Hi Magneto and Rahul,

Quote

"Also, in general, from what I was told by the Delaware Board of Accountancy, the CPA designation can be used only by licensed CPAs who can practice accounting"

The above information that they gave you may be wrong. Because if found the following in DE State Board of Accountancy Rules and Regulations -

3.2 Designation "Certified Public Accountant” and the abbreviation"CPA" by certificate holders who do not maintain a permit to practice:

3.2.1 An individual who holds a certificate of certified public accountant but does not maintain a permit to practice may use the designation "certified public accountant" or the abbreviation "CPA" on business cards and stationery if:

3.2.1.1 The certificate of certified public accountant has not been suspended or revoked and is in good standing.

3.2.1.2 The individual does not engage in the practice of certified or public accountancy and does not offer to perform certified or public accountancy services.

3.2.1.3 The individual does not hold himself or herself out to be in the practice of certified or public accountancy when performing or offering to perform accounting, bookkeeping, tax or accounting-related matters.

3.2.1.4 The individual does not engage in solicitations or advertising, including listings and advertisements in phone directories, newspapers, or other media (including electronic), in which the individual uses the designation "certified public accountant" or the abbreviation "CPA".

3.2.1.5 The individual does not publicly display a certificate of certified public accountant to imply that he or she is licensed in the practice of certified or public accountancy or offering to perform certified or public accountancy services.

3.2.1.6 The individual is employed by a government, or an academic institution, corporation, or company not engaged in the practice of certified or public accountancy and uses the designation "certified public accountant" or the abbreviation "CPA" on business cards and stationery provided:

3.2.1.6.1 The business cards and stationery indicate the name of the employer and the title of the person; and

3.2.1.6.2 The business cards or stationery are not used to solicit certified or public accountancy services or accounting-related business.

So for DE it is not required that a person has to be licensed in order to be able to use CPA designation as they have informed you. And for DE, the licensing requirement and certification requirement are different not the same. So if Rahul is able to transfer his credits to DE (i think Rahul meets the education requirements for DE since he is a Chartered Accountant) he can get a Certificate and use CPA on his cards and resume if he follows DE Rules and Regulations in this respect.

Hi everyone, seems this is very interesting discussion going on. can someone please share their knowledge on this topics ???

Question 1:- Atfer passing all 4 section, how long does it take to obtain the certificate & license ?? (assume that we fulfil all the requirements to obtain certificate and license)

Question 2:- Colorado accepted me with 120 credit hours of education but after passing all 4 sections, if I transfer my grades from Colorado to Illinois, do i have to fulfil the initial eligibility requirements of Illinois (150 credit hours of education) ?????

Any input will be appriciated.

Hi James,

Regarding Question 2 - You have to fulfil the initial eligibility requirement of IL.

Hi Magneto,

Thanks for your input again. Actually I have been in agreement with you all along. Your last post clarified that for me.

When I said business cards I was thinking about a business card after taking up employment. May be business card is not the right word for it -I was talking about the cards that you print out after you join an employer. In these cards it is ok to use CPA after your name with employer name on top, your title on top etc as stipulated in DE rules for example. DE regulations clearly ok this.

I agree with you, i wont print business cards when I am unemployed and put CPA after my name. I never meant to imply this. I think i didnt communicate this properly. When I said Rahul can use CPA in his business cards i meant the cards that he would print after employment.

If I am a certificate holder, I would use the CPA designation on my resume - ofcourse, only after checking with my State Board. And I think the Board would not object to this.

Thanks for all the time that you spent on this. Since you are going to be a DE certificate holder soon, please post your finding about use of CPA in resume here. (so, please dont keep your mouth shut yet!)

Thanks in advance!