Okay, I'm hoping somebody can give me some good advice on what to do. Maybe someday, Congress will get bold and take regulation of CPA's under the Interstate Commerce Clause because it seems like freedom of movement is severally hindered if one wants to practice as a CPA.

I have a BS and MBA from an AACSB school. Through a combination of both programs I sort of ended up with an overall concentration of accounting, having taken every upper level course an undergrad takes (Int1-Int2-AcSys-IndTax-CorpTax-CostAcct-Govt) with the exception of Auditing. It was supposed to be my last class in the MBA program I was in, but got canceled due to low enrollment for the term, so I was forced to pick another elective.

After I graduated with the MBA, I moved from Maryland back to my home in Florida. I was also active duty military who separated to take advantage of the post 9/11 gi bill benefits, but joined the Reserve to keep my time in service going for retirement. The job market hasn't been kind though, so I accepted an extended active duty assignment with the Reserve in Delaware for the next 6 months. Once done, I'll be heading back to FL.

Now here's my question. I know FL won't let me sit because of the missing 3 hours in auditing. I plan on getting that class taken care of in the fall when I enroll in a MTax program. Right now, during my assignment, I'm staying in lodging without family or friends close to here and would like to start studying for and possibly completing sections of the CPA. So far, I know I can sit in NH, but my worry is that even after I finish the class in auditing later this fall to meet all the FL education requirements, if I sit for and pass sections in another state before then, is FL going to deny me credit for the sections passed because the education requirements wern't met beforehand? It seems asinine for them to do something like this, but from my researching on the net, a lot of states seem to want to do this and throw common sense out the window.

I know the best thing would be to wait until later this year and just finish the class, but I feel like I'm wasting a valuable opportunity here because when I'm not on duty, I'm basically secluded in billeting on my computer away from everybody and distractions.

Can somebody provide any insight on what I can or should do? Thanks, and sorry for the long post.

I know how you feel.  I'm retired military myself.  Been there, done that, got the T-shirt with the unit logo.

Get a decent review course and start preparing for the exam now.  No one says you have to qualify to sit for the exam before you start your review course.

If you start your review course now, then when you have the Auditing course finished you'll be ready to sit for the first exam section as soon as you get your NTS.

But since you will be a while before you get a Florida NTS, before you lay out the buck$$$ for an expen$ive top-of-the-line 2010 review program, you need to be aware that the exam format will be changing significantly on Jan 1, 2011. http://www.cpa-exam.org/alerts/download/cpaalertfall09.pdf

If I were in your shoes I would consider it a worthwhile investment to work with a set of 2010 Wileys and the Yaeger videos now, and get the Yaeger 2011 exam format change update when it is available.