Mumbai : The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) has recently announced that Indian citizens and Permanent Residents would be allowed to take their US Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exams from testing centers in the Middle East, with effect from October 2014.

In recent years, thousands of Indian citizens had travelled to the US to take their CPA exams. The increasing demand from Indian CPA aspirants has led to this announcement, thereby, increasing their testing options. Taking the CPA exam in the Middle East becomes much more convenient for Indian candidates with simpler visa procedures and reduced travel expenses and time.

“This is an extremely important milestone for Indians appearing for the CPA exams. Indian candidates had to earlier travel all the way to the US to take the CPA exams, which involved logistics including the US visa, US travel and stay in the US. The recent announcement from AICPA allows Indian candidates to take the CPA exams from Dubai and 3 other centers in the Middle East. Basically, candidates now have to complete their training with Miles CPA Review which goes on for 7 months over 24 Sundays. They can then take the 4 parts of the CPA exams in Dubai and apply for the CPA license – just 12 months to become a CPA! And they’ve got Miles CPA Review to help them through all formalities starting from eligibility to CPA license and even placements with the Big 4 and MNCs across India”, said Varun Jain, Founder & National Instructor, Miles Professional Education.

CPA is the US equivalent of the Indian CA (Chartered Accountant). Unlike Indian certifications, US professional certifications have crisper academic content and can be covered in a much shorter time span. The US CPA exams comprise only a single level 4 parts or exams including: (i) Financial Accounting & Reporting, (ii) Auditing, (iii) Regulation, (iv) Business Environment & Concepts. Therefore, CPA candidates can clear the CPA exams in less than 12 months and escalate their careers to new levels with multi-national companies.

Miles Professional Education is the largest provider of CPA classroom training with training centres across India. Miles uses its proprietary study material along with online test bank and has a unique classroom delivery model. Miles also offers complete assistance and support for CPA exam eligibility, exam application and scheduling, CPA license and placements after clearing the exams.

Most of the criteria for CPA application and exams remain the same irrespective of whether a candidate appears for his CPA exams in the US or in the Middle East. Thus, this change is indeed a boon for Indian citizens aspiring for the highest accounting qualification in the US.