CNMI moves toward hosting US CPA exam

The CNMI is positioning itself to become the next largest provider of the U.S. Certified Public Accountant examination, in direct competition with Guam, reportedly considered the largest CPA exam provider in the nation at the moment.

Toward this end, Public School System officials and administration officials will be meeting soon with the Board of Accountancy to plot their moves on how to achieve this feat, although it is conceded that the process could take up to three years.

PSS director of finance Richard Waldo said yesterday that this goal was prompted by PSS’ attempt to have the PRAXIS exam administered here in CNMI. He said they received feedback from PRAXIS in the United States that they could only extend the test to the islands if the CNMI could also be a CPA exam provider.

Waldo said that he would be meeting on Monday with Accountancy Board chair Michael Johnson and special policy adviser Robert Schwalbach to discuss the issue.

Waldo admitted that becoming the largest CPA exam giver in the world would mean that the CNMI has to open itself up to countries like China and India, where there are a large number of accountants who want to be certified in the United States.

He said the possibility could take at least three years to be realized and right now he has to do some research to back up the proposal, such as the number of accounting majors in China and India. Waldo said that these are just one of the few important factors the CNMI has to figure out before the idea could take place.

Waldo said the CNMI is eligible to be a CPA exam provider since it is politically a part of the United States.

This comes soon after the appointment of members to the CNMI Accountancy Board in December last year. The five certified public accountants appointed to the board are James Whitt, Rufo Mafnas, David Burger, Dora Inos Deleon Guerrero, and Johnson.

The idea of making the CNMI a testing center for the U.S. CPA exam was the driving force behind the creation of the board. Gov. Juan N. Babauta himself said in December that he expects the board to work toward making the CNMI a testing center for certified public accountants.

“ We’re seeing the CNMI as a center for CPA exams. And that’s what we ask of you as a favor, that you work diligently to make that happen here in the CNMI,” the governor said, addressing the board members during that December meeting.

The CNMI, however, must first secure the approval of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants to administer the U.S. CPA exam here before the CNMI can begin administering the test.

The board’s creation came as a result of the signing of the Accountancy Act of 2003 (Public Law 13-052) in May 2003.

Waldo said that, if the CNMI is allowed to be one of its direct test providers for PRAXIS, this would boost the islands’ chances of also hosting the CPA exam here.

In this regard, PSS said Waldo has been attempting to extend the PRAXIS exam to the CNMI by coordinating with testing firms like Educational Testing Service and Prometric, the exclusive testing agent of the National Association of State Boards of Accounting that also offers PRAXIS tests, GRA tests among others. Prometric is the provider of the nursing licensure exams in the CNMI. (Marconi Calindas)