All public records of the agency are available for public inspection and copying pursuant to these rules and applicable state law (chapter 42.56 RCW), as follows:

(1) Hours for inspection of records. Public records are available for inspection and copying during normal business hours of the office of the Washington State Board of Accountancy at 711 Capitol Way S., Suite 400, Olympia, Washington, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., excluding legal holidays. Records must be inspected at the agency's office when the requestor has been notified of the availability of the requested documents and an appointment is made with the public records officer.

(2) Records index. An index of public records, consisting of the retention schedules applicable to those records, is available to members of the public at the agency's office.

(3) Organization of records. The agency maintains its records in a reasonably organized manner. The agency will take reasonable actions to protect records from damage and disorganization. A requestor shall not take original records from the agency's office. A variety of records are also available on the agency's web site at ((www.cpaboard.wa.gov)) www.acb.wa.gov. Requestors are encouraged to view the documents available on the web site prior to submitting a public records request.

(4) Making a request for public records.

(a) Any person wishing to inspect or obtain copies of public records should make the request in writing by letter, fax, or email addressed to the public records officer. Written requests must include the following information:

• Date of the request;

• Name of the requestor;

• Address of the requestor and other contact information, including telephone number and any email address;

• Clear identification of the public records requested to permit the public records officer or designee to identify and locate the records.

(b) The public records officer may also accept requests for public records by telephone or in person. If the public records officer or designee accepts an oral or telephone request, he or she will confirm receipt of the request and the details of the records requested, in writing, to the requestor.

(c) If the requests received in (a) or (b) of this subsection are not sufficiently clear to permit the public records officer to identify the specific records requested, the public records officer will request clarification from the requestor in writing.

(d) If the requestor wishes to have copies of the records made instead of simply inspecting them, he or she should make that preference clear in the request. Copies will be made by the agency's public records officer or designee.

(e) When fulfilling public records requests the agency will perform its public records responsibilities in the most expeditious manner consistent with the agency's need to fulfill its other essential functions.

(f) By law, certain records and/or specific content of any specific record or document may not be subject to public disclosure. Accordingly, a reasonable time period may occur between the date of the request and the ability of the public records officer to identify, locate, retrieve, remove content not subject to disclosure, prepare a redaction log that includes the specific exemption, a brief explanation of how the exemption applies to the records or portion of the records being withheld, and produce the records for inspection and/or copying. The requestor will be kept informed of the expected delivery timetable.

(g) If the request includes a large number of records, the production of the records for the requestor may occur in installments. The requestor will be informed, in writing, of the agency's anticipated installment delivery timetable.

(h) In certain instances the agency may notify affected third parties to whom the record relates. This notice allows the affected third party to seek an injunction within fifteen days from the date of the written notice. The notice further provides that release of the records to the requestor will be honored unless timely injunctive relief is obtained by the affected third party on or before the end of the fifteen-day period.

(i) Requests for lists of credentialed individuals by educational organizations and professional associations:

In order to obtain a list of individuals under the provisions of RCW 42.56.070(9), educational organizations and professional associations must apply for and receive recognition by the board before requests will be honored. The requesting organization must provide sufficient information to satisfy the approving authority that the requested list of individuals is primarily for educational and professionally related uses.

Board forms are available on the board's web site or upon request for your use.

(1) Application process and due dates: Your application to take the CPA examination must be submitted to the board's examination administrator. Applicants must submit all required information, documents, and fees to complete their application within sixty days of the date their application is submitted to the board's examination administrator. Your application is not considered complete until all of the following are provided:

• Complete application information and requested documents;

• Fee(s).

(2) Fee refund and forfeiture: Upon submission of your application to the examination administrator, no portion of the board's administrative fee is refundable. Upon the examination administrator's authorization to test, no portion of the total exam fee (both administrative fee and section fee(s)) is refundable. If you fail to meet the board's scheduling or admission requirements, you forfeit all of the exam fee(s) and you must reapply to take the section(s) of the exam.

(3) Notice of admittance to the examination or denial of your application: You must contact the approved test provider to schedule the time and location for your examination. The notice of eligibility to take the examination is called a Notice to Schedule (NTS), the NTS will be valid for one taking of the examination within the six months following the date of the NTS.

Notice of a denial of your application, or notice of your eligibility to take the examination will be sent to you by the examination administrator.

(4) Examination content and grading: The CPA examination shall test the knowledge and skills required for performance as an entry-level certified public accountant. The examination shall include the subject areas of accounting and auditing and related knowledge and skills as the board may require. The examination will consist of the following four sections: Auditing and attestation; financial, accounting and reporting; regulation; and business environment and concepts. The board may accept the advisory grading services of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

(5) Examination process:

(a) Conditions for examinations held prior to January 1, 2004: Contact a customer service representative at ((customerservice@cpaboard.wa.gov)) customerservice@acb.wa.gov or by phone at 360-753-2586.

(b) For examinations taken after December 31, 2003: The board uses all parts of the uniform CPA examination and the advisory grading services of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

(i) To satisfy the examination requirement for a license you must have achieved a score of seventy-five on all four sections of the examination within a rolling eighteen-month period.

(ii) You may take the required four sections individually and in any order. Credit for any section(s) taken and passed after December 31, 2003, will be valid for eighteen months from the actual date you successfully passed any particular section of the examination.

(iii) You must pass all four sections of the examination within a rolling eighteen-month period, which begins on the date that the first section(s) is passed. A section is considered passed on the date that you took the exam section and not the date that your grade is released.

(iv) You may not retake a failed section(s) in the same examination window. An examination window refers to a three-month period in which candidates have an opportunity to take the examination (comprised of two months in which the examination is available to be taken and one month in which the examination will not be offered while routine maintenance is performed and the examination is refreshed).

(v) In the event you do not pass all four sections of the examination within the rolling eighteen-month period, credit for any section(s) passed prior to the eighteen-month period will expire and you must retake any expired section.