CPAL—You’ve Got a Friend

by Chris Malins

When Carole King sung the immortal words “You’ve Got a Friend” on her 1971 album Tapestry, she probably wasn’t thinking about Certified Public Accountants. In fact, it’s safe to say that very few musical performers think about CPAs when composing their songs. But if you’re a CPA in Financial Management or want to be, you’ve definitely got a friend on a new team called CPAL.

CPAL (pronounced “See Pal”) stands for CPA Licensing and was formed to help non-licensed CPAs obtain the professional experience necessary for a license. Thanks to a recent change in the requirements for gaining experience, it is now possible to work in the public sector (i.e. the UW) and become a full fledged CPA.

Here’s how it works: A potential CPA works with CPAL members Christi Chapman and Charles Bennett to determine what experience they have and what experience they still need to become licensed. If the candidate does have the needed experience, CPAL will review the completed licensing application. If Charles and Christi are satisfied that the experience described is sufficient to become licensed, they will “sign off” on the license application.

If the candidate does not have enough experience to become licensed, the CPAL team will work with central accounting units on campus to assist the candidate in obtaining the required experience. Financial Accounting and Internal Audit have expressed a willingness to have candidates work with them in the areas needed.

An initial group of CPA candidates are already working towards becoming licensed. Ruchi Aggarwal is spending time in Internal Audit currently and Marcus Dorschel and Chris Malins will begin work there in the next few months. Sue Camber and Bill Ferris will also use the CPAL team to obtain their licenses.

If you have passed the CPA exam and have a desire to become licensed, contact Christi Chapman at cristic@u.washington.edu . Carole King may not use you as inspiration for a song, but she’ll definitely need you at tax time.