In order to be considered for this designation, a professional must first have at least three years of work-related experience. Two of these years can come from college credit. Work experience entails experience with taxation, accounting, financial services or other fields that will be covered on the designations final examination. If a professional is already registered as a CPA, Registered Public Accountant (RPA) or accounting practitioner, he or she will not be required to take the final examination. If the professional does not have one of the aforementioned credentials, then he or she must take the final exam. The exam lasts eight hours and tests proficiency levels in accounting, financial statement preparation, taxes, business law and ethics. All professionals obtaining this designation must agree to a code of ethics.
Accreditation Council for Accountancy and Taxation
www.acatcredentials.org/index.html