Requirements for accounting internships for academic credit and the CPA exam

A full-time member of the 会计 faculty supervises each student who takes an internship for academic credit.

Students have two options for completing an accounting internship for course credit:

  • 选项1 -定期安排实习: Complete a 3-credit-hour internship course in the Fall, Spring, or Summer semester. 实习 must include a minimum of 120 hours of work time at the internship and may be taken concurrently with other courses in the degree plan.
  • 选择2 -繁忙季节“迷你学期”实习: Complete a 6-credit-hour internship course in the Spring semester. Students must work a minimum of 240 hours at a full-time, “旺季”实习, and pair the internship with two 3-credit-hour mini-mester courses that are completed in a compressed schedule.

Students should discuss these options with their academic advisors as soon as they declare 会计 as a major to ensure appropriate degree planning. The steps required for earning credit for an accounting internship are as follows.

  • 学生与 露易丝单, chair of the 会计 Department, about internship(s) in which they are interested. 实习 may be identified through 会计 Department contacts, the 职业和专业发展办公室，或者从学生自己的联系人那里.
  • Student obtains an official job description from the internship employer and submits it to the 会计 Department chair for approval to register for the internship course.
  • 会计 Department chair notifies the student that the internship is acceptable.
  • 学生参加适当的学术课程.
  • Student must meet all 需求 specified in the course syllabus to earn academic credit for the course.

其他会计实习信息:

Note (a): The components of both the undergraduate and graduate accounting internship courses are designed to meet The Texas State Board of Public Accountancy (TSBPA) 需求. These include keeping a journal to document the intern's work activities and preparation of a comprehensive written portfolio.

Note (b): The TSBPA has the right to review the student’s work done in the internship course with an emphasis on the portfolio to assure the quality of the work meets the Board’s expectations.

Note (c): If a student wants to have an internship at an employer where they have been (or are) employed, new duties and responsibilities must be assigned by the employer. Continuation of existing job duties does not qualify for an accounting internship. Also, the job duties cannot be clerical in nature. The intern must be required to use higher-level skills (such as those for a staff accountant), 以及独立的判断.

Note (d): Students should earn a minimum grade of a B earned in either the undergraduate or graduate internship course to assure it will meet the TSBPA expectations for work quality. A lesser grade may still count toward degree 需求 but cannot be assured to meet 需求 of the TSBPA.

TSBPA 需求 for a university's accounting internship program
  • The accounting knowledge gained in the internship is equal to or greater than the knowledge gained in a traditional accounting classroom setting.
  • The internship course shall not be taken until a minimum of 12 semester hours of upper division accounting course work has been completed.
  • The internship plan is approved in advance by the faculty coordinator (i.e., St. 爱德华大学会计系主席).
用人单位TSBPA要求:
  • Provides the faculty coordinator and the student with the objectives to be met during the internship.
  • Provides a significant accounting work experience with adequate training and supervision of the work performed by the student.
  • Provides an evaluation of the student at the conclusion of the internship, a letter describing the duties performed and the supervision to the student, and a copy of the documentation provided to the faculty coordinator and the student.
学生的TSBPA要求:
  • Keeps a diary comprising a chronological list of all work experience gained in the internship.
  • Writes a paper demonstrating the knowledge gained in the internship.
  • Provides documents with the Application of Intent to sit for the CPA exam evidencing that the 需求 have been met.