The Accredited Petroleum Accountant® Certification Program (APA®)

The Accredited Petroleum Accountant® certification program is responsible for both training and accrediting accountants within the oil and gas industry, as overseen by the COPAS Board of Examiners.  The APA® certification program calls for 8 examinations to test the basic elements of knowledge essential for an oil and gas accountant in the following areas:

Operations                            Joint Interest
Law                                       Managerial
Financial Reporting              Tax
Audit                                     Revenue

 All eight modules must be passed before a candidate is recognized as a full APA® and entitled to use the APA® designation.  An Associate Accredited Petroleum Accountant® certificate is obtained by pass the core modules and a module of the APA® candidates choice.  The core modules include:  Operations, Law and Financial Reporting.   

Additional information regarding the APA® certification program can be found in the APA® Accreditation Information guidebook, TR-46.  This guidebook provides information on study materials, testing, dates, responsbilities and eligibility requirements, in addition, please see our FAQs page regarding frequently asked questions about the APA® program. 

There are several advantages to becoming a Accredited Petroleum Accountant®.  You essential become an company and industry resource for best accounting standards, practices and guidelines as well as increasing your personal knowledge of the oil and gas industry beyond accounting.   This certification programs also covers, basic oil and gas law, operations, and requires a solid understanding of many of the land departments responsibilities.   Another advantage is the personal accomplishment of being recognized by your peers for having completed this program.  If you already have your CPA and want to specialize in oil and gas, this is the program for you! 

If you are interested in obtaining your APA®, please see the power point presentation attached below.  After reviewing this presentation, please email the COPAS Executive Director, steve.irizarry@copas.org with any questions on how to become an APA®. 

Maintaining your APA® certification status up to date:
APAs®  must maintain their status through the completion of 10 hours of CPE credits annually. Because COPAS maintains records for each APA®  an annual fee is charged. Please see the APA® Annual Registration and Assessment Form as well as the APA® Accreditation Information  guidebook, TR-46 for additional information.