SECTION 511.122. Acceptable Work Experience

(a) Work experience shall be gained under the supervision of CPAs who are currently licensed and in good standing with this board or with another state board of accountancy as defined in §511.124 of this chapter (relating to Acceptable Supervision), and who is experienced in the non-routine accounting area assigned to the applicant.

(b) Non-routine accounting involves attest services as defined in §501.52(4) of this title (relating to Definitions), or professional accounting services or professional accounting work as defined in §501.52(22) of this title, and the use of independent judgment, applying professional accounting knowledge and skills to select, correct, organize, interpret, and present real-world data as accounting entries, reports, statements, and analyses extending over a diverse range of tax, accounting, assurance, and control situations.

(c) Acceptable work experience shall be gained in the following categories or in any combination of these:

(1) Client practice of public accountancy. All client practice of public accountancy experience shall be of a non-routine accounting nature which continually requires independent thought and judgment on important accounting matters and the applicant is supervised, evaluated and reviewed by a CPA who is currently licensed and in good standing in a properly licensed CPA firm that is in good standing with the firm's licensing board.

(2) Unlicensed business entity. Work experience gained in an unlicensed business entity shall be of a non-routine accounting nature which continually requires independent thought and judgment on important accounting matters and the applicant is supervised, evaluated and reviewed by a CPA who is currently licensed and in good standing. Unlicensed business entity experience may include, but is not limited to:

(A) providing management or financial advisory or consulting services;

(B) preparing tax returns;

(C) providing advice in tax matters;

(D) providing forensic accounting services;

(E) providing internal auditing services; and

(F) business valuation services.

(3) Industry practice. All work experience gained in industry shall be internal to the organization and of a non-routine accounting nature which continually requires independent thought and judgment on important accounting matters and may include: providing management or financial advisory internal services; preparing tax returns; providing advice in tax matters; providing forensic accounting services; and providing internal auditing services.

(A) Examples of industries may include, but are not limited to:

(i) commercial business enterprise;

(ii) non-profit/charitable organization;

(iii) financial institution; and

(iv) health care entity.

(B) Acceptable industry work experience positions may include, but are not limited to:

(i) internal auditor;

(ii) staff, senior, fund or tax accountant;

(iii) accounting, financial or accounting systems analyst; and

(iv) controller.

(4) Government practice. All work experience gained in government shall be of a non-routine accounting nature which continually requires independent thought and judgment on important accounting matters and which meets the criteria in subparagraphs (A) - (E) of this paragraph. The board will review on a case-by-case basis experience which does not clearly meet the criteria identified in subparagraphs (A) - (E) of this paragraph. Acceptable government work experience includes, but is not limited to:

(A) employment in state government as an accountant or auditor at Salary Classification B14 or above, or a comparable rating;

(B) employment in federal government as an accountant, auditor or IRS revenue agent;

(C) employment as a special agent accountant with the Federal Bureau of Investigation or equivalent position at a governmental entity;

(D) military service, as an accountant or auditor as a Second Lieutenant or above; and

(E) employment with other governmental entities as an accountant or auditor.

(5) Law firm practice. All work experience gained in a law firm shall be of a non-routine accounting nature which continually requires independent thought and judgment on important accounting matters comparable to the experience ordinarily found in a CPA firm, shall be under the supervision of a CPA or an attorney, and shall be in one or more of the following areas:

(A) tax-planning, compliance and litigation; and

(B) estate planning.

(6) Education.

(A) Internal work experience gained at an educational institution shall be of a non-routine accounting nature which continually requires independent thought and judgment on important accounting matters and may include: providing management or financial advisory internal services; preparing tax returns; providing advice in tax matters; providing forensic accounting services; and providing internal auditing services without an opinion.

(B) Work experience gained as an instructor at an educational institution may qualify if evidence is presented showing independent thought and judgment was used on non-routine accounting matters. Only the teaching of upper division courses on a full-time basis may be considered. All experience shall be supervised by the department chair or a faculty member who is a CPA.

(7) Internship. The board will consider, on a case-by-case basis, experience acquired through an approved accounting internship program, provided that the experience was non-routine accounting as defined by subsection (b) of this section.

(8) Other. Work experience gained in other positions may be approved by the board as experience comparable to that gained in the practice of public accountancy under the supervision of a CPA upon certification by the person or persons supervising the applicant that the experience was of a non-routine accounting nature which continually required independent thought and judgment on important accounting matters.

(9) Self-employment may not be used to satisfy the work experience requirement unless approved by the board.

Source Note: The provisions of this §511.122 adopted to be effective September 4, 1990, 15 TexReg 4817; amended to be effective September 3, 1993, 18 TexReg 5588; amended to be effective June 14, 1996, 21 TexReg 4998; amended to be effective October 11, 1998, 23 TexReg 9980; amended to be effective February 12, 2003, 28 TexReg 1185; amended to be effective August 17, 2008, 33 TexReg 6373; amended to be effective June 7, 2012, 37 TexReg 4050; amended to be effective June 10, 2015, 40 TexReg 3568; amended to be effective February 8, 2017, 42 TexReg 427; amended to be effective April 18, 2018, 43 TexReg 2274; amended to be effective October 10, 2019, 44 TexReg 5781;amended to be effective June 2, 2021, 46 TexReg 3408; amended to be effective October 4, 2023, 48 TexReg 5665