Accounting qualifications recognised in both Ireland and USA

alphanine

Does anyone know if there are any accounting qualifications that are recognised in both Ireland and the USA? I know this issue was mentioned in an earlier thread but there was no clear answers. This is a huge issue for me so I would greatly appreciate any help. Thanks in advance.

chump

As said in another post, there was a very good article in Accountancy Ireland magazine in June

YOUR 'GLOBAL PASSPORT' OFFERS A FAST TRACK IN THE USA
BY STEPHEN ROBINSON

was the article. I threw my magazine away unfortunately!
[and if it's that important to you you should try and get hold of the article ]

The ICAI has a mutual recognition agreement with the US CPA body, it's quite complicated but it basically means the requirements to be an accountant over there are less than they would be. I'm not sure to be honest, but it's a start for you

read http://www.icai.ie/documents/MRA%20AICPA-NASBA.pdf

According to wiki

The Institute has mutual recognition agreements in place with its peer institutes in England & Wales, Scotland, Australia, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, Hong Kong and the United States of America. Qualifying members of the Institute may also benefit from European professional qualification directives

Re: ACCA, it apparently does not have this agreement, by reading wiki anyway...

* A mutual recognition between ACCA and AICPA/NASBA does not exist, but is under negotiation as of December 2006. However, it has effectively been put on hold pending a decision by the UK regulatory body, the Professional Oversight Board of Accountancy (POBA). It should also be noted that even if ACCA gained statutory recognition, it would still be up to the individual states to grant reciprocity within their state. [9]

hivizman

Chump wrote:

The ICAI has a mutual recognition agreement with the US CPA body, it's quite complicated but it basically means the requirements to be an accountant over there are less than they would be. I'm not sure to be honest, but it's a start for you

read http://www.icai.ie/documents/MRA%20AICPA-NASBA.pdf

This is something where the ICAI is better than the ICAEW, which doesn't have a reciprocal arrangement with the USA. That means that ACA's who have qualified with the ICAEW have to take one of the state CPA exams. As you don't need an accountancy degree to qualify with the ICAEW, it's possible that many of their ACA's would not meet the '150-hour' academic study requirement in the USA (which Irish ACA's could do through having completed a Master's in Accounting).

chump

hivizman wrote:

This is something where the ICAI is better than the ICAEW, which doesn't have a reciprocal arrangement with the USA. That means that ACA's who have qualified with the ICAEW have to take one of the state CPA exams. As you don't need an accountancy degree to qualify with the ICAEW, it's possible that many of their ACA's would not meet the '150-hour' academic study requirement in the USA (which Irish ACA's could do through having completed a Master's in Accounting).

There's a professional experience waiver thrown in there as well... does this negate the education requirements listed?

I personally wouldn't qualify under the education rules...

hivizman

chump wrote:

There's a professional experience waiver thrown in there as well... does this negate the education requirements listed?

I personally wouldn't qualify under the education rules...

Not sure about this, but I think that, to qualify as a CPA, you need both the education requirement and practical experience, as well as passing the CPA examination. The more I read the mutual recognition document, the tougher it seems to be: if I'm reading the document correctly, you need to have passed the Final Admitting Exam, have a practising certificate, be a fellow of the Institute, and have practised as a public accountant for five years in the last ten.

The original question was about whether accountancy qualifications are "recognised" in the USA. You don't have to be a CPA to work as an accountant (unless you want to practise as a "public accountant" and do audits and suchlike). I'm sure that the ACA would be recognised as a valid qualification for most purposes (for example, if you were working for one of the Big Four firms in Ireland and wanted to move to the USA on a temporary basis).

chump

hivizman wrote:

Not sure about this, but I think that, to qualify as a CPA, you need both the education requirement and practical experience, as well as passing the CPA examination. The more I read the mutual recognition document, the tougher it seems to be: if I'm reading the document correctly, you need to have passed the Final Admitting Exam, have a practising certificate, be a fellow of the Institute, and have practised as a public accountant for five years in the last ten.

The original question was about whether accountancy qualifications are "recognised" in the USA. You don't have to be a CPA to work as an accountant (unless you want to practise as a "public accountant" and do audits and suchlike). I'm sure that the ACA would be recognised as a valid qualification for most purposes (for example, if you were working for one of the Big Four firms in Ireland and wanted to move to the USA on a temporary basis).

yea a few guys from my firm go and work in the US after they finish alrite, same w/ a lot of countries - particularly australia and canada I suppose

I'm guessing from the original post though that the person isn't speaking about big4 firms, as if they were, they'd be doing ACA and there would be no questions.

The document is very difficult to comprehend alright, that's why that article mentioned above is very good.

oh and should probably be mentioned again that cpa ireland is nothing to do with cpa in the US.

smcgiff

chump wrote:

I'm guessing from the original post though that the person isn't speaking about big4 firms, as if they were, they'd be doing ACA and there would be no questions.

Hopefully the originally poster's question is answered and I can somewhat Hijack the thread.

Question, Chump. Are the big four in Ireland still the preserve of ACA. In the UK (the same big four) ICAEW is a slowly dieing breed. Interesting, if it's the case that the ICAI are still doing so well in Ireland. Any reason for this?

chump

smcgiff wrote:

Hopefully the originally poster's question is answered and I can somewhat Hijack the thread.

Question, Chump. Are the big four in Ireland still the preserve of ACA. In the UK (the same big four) ICAEW is a slowly dieing breed. Interesting, if it's the case that the ICAI are still doing so well in Ireland. Any reason for this?

You're dead on about ireland and I didn't know ICAEW was a slowly dying breed.
I suppose one big point we all are overlooking is the fact that ifrs's and ias's are what we all learn now. The new trainees are adapting to the gaaps but fundamentally are learning international. So I'd imagine no matter what body you join - ultimately once the standard is viewed as 'good enough' it doesn't matter a damn - and it's international, so it shouldn't matter a damn in the US or UK or Australia or Canada.
Also there is still an amount of ACA's training in Ireland from smaller firms. It is not just the preserve of the big4-big10.

hivizman

chump wrote:

I didn't know ICAEW was a slowly dying breed.

A few years ago, Ernst & Young started to put most of its student accountants in England and Wales with accounting degrees through ICAS instead of ICAEW because ICAEW didn't give significant exemptions while ICAS did. I don't know whether they still do this. Somebody who works for PwC told me that less than 50% of their new recruits in England now do ICAEW, with a lot doing the Institute of Taxation or other specialist exams. Is this the same in Ireland?

The latest stats from the ICAEW show 3,747 new members in 2001, falling to 2,961 in 2005. There's a new ICAEW exam structure coming in this year, but whether it will reverse this trend is anyone's guess.

davide1982

Hope you have already found an answer. Anyway go through this article, it may help:

http://www.myhowtoos.com/en/at-work-howtoos/66-how-to-become-a-qualified-professional-in-accounting

LoveDucati2

It does not really mmtter.

As a qualified accountant you can simply buy the other qualifications for a fee and legally use the letters.

Hanley

davide1982 wrote: »

Hope you have already found an answer. Anyway go through this article, it may help:

http://www.myhowtoos.com/en/at-work-howtoos/66-how-to-become-a-qualified-professional-in-accounting

After almost a year and a half, almost 2 years, I sure hope he's found out....