting
• Get at least 2,000 hours in one year and a maximum of three years.
• Provide services in the fields of accounting, attest/audit, management or financial advising, tax, or consultancy as a part of your job.
• Provide verification from the certified CPA.
• You also need to have 2 years of experience in audits, assessments, and compilations over the past ten years if you want to sign reports on financial statements with a company.

c. Complete the right Experience Affidavit.

Step 4. Get Your Tennessee CPA License.

So, if you pass the exam and got the work experience, then it is time to get your license to work as a CPA. Double-check to make sure that you have done everything and are completely ready. Here is the list of Tennessee CPA license requirements.

• Complete the education requirement.
• Pass the Uniform CPA Exam.
• Complete the ethics class provided by AICPA and send scores to the Tennessee State Board of Accountancy (TNSBA).
• Get the necessary experience for a year.
• Submit the Experience Affidavit.

b. Get the certificate application from the Tennessee State Board of Accountancy (TNSBA). TNSBA will send this application to you when you complete the education requirements.

c. Pay a $100 application fee

If the application is approved, you will get your CPA license.

Step 5. Stay Current Through Continuing Professional Education in Tennessee

There are some steps that you need to do every 2 years in order to maintain your CPA license.

• Complete a total of 80 hours of continuing professional education (CPE) within each two-year registration renewal period.  Including a minimum of 20 hours, you must complete every year.
• Pay the renewal fee of $120 every 2 years.