Be careful not to make this mistake:

Wanting more money, in 2003 I returned to school to complete my education, left unfinished, after 20 years of working at the more routine levels of accounting.

I earned my BA, then MS Tax (05/09), and passed the CPA exam (01/09).   (BTW, for me, Becker was THE only reason for passing on first sitting.)

Now satisfying Louisiana's one year experience requirement is all I have left for licensure; but. I have not been able get a job working for a CPA, in Louisiana, as a direct result of my two misdemeanor driving under the influence convictions one in 1975, the other in 1979. I have had no other criminal problems since then.

A little background here: my last jobs were in California, but I had to move back to Louisiana due to my parents getting older. Although I did not realize this while there, in California, it's against the law to consider convictions older than 7 years in the hiring process; and, in any case,  from my and others' experience practically all California based companies only ask about felony convictions.

Until the last two months, I had not even considered the possibility that in Louisiana, the vast majority of companies take into the hiring decision any conviction other than a minor traffic violation. (Though, oddly enough, the State Board of CPAs of Louisiana  only asks about felonies.)  Also Louisiana, unlike many other states, does not allow any type of conviction to be expunged.

I've wasted six years, working part-time in a bookkeeping job where the employer didn't ask about misdemeanor convictions. I also ran up $100K in student loans and lost considerable income that I could have earned over those six years if I had been working full-time.

The result of all this is that, in Louisiana, CPA firms and most of the industry positions hiring CPA's do ask about ANY conviction(s). Of course, I will not lie on the employment applications and accordingly have listed these two convictions.  Three CPA firms turned me down flatly stating (paraphrasing) that one DUI is tolerable, but two is indicative of deeper problems. Two great companies, who initially were enthusiastic about talking to me, refused to return any calls after I filled out their applications.

So with a great job history, sterling references, a solid education AND having passed the CPA exam (NASBA conducts a thorough felony criminal background check, which I obviously passed, before allowing a candidate to sit for the exam), I can't get my license because no Louisiana company wants to take on someone with two DUI convictions, even from over thirty years ago.

Had I even considered the possibility of these two misdemeanor DUI convictions, preventing me from obtaining employment as a CPA, I would have either not pursued the CPA designation or remained in California.  At this time, moving back there is almost an impossibility.

And finally, I really feel like dying because, in addition to the devastation of my lifetime career  objective, dredging up my long forgotten criminal past, in front of highly respected accounting professionals has been the ultimate in humiliation. I now feel like a total sociopath; and, my self-esteem has reached lows I could have never before imagined.

I realize that the vast majority of CPA candidates won't have this type of issue to contend with, but for those who do, plan accordingly.

JRM