Foreign Credential Evaluation For CPA: My Recommendation

Foreign Credential Evaluation comes to rescue if you attend a University outside the US or if your school is not accredited 4-year college. Let’s take a look.

I did not get my degree in the US. How do I know if my coursework fit the educational requirements?

In general, the CPA exam requirements ask for a bachelor degree in a 4-year accredited university or educational institution as the minimum requirement to sit for the CPA exam.

For international students, this can be tricky as they cannot be sure whether the degree from their local countries are qualified. Solution: foreign credential evaluation agencies that specialize in evaluating your transcripts on behalf of the State boards.

How To Select The Foreign Credential Evaluation Agencies

• Some states recognize all agencies that are members of the National Association of Credentials Evaluation Services (NACES) (more details below), but states such as Delaware only recognizes FACS for example. It is important to check your State Board’s websites for details.
• The foreign credential evaluation agency will ask you to pick a state before sending the transcripts, so be prepared. You may find this post on best states for international CPA candidates helpful.
• It takes about 4-6 weeks to have your transcript evaluated if everything is smooth, but please expect a possibility of 6-8 weeks in case you get hit in their “peak season”.
• Please expect to pay around US$150-200 for the basic service, and more if you have additional request e.g. extra official copies, express service, mailing by courier.

Please note:

• A few State Board such as Illinois chooses to evaluate the transcript (domestic and foreign) themselves. Please make sure you double check with your State Board to avoid spending time and money unnecessarily.

Do You Have Any Recommendations?

I actually don’t have specific recommendations – as long as they are recognized by your state board, you can either pick the least expensive one or the fastest one. While I heard some agencies may be slightly lenient than the others, the difference is very small and it is hard to tell.

If you really want some suggestions…

The following 3 foreign credential evaluation agencies are all chartered members of the NACES (their industry association). You can get the list of all NACES members here.

1. Foreign Academic Credential Services (FACS)

If you are free to choose your own foreign credential evaluation services, I would recommend FACS, the one I used previously for my own evaluation of extra accounting courses I took outside the US.

The company was formed to replace the AICPA Foreign Academic Credential Services in 1982 (i.e. I see the company as “semi-official”). It is one of the more (if not the most) established forieng credential evaluation agencies and the founding member of NACES, its industry association.

What you need to gather before the application

• Information of all your educational background, starting from the elementary school. You can also include any professional qualification e.g. chartered accountant that you may have.
• Decision on which state you are registering for the CPA exam. You can ask FACS to evaluate several states for you but each evaluation costs $100-150 (depending on the state)
• Have the original transcripts ready

How long does it take?

• FACS officially states 4-6 weeks depending on your situation and the volume of their workload, but I would say it’s better to allow 6-8 weeks just in case.
• For international candidates you want to send in the transcripts at least 4-6 MONTHS before the desired testing windows because you’ll need the time to apply for visa and making hotel and traveling arrangements.

Please go to FACS website for further information.

Can I get my transcript back?

Yes, if requested.

• It is best if you can ask your school to send in the transcript directly.
• But if this is not possible, FACS can send you the transcript back. What they’ll do is to notarize the transcripts for the application on your behalf and then send back the originals to you. If you want to be make sure it comes back to you (you should!), you can ask them to mail by courier and reimburse them the extra fee.

2. World Education Services (WES)

WES is one of the largest credential evaluation agencies with over thirty years of experience. I’ve never used their service but I heard they are quite popular.

Here is the Pros and Cons of WES when compared to FACS:

Pros

• There is an express service available: $100 extra for three-day service; $195 extra for same-day service
• For Indian candidates, they have a page specifically on their Indian policy: certain 3-year degrees can be considered a full US bachelor degrees

Cons

• WES accepts transcript sent directly from the institutions only
• More expensive: basic service costs $160

Please go to WES website for further information.

3. Educational Credential Evaluator (ECE)

I have seen quite a lot of candidates using ECE because of their speedy service. ECE is a private, non-profit organization.

When compared to FACS…

Pros

• ECE has a more informative website
• Express service available: $45 extra for 12-business day service, $75 for 5-business day service, and $27o for 1-business day service
• Please double check, but I heard they accept notarized transcripts
• ECE returns your original transcripts without specific request as in the case of FACS

Cons

• Delaware, Georgia, Montana and Texas state boards do not recognize ECE.
• The course-to-course service (applicable to CPA exam) costs $135 — which could be more expensive than FACS depending on the state your are apply to.

Please go to ECE website for further information.

Would You Like To Learn About How To Apply?

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