* Information systems security review and analysis * Customer satisfaction surveys * Internal audit outsourcing * Accounts receivable review * Quality control * Risk assessment.

The following are job postings for CPAs in Assurance Services:

Internal Audit and Controls Jefferson Wells Tampa, Florida Description Under the supervision of the Director, the Internal Audit & Controls professional completes assigned projects and maintains the appropriate level of utilization in one or all of the following areas:

* Construction Audit and Advisory Services * Contract Compliance * Enterprise Risk Assessment and Management Services * Financial Institution Internal Audits and Other Financial Institution Services * Financial Reporting Audits * Fraud and Forensic Investigations * Information Technology Audits * Internal Audit Co-Sourcing and Outsourcing * Operational Audits * Regulatory Compliance Audits * Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Work

Jefferson Wells is a unique, agile firm which delivers professional services in the areas of internal audit and controls, technology risk management, tax, and finance and accounting-related services including Fortune 500 and Global 1000 companies. Requirements ● Bachelor’s degree in accounting, auditing, or finance * CPA preferred * MBA or other relevant advanced degree preferred * Minimum five (5) years’ experience required with at least one (1) year of internal audit experience and the balance of experience in financial statement auditing/preparation/reporting, operational auditing, internal controls and/or Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance * Willingness and ability to travel

Internal Auditor Siemens Miami, Florida

Description:

● Identify and communicate changes in the business risk profile to the engagement manager * Establish, maintain and leverage personal network / cross-regional relationship * Adhere to all performance coaching and development protocols, policies and procedures and insure timely adherence to program requirements * Actively plan and prepare the assigned engagement tasks for Financial Audit * Manage execution of your audit engagements in accordance with the internal global audit plan, methodology and guidelines

Requirements:

* Familiarity with Sarbanes-Oxley regulations, COSO Internal Control and risk management frameworks and internal audit methodologies is required. * Must have a minimum of 4 years experience as a Financial Auditor, preferably with the ‘Big 4′. * Must be willing to travel 70% – 75% to both domestic and international audit sites * Strong knowledge of US GAAP required. * Working knowledge of IFRS a plus. * Candidate should have experience with the execution of a risk-based audit engagement as well as a working knowledge of International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing. * Spanish and / or Portuguese speaking skills are highly desirable

Internal Controls Manager Land O’Lakes Minnesota

The Internal Controls Manager will be responsible for working with Land O’Lakes’ five business segments to identify, test and evaluate key internal controls over financial reporting, while coordinating business continuity activities, participating in meetings of a designated committee that evaluates all identified control deficiencies, driving process improvement initiatives, and consulting on ad-hoc projects with the business segments. The Internal Control Manager is also responsible for handling inquiries from external auditors and mentoring junior staff and interns.

Requirements * College degree in Accounting or Finance * CPA, * Minimum of four years of public accounting experience; including experience auditing or implementing Sarbanes-Oxley compliance requirements in the manufacturing industry. How do you get there from here? To become a CPA in assurance services, you should have an interest helping businesses comply with complex governmental regulations. If you are still in college, consider taking courses in business risk management and information technology security. If you have graduated with your BA/BS, consider taking courses in these areas to bring your total coursework up to the 150 semester hours required by most states before you sit for the CPA Exam. How do you become a CPA? First, you need a bachelor’s degree with at least some accounting courses. Try CPAexcel’s Exam Planner to determine if you meet your state’s requirements. Exam Planner can tell you what courses you need before you apply to sit for the exam and Exam Planner gives you all the contact information for the testing agency in your state. By becoming a CPA, you expand your opportunities to:

* move into management, * travel the world, and * command a higher salary.

At CPAexcel, the countdown to 2011 has begun. Because CPAexcel is the only CPA Exam which never expires, you can order it now and study for the current 2010 CPA Exam. If you have not passed all four sections by the end of 2010, you will have access to the new 2011 CBT-e content and functionality for free!

IQEX is an acronym for the International Uniform Certified Public Accountant Qualification Examination. This test is sometimes referred to as The U.S. CPA Reciprocity Exam. The exam covers U.S. taxation and other topics specific to U.S. practice, and thus probably not taught during the Canadian college program.

The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) offers the IQEX to qualified international candidates each fall. If you are an internationally trained accountant, you may wish to sit for the IQEX exam and seek a reciprocal CPA designation, since the CPA is globally the most recognized accounting designation.

IQEX is designed to evaluate your professional competence as delineated by the U.S. International Qualifications Appraisal Board. The board will evaluate your education, examination scores, and experience to determine if you meet requirements which are substantially equivalent to United States CPAs. The IQEX exam will test you on your knowledge of U.S. business law, professional standards, and U.S. taxation codes.

In a later article, there is a list of the international designations eligible for reciprocity. If you do not hold one of those, you can still apply through one of the 54 U.S. jurisdictions, pass the exam, and become a CPA.

The testing window for 2010 has not yet been determined.

Applications for the 2010 IQEX will be accepted approximately 4 months prior to the examination window.

To have the best chance of scheduling on your preferred date and at your preferred testing center, schedule your examination early. Notices to Schedule (NTS) will begin to be released in July. Your application and Letter of Good Standing must be received before your NTS will be released.

Note: Testing centers fill quickly. Do not expect to be able to test at the end of the testing window. Testing space at the end of the window fills more quickly than space at the beginning of the window. Failure to schedule your examination will result in all fees being forfeited.

CPAexcel students pass the CPA Exam at nearly twice the national average. That power to pass can be yours when you study with CPA Review materials from CPAexcel. CPAexcel is the only CPA Prep materials which does not expire, you can order it now and prepare for the 2010 CPA Exam. If you have not passed all 4 parts by the end of 2010, you will have the new 2011 features for free.

1. Replacing the one long simulation in the current format with several short Task-Based Simulations (TBS) in Auditing and Attestation (AUD), Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR), and Regulation (REG); 2. Deleting the testing of written communication from AUD, FAR, and REG; 3. Adding the testing of written communication to the Business Environment and Concepts (BEC) section; 4. Deleting 18 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) from BEC and REG; 5. Reducing the weight of MCQ in AUD, FAR, and REG by 10%; 6. Reducing the weight of MCQ in BEC by 15%; 7. Doubling the simulations in AUD, FAR, and REG; 8. Changing Content and Skill Specification Outlines (CSOs/SSOs); 9. Adding testing content on IFRS; 10. Deleting some of the testing content on IT; 11. Adding testing content on project management.

It was previously decided to add planned authoritative literature release and to introduce a new research task format into the CBT-e schedule.

AICPA has announced numerous changes to the content, structure, and format of the CPA Exam which will be given on or after January 1, 2011. These changes include:

Time Allotment Changes:

A shift between two sections occurred but it will not effect the total time to complete all four sections. While BEC will gain 30 minutes for its allotted time, AUD will decrease by 30 minutes. Total testing time for all four sections will remain at 14 hours.

AICPA allows 14 hours to complete the exams for all four sections: * Auditing and Attestation: 4.5 hours * Financial Accounting and Reporting: 4 hours * Regulation: 3 hours * Business Environment and Concepts: 2.5 hours. In 2011, the time allotments will change: * Auditing and Attestation: 4 hours (minus 30 minutes from 2010.) * Financial Accounting and Reporting: 4 hours * Regulation: 3 hours * Business Environment and Concepts: 3.0 hours (adds 30 min.) If you complete an exam is less time than allotted, you are not allowed to move those minutes to another test. For instance, if it only takes you 4 hours to complete AUD, you may NOT move your 30 minutes to BEC.

How Questions Will Be Weighted and Scored?

New scoring has been approved as follows for multiple-choice questions (MCQs), Task-Based Simulations (TBS) and written communication tasks:

Part Questions 2010 2011 BEC MCQs 100% 85% Simulations N/A N/A Written Comm. N/A 15%

AUD/FAR/REG MCQs 70% 60% Simulations 20% 40% Written Comm. 10% N/A

Simulations are condensed case studies about which you are asked specific questions which showcase how you would apply your skill set to solve a “real-life” situation. Your answers allow you to demonstrate your writing skills because about 30% of your score in 2010 depends on your ability to write out your answers, not simply select option a, b, c or d.

BEC has no simulations, either in 2010 or 2011.

For AUD, FAR and REG, simulations double from 20% of your score in 2010 to 40% of your score in 2011.

In 2010, about 1/3 of your simulation score is based on your writing ability.

Current and 2011 Structure of the CPA Exam

Auditing and Attestation (AUD) Current Structure CBT-e Structure * 3 Multiple Choice Question Remains the same (MCQs) testlets with 30 questions each (total: 90) * 2 Simulations in long format 1 Testlet with 7 short TBS with a research question in new format * 2 written communication tasks None required Current Testing Time: 4.5 hours CBT-e Testing Time: 4 hours

Business Environment and Concepts (BEC) Current Structure CBT-e Structure * 3 Multiple Choice Question 3 Multiple Choice Question (MCQs) testlets with 30 testlets with 72 questions total questions each (total: 90) 3 Written Communication tasks on BEC topics Current Testing Time: 2.5 hours CBT-e Testing Time: 3 hours

Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR) Current Structure CBT-e Structure * 3 Multiple Choice Question Remains the same (MCQs) testlets with 30 questions each (total: 90) * 2 Simulations in long format 1 Testlet with 7 short TBS with a research question in new format * 2 written communication tasks None required Current Testing Time: 4 hours CBT-e Testing Time: 4 hours

Regulation (REG)

* 3 Multiple Choice Question 3 Multiple Choice Question (MCQs) testlets with 30 (MCQs) testlets with 72 questions each (total: 90) questions total * 2 Simulations in long format 1 Testlet with 6 short TBS with a research question in new format * 2 written communication tasks None required Current Testing Time: 4 hours CBT-e Testing Time: 4 hours

Changes in Question Distribution (Weight):

Auditing and Attestation (AUD) Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR) Regulation (REG)

Type of Question Current Weight CBT-e Weight

Multiple-Choice Question 70% 60% Simulations 20% 40% Written Communications 10% 0%

Business Environment and Concepts (BEC)

Type of Question Current Weight CBT-e Weight

Multiple-Choice Question 100% 85% Simulations 0% 0% Written Communications 0% 15%

The greatest amount of accurate information is from the AICPA itself. For the letter from AICPA detailing the changes, click here:

The letter explores the changes to the structure and the content of the 2011 CPA Exam.

During 2010, a team at AICPA has been creating and testing new questions which will appear on the 2011 exam. For this reason, you may see a question which you have not studied. Don’t panic. In 2010, those new questions will not be added into your score or detract from your score. The writers are testing to see which questions cover the scope of the material and give an accurate picture of whether or not you have mastered the material.

In 2011, these new questions will be graded and will count, either for or against your score.

As an accountant, the career track which progresses upward at a faster rate is labeled “CPA.”

In many firms, you hit the ceiling and progress no further if you do not become a CPA. Progressing from being an accountant to becoming a CPA offers greater opportunities for promotion to management and higher salaries.

Here are three examples of career paths for an accountant and for a CPA with the same education and experience:

Scenario 1: Two people in the same situation Location: Austin, Texas Graduates of/Degree: University of Texas, BA Employer: Public Accounting in Austin Size of firm: 50 Years of work experience: 2 On average, the CPA makes $10,000 more per year than the accountant.

Scenario 2: Two people in the same situation Location: Los Angeles, CA Graduates of/Degree: UCLA, BA Employer: Public Accounting in Westwood, a suburb of Los Angeles, CA Size of firm: 50 Years of work experience: 5 On average, the CPA makes $18,000 more per year than the accountant.

Scenario 3: Two people in the same situation Location: Boston, MA Graduates of/Degree: Harvard, BA Employer: Public Accounting in Boston Managing a team of: 25 Years of work experience: 15 On average, the CPA makes $25,000 more per year than the accountant.

Difference between top salary for CPA and for accountant: $45,000+.

Each of the 54 jurisdictions (including US states and territories) which offers the CPA Exam has its own qualifications for sitting for the exam. In California, the requirements are: * A bachelor’s degree; * 24 semester units in accounting-related subjects; * 24 semester units in business-related subjects; * 150 semester units (or 225 quarter units) of education; * Passing the Uniform CPA Exam; * One year of general accounting experience supervised by a CPA with an active license; and * Passing an ethics course.- * How do you become a CPA? While you could buy books and study on your own, but you’d be missing several key learning modules featured in CPAexcel, a CPA Exam review course.

CPAexcel students pass the CPA Exam at nearly twice the national average. That power to pass can be yours when you prepare with CPA Exam Review materials from CPAexcel. CPAexcel is the only CPA Prep materials which does not expire, you can order it now and study for the 2010 CPA Exam. If you have not passed all four sections by the end of 2010, you will have the new 2011 features for free.

The same cannot be said about the following designations which are very specific to certain niches and do not translate to career cache’ in other fields within accounting. The Institute of Management Accountants confers the Certified Management Accountant (CMA) designation. As of fall 2009, you must have at least a bachelor’s degree to qualify to sit for the exam. (Previously, a good score on the GMAT or GRE graduate school exam was permissible as well.) After you pass a four-part examination on financial statement analysis, working-capital policy, capital structure, valuation issues, and risk management, you must agree to meet continuing education requirements and comply with standards of professional conduct to be a CMA.

The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) offers the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) designation. You must: * Have at least a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university. * Have worked for two years as an internal auditor. * Have passed a four-part examination. The IIA also offers the designations of * Certified in Control Self-Assessment (CCSA), * Certified Government Auditing Professional (CGAP), and * Certified Financial Services Auditor (CFSA) to those who pass the exams and meet educational and experience requirements.

The ISACA, formerly known as the Information Systems Audit and Control Association, confers the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) designation after you pass an examination and have five years of experience auditing information systems.

Information systems experience, financial or operational auditing experience, or related college credit hours can be substituted for up to two years information systems auditing, control or security experience. The Accreditation Council for Accountancy and Taxation, a satellite organization of the National Society of Accountants, confers four designations: * Accredited Business Accountant (ABA) You can apply if you specialize in tax preparation for small and medium-sized businesses and you pass the ABA exam. * Accredited Tax Advisor (ATA) You can apply if you have five years of experience in sophisticated tax planning cases such as qualified retirement plans, complex estates, and the ownership of closely held businesses. ACAT is developing a test consisting of 140 questions for this designation. * Accredited Tax Preparer (ATP) You can apply if you specialize in tax return preparation for individuals and the self-employed. * Elder Care Specialist (ECS): You can apply if you have three years’ experience in accounting or taxation and specialize in estate and trust planning, and retirement planning for senior citizens.

The National Society of Accountants provides three tracks which must be completed, and you must pass a test at each level. Candidates for the other designations must complete the required coursework and for certain designations and licenses, pass an exam as well. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners offers the Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) designation for forensic or public accountants involved in fraud prevention, detection, deterrence, and investigation.

To obtain the designation, you must have a bachelor’s degree, two years of relevant experience, pass a four-part examination, and abide by a code of professional ethics. Related work experience may be substituted for the educational requirement. The Association of Government Accountants grants the Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM) designation for accountants, auditors, and other government financial workers at the Federal, State, and local levels.

You must have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree, 24 hours of study in financial management, two years of experience in government, and passing scores on a series of three exams. The exams cover topics in governmental environment, governmental accounting, financial reporting and budgeting; and financial management and control.

Each of these certifications is highly specialized and does not necessarily translate into being viewed as an expert in another field. For instance, simply because an accountant is an Elder Care Specialist does NOT mean that the accountant is viewed automatically as an expert in fraud examination. However, there is one license which garners credibility in every niche of accounting and that is the Certified Public Accountant (CPA). The most globally recognized designation for an accountant is the Certified Public Accountant (CPA). It opens the greatest number of doors around the world for those who have it. For accountants, the career path upwards requires becoming a CPA. Progressing from being an accountant to becoming a CPA offers greater opportunities for promotion into management, greater career opportunities, and higher salaries.

In many companies, you must be a CPA before you are promoted into upper management and especially at C-Level such as CFO (Chief Financial Officer).

At CPAexcel, the countdown to 2011 has begun. Because CPAexcel is the only CPA Exam which never expires, you can order it now and study for the current 2010 CPA Exam. If you have not passed all four sections by the end of 2010, you will have access to the new 2011 CBT-e content and functionality for free!

How can you build personal chemistry during an interview? First, you have to realize the opposite truth: interviewers, by and large, do not seek to hire during an interview but rather, they seek reasons NOT to hire you.

Why? Every single job posting garners more than one rsum and therefore, a certain number of applicants are eliminated at the rsum stage. Often, more than one person will be interviewed. It is in this scenario that the interviewer usually has a mind set to exclude, rather than include, the candidate in front of them. Why? The parallel is dating: you may date many people before you marry just one.

As a result, certain interviewers have opted for a type of question called “behavior based,” “wild card,” or “psychological.” Why? Books and counselors can help you prepare to answer the standard questions for an interview, carefully rehearsing with you how you would delineate your finest accomplishment at your previous workplace or which personal flaw you would change but books and counselors can’t prepare you to handle wild card questions. What is the interviewer seeking? 1. That you DO NOT respond with a “deer in the headlights” reaction or let the room fill with five minutes of deafening silence. This is the absolute worst thing you can do. This can get you eliminated from the job, even if you aced the rest of the interview. 2. The interviewer wants to see if you can think on your feet. If you can think creatively on your feet, you get bonus points. 3. Your answers will help build personal chemistry with the interviewer if you show your ability to handle a crisis-like this question.

Here are several actual questions which were asked in different interviews and the candidate’s answers:

Interviewer: If you could help one of Snow White’s Seven Dwarfs, which dwarf would it be and what would you do?

Candidate: I’d help Sneezy by getting him an allergy medicine to handle that runny nose of his.

Interviewer: Do you remember those crossing jokes which were so popular? Like, “What do you get if you cross an elephant with a rhino? Elephino!” OK, describe yourself in terms of one character from children’s literature and one other image.

Candidate: That’s easy. I’m Tigger crossed with a racehorse. Tigger is always happy and joyful but he does not have a goal or a purpose. The racehorse has a definite goal: cross the finish line ahead of the other horses and win. As a college textbook sales person, my goal is to win-to cross the finish line and exceed my sales goals but to accomplish that infused with as much joy as I can gather. (The interviewer laughed for several minutes-and offered the author that job on the spot!)

Interviewer: If you could have dinner with any famous person in the world, living or dead, who would it be? What would you want to find out from them?

Candidate: I would welcome the opportunity to have dinner with W. Edwards Deming. While I’ve read his fourteen key points for transforming management to make it more effective, I’d love to find out whatever he didn’t write down. That’s information I could implement to improve quality in my work for your company.

Garnered from other candidates, questions can cover the very obvious, “see if you are paying attention” queries, such as:

When did the War of 1812 start? When does the 10 o’clock news start?

And then there are the very unusual questions such as:

1. If aliens landed in front of you and offered you any job on their planet, what job would you want? Why? 2. If you could be a superhero, what would your super power be? 3. If you could meet with any character in literature, who would it be and why? 4. What animal in jungle would you be? 5. What food would you be? 6. If you were a salad, what dressing would you be and why? 7. If you had six months in which all your living expenses were paid, what would you do with the time? 8. It’s twenty years from now and you have passed on. The company newsletter runs an article about your career here at Wexford Widgets. What would the headline be? If you are in sales, an answer could be, “Bill Davis Is Top Sales Rep for the 20th.Year in a Row!” If you are in finance, “Rose Marley Finds a Way to Save $500,000 by Global Tax Planning!”

Should you prepare to answer all of these questions? Yes. Will you be asked all of them? No. Will you be asked some of them over time? Probably yes.

In the Tigger crossed with a racehorse answer, the candidate built personal chemistry with the interviewer. The interviewer was able to see that the candidate could focus that creativity to any work-related situation. The candidate was able to save herself from exclusion in the hiring process to become the one who was included in the firm. Quick thinking about Tigger and the racehorse helped that candidate be the fittest to survive in that hiring process. You can too.

CPAexcel students pass the CPA Exam at nearly twice the national average. That power to pass can be yours when you prepare with CPA Review materials from CPAexcel. CPAexcel is the only CPA Prep materials that does not expire, you can order it now and prepare for the current CPA Exam. If you have not passed all 4 parts by the end of 2010, you will have the new 2011 features for free.

In the professional world, there are several basic ways you can get hired: 1. Personal initiative: You send your resume in response to an online job posting or newspaper ad or hand it to a corporate representative at a career fair. 2. Personal referral: A friend or relative alerts you to a job opening with their employer. Employers often reward the referring employee when you are hired so make certain that you fill in the application line, “Referred by____” completely. 3. Personnel Agency, Personnel Counselor or Staffing Services: A personnel counselor recruits a job order from a company and then either matches the job order to an existing candidate OR advertises online or in newspapers for that candidate. A personnel counselor does NOT call you at work to recruit you for a job-that is the principle difference between a personnel counselor and a recruiter. A counselor has to wait for you to make the first contact while a recruiter does not. 4. In most states, a personnel counselor is NOT allowed to take a fee from you (the candidate) but always verify that BEFORE you go on the interview. Until 1982 in California, a personnel agency could charge the candidate as well as the company a fee for the placement and thus split the fee between the two. That has changed. In 2009, many agencies state up front in their advertising and on their web sites that they are 100% employer paid. 5. Personnel agencies, such as Shelling Staffing, Abbott Staffing Group, and Apple One, usually have both a store front and an online corporate web site on which they post jobs. You can search for jobs next door or in the next state. 6. Recruiters and Headhunters: “Recruiter” and “headhunter” are interchangeable terms for a person who not only recruits job orders from companies but also actively recruits candidates through personal phone calls and e-mails. Recruiters are 95% paid by the corporate client, not by you, but it is always wise to verify.

The Ground Rules:

A personnel counselor waits for you to walk in the door. He or she matches you up with a job order that he or she already has or finds a job that fits your specifications. If the person does not understand what you do now or what you want to do in your next job, it will be very difficult to make a job match. Therefore, be willing to educate this personnel counselor on your career field, the intricacies of your job, and the type of company you would like to join.

A recruiter or headhunter is hired by a corporation to find exactly the person the company needs. Most recruiters are hired for their sales abilities. A few agencies hire someone with extensive experience in a field (e.g., electrical engineering) and teach him or her how to recruit and place candidates (like you). Because recruiters know the field, they can tell whether the candidate is “blowing sunshine up their skirts” or if the candidate actually knows the subject.

Rule 1: It is really OK to talk to a recruiter, even if he or she calls you at work — just don’t… 1. Exclaim joyfully that you are happy to be recruited. 2. Denigrate your current boss or organization in any way. Do: 1. Give the headhunter your cell or pager number or your e-mail. If you have none of the above OR your only e-mail is corporate, then give your home phone number. 2. If you only have a work e-mail, get a personal e-mail at any of the free sites such as Yahoo. If your private e-mail address is not professional (such as fancypants@hotmail.com or alvinandthechipmunks@yes.com), then now is the time to register for an additional e-mail. Employers judge you on any number of levels and one is your e-mail address. Is it serious or flippant? Those who are perceived as flippant rarely get interviews. 3. The recruiter should ask for a good time to call you or may ask, “Is 7 PM a good time to call you?” You can answer by saying “earlier” or “later” until you agree on a time. The fact that this recruiter sought you out should be taken as a compliment. 4. A friend who has been placed by this recruiter may earn a referral fee of $200-1000 if they refer you to the recruiter and you are placed in a new job. If you like your recruiter, remember to ask after you are placed if there is a referral fee. If there is, refer your friends to the recruiter. Your friend will never know you referred them unless you give the recruiter permission to tell or you tell your friend. Rule 2: Never assume that the recruiter actually knows what you do — let alone the nuances of what you do. Explain what you do in small words and slowly since this person is probably taking notes.

Here is an example of the process of informing the recruiter. In 1999 during an Internet-based job hunt, Jerry, who is a UNIX systems administrator posted his resume , responded to job postings, and investigated technical job hunting web sites (such as DICE) on weekends. During the weekdays, he had the glorious opportunity to return calls to headhunters. (Quick side note: While it’s cute having your 5-year-old twins tape the outgoing message on your home answering machine, that message is not what you want a recruiter or prospective new employer to hear first. Record a professional message on your home phone as well as your cell phone. Once you’re hired, the twins can come back and record another outgoing message.)

At least half of the recruiters presented jobs that had nothing to do with UNIX in any way, shape, or form. Another 48 percent assumed that a UNIX systems administrator with AIX working on an RS/6000 was also absolutely brilliant on Sun Solaris right now. He wasn’t. The last 2 percent were willing to actually listen to Jerry, find out what he knew and didn’t know, and then — lo and behold — actually present him to jobs for which he was qualified. However, Jerry had to spend time educating each interested recruiter. One way was to send an e-mail cover letter of Jerry’s career and education highlights. (Why? Recruiters and personnel counselors present you to the potential employer by using three bullet points of your accomplishments. If you give the recruiter this sales pitch, it makes it much easier to place you.) Jerry sent six bullet points and let the recruiter pick the three most applicable to that job posting. This effort paid off: the recruiter knew how to present Jerry to his best advantage, and Jerry eventually got the job at a 25 percent salary increase over his previous job.

Rule 3: The theory on what to put into the cover letter accompanying your Internet resume is: 1. Keep the cover letter as short as possible so that it fits on one screen of a computer monitor without having to scroll down. 2. Use bullets. 3. Care for your personnel counselor or headhunter by giving them short sentences about your education and accomplishments which they can use as a sales pitch when they present you to the company. The easier you make it for them, the more they will be willing to work for you!

Here’s an example:

My name is Jerry W——.

I am responding to your job posting for a UNIX Systems Administrator. Briefly my career includes, but is not limited to: * M.S. Computer Information Sciences, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. * Ten years as a UNIX Systems Administrator in AIX, DG/UX, AT&T System. * Rapid learning curve as demonstrated by becoming literate on AIX in one week based on my earlier experiences. * Integrated an AIX UNIX system with an Ethernet TCP/IP Windows 95/NT network within 21 days of my hire. * Converted to PCs, which emulated terminals, thereby eliminating dumb terminals and having two systems on each employee’s desk. * Wrote and presented papers at international conferences on computer security issues.

Since I am employed, please call me at home at — — —- after 5 PM EDT or e-mail me at ———@—-. —–. My resume follows.

Respectfully,

Jerry W——

Rule 4: Realize how recruiters work and work with them, if at all possible. Similar to real estate in which you have a buyer and a seller, any placement process consists of the job order and the candidate. In real estate, the agents for the buyer and the seller split the commission. If one person represents both the buyer and the seller, that one agent gets the entire commission because they are splitting the fee with no one.

In personnel placement, the rules are the same: if one recruiter produces both the job order (a contract with Corporation A to find and hire Person B) and the candidate (the erudite individual taking the job), the recruiter keeps the entire fee. (The owner of the recruiting firm is probably retaining a huge percentage of this fee.) If you are represented by Recruiter A in Atlanta and the company is represented by Recruiter C in Concord, then the two recruiters split the fee paid by the company.

In a very few cases, the placement office may try to charge you a fee. If the recruiting firm plans on charging you, it has to alert you before your interview with the client company. Suggestion: run for the hills! You should not pay anyone a fee when thousands of headhunters are out there eager to do work for you for free.

Recruiter A will brief you before the interview and debrief you afterwards. Recruiter C will present your qualifications to the company and debrief the firm after the interview. Then the two recruiters will share notes and try to convince you to take the job and the company to give it to you.

That’s in the best of all possible worlds. What can go wrong? Recruiter C may turn up his or her own candidate and, in an effort to keep the entire fee, sabotage you. Is there anything you can do to prevent this sabotage? Not really.

How does a recruiter find a candidate? First, the recruiter gets a job order and a detailed description of the perfect candidate. The recruiter will look for companies performing the same type of work. A recruiter in El Paso, Texas had a job order for a person with experience in wireless communications. Knowing that Motorola developed garage-door openers (which need wireless communications to operate) and that the company was a bit vulnerable to imminent layoffs, he located a Motorola division in Arizona and the man who designed the communication system for garage-door openers. Quick as a flash, he was able to contact the man, present the job opportunity, arrange an interview, and the placement (hire) was made.

P.S. It’s not unusual for the job order to change after you are presented with the opportunity. If the recruiter doesn’t understand what the job requires, you may be presented for a job that does not exist. If you don’t fit the new and improved job description, don’t worry about it: there is a better job waiting for you.

Rule 5: Never send your resume to more than one person within an office or chain of headhunters (e.g., Management Recruiters, Inc.) Why? If you send your resume to Dave and Karen in the same office, and they both present you to Terry, who holds the job order, guess what happens out of your line of sight? A huge fight! Dave and Karen both want to represent you, the candidate. A recruiting fee usually runs 33-50% of your first year’s salary. Therefore, on a $60,000 salary, the fee is a minimum of $18,000. Can you see why they are fighting? What usually happens? One of three things:

1. If the boss is a Gandhi of the recruitment world, then Karen and Dave may split half of the fee, each getting 25% of the fee.

2. A neutral fourth person will check the incoming e-mails to see to whom you sent your resume first. The person to whom you sent your resume first will collect the fee when you are placed.

3. Most likely, if you don’t get the job, no one in the office will work with you. Why? To avoid another fight. Recruiters often snub candidates who appear to be so unconscious that they send their resume twice to the same office. Rule 6: Recruiters often trawl for resumes by placing job postings on web sites for very interesting jobs which may or may not be open at that moment. It could be that the recruiter already has someone lined up for the job and is taking this opportunity to collect qualified resumes. By law, a recruiter cannot post a job which does not exist, so you don’t have to worry about that.

Remember: the recruiter who presents the candidate gets half the fee when the placement is made so it behooves the recruiter to have as many resumes as possible. If this is the case, that is fine. Send your resume. You never know if this is an open job order or not. If it is, get in line. If it isn’t, then convince this recruiter of how exceptional you are and the recruiter will be motivated to find you a great job.

Rule 7: The recruiter or the personnel counselor may ask you where you have interviewed and/or sent your resume already OR where another placement professional has sent you to interview. Why?

1. The recruiter does not want to present you for jobs where your resume is already “in play.” For one thing, it makes the recruiter appear unprofessional to the hiring authority because they did not have enough candidate control that they garnered this piece of information ahead of time (or that the recruiter is greedily out to get a piece of the fee). 2. The recruiter seeks to contact those companies to which you have applied, obtain a job order, and make a placement.

What should you do? It is easier to tell the recruiter where you have interviewed than to have them embarrassed later on by the company. If the recruiter finds out that you are under consideration by the company, the recruiter is likely to stop working with you to prevent this from happening again.

Keep an accurate, up-to-date list of where you have sent your resume and where you have interviewed, whether the initiating contact was by you or a recruiter. Even if it is to a different division of the same company, ONLY reapply if YOU sent your resume in the first place.

If a recruiter or personnel counselor presented you for IBM Finance, then you cannot apply for any other division of IBM anywhere in the world. The recruiter may have a vested interest in you (and in collecting a fee), even if you are hired by a division to which the recruiter did not present you. Recruiters have successfully collected a fee from an employer when the candidate was hired not for the job for which they were presented but for another job somewhere else in the company.

If Recruiter Z presents you for a job at KPMG but doesn’t tell you who the hiring authority is, you are not responsible later on if Recruiter Y presents you to the same company. In that case, tell Y that you did not know. Recruiters often do not say who the hiring authority is. In this case, you are not at fault and both recruiters should continue to work with you.

If the recruiter contacts the companies you have interviewed with, that is fine. Even if the recruiter gets one job order out of this, it is not a problem. You will find the right job for you.

Rule 8: Keep in contact with the headhunter. If he or she thinks you want to work with him or her, the recruiter is more likely to make an effort to place you. E-mail any recruiter who contacts you at least once a week – unless the recruiter has an IQ less than 90.

Rule 9: Keep putting your resume out there. The right job is looking for you right now. You just have to be willing to look and keep looking until you find it.

If you care for your recruiter by feeding him or her easy bites of information (information that may be passed on by the recruiter to the client company with no modification, thus making the recruiter’s job that much easier), you have just increased your chances of getting hired.

At CPAexcel, the countdown to 2011 has begun. Because CPAexcel is the only CPA Review Class which never expires, you can order it now and study for the current 2010 CPA Exam. If you have not passed all four sections by the end of 2010, you will have access to the new 2011 CBT-e content and functionality for free!

When you are a CPA, your license is recognized from Paris, Texas to Paris, France and your expertise is acknowledged immediately. No matter which niche you practice in-from forensic accounting to tax preparation-being a CPA gives you instant credibility. The same cannot be said about the following designations which are very specific to certain niches and do not translate to career cache’ in other fields within accounting.

The Institute of Management Accountants confers the Certified Management Accountant (CMA) designation. As of fall 2009, you must have at least a bachelor’s degree to qualify to sit for the exam. (Previously, a good score on the GMAT or GRE graduate school exam was permissible as well.) After you pass a four-part examination on financial statement analysis, working-capital policy, capital structure, valuation issues, and risk management, you must agree to meet continuing education requirements and comply with standards of professional conduct to be a CMA.

The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) offers the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) designation. You must: * Have at least a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university. * Have worked for two years as internal auditors. * Have passed a four-part examination. The IIA also offers the designations of * Certified in Control Self-Assessment (CCSA), * Certified Government Auditing Professional (CGAP), and * Certified Financial Services Auditor (CFSA) to those who pass the exams and meet educational and experience requirements.

The ISACA, formerly known as the Information Systems Audit and Control Association, confers the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) designation you after you pass an examination and have five years of experience auditing information systems. Information systems experience, financial or operational auditing experience, or related college credit hours can be substituted for up to two years information systems auditing, control or security experience.

The Accreditation Council for Accountancy and Taxation, a satellite organization of the National Society of Accountants, confers four designations: * Accredited Business Accountant (ABA) if you specialize in tax preparation for small and medium-sized businesses must pass the ABA exam. * Accredited Tax Advisor (ATA) if you have five years of experience in sophisticated tax planning cases such as qualified retirement plans, complex estates, and the ownership of closely held businesses. ACAT is developing a test consisting of 140 questions for this designation. * Accredited Tax Preparer (ATP) if you specialize in tax return preparation for individuals and the self-employed. * Elder Care Specialist (ECS): If you have three years’ experience in accounting or taxation and specialize in estate and trust planning, and retirement planning for senior citizens. The National Society of Accountants provides three tracks which must be completed, and you must pass a test at each level.

Candidates for the other designations must complete the required coursework and for certain designations and licenses, pass an exam as well. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners offers the Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) designation for forensic or public accountants involved in fraud prevention, detection, deterrence, and investigation. To obtain the designation, you must have a bachelor’s degree, two years of relevant experience, pass a four-part examination, and abide by a code of professional ethics. Related work experience may be substituted for the educational requirement.

The Association of Government Accountants grants the Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM) designation for accountants, auditors, and other government financial workers at the Federal, State, and local levels. You must have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree, 24 hours of study in financial management, two years of experience in government, and passing scores on a series of three exams. The exams cover topics in governmental environment; governmental accounting, financial reporting, and budgeting; and financial management and control.

Each of these certifications is highly specialized and does not necessarily translate into being viewed as an expert in another field. For instance, simply because an accountant is an Elder Care Specialist does NOT mean that the accountant is viewed automatically as an expert in fraud examination.

However, there is one license which garners credibility in every niche of accounting and that is the Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

The most globally recognized designation for an accountant is the Certified Public Accountant (CPA). It opens the greatest number of doors around the world for those who have it. For accountants, the career path upwards requires becoming a CPA. Progressing from being an accountant to becoming a CPA offers greater opportunities for promotion into management, greater career opportunities, and higher salaries. In many companies, you must be a CPA before you promoted into upper management and especially at C-Level such as CFO (Chief Financial Officer).

Interested in career as a Certified Public Accountant? Read on! Each of the jurisdictions which offers the CPA Exam has its own qualifications for sitting for the exam. (The exam itself has the same content whether you sit for it in New Jersey or New Mexico but the requirements you have to meet BEFORE you sit for the exam in those two states differ.) For instance, you might not qualify in New York but you may qualify to sit for the exam in Colorado.

In California, the requirements are: * A bachelor’s degree; * 24 semester units in accounting-related subjects; * 24 semester units in business-related subjects; * 150 semester units (or 225 quarter units) of education; * Passing the Uniform CPA Exam; * One year of general accounting experience supervised by a CPA with an active license; and Logging 500 hours of attest or auditing experience will allow you to obtain the authority to sign attest reports. In many firms, having a CPA license is the only way one is promoted into upper management. Becoming a CPA increases your opportunity for promotions and salary increases.

Now is the time to prepare and pass the CPA Exam.CPAexcel has more study tools than any other course-and can help you pass the CPA Exam. Order CPA Exam today!

What is the evaluator looking for? Each state has its own requirements to sit for the exam. Some states are very specific about the number of semester hours needed in accounting, business, business law, and ethics which are needed before you can sit for the exam. The evaluator makes certain that you have the required hours. If you were educated outside the U.S., the evaluator will research the academic rigorousness of your college program and if the classes you took meet the state’s requirements.

If you would like a free evaluation of your academic credentials, contact: Leslie-Anne (L.A.) Rogers la@cpaexcel.com. She has evaluated transcripts for over 14 years and helped countless students around the world through the state application process and then prepare and pass the exam.

AICPA: American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (www.aicpa.org and www.cpa-exam.org). AICPA writes and scores the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Exam (CPA Exam). AICPA works with National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) and Prometric Test Centers to create, deliver, and score the CPA Exam. ATT (not AT & T): Authorization to Test is a form sent electronically by the State Board of Accountancy to NASBA’s National Candidate Database. The process is this:

1. You apply (either online or fill out a paper and pencil application) to a State Board of Accountancy for permission to test for 1-4 parts of the CPA Exam. You send in the state application and credential evaluation fees. 2. When you are approved, the State Board sends an approval letter to you and the ATT to NASBA. The ATT is valid for 90 days. If you do not complete all the steps within 90 days, you have to start over. 3. NASBA sends you the Payment Coupon for your exam fees. (See “Payment Coupon” for a complete list of fees.)

4. About 24-72 hours after you send in your NASBA fees, NASBA sends you the Notice to Schedule (NTS), which is valid for 6 months. If you do not complete all the steps within 6 months, you have to start over. 5. The NTS allows you to call or e-mail Prometric to select a test center location, day, and time to sit for the exam.

6. It is suggested that you contact Prometric at least 45 days before you want to sit for the exam because the seats fill up quickly. Plan ahead! 7. You sit for the exam at a computer workstation in a Prometric Test Center. 8. Prometric sends your testing data to AICPA. 9. AICPA scores your exam.

10. AICPA releases your score to NASBA. NASBA will act in one of two ways. a. If you are approved to sit for the exam in a non-NASBA state (such as California, Illinois or Virginia), NASBA will release your scores to your state. Your state will post your scores on their website. Using your user ID and password, you can look up your scores. OR b. Up to 48 hours after this, if you are in a NASBA state, NASBA will release your scores to your State Board of Accountancy, which shares the information with you. c. Some states, like Texas, never post scores on a weekend. d. If you are approved to sit for the exam in a NASBA state but physically sit for the test in California, Illinois or Virginia, this does not mean that you will get your scores earlier like the non-NASBA states. e. About 5-7 days after your scores are posted, your state will mail you a paper notice which contains the performance diagnostic information for any part(s) you did not pass. This is not available online. f. A passing score is 75. g. There are three situations in which you would submit the application and fees to your state board to retest: i. if you failed the section, ii. if you did not schedule your test day at Prometric, or iii. if you scheduled your test day but did not attend. h. When your state re-authorizes you, you can schedule a test day.

11. The timing of the score releases is rather interesting. a. Wave 1 covers the first day of the testing window up to the 7th or 8th day of the second month of the testing window. This could be Jan. 1-Feb. 7th. Wave 2 covers Feb. 8th. -28th. or in a Leap Year, Feb. 29th. b. Scores from Wave 1 wander in the 3rd. week of the 2nd month or Feb. 15th. c. BUT if you were the lucky person who got a new simulation, you are bumped to Wave 2. d. Wave 2 scores start appearing the third week after the close of the testing window, or in this case, March 15. e. BEC comes out first. The other sections come one at a time, a day a part so it can take a week between the first scores and the last within that wave.

12. Once you pass all four parts, take the “Professional Ethics: The AICPA’s Comprehensive Course.” For more info, go to www.cpa2biz.com. You can get a free demo CD before you purchase the course. Key in “Professional Ethics” in the “Search” window. This will take you to info about the course’s content and how you can buy the course.

13. After you pass this open book test with a score of 90% or higher, AICPA will send written notice to your state board.

14. When your state is notified that you passed the ethics course and you have fulfilled all your state’s requirements, your state will send you your CPA certificate and the date of issue.

CBT: Computer-Based Testing. Until 2004, the CPA Exam was given in a paper and pencil format. Starting in 2004, the exam was delivered via computer workstation at a Prometric Test Center.

CBT-e: Computer-Based Testing-evolution. According to Darwin, man evolved from monkeys and was an entirely new creature with extensively grander capabilities and possibilities than the apes. AICPA anticipates a similar evolution in January 2011 when the CPA Exam will undergo a technical evolution, and is expected to be far grander and be enhanced with more possibilities than mere CBT. There are those who scoff at evolution so we will wait to see how much of an advancement CBT-e is. NASBA: National Association of State Boards of Accountancy.

There are 54 U.S. jurisdictions (the 50 U.S. States, Washington, D.C., U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Guam) which offer the CPA Exam. Each jurisdiction has its own requirements to sit for the CPA Exam so it is very possible to qualify in one state but not another. NASBA maintains a database of the requirements for each jurisdiction, a National Candidate Database of those sitting for the CPA Exam, and releases the exam scores to the states.

NTS: Notice to Schedule. After your state approves you to sit for the exam, your state sends the ATT to NASBA. NASBA then sends you the NTS so you can contact Prometric to schedule your testing location, day and time.

Be aware of: 1. Because the CPA Exam is uniform, you can be approved to sit for the exam in Maine but actually sit in a Prometric center in Utah and take the test. Any combination of states is fine.

2. While Prometric has thousands of test centers around the world, only about 300 centers in the U.S. offer the CPA Exam. Don’t assume that just because there is a Prometric test center in your neighborhood that it gives the CPA Exam. Check and make sure.

3. You can go online to www.prometric.com or call them to schedule when you would like to sit for the exam. Because seats fill quickly, you probably need to pick a test date that is at least 45 days in the future.

4. The NTS has an expiration date: the NTS is valid for 6 months AFTER you pay your exam fees to NASBA. When you finally get your NTS, you may actually have less than 6 months to sit for the exam.

5. Your name on your NTS must match your photo ID exactly: you cannot be “Ty” on one and “Tyson” on the other. If the two do not match, correct this BEFORE test day or you may not be allowed to enter.

Payment Coupon: After your state approves your application, your state contacts NASBA. NASBA, being a capitalist institution, sends you a Payment Coupon which requests that you send NASBA additional fees for scoring the exam (well, that would be helpful), the time to take the test on the Prometric computer, a processing fee, a fee for a digital photo of your smiling face and a biometric thumb print, which are all part of ID scanning at the Prometric test center. NASBA issues the Payment Coupon 48-72 hours after state approval.

Prometric Centers: Prometric is a set of computer-based testing centers located around the world which offer various academic and professional certification tests.

There are over 10,000 Prometric test centers in over 160 nations but out of those, only 300 in the U.S. offer the CPA Exam. Because of the dangers of academic pilfering (a.k.a., cheating), Prometric conducts the tests in an environment only slightly less secure than Fort Knox. Uniform Certified Public Accountant Exam (CPA Exam): a four part test written and scored by the AICPA and delivered to students at 300 of Prometric’s U.S. test centers. It is only given in English. The four sections or parts of the CPA Exam are:

* Auditing and Attestation (AUD): To pass, you need to know how to apply knowledge of auditing procedures, generally accepted auditing procedures, generally accepted auditing standards and other standards related to attest engagements. (4.5 hours)

* Business Environment and Concepts (BEC): To pass, you need to understand how to apply knowledge of business concepts for and accounting implications of business transactions. (2.5 hours)

* Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR): To pass, you need to know the skills to apply knowledge of generally accepted accounting principles for business entities, not-for-profit organizations, and governmental entities. (4 hours)

* Regulation (REG): To pass, you need to know how to apply knowledge of federal taxation, ethics, professional and legal responsibilities and business law. (3 hours) Window: Yes, it something you open on a warm day and shut on a cold one and it can be the singular of the latest offering from Microsoft but in the world of accounting it is so much more: it is the time in which you can sit for the CPA Exam.

In every quarter, you are allowed to sit in the first two months of any window: January-February, April-May, etc. This 60 day period (or something relatively close) is called a “testing window.” During the third month of every quarter, you may not sit for the exam because it is not offered.

With the massive changes to 2011 CPA Examlooming, it is more important than ever that you pass the first time. Over 87% of CPA Exam students pass the CPA Exam-that is nearly twice the national average!

The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) offers the IQEX to qualified international candidates each fall. If you are an internationally trained accountant, you may wish to sit for the IQEX exam and seek a reciprocal CPA designation, since the CPA is globally the most recognized accounting designation.

IQEX is designed to evaluate your professional competence as delineated by the U.S. International Qualifications Appraisal Board. The board will evaluate your education, examination scores, and experience to determine if you meet requirements which are substantially equivalent to United States CPAs. The IQEX exam will test you on your knowledge of U.S. business law, professional standards, and U.S. taxation codes.

In a later article is a list of the international designations eligible for reciprocity. If you do not hold one of those, you can still apply through one of the 54 U.S. jurisdictions, pass the exam, and become a CPA.

CPAexcel developed a specialized study course to meet your needs when you are studying for IQEX. Since CPAexcel students pass the CPA Exam at nearly twice the national average, CPAexcel expects a similar level of success for our international students.

Order CPAexcel today: one price is all you pay to pass the exam!

AICPA Requirements for the CPA Exam

In the United States and its territories, the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) designation is awarded to those who pass the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination (CPA Exam). The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) writes and scores this exam.

You may qualify to sit for the CPA Exam by meeting the requirements of one of the 54 jurisdictions granting the CPA license. These 55 U.S. jurisdictions are the 50 US states, the District of Columbia, and the US territories of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The Northern Marianas Islands are not offering the exam yet. Once you pass the exam, you have to prove that you meet the experience and education requirements in order to be licensed to practice.

At CPAexcel, the countdown to 2011 has begun. Because CPAexcel is the only CPA review course which never expires, you can order it now and study for the current exam. If you have not passed all four sections by the end of 2010, you will have access to the new 2011 CBT-e content and functionality for free!

Order CPAexcel today: one price is all you pay to pass the exam!

The Structure of IQEX

The IQEX exam must be completed in 4.5 hours or less. Delivered through the computer based testing at Prometric centers, the exam is made up of 150 multiple choice questions, each having four possible answers. While other multiple-choice examinations, like the GMAT, penalize you for an incorrect answer, the IQEX does not. A perfect score on IQEX is 100 and a passing score is 75. English is the only language on the exam.

Content of the IQEX Accounting for governmental and not-for-profit organizations 15% Auditing 10-15% Business law 20-25% Financial accounting and reporting 10-15% Professional ethics and legal responsibilities 10% Taxation 25-30% Total ________________________ 100% The aim of IQEX is to test your knowledge of the differences between auditing and accounting practices in the US and similar accounting and auditing practices in Australia and Canada. Because of this, the structure and content of IQEX is more narrow than the CPA Exam because it is assumed that Canadian and Australian accountants who have passed their nations’ exams are already proficient in these other topics which are tested on the CPA Exam.

Exam Dates for the U.S. CPA Reciprocity Exam All IQEX test dates occur within a three week period straddling October and November each year. You would contact Prometric to make an appointment for a 4.5 hour block of time on the test days during that three week period. In the past, Prometric test centers in the US and in major Canadian cities offered IQEX. In 2010, each test centre will be open for the entire three week period. In September 2010, AICPA and NASBA will announce the test center locations. Can You Get a Copy of a Past Exam? No. The U.S. CPA Reciprocity Exam has been a closed exam since it started. Unlike the CPA Exam, past questions and rationales are not available.

Requirements for an International Candidate to Be a CPA

The most direct route is through the reciprocity channel.

AICPA is in a reciprocity agreement with certain nations which AICPA deems to have exams as rigorous as the CPA Exam. These nations and designations are:

Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) Instituto Mexicano De Contadores Publicos (IMCP) Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI) Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (ICAA) CPA Australia.

There is a proviso: the person who has passed the exam must be educated in that nation and licensed originally in that nation. Conversely, those who have acquired their overseas membership through mutual recognition or reciprocity are not eligible. For example, an Irish or Canadian Chartered Accountant who originally qualified as a Welsh Chartered Accountant would not be eligible.

A person who holds one of these specific designations can apply to take the IQEX Exam. Of these, many Canadian and Australian Chartered Accountants can meet the work experience and education requirements of the 54 U.S. jurisdictions without additional college courses or work experience.

Canadian Chartered Accountants If you are a Canadian Chartered Accountant who has passed the UFE (Uniform Evaluation or the Uniform Final Evaluation) and is currently a member in good standing with their provincial institute, you may sit for the IQEX exam. Canadian Chartered Accountants who pass the IQEX are recognized as CPAs in:

Alabama Arkansas Alaska California Colorado Delaware District of Columbia Florida Illinois Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts* Michigan Minnesota Missouri Nebraska New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York **

North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oregon Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Vermont Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming * Massachusetts requires the candidate meets the state’s education and experience requirements as well. ** New York will accept passing grades on IQEX as the way to meet the examination requirement but candidates will still need to meet the state’s education and experience requirements. Australian Chartered Accountants If you are an Australian Chartered Accountant who qualified for his/her CA before 1992 and you are currently a member in good standing of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, you may sit for the IQEX exam. If you are Australian CAs who qualified in 1992 or later, you have to pass an auditing exam as well. You may sit for the auditing examination before or concurrently with the IQEX. Australian Chartered Accountants who pass the IQEX are recognized as CPAs in:

Arkansas Colorado Delaware Florida Illinois Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Michigan Missouri Nebraska New Hampshire North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oregon Rhode Island Tennessee Texas Vermont Wyoming

CPAexcel developed a specialized study course to meet your needs when you are studying for IQEX. Since CPAexcel students pass the CPA Exam at nearly twice the national average, CPAexcel expects a similar level of success for our international students.

Order CPAexcel today: one price is all you pay to pass the exam!

What You Need to Do to Apply to Sit for IQEX

Here is a brief outline of the steps you need to take as an international candidate to sit for the IQEX exam: * Make your application directly to NASBA (The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy), which maintains the National Candidate Database. Do not apply to a state board of accountancy. In 2009, there was a fee of USD $845 and the applications were due by September 1. As of April 2010, the fees and schedule have not been released. * You can sit for the exam at Prometric test centers. * Unlike the CPA Exam which is given year round, IQEX is only offered for three weeks in October or November each year. * Your scores are sent to you directly by NASBA (normally in February, following the exam in November). After You Pass

After successfully passing IQEX, you must still meet the requirements of one of the 54 State Boards of Accountancy in order to be licensed or certified as a CPA. Make certain that you follow that jurisdiction’s regulations on becoming licensed. Complete the paperwork and submit your supporting documents. 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 because Illinois does not require any further educational, ethics or work experience requirements for certification.

* Some state boards do not accept IQEX, or only accept it under certain conditions. Some may not accept Irish Chartered Accountants, for example, or may only accept Canadian Chartered Accountants from specific Canadian provinces. Check the requirements before you sign up for the IQEX exam. CPAexcel developed a specialized study course to meet your needs when you are studying for IQEX. Since CPAexcel students pass the CPA Exam at nearly twice the national average, CPAexcel expects a similar level of success for our international students.

Order CPAexcel today: one price is all you pay to pass the exam!

At CPAexcel, the countdown to 2011 has begun. Because CPAexcel is the only cpa review which never expires, you can order it now and study for the current 2010 CPA Exam. If you have not passed all four sections by the end of 2010, you will have access to the new 2011 CBT-e content and functionality for free!

The career opportunities in forensic accounting will continue to expand. In 2002, U.S. News listed forensic accounting as one of the eight most secure careers.

Throughout the last century, very nefarious persons have been caught by forensic accountants, not by FBI agents armed to the teeth. Here are just a few examples of how forensic accountants stopped “the bad guy” when traditional law enforcement could not.

Score Forensic Accountants: 3 Nefarious Criminals: 0

Al Capone It was not Elliott Ness and his legendary team of FBI “Untouchables” who brought the “Boss of the Chicago Outfit” (a.k.a., “the Mob”) and one-time Public Enemy Number One to justice but it was a former accountant, Frank J. Wilson, from the US Treasury Department’s Bureau of Internal Revenue who finally built a successfully prosecuted case. While Wilson was promoted to chief of the Secret Service, Capone was sentenced to 11 years for tax evasion in 1931. Mickey Cohen Though not as famous a mobster as Al Capone, Mickey Cohen’s life of crime lasted longer but ended much the same way. Like Capone, Cohen started with the Chicago Outfit. Following the assassination of Bugsy Siegel, the Las Vegas crime boss, Mickey moved out to Las Vegas and was given control of the mob’s operations there.

While local law enforcement couldn’t get Mickey, the US Senate could: forensic accounting investigators on a Senate committee uncovered the evidence which was the basis for his conviction. They nailed Mickey for tax evasion in 1950 for which he served four years. After his release, he resumed his mob life and was convicted of tax evasion again in 1961. Exiled to the prison on Alcatraz Island, he served 11 years and was released in 1972. Thomas “Slab” Murphy Ah, the Irish justice system is poetic indeed.

When the Sunday Times accused him of directing a UK bombing campaign, he sued for libel in a Dublin court. In 1998, an Irish jury dismissed his case on the grounds he really was an IRA commander and smuggler. Although he was never convicted of any IRA (Irish Republican Army) terrorist bombings of which he was suspected, “Slab” was eventually cornered by the taxman.

And when the Gardai and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) raided his farm last year, they found over 1 million in cash in a cowshed. The 58 year-old Murphy was formally charged with tax evasion last Thursday. Score Forensic Accountants: 2 Corrupt International Leaders: 0 Slobodan Milosevic and Cronies The 20th century was cursed with a suplus of dictators who conducted ethnic cleansing, resulting in the death and dislocation of millions. The last such dictator of that century was Slobodan Milosevic, known as the “Butcher of the Balkans.” Slobo, as the tabloids dubbed him, started the longest running war in Eastern Europe. To understand the slaughter, understanding the history is requisite. Yugoslavia was formed by a panel of European leaders at the end of WWI, who carved up Central and Eastern Europe into a series of nations which lumped rival ethnic groups together and gave employment as kings to a number of displaced former German royals. Yugoslavia: * covered an area the size of Wyoming * contained six republics of contentious rivals such as Slovenians, Croats, Bosnians, Serbs, Montegreians, Macedonians, and Albanians * used three different alphabets * and was home to those who were Roman Catholics, Serbian/Greek Orthodox Christians, and Muslims-three religions willing to kill each other in an instant. 700’s: Two tribes, the Croats and the Serbs, are listed in the Russian chronicles as fighting each other as they traveled across the steppes. The Croatians settle on the oceanside of the Dalmatian Alps while the Serbs settle inland. The Western-facing Croatians become Christians as Roman Catholics while the Eastern-facing Serbs become Serbian Orthodox, a branch of Greek Orthodox. 1054: The two Christian churches, the Greek Orthodox and the Roman Catholic, hurled the lightening bolts of excommunication at each other, making it much easier to kill someone of the other faith and feel no pangs of regret. Overlayed on top of the ethnic hatred between the Serbs and Croatians is now this religious intolerance as well. Since then, the two churches have rarely shared the Christian cup of harmony. 1453: Ottoman Turks, who were Muslim, conquered the Balkans. After 1453, a layer of Muslim theocracy was imposed upon the Christians, which created more ill will, massacres, and other such atrocities. 1800’s: As the Ottoman Turks withdraw, the Roman Catholic Austro-Hungarian Empire comes in from the north to fill the power vaccuum. The Roman Catholic Christians in Slovenia and Croatia rejoice but the Muslims and Serbian Orthodox do not since they are now subject to oppression by a different, but equally hated, master. 1918: Austro-Hungary loses World War I. European leaders redraw the national boundaries of Central and Eastern Europe thereby lumping all these unhappy ethnic campers (Croats, Slovenes, Serbs, etc.) together into Yugoslavia. 1946: Yugoslavia votes for a Communist government, the only nation to do so without Soviet Union Red Army troops present. (By contrast, the other nations, such as Poland and Hungary, which voted Communist governments into power had Russian Red Army troops on their lands when they voted. The not-so-subtle message was, “Vote for the Communists or we will conquer your country and force it upon you.”) 1991: After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the defeat of Communism, Yugoslavia is split by ethnic strife as old hatreds erupt. Slovenia seceeds from Yugoslavia, starting the first of the Balkan Wars. 1992: Yugoslavia consists only of Serbia and Montengro, while all the other republics have seceeded. The Balkan Wars accelerate.

2001: Slobovan Milosevic was indicted by an internaitional tribunal, becoming the first sitting head of state indicted while still in office. (All others were indicted AFTER they left office.) Milosevic was indicted on 66 counts of crimes against humanity, genocide, and war crimes and was accused of being directly responsible for the heinous acts committed by Serbian troops. The prosecutors aimed to prove that he had approved and/or authorized violent actions by the Serbian Army troops and their cohorts. These atrocities included: * In July 1995, the Serbian army targeted the Muslim population of Bosnia for genocide. The Serbs started with 40,000 Muslim men at Srebrenica, making that group the example for what they intended to do throughout Bosnia: exterminate the Muslims who had oppressed them hundreds of years previously. The primarily Christian Serbian troops then methodically killed about 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys simply because they were Muslims, making Srebrenica the largest mass murder since World War II. Between 25,000-30,000 Bosnian Muslims fled the area-an effective ethnic cleansing indeed. * The Seige of Sarajevo was the longest seige endured by a capital city in modern history. The professional Bosnian Serb Army, equipped and supported by the Serbian Army, blockaded and bombarded the city for nearly four years, reducing this lovely city to rubble. The poorly armed defending forces were little more than civilians and had little hope against their well trained, well equipped foes. Milosevic ordered the Bosnian Serb Army to eradicate the Muslim population by relentlessly bombing the city. Over 10,000 civilians died, 15,000 children were injured, and thousands of Bosnians fled, reducing the city’s population to 64% of its pre-war size. * Civil warfare in Bosnia and Croatia was initiated on Milosevic’s orders. * Milosevic ordered Serbian troops into Kosovo, killing over 12,000 ethnic Albanians and forcing over 700,000 Albanians to flee. The international court said that he was directly responsible for the heinous acts there. 2001: Serbia passes the special one-off “Extra Profits Law,” which applied to personal fortunes amassed since 1989, when Milosevic came into power. Forensic accountants found that Milosevic operated a covert system granting rich rewards to his cronies. This put much of their wealth outside the economy and thus was not taxed. Under the new law, the tax rate soared to 90% of any fortune exceeding $4.5 million. Enforcing the code stripped Milosevic of his ill-gotten gains. Since the only people who accumulated money during the war were Milosevic, his family, and powerful political friends, very few people minded that he was prosecuted.

Augusto Pinochet The former president of Chile was never convicted for his part in the murder of 2,279 political prisoners, the torture of an estimated 30,000, and an untold number of “disappearences.” Because he avoided paying 1.4million of Chilean taxes, charges of tax evasion were filed after an investigation by forensic accoountants. Pinochet died at age 91 before he could be brought to trial. Like Milosevic, he died before he could be convicted of crimes against humanity but at least the tax codes got even with him before he croaked! Score Forensic Accountants:1 Crooked Spy Masters: 0

Wolfgang Vogel Though his public persona was merely that of a shady lawyer lurking in Berlin, in reality, he was one of the craftiest spy traders during the Cold War. Vogel negotiated the release of at least 33,755 political prisoners and 215,000 of their relatives during the years of 1964-1989. He negotiated the trade of Francis Gary Powers, an American pilot for a captured Russian spy. On account of his mulitple trades, over $2.4 billion changed hands between the Soviet bloc and NATO. Because he was a former East German state police (”Stasi”) collaborator, he built a network of deep contacts with some of the most ruthless secret police forces in the world : USSR, East Germany, Czechoslavkia, Hungary, Cuba and Poland, as well as the former Portuguese colonies of Angola and Mozambique. To do so, he ran up six figures in expenses annually. Because Vogel was accused of forcing prisoners to sign their assets over to him prior to their release, no one was certain whose side Vogel was on. It became clear that he was only on his own side because he became one of the Communist world’s few millionaires. After the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, the German government argued that Vogel owed them $6.8 million in back taxes and accused him of extortion, tax evasion, and profiteering. In 1996, he was convicted of blackmail charges, arising from an earlier case. Here are job posting for CPAs in Forensic Accounting as of 1/5/2010:

Forensic Technology & Litigation Support Associate Grant Thornton Miami, Florida

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES-Planning, executing, directing, and completing fraud investigation and litigation services while managing to budget.- Ensure evidence collection methods are conducted, managed, and archived in a manner consistent to maintain preservation and protection of data and evidence.-Ensure all lab hardware and software verified and validated as required by Federal Rules of Evidence.

-Maintain a good working relationship with clients to enhance customer satisfaction and work with client management and staff at all levels to perform services, resolve issues, and make recommendations for business and process improvements.-Assist partners and senior management on proposals and business development.-Supervise, train, and mentor associates and interns on computer forensics and related services and assess performance of staff for engagement reviews.-Participate in recruiting efforts as needed.-Attend professional development and training sessions on a regular basis.

REQUIREMENTS- * 2 to 4+ years of progressive experience in public accounting or consulting, fraud investigation and litigation experience preferred.- * Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Economics, Business Administration, or related field.- * Active certification/license…CPA preferred.

Forensic Audit Manager – Latin America Miami, Florida

* Investigate convoluted accounting fraud irregularities in the US and internationally. * Report to the Head of Forensic Audit for the Region.

Requirements * CPA or other certification * Certified Fraud Examiner required * Bilingual: Spanish required * Big 4 experience strongly preferred * Travel domestic and internationally – approximately 70%.

How do you get there from here? To become a CPA in forensic accounting, you should have the persistence of a bloodhound to find the truth. If you are still in college, consider taking courses in fraud, litigation, and taxation. If you have graduated with your BA/BS, consider taking courses in these areas to bring your total coursework up to the 150 semester hours required by most states before you sit for the CPA Exam. How do you become a CPA? First, you need a bachelor’s degree with at least some accounting courses. Try CPAexcel’s Exam Planner to determine if you meet your state’s requirements. Exam Planner can tell you what courses you need before you apply to sit for the exam and Exam Planner gives you all the contact information for the testing agency in your state.

By becoming a CPA, you expand your opportunities to * move into management, * travel the world, and * command a higher salary.

Since the national CPA Exam has a failure rate of over half, consider a CPA review course. Since 1998, CPAexcel’s students pass at nearly twice the national rate.

Sign in Recent Site Activity Terms Report Abuse Print page | Powered by

At CPAexcel, the countdown to 2011 has begun. Because CPAexcel is the only CPA Exam Review which never expires, you can order it now and study for the current 2010 CPA Exam. If you have not passed all four sections by the end of 2010, you will have access to the new 2011 CBT-e content and functionality for free!