What is your 150 hour plan?

Have you heard this question before?  Did you know how to answer it?  If you are planning to become a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA), you will need to have an answer to this at some point.  To become a licensed CPA, you must complete 150 academic credit hours.  Why is this something that is discussed early in your academic career here at Bentley if you are pursuing a CPA?  The answer is, depending on what your plan is, it will determine when you can apply for what types of positions at various accounting firms.

If your ultimate goal is to work for a large accounting firm, they want you to have your 150 credit hours completed before you start working full time.  Many of the smaller/mid-sized regional firms will allow you to start working full time after you have completed your Bachelor of Science and work on getting your additional credits part time.  You will need to figure out what the best plan is for you.  Once you know the size of the firm you are pursuing and what your 150 plan is, that will allow you to figure out when you should be pursuing Leadership Programs or internships with the various firms.

This is a lot to take in and get organized, so plan ahead!  For specific curriculum questions and how to plan your classes, I encourage you to talk to the Undergraduate Academic Advising Center.

By Melissa J. Sawyer
Melissa J. Sawyer Senior Associate Director/Operations Manager, Undergraduate Career Development, Pulsifer Career Development Center