The continuing saga of professional certification in New Mexico has hit an all-time high.
Here is the deal. I want to offer my services in New Mexico as well as Colorado. I checked with New Mexico and found out the rules. The education requirement in Colorado for initial certification is not the same as the education requirement in New Mexico for initial certification, so I have to apply to the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) for a determination of substantial equivalency. That can be provided by a division of NASBA called CredentialNet. If they grant me that, I can take it to New Mexico to document that I meet the New Mexico standards for the practice of public accountancy.
Now a disinterested person could determine that I meet the substantial equivalency requirements in about five seconds, because by rule, I'm grandfathered in. The education requirements have only been in place for a few years. But, we have a bureaucracy in place, so I submitted my ten page application along with individual letters signed by me that CredentialNet could send out to independently confirm my classes and grades at all three schools I attended in the sixties and seventies, my exam scores on the CPA exam in the seventies, the fact that I passed an AICPA ethics exam in 1974, the current status of my certificates in Colorado and Washington, and a certificate of experience.
I waited six weeks.
Nothing.
I contacted CredentialNet and found they were waiting for transcripts from Long Beach State College. I appealed. Since, on this transcript, we would find that I attended one summer course, for an elective that would satisfy the Associates Degree requirements for Long Beach City College in 1968, and that I got an A, could we just consider this one transcript irrelevant and move on? To my surprise, we did. We moved right on to the certification of experience. My certificate of experience has to be signed by my immediate supervisor. For seventeen years I have not had an immediate supervisor other than Judy. I had to sign my own. I told them this when I filled out the form. I told them this again when the independent confirmation arrived in the mail and I signed it. When they processed my file, they discovered it.
But not all was lost. This problem too could be resolved. All I had to do is provide more documentation. I scanned the required document. I sent it to them electronically. Nothing. I confirmed they got it. They didn't. I sent it to them again asking that they please confirm they got it. The response I got, indicating they still didn't get it, still had the attachment. I double clicked the attachment. It opened.
We found a fax machine and faxed the document to them. They received the fax.
Yesterday, they made their determination. The process was complete and notification would be going out to the state the next day. I'm so happy to get this resolved. Let me quote to you the notification I got:
"Thank you! We have received all documents needed to complete your file. I should send word to the Arkansas State Board by tomorrow."
..........Arkansas?
..........Arkansas?!?!?
Well we've done it. I am now deemed substantially equivalent. In Arkansas. I guess now all I have to do is look at a map and figure out where Arkansas is.
