National Association of State Boards of Accountancy

The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) is an association dedicated to serving the 56 state boards of accountancy. These are the boards that regulate the accountancy profession in the United States of America.

There is one board for each of the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa.

Structure of the U.S. accounting profession
In the United States, the designation of Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is granted at state level. Individual CPAs are not required to belong to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), although many do.

NASBA acts primarily as a forum for the state boards themselves, as opposed to AICPA which represents CPAs as individuals.

Role of NASBA
NASBA's primary role is to:


 * Act as a forum for state boards to discuss issues of common concern
 * Encourage reciprocal recognition of the CPA qualification between states
 * Enable state boards to speak with one voice in dealing with AICPA, the Federal Government, and other stakeholders

NASBA is a member of the International Federation of Accountants.

Uniform CPA Examination
Responsibility for the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination is shared between state boards of accountancy, the AICPA and NASBA:


 * State boards of accountancy are responsible for assessing eligibility of candidates to sit for the CPA examination. Boards are also the final authority on communicating exam results received from NASBA to candidates.
 * The AICPA is responsible for setting and scoring the examination, and transmitting scores to NASBA.
 * NASBA maintains the National Candidate Database and matches score data received from the AICPA with candidate details. Most states offer online score reporting on NASBA's website at www.nasba.org. NASBA also maintains records for those who have passed the exam.

The AICPA and NASBA also coordinate and maintain mutual recognition agreements with foreign accountancy institutes. The only countries with such agreements includeAustralia, Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, Mexico, Scotland, and New Zealand. Accountants from these countries who meet the specified criteria may be able to sit for the International Qualification Examination (IQEX) as an alternative to the Uniform CPA Exam. IQEX is also jointly administered by the AICPA and NASBA; however, state boards are not involved at the examination stage (only at licensure).