TITLE 16 OCCUPATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL LICENSING
CHAPTER 60 PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS
PART 2 CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT (CPA) EXAMINATION REQUIREMENTS
16.60.2.1 ISSUING AGENCY: State of New Mexico Public Accountancy Board.
[16.60.2.1 NMAC - Rp 16 NMAC 60.3.1, 2/14/2002]
16.60.2.2 SCOPE: General public: all individuals seeking to become a certified public accountant.
[16.60.2.2 NMAC - Rp 16 NMAC 60.3.2, 2/14/2002]
16.60.2.3 STATUTORY AUTHORITY: Public Accountancy Act, Sections 61-28B-1 to 61-28B-29 NMSA 1978.
[16.60.2.3 NMAC - Rp 16 NMAC 60.3.3, 2/14/2002]
16.60.2.4 DURATION: Permanent.
[16.60.2.4 NMAC - Rp 16 NMAC 60.3.4, 2/14/2002]
16.60.2.5 EFFECTIVE DATE:
[16.60.2.5 NMAC - Rp 16 NMAC 60.3.5, 2/14/2002]
16.60.2.6 OBJECTIVE: To delineate uniform CPA examination application procedures, education requirements, examination administration, and board procedures for dealing with cheating on the CPA examination.
[16.60.2.6 NMAC - Rp 16 NMAC 60.3.6, 2/14/2002]
16.60.2.7 DEFINITIONS: [RESERVED]
[16.60.2.7 NMAC - Rp 16 NMAC 60.3.7, 2/14/2002]
16.60.2.8 APPLICATION PROCEDURES:
A. The
board may contract as its agent CPA examination services (CPAES), the national association
of state boards of accountancy (NASBA), or the American institute of certified
public accountants (AICPA) or other entities it deems appropriate to undertake
any aspects of examination development, delivery, administration,
qualification, or application that the board considers necessary and
appropriate in its oversight and administration of the uniform CPA examination.
B. Applicants for the CPA examination shall meet the requirements of Section 8 of the act and the provisions set forth in this rule.
C. An application will not be considered filed until all application/qualification fees and examination fees required by these rules and all required supporting documents have been received, including photographs, official transcripts, and proof that the applicant has completed the education requirement.
D. An applicant who fails to appear for the examination shall forfeit all fees charged for both the application and the examination.
E. Prospective applicants for the CPA examination shall demonstrate to the board's satisfaction that all education requirements are met.
F. The board or its designee shall forward notification of eligibility to NASBA’s national candidate database.
G. Upon registering for any section of the examination, an applicant must sit for that section of the examination within six months from the date on which he is deemed eligible to sit for that section.
[16.60.2.8 NMAC - Rp 16 NMAC 60.3.9.1, 16 NMAC 60.3.9.2, & 16 NMAC 60.3.9.3, 2/14/2002; A, 1/15/2004; A, 12/30/2004; A, 6/30/2008]
16.60.2.9 EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS:
A. After
B. After
C. The board will accept not fewer than 30 semester hours of accounting or audit related courses (3 semester hours may be in business law), without repeat, from a board-recognized educational institution. The recognized educational institution must have accepted them for the purposes of obtaining a baccalaureate degree or equivalent, and they must be shown on an official transcript.
D. A prospective CPA examination or CPA certificate candidate is considered as graduating from an accredited college or university acceptable to the board if, at the time the educational institution grants the applicant’s degree, it is accredited at the appropriate level as outlined in these rules. As used in these rules, “accreditation” refers to the process of quality control of the education process. There are 3 different levels of accreditation referred to in these rules, and the degree to which the board relies on accreditation differs according to the level at which the degree granting institution is accredited. In reviewing and evaluating a candidate’s educational credentials, the board may rely on accreditation by an accrediting agency at 3 different levels.
E. Level 1 accreditation is associated with the four-year, degree-granting college or university itself. The institution must be accredited by 1 or more of the following board-recognized regional accrediting agencies (or successor agencies):
(1) middle states association of colleges and secondary schools;
(2) New England association of schools and colleges;
(3) north central association of colleges and secondary schools;
(4) northwest association of schools and colleges;
(5) southern association of colleges and schools;
(6) western states association of schools and colleges; and
(7) accrediting council for independent colleges and schools.
F. Level 2 accreditation is associated with a business
school or college of business. The unit
must be accredited by a national accreditation agency recognized by the board,
such as the American assembly of collegiate schools of business (AACSB),
following a specific and comprehensive review of its faculty, resources, and
curricula. In evaluating a candidate’s
credentials, the board may choose to rely on this accreditation as evidence
that the institution’s business school has met minimum overall standards of
quality for such schools.
G. Level 3 accreditation is associated with an accounting program or department. The program or department must be accredited by a national accreditation agency recognized by the board such as the AACSB. Accounting programs or departments accredited in this manner have met standards substantially higher and much more specific than those required for level 1 or level 2 accreditation. For level 3 accreditation, the accounting program or department must meet a stringent set of standards that addresses faculty credentials, student quality, physical facilities, and curricula. Graduates who submit transcripts from accredited accounting programs may be deemed to have met the board’s specific accounting and business course requirements.
H. If an educational institution was not
accredited at the time an applicant’s degree was received but is so accredited
at the time the application is filed with the board, the institution will be
deemed to be accredited for the purposes of this rule provided that it:
(1) certifies that the applicant’s total
educational program would qualify the applicant for graduation with a
baccalaureate degree during the time the institution has been accredited; and
(2) furnishes
the board satisfactory proof, including college catalogue course numbers and
descriptions, that the pre-accrediting courses used to qualify the applicant as
an accounting major are substantially equivalent to post-accrediting courses.
I. If an applicant’s degree was received at an accredited educational institution as defined in this rule, but the educational program which was used to qualify the applicant as an accounting major included courses taken at non-accredited institutions, either before or after graduation, such courses will be deemed to have been taken at the accredited institution from which applicant’s degree was received, provided the accredited institution either:
(1) has
accepted such courses by including them in its official transcript; or
(2) certifies
to the board that it will accept such courses for credit toward graduation.
J. A graduate of a four-year, degree-granting institution not accredited
at the time the applicant’s degree was received or at the time the application
was filed will be deemed to be a graduate of a four-year accredited educational
institution if:
(1) either the NASBA international evaluation service or a credentials evaluation service that is a member of the national association of credential evaluation services certifies that the applicant’s degree is equivalent to a degree from an accredited educational institution defined in this rule; or if
(2) an accredited educational institution as defined in this rule accepts the applicant’s non-accredited baccalaureate degree for admission to a graduate business degree program; the applicant satisfactorily completes at least 15 semester hours or the equivalent in post-baccalaureate education at the accredited educational institution, of which at least 9 semester hours, or the equivalent, shall be in accounting; and the accredited educational institution certifies that the applicant is in good standing for continuation in the graduate program or has maintained a grade point average in these courses that is necessary for graduation.
K. Advanced subjects completed to qualify under the above section may not be used to satisfy education requirements.
L. The board may provide a mechanism to recognize educational institutions that are not accredited at the institutional, business school, accounting program, or department level.
M. The accounting education concentration or equivalent
contemplated by the act shall consist of semester hours of credit earned as in
a conventional college semester. Quarter
hours will be converted by multiplying the quarter hours earned by two-thirds
to determine semester hours earned. No
more than 30 semester hours will be recognized for internships or life
experience.
[16.60.2.9 NMAC - Rp 16 NMAC 60.3.8, 2/14/2002; A, 6/15/2004; A, 6/30/2008;
A, 1/17/2013]
16.60.2.10 EXAMINATION ADMINISTRATION:
A. Time and place of examination: Eligible applicants shall independently contact a test center operator identified by the board to schedule the time and place for the examination at an approved test site. Candidates may retake a test section once their score for any previous attempt of that same test section has been released.
B. Examination subjects: The examination required by the act shall test the knowledge and skills required for performance as an entry-level certified public accountant and shall include the subject areas of accounting and auditing and such related subjects as the board may require.
C. Provisional scores shall be released to the candidate following each test. All examination scores shall be considered provisional until approved by the board’s administrative staff. Scores must be approved by the board’s administrative staff prior to the issuance of certificates requiring such scores.
D. Pursuant to paragraph 1 of subsection D of 1.18.420.431 NMAC, once provisional scores have been approved by the board, they shall remain on file for 10 years beyond the date on which the final section of the examination was passed. If the candidate does not apply for an initial license within five years of passing the final section of the examination, the scores will be presented to the Board to determine validity.
[16.60.2.10 NMAC - Rp 16 NMAC 60.3.9.3, 2/14/2002; A, 1/15/2004; A, 6/30/2008; A, 12/1/2014; A 10/1/2020]
16.60.2.11 [RESERVED]
[16.60.2.11 NMAC - N, 2/14/2002; Repealed, 6/30/2008]
16.60.2.12 CPA EXAMINATION CHEATING: Cheating by an applicant in applying for or taking the examination will be deemed to invalidate any grade otherwise earned by a candidate on any part of the examination and may warrant summary expulsion from the examination and disqualification from taking the examination for a specified number of subsequent sittings.
A. For purposes of this rule, the following actions, among others, may be considered cheating:
(1) falsifying or misrepresenting educational credentials or other information required for admission to the examination;
(2) communication between candidates inside or outside the examination room while the examination is in progress;
(3) communication
with others outside the examination room while the examination is in progress;
(4) substitution
of another person to sit in the examination room in the stead of a candidate
and write one or more of the examination papers;
(5) possession of or reference to crib sheets, textbooks, electronic devices or other material inside or outside the examination room while the examination is in progress;
(6) copying or attempting to copy another candidate’s answers;
(7) failure to cooperate with testing officials;
(8) any conduct that violates the standards of test administration or violates the verbal or written instructions given by examination administrators; or
(9) bringing prohibited items into the examination site.
B. In any case where it appears to a member of the board or its representative, while the examination is in progress, that cheating has or is occurring, the board may summarily expel the candidate involved from the examination.
C. In any case where the board believes that it has evidence that a candidate has cheated on the examination, and in every case where a candidate has been expelled from the examination, the board shall conduct a hearing expeditiously following the examination session for the purpose of determining whether or not there was cheating, and, if so, what remedy should be applied. In such hearings, the board shall decide:
(1) whether the candidate shall be given credit for the section of the examination completed in that testing session;
(2) whether the candidate shall be allowed to take additional sections of the examination in that same testing window; and
(3) whether the candidate shall be barred from taking the examination in future testing windows, and if so, for how many testing windows.
D. In any case where the board permits a candidate to continue taking the examination, it may, depending on the circumstances:
(1) admonish the candidate; and
(2) notify the national candidate database, the AICPA, and the test center of the circumstances so that the candidate may be more closely monitored in future examinations.
E. In any case where a candidate is refused credit for parts of the examination taken or is expelled from the examination or disqualified from taking other parts, the board shall give the candidate a statement containing its findings, the evidence upon which the findings are based, and a notice of the right of the candidate to a formal rehearing by the board, with right of appeal, pursuant to the procedures provided in the Uniform Licensing Act, Sections 61-1-1 to 61-1-31 NMSA 1978, and Section 8B of the act.
F. In any case where a candidate is refused credit for any part of an examination taken, disqualified from taking any part of the examination, or barred from taking the examination in future sittings, the board will provide information as to its findings and actions taken to the board of accountancy of any other state to which the candidate may apply for the examination.
[16.60.2.12 NMAC - Rp 16 NMAC 60.3.9, 2/14/2002; A, 9/16/2002; A, 1/15/2004; A, 6/30/2008]
16.60.2.13 [RESERVED]
[16.60.2.13 NMAC - N, 1/15/2004; A, 7/30/2004; A, 1/17/2013; Repealed, 12/1/2014]
HISTORY OF 16.60.2 NMAC:
Pre-NMAC History: Material in the part was derived from that previously filed with the commission of public records-state records center and archives:
BPA Policy Statement 84-1, Cheating, filed 6/27/1984.
BPA Policy Statement 84-2, Answers to Ethics Examination Questions, filed 6/27/1984.
BPA Policy Statement 84-3, Exam ID Card, filed 6/27/1984.
BPA Policy Statement 84-4, Questionnaire, filed 6/27/1984.
BPA Policy Statement 84-5, Exam Photos, filed 6/27/1984.
BPA Policy Statement 84-6, Meeting the Education Requirement, filed 8/27/1984.
BPA Policy Statement 84-8, Transfer of Conditional Credit and Eligibility to Sit for Future Examinations, filed 8/27/1984.
BPA 84-2, Purpose, Filed 7/9/1984
Section 10, Examination of Applicants, filed 11/13/1992
BPA 95-10, Certified Public Accountants, filed 4/21/1995
History of Repealed Material:
16 NMAC 60.3, Public Accountants - CPA Examination; Educational Requirements and General Information, filed 9/27/1995, repealed effective 2/14/2002.
Other History:
16 NMAC 60.3, Public Accountants - CPA Examination; Educational Requirements and General
Information, filed 9/27/1995 replaced by 16.60.2 NMAC, Certified Public
Accountant (CPA) Examination Requirements, effective 2/14/2002