I'm sure that sounds odd, but basically I just need 12-16 accounting credits. I would like to get a government job in accounting. I have 20 years operating a full bookkeeping-business consulting company, even have employee's. I know accounting inside & out! Several CPA's say I'm the best they've ever worked with. However, I have job experience & not college credit, so I can't even apply for a clerk job with the government. So I just need to CLEP/test out of 4 accounting courses in order to be eligible to apply with the state. Many reasons why I am giving up my company and going to the state. I'm selling the company for a small amount, re-locating with my husband's state job and want to build a little better retirement source. So, any self-paced; online, colleges that will provide an official transcript without having to complete a full degree???
This is really spot on advice. If you need 12 credits, many distance certs require this exact (or withing 3 credit hours either way) number of credits. I'm not sure that CLEP or Dantes actually has accounting courses to test out of, but I'm almost 100% sure they don't have 12 credits. Plus, the great thing about a cert is that you have some flexibility in choosing the particular path (forensic accounting, white collar crime, etc.) and you finish with a nice piece of paper you can frame.
My local community college has accounting certificate programs that sound very similar and in fact, can probably be done all online; I'd imagine this would be pretty common among community colleges. I did the coursework for my financial accounting and managerial accounting classes (4 credit hrs each) all online last summer and I think they took about a month. They weren't self-paced, but I could work ahead, so I finished all the work over the first few weekends.
I attended Wake Tech Community College in Raleigh, NC (although the courses I have taken were 100% online). The summer session is 5 weeks long.
If you are really good in accounting, you can always try to test out the ACCA or CIMA qualification (British qualification). These are British qualifications equivalent to a Master's degree. If you can at least finish a diploma level with them, you can get them evaluated by WES as an equivalent to an American certificate or university diploma. The warning here is that these qualifications are very rigorous, I wouldn't expect to pass these qualification just with work experience as they require a lot of calculations you normally do with a computer software in the practical world. Exams are not expensive, so you can finish a full diploma for less than 2K.
Look here: https://is.lsu.edu/certificateprog.asp Online Learning Programs: University of Alaska Distance Learning Courses Accounting FAQ :: Northern Virginia Community College Distance Learning : San Diego University for Integrative Studies | San Diego I'm sure there are others (and I'm sure Truckie will find them):kiss:
Don't be so quick to dismiss the notion of earning a degree instead of the handful of credits you're proposing to pursue. Getting a government job isn't as simple as meeting the hiring requirements. You still have to compete with other job applicants on the merits, many of whom will have degrees in the relevant area(s). In this sense, it's no different than competing for a job in the private sector. The stronger your qualifications, the more likely you'll get an interview. If I received your application, I'd want to know why you "tacked on" the accounting credits and then seriously question your readiness for the job. Depending on the competition, I might not interview you at all. Just a thought.
