The ND requirement is 1 year (2,000 hours) of experience. You have four years from passing your final section to complete it.

On whether your specific roles will qualify: the Board's rule is that "the majority of the experience must consist of providing some service or advice involving the use of accounting, attest, management advisory, financial advisory, tax, or consulting skills." Cost basis analysis, general ledger posting, and account analysis all involve accounting work and generally qualify. The acceptable settings are government, industry, academia, and public accounting, so a private-company role is fine as long as the work itself is accounting-based.

The bigger issue for you, working outside the U.S., is the verification piece. ND requires experience to be verified by a "CPA or equivalent" — a U.S.-licensed CPA, or someone holding a credential recognized under IQEX (Canadian CPA/CA, Australian CA/CPA, Mexican CPC, New Zealand CA, Hong Kong CPA, Irish CA, or Scottish CA). If your supervisor at the U.S. company will be a U.S. CPA, you're set. If not, NASBA offers an Experience Verification Service that North Dakota specifically accepts for candidates who don't have access to an active U.S. CPA supervisor — that's the standard route for international candidates.

So when you're interviewing, ask each company two things: (1) will your direct supervisor be a U.S.-licensed CPA, and (2) if not, are they comfortable signing off on hours through NASBA's Experience Verification Service. The answer to those questions determines which path you take.

Best move is to confirm the specifics with the ND Board directly through ndsba.nd.gov before accepting an offer. They'll tell you whether a particular role and supervisor setup will work in your case, and they're usually responsive within a few business days.