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In my previous message, I described

several of the Board’s responsibilities,

including protecting the public and

promoting the profession. Part of

promoting the profession is providing

a vision for students to seek careers in

Accounting, Finance, and Business Law.

From my interviews with hundreds of

knowing about accounting and controls would provide

a solid foundation.

• Someone I trust [parent, close family friend] told me

about a career in accounting.

As graduations abound during this time of the year, I reect

on the limitless possibilities for the next generation and the

dierence between what is “taught” versus what is “instilled”

to create successful business professionals:

With the above in mind, along with consideration of the

rapidly evolving nature of education today and our primary

classes taught in accredited high schools and less than

four-year accredited colleges, foreign education, and other

accounting certication programs. We are most interested

in the substance of what the aforementioned provide to

the competence and character of our candidates. And, we

welcome your perspective.

In closing, I have a request of you. As noted further above,

most accounting professionals were originally inspired by

someone they trusted. Please take a moment to…

• Talk with a junior high school or high school student

your integrity; and how it made you feel to do the right

thing.

Thank you for all you do to promote the profession,

Emily R. Rollins, CPA

Board Chair

Summer Edition 2014

In This Edition

A Message From The Board Chair ......................................1

Doing Business in Washington State ................................2

2014 - Notice of Lapsed Individual Credential ..............2

“Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one

has learned in school.”

- Albert Einstein

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Washington State must:

A direct way to accomplish this is:

FIRST register through MLS at the Department

of Revenue by entering http://bls.dor.wa.gov/

taxregistration.aspx; and

SECOND apply for your rm license through

Did you receive a notice that your CPA license, CPA-Inactive certicate, or non-licensee rm

owner registration lapsed eective July 1, 2014? If yes, and you would like to reinstate, you

must rst meet the Board’s reinstatement requirements.

Once you have met the reinstatement requirements, log into the online services with

SecureAccess Washington, enter your CPE information into the “Track CPE” feature, then

apply for the reinstatement by selecting “Reinstate/Reactivate.”

Did you receive a notice that your CPA rm license expired eective July 1, 2014? If so, then

the rm has 90 days to get back into compliance, which will require the rm to pay the

renewal fee along with the $100 late fee.

If you still have questions after reviewing the Board’s requirements, please contact us at

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RECORDS AND YOU

PART ONE OF “STAYING OUT OF TROUBLE”

Eectively managing your records goes a long way toward managing your professional

risk. As a certied public accountant, considerable onus is placed in your custody of client

information and distinguishing among what records must be provided, when and how. Also,

the cost of providing these records is an important consideration. In the Board’s Enforcement

division, the question of client records is often a source of concern. Board rule, or more

specically, Title 4 WAC 4-30-051, is the clarifying rule of guidance.

The What

provided to a licensee by the client.

• Licensee prepared records are those created by the licensee, and are generally the

purpose of the engagement: tax returns, general ledgers, subsidiary journals, and

supporting schedules.

• Supporting records are typically not reected in the client’s books and records, and not

otherwise available to the client. Adjusting, closing, combining, or consolidating journal

entries are just a few examples of documents that support an engagement.

• Working papers would usually hold little interest to a client. Audit programs, analytical

review schedules, statistical sampling results, and analyses guide a licensee’s work, but

are not work product, or supportive of such.

again, barring some unusual circumstance. While such consideration may help in client

relations, a licensee is not required to deliver records that have already been delivered, but

that is a decision up to the CPA.

The How

Some client records may be in a format that is unusable by the client. Licensees may use

software or hardware that makes a record unusable to someone without the same tools.

WAC 4-30-051 requires that the requested records be provided in any format usable by the

client. Today’s world empowers people with more tools than ever before, but what may be

usable by one person may not be the same for another. Discussing the deliverable format

with a client can help prevent any potential hiccup, or redundant work, in the future.

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to verify your experience once it has been completed.

Complete pages 1&2 of the Experience Adavit

Complete the interview process with your verifying CPA.

At this meeting have your completed Experience Adavit, Summary of Key Job Duties

and/or Resume for your verifying CPA to review, and complete page 3 of the Experience

Adavit.

Complete a course and an examination on materials covering all of the AICPA Code of

Professional Conduct and obtain a score of 90% or better on the exam (8 hour minimum

course length).

Achieve and document a passing grade of 90% or better on a board delivered course

• Visit our website for instructions.

For applicants that passed the CPA Examination as a candidate in a state other than

Washington; you will have two additional steps to complete prior to applying for your

CPA License.

Submit ocial college transcripts (bearing an ocial seal) and/or a Foreign Education

Evaluation Report from a Board recognized evaluation service showing that you

completed this Board’s education requirements in eect at the time you rst sat for the

CPA exam.

• You may apply course work taken after rst sitting for the CPA exam and prior to

submitting an application for licensure.

It is advised that you contact your educational institutions and

examination states to determine how long it will take to send your

information to our board. Please wait a minimum of 14 days from your

documentation requests to submit your application.

Checklists: The following steps MUST be completed by ALL applicants prior to submitting

your application.

Read more about ‘Checklists’ on page 6.

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3. Verication of Exam Scores (Nothing to upload)

a. If you are a Washington Candidate we already have your scores on le

b. If you are an Out of State Candidate; this document should have been

requested by you and submitted from the other State Board.

4. Ocial Transcript(s) and/or Foreign Education Evaluation(s)

a. Out of State Candidates Only

b. This documentation should have been requested by you and submitted from

the educational establishment.

5. The certicate of completion for the required ethics course covering the entire AICPA

Code of Professional Conduct.

upon request. In such instances, where the retrieval and copying of records incurs time

and expense by the licensee, WAC 4-30-051 allows the licensee to charge a reasonable fee.

Licensees can require that such fees be paid prior to the production of records.

The Confusion

Each scenario may require a dierent approach. Clients are as diverse as the records they

provide and need. If there is ever concern about client records, consult WAC 4-30-051. If that

does not answer your question, do not hesitate to contact Board sta at (360) 753-2586 – we

are happy to assist your practice.