A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is an accounting professional who has passed

the Uniform CPA examination and has also met additional state certification and
experience requirements.

HOW IT WORKS (EXAMPLE):

To become a CPA, a person must: A) complete a college-level accounting program, B)
pass the Uniform CPA Examination, and C) have a certain amount of professional work
experience in accounting -- typically one year.

The CPA examination is developed and graded by the American Institute of Certified
Public Accountants. The exam has four sections: auditing and attestation, financial
accounting and reporting, regulation, and business environment and concepts. Nearly
14 hours long in total, the CPA examination also includes a writing skills
exercise, multiple choice questions and case studies.

Once a person becomes a CPA, they can specialize in one specific area of finance or a
wide range of services, including:

 Corporate Finance
 Corporate Business
 Estate Planning
 Financial Accounting
 Financial Analysis
 Financial Planning
 Forensic Accounting
 Income Tax
 Information Technology
 Management Consulting
 Performance Management
 Tax Preparation and Planning
 Venture Capital

CPAs are required to complete a minimum number of continuing professional education

(CPE) courses in order to retain the CPA designation.

Other countries have different designations for the CPA qualification. The Canadian
equivalent to a CPA is a Chartered Accountant (CA).