It’s not common to have legislation proposed that no one speaks against.
That’s the case, however, for House Bill 7020, which would offer more flexibility for state residents to become certified public accountants.
More than 70 people submitted testimony in advance of public hearing on the bill, all of them supporting the legislation. Following the public hearing, the bill was unanimously voted out of the General Law Committee.
Monday, an amended version of the bill was put to a vote in the state House of Representatives. The result? It passed 145-0, with six legislators absent.
Under current state law, to satisfy the education requirement for certification as an accountant, a person must:
Complete at least 150 semester hours of college education, including a bachelor’s degree or higher, from a college or university acceptable to the state accountancy board, and
Have an accounting or equivalent concentration, as determined by the board in a regulation.
The revised bill instead requires, beginning Oct. 1, the applicant to have, from a college or university acceptable to the board, an appropriate accounting concentration or equivalent, and:
- A bachelor’s degree.
- A bachelor’s degree plus an additional 30 college semester hours, or
- A post-baccalaureate degree.
- As for experience, current state law allows the accountancy board to adopt regulations to set the experience requirements for CPAs. The board’s regulations require two years of experience.
Beginning Oct. 1, the amended bill retains the two-year requirement for those who satisfy the education requirement with a bachelor’s degree, but reduces it to one year for those who have completed 30 additional college semester hours, or hold a post-baccalaureate degree.
The bill also allows the state licensing board to deny certification in Connecticut for any accountant licensed in another state if the board determines, in its discretion, that the standards of the other state do not meet those required in Connecticut.
Brian Reilly, a CPA and chairman of the Connecticut Society of CPAs’ pipeline task force, testified during a public hearing in February that the state’s CPA profession is facing a crisis.
“There is a deluge of Baby Boomer retirements expected in the next several years,” Reilly said, “combined with continuously lower accounting major enrollments in our college and universities.”
“At the same time,” he added, “the demand for CPA services is increasing, driven by the growing complexity of tax laws, financial regulations, and business operations. Inaction will be detrimental to our state and lead to large repercussions for the economy.”
Bonnie Stewart, CEO of the Connecticut Society of CPAs, called the bill a “crucial step toward modernizing accounting” in the state.
Stewart said the automatic mobility provision for CPAs licensed in another state, clarifying the language about the educational and experience requirements and providing multiple pathways to licensure are key features of the legislation.
“Overall, providing multiple pathways to CPA licensure will enhance access to the profession and help address workforce shortages,” she said.
With its nearly unanimous approval in the House, the bill will move to the Senate calendar, where no opposition is expected. It was not, however, listed on the calendar for the Senate’s session on Wednesday.
