No. HB 333
Filed under Occupational.
Public Accountancy; Authorizes Board of Accountancy to competitively procure contracted services with certain corporations not for profit for performance of certain duties assigned to Division of Certified Public Accounting of DBPR; authorizes board to rescind such contracted services at any time by majority vote; revises education & work experience requirements for certified public accountant license; directs board to prescribe specified coursework for licensure; revises requirements for licensure of international applicants; removes obsolete language; revises requirements for approval of providers who administer continuing education on ethics for certified public accountants; requires board to give preference to certain providers; revises requirements for certified public accountants licensed in another state or territory of United States to practice in this state without obtaining license.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDFlorida CPA candidates no longer need a fifth year of college. A bachelor's degree in accounting or finance, or in any major plus added coursework, now qualifies for licensure if paired with two years of verified work experience instead of one.
Any CPA licensed and in good standing in another U.S. state or territory can now practice in Florida without a Florida office, board notice, fee, or state-by-state equivalency review, as long as they once held a bachelor's degree and passed the Uniform CPA Exam.
Full Florida licensure by endorsement now uses that same simple test, replacing three older alternatives, including one for applicants who had never held any out-of-state license and one based on ten years of prior licensure.
The Board of Accountancy can now outsource licensing and exam duties, except investigations, to nonprofit corporations through competitive contracts, and must favor large CPA-membership nonprofits when approving providers of mandatory ethics coursework.
AIApplicants can now qualify for licensure by holding a baccalaureate degree in accounting or finance, or in another major plus required coursework, instead of the single 150-semester-hour path the law previously required.
AIApplicants who qualify through the new bachelor's-degree-only paths must complete two years of verified work experience, twice the one year required of applicants who complete 150 semester hours or hold a qualifying master's degree.
AIA CPA with an active, good-standing license from any other state or U.S. territory may practice in Florida without a Florida office, without notifying or registering with the board, and without any board finding that the other state's standards equal Florida's, if the applicant held a bachelor's degree and passed the Uniform CPA Exam when first licensed.
AIFull Florida licensure by endorsement now requires only an active, good-standing out-of-state license plus a history of holding a bachelor's degree and passing the Uniform CPA Exam, replacing three prior alternatives, including one open to applicants who had never held any license at all.
AIThe Board of Accountancy may competitively procure contracted services for its chapter 473 and chapter 455 duties, except investigative services, from nonprofit corporations, and may rescind any such contract by majority vote at any time.
AIWhen approving providers of the mandatory ethics portion of CPA continuing education, the board must now give preference to tax-exempt nonprofit corporations that represent the largest numbers of Florida CPAs.