22 Tex. Admin. Code § 511.57 – Qualified Accounting Courses

(a) An applicant shall meet the board's accounting course requirements in one of the following ways:
1. (1) Hold a baccalaureate or higher degree from a board-recognized institution of higher education as defined by §511.52 of this title (relating to Recognized Institutions of Higher Education) and present valid transcript(s) from board-recognized institution(s) that show degree credit for no fewer than 30 semester credit hours of upper division accounting courses as defined in subsection (e) of this section; or
2. (2) Hold a baccalaureate or higher degree from a board-recognized institution of higher education as defined by §511.52 of this title, and after obtaining the degree, complete the requisite 30 semester credit hours of upper division accounting courses, as defined in subsection (e) of this section, from four-year degree granting institutions, or accredited community colleges, provided that all such institutions are recognized by the board as defined by §511.52 of this title, and that the accounting programs offered at the community colleges are reviewed and accepted by the board.
(b) Credit for hours taken at board-recognized institutions of higher education using the quarter system shall be counted as 2/3 of a semester credit hour for each hour of credit received under the quarter system.
(c) The board will accept no fewer than 30 semester credit hours of accounting courses from the courses listed in subsection (e)(1) - (14) of this section. The hours from a course that has been repeated will be counted only once toward the required 30 semester hours. The courses must meet the board's standards by containing sufficient business knowledge and application to be useful to candidates taking the UCPAE. A board-recognized institution of higher education must have accepted the courses for purposes of obtaining a baccalaureate degree or its equivalent, and they must be shown on an official transcript.
(d) A non-traditionally-delivered course meeting the requirements of this section must have been reviewed and approved through a formal, institutional faculty review process that evaluates the course and its learning outcomes and determines that the course does, in fact, have equivalent learning outcomes to an equivalent, traditionally delivered course.
(e) The subject-matter content should be derived from the UCPAE Content Specifications Outline and cover some or all of the following:
1. (1) financial accounting and reporting for business organizations that may include:
  1. (A) up to nine semester credit hours of intermediate accounting;
  2. (B) advanced accounting;
  3. (C) accounting theory;
2. (2) managerial or cost accounting (excluding introductory level courses);
3. (3) auditing and attestation services;
4. (4) internal accounting control and risk assessment;
5. (5) financial statement analysis;
6. (6) accounting research and analysis;
7. (7) up to 12 semester credit hours of taxation (including tax research and analysis);
8. (8) financial accounting and reporting for governmental and/or other nonprofit entities;
9. (9) up to 12 semester credit hours of accounting information systems, including management information systems ("MIS"), provided the MIS courses are listed or cross-listed as accounting courses, and the institution of higher education accepts these courses as satisfying the accounting course requirements for graduation with a degree in accounting;
10. (10) up to 12 semester credit hours of accounting data analytics, provided the institution of higher education accepts these courses as satisfying the accounting course requirements for graduation with a degree in accounting (while data analytics tools may be taught in the courses, application of the tools should be the primary objective of the courses);
11. (11) fraud examination;
12. (12) international accounting and financial reporting;
13. (13) an accounting internship program (not to exceed 3 semester credit hours) which meets the following requirements:
  1. (A) the accounting knowledge gained is equal to or greater than the knowledge gained in a traditional accounting classroom setting;
  2. (B) the employing firm provides the faculty coordinator and the student with the objectives to be met during the internship;
  3. (C) the internship plan is approved in advance by the faculty coordinator;
  4. (D) the employing firm provides significant accounting work experience with adequate training and supervision of the work performed by the student;
  5. (E) the employing firm provides an evaluation of the student at the conclusion of the internship, provides a letter describing the duties performed and the supervision to the student, and provides a copy of the documentation to the faculty coordinator and the student;
  6. (F) the student keeps a diary comprising a chronological list of all work experience gained in the internship;
  7. (G) the student writes a paper demonstrating the knowledge gained in the internship;
  8. (H) the student and/or faculty coordinator provides evidence of all items upon request by the board;
  9. (I) the internship course shall not be taken until a minimum of 12 semester credit hours of upper division accounting course work has been completed; and
  10. (J) the internship course shall be the equivalent of a traditional course; and
14. (14) at its discretion, the board may accept up to three semester hours of credit of accounting course work with substantial merit in the context of a career in public accounting, provided the course work is predominantly accounting or auditing in nature but not included in paragraphs (1) - (12) of this subsection. For any course submitted under this provision, the Accounting Faculty Head or Chair must affirm to the board in writing the course's merit and content.
(f) The board requires that a minimum of two semester credit hours in research and analysis relevant to the course content described in subsection (e)(6) or (7) of this section be completed. The semester credit hours may be obtained through a discrete course or offered through an integrated approach. If the course content is offered through integration, the institution of higher education must advise the board of the course(s) that contain the research and analysis content.
(g) The following types of introductory courses do not meet the accounting course definition in subsection (e) of this section:
1. (1) elementary accounting;
2. (2) principles of accounting;
3. (3) financial and managerial accounting;
4. (4) introductory accounting courses; and
5. (5) accounting software courses.
(h) Any CPA review course offered by an institution of higher education or a proprietary organization shall not be used to meet the accounting course definition.
(i) CPE courses shall not be used to meet the accounting course definition.
(j) An ethics course required in §511.58(c) of this chapter (relating to Definitions of Related Business Subjects and Ethics Courses) shall not be used to meet the accounting course definition in subsection (e) of this section.
(k) Accounting courses completed through an extension school of a board recognized educational institution may be accepted by the board provided that the courses are accepted for a business baccalaureate or higher degree conferred by that educational institution.

Source Note:The provisions of this §511.57 adopted to be effective July 18, 1986, 11 TexReg 3104; amended to be effective November 8, 1988, 13 TexReg 5433; amended to be effective April 19, 1989, 14 TexReg 1743; amended to be effective August 29, 1990, 15 TexReg 4645; amended to be effective November 27, 1991, 16 TexReg 6647; amended to be effective December 18, 1996, 21 TexReg 11789; amended to be effective August 21, 1997, 22 TexReg 7487; amended to be effective December 11, 1997, 22 TexReg 12054; amended to be effective April 6, 1998, 23 TexReg 3448; amended to be effective October 17, 1999, 24 TexReg 8750; amended to be effective February 27, 2000, 25TexReg 1376; amended to be effective February 12, 2003, 28 TexReg 1180; amended to be effective October 13, 2005, 30 TexReg 6433; amended to be effective October 12, 2006, 31 TexReg 8368; amended to be effective January 28, 2009, 34 TexReg 430; amended to be effective October 7, 2009, 34 TexReg 6854; amended to be effective April 11, 2012, 37 TexReg 2406; amended to be effective October 10, 2012, 37 TexReg 8018; amended to be effective August 7, 2013, 38 TexReg 4895; amended to be effective February 8, 2017, 42 TexReg 423; amended to be effective June 6, 2018, 43 TexReg 3593; amended to be effective October 10, 2018, 43 TexReg 6643; amended to be effective August 5, 2020, 45 TexReg 5351.