Foreign Credential Evaluation for CPA: Here’s What I Recommend

Question: I did not get my degree in the US. How do I know if my coursework fit the educational requirements?”

Answer: Get a foreign credential evaluation for CPA.

Here is an overview on what evaluators do, and how to pick the right one for your application:

Note: Texas evaluate the transcript themselves. Candidates do not need to go through these third-party evaluation agencies.

Don’t like videos? Here is the same information in text format:

How to Select Foreign Credential Evaluation for CPA

Before you contact an evaluation agency, you need to select the state in which to register for your exam. There are two reasons:

• Each state has its own list of approved evaluation agencies — you don’t want to pay for a report that is not recognized by the board.

• Each state board has slightly different qualifying rules. Therefore, the agency needs to know which rules to apply to when reviewing your transcripts.

Once you settle on a state and get the list of approved agencies, you can pick one based on:

1. Evaluation fee
2. Turnaround time
3. Reputation

1. Evaluation Fee

The fee ranges from $100 to $300 — price difference is closely correlated to turnaround time. For example, FACS is one of the most affordable agency charging $100 for most states, but it takes around 6 weeks.

Most state boards require a “course-by-course” evaluation. This is different from the “general evaluation” that some agencies are offering. Please read the fee schedule carefully when comparing the fees.

There may also be rush services available but expect to add another $100 to the price tag. With proper planning, you can avoid this extra cost.

2. Turnaround Time

The number of days required to produce a report varies considerably. Most agencies have a 2 week turnaround time, but can vary from 5 business days to 8+ weeks.

3. Reputation

The evaluation process is both an art and a science. It is possible that an evaluators gives you more credit hours than the others.

Having said that, the evaluation result should not be substantially different as evaluators run the risk of getting disqualified by state boards. Because of this, I personally do not recommend an agency based on how “lenient” it interprets your transcripts.

I do recommend agencies that have better customer service, because a friendly evaluator makes your life much easier during the exam application process. I ran a little experience and you can take a look at my findings at the end of this post.

Tips on Foreign Credential Evaluation Process

1. Submitting the Documents

Most evaluation agencies require the candidates to send in the original or official transcript . By original, it refers to the copy issued by your school that is sent to you in a sealed envelope; by official, it means a copy (either the original or certified copy) sent directly from your school to the agency.

In most cases, this requirement is set by the state board. For example, California state board asks the evaluators to issue report only if the candidate supplies the original copy.

I understand that in some countries it is impossible additional copies of your transcript. Customer service is very important because a good evaluator can suggest a way to work around this issue instead of insisting on getting what is officially required.

Note: if your current name is different from the name on the transcript (e.g. maiden name), you need supporting document to show the reason of name change, e.g. a marriage certificate.

2. Translation of Documents

If your transcript is issued in a language other than English, a word-for-word translation is required.

You can explore whether there is an in-house translation service at the evaluation agency. If not, you can either get it translated by an official / governmental agency (as in China), or you can contact a translation service that is a member of American Translators Association (ATA).

It is best to check with your evaluation agency and see if they have a preferred translation service.

3. Extra information to expedite the process

Another thing to help the agency is to send in your course outline/syllabus so that the agency has full information on the content of your qualifications.

4. Estimating the Turnaround Time

I list out the estimated turnaround time for each foreign credential evaluation agency below. It only starts to count after all the required documents are submitted.

For rush service, it is counted in business days. For example, a 2-day rush service takes 2 business days.

5. Tracking the Progress

Some evaluation agencies have online tracking systems, while others may have an email notification service. A few have no updates and you have to call them to check. You may take this into consideration if it is important for you keep track of the progress.

What if I Don’t Know Which State to Register?

NASBA International Evaluation Service (NIES) offers an “undecided state evaluation” that helps you identify qualifying states based on your education.

Please note that NIES’ suggestion does not take experience requirement in consideration, so think through carefully whether you can fulfill the experience requirement (now or at a later date) before registration.

You may also want to chat with Leslie-Anne Rogers, who specializes in the CPA exam qualification service for more than 17 years. She charges a fee but she is very experienced.

List of Evaluation Agencies

I mentioned about a little experiment on these agencies. This is what I did: I sent out the same email message to all evaluators and asked them 2 questions on behalf of candidates. I recorded the time and detailness/ usefulness of the reply. The experiment was done in 2014.

Prompt and Personal Reply

Evaluators accepting original and/or official transcripts only:

• A2Z Evaluations
• Academic & Credential Records Evaluation & Verification Service (ACREVS)
• American Education Research Corporation (AERC)
• Academic Records Evaluation Center (AREC)
• Center for Educational Documentation (CED)
• Global Education Group (GEG)
• International Education Research Foundation (IERF)
• Center for Applied Research, Evaluation and Education (IESCAREE)
• Josef Silny & Associates (JS&A)
• NASBA International Evaluation Services (NIES)

Evaluators accepting attested / certified photocopies of transcripts:

• Academic Credentials Evaluation Institute (ACEI)
• Education Evaluators International (EEI)
• Educational Perspectives
• Education Records Evaluation Service (ERES)
• Foundation for International Services (FIS)
• SpanTran Evaluation Services

Prompt but Generic Reply

• Academic Evaluation Services (AES)
• Academic and Professional International Evaluation (APIE)
• Foreign Academic Credential Service (FACS)
• Foreign Credentials Service of America (FCSA)
• World Education Services (WES)

Slow Reply / Hard to Reach

Either no reply after follow-up email, or email address not available

• Foreign Credential Evaluator
• Foreign Educational Document Service
• Foreign Transcript Evaluation Service

No Longer Offer Service For CPA Exam / Licensing Application

• Education International
• eValReports
• Evaluation Service Inc (ESI)

Please note that this list is based on one experiment only. I am constantly collecting info from readers to improve my analysis. Please tell me your experience if you have gone through the process.

For Your Further Reading

• CPA exam application process at a glance
• How to become a CPA (for international candidates)
• CPA educational requirements
• CPA experience requirements

Other Questions?

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