Certified Public Accountant

CPA The designation of U.S. *public accountants who meet professional criteria in examination success and length of relevant experience. The Certified Public Accountant carries the designatory letters CPA, and is licensed to practice as a *public accountant and thereby to give external *audit opinions. The uniform CPA examination is set nationally by the *American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, while the experience criteria for licensure are established by individual states’ boards of accountancy. The national umbrella organization for the latter is the *National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. A CPA-qualified individual may be permitted to practice in another state, but this frequently entails the accumulation of further professional experience to meet the requirements of local CPA licensing authorities. A number of other countries have also adopted the term CPA to designate their public accountants (at least in the English translations of the names of their professional organizations). These include Israel (the *Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Israel), Japan (the *Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountants), and Kenya (the *Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya). Many English-speaking countries refer to public accountants as *chartered accountants. In some countries competing organizations use the different terms to distinguish themselves: Ireland, for example, has an *Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Ireland and an *Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland.