careermindedmom wrote: For states with general accounting experience requirements... would my current work experience count? Right now I work for a small company & update the budget for our department. I maintain records of all of our purchasing contracts, receive reports on services that we've actually received, and match that against our invoices. If there is a discrepancy, I contact the vendor to make sure we are billed according to our contracts. I also make sure all of our accounts are current, assist the department manager in looking at profitability reports, communicate on a regular basis to the treasurer and CFO about department expenses/projections, where we are against the budget, etc. When all that is sorted out and I approve the payment, I send it to our bookkeeper to record the information & have our Treasurer sign and mail the checks. The biggest problem I see in all this is... its the bookkeeper who records the information. So even though I'm reconciling everything & making sure everything is being approved correctly, SHE is the one that records it. Now if I was the one recording it, I'd feel like this experience MIGHT count - but I really just don't know. BTW, this is my first job after I graduated with my bachelor's degree... so I don't know how other businesses do this. All I know is this is how THIS small business does things. My role has evolved with the company from 5 years ago when I was working in receivables, then managing the receivables department, and then moving into the section that makes the bigger business deals... I don't know what I'd even put on my resume as my job title. Since these changes have occurred so gradually & without a formal "title" change. So that's another question, whether or not my current experience would count towards the experience requirement... what would my current job functions translate to in a job description?

Your job sounds very general in nature and not sure if it is acceptable. Normally what is considered accounting experience is what a staff accountant and higher would do:

*Analyzing financial statements

*Analyzing and monitoring the general ledger

*Internal/External Auditing

*Internal Controls

*Budgeting & Forecasting

*Tax Return Preparation(under a CPA)

This is just to name a few. A good way to know if you are doing acceptable accounting work is if you have to use GAAP. Most bookkeepers and people in non-accounting positions don't generally focus too much on GAAP.

I'm sure others will have more to add. I would just call your State Board of Accountancy and ask them if what you're doing counts.

careermindedmom wrote: Thanks, for your response. I did contact my state board of accountancy once via email. I asked them if my job would count, explained what I do & all I got was a response that said: " The experience may include providing any type of service or advice involving the use of accounting, management, financial, tax, or consulting advisory skills or services. Acceptable experience shall include employment in government, industry, academia or public accounting or related services." Which is word for word what the regulations on their website say & the whole reason I wrote was cause I didn't know if my job would fall in line with what the regulation says. The whole description itself is pretty vague to me. Whereas, I can look at other states and automatically say "No, my work experience DEFINITELY does not count there" because they have requirements that say "Must have 1000 hours in Auditing"

Wow are you in Florida? That sounds like FL DBPR's description...lol.

Ask your employer if by any chance will they let you take on more accounting responsbilities that include reviewing the general ledger and financial statements.