🔒CT revises CPA requirements for first time in 25 years to address accounting workforce shortage

Connecticut is creating faster and more flexible routes to becoming a certified public accountant, marking the first major shift in state requirements in 25 years.

Accounting firm leaders say the changes could help ease a statewide CPA shortage.

A law taking effect Oct. 1 creates three new certification pathways for candidates who pass the CPA exam and hold an accounting concentration from an accredited college. Under the new rules, applicants can qualify for certification with a post-baccalaureate degree and one year of work experience; a bachelor’s degree plus 30 additional semester hours and one year of experience; or a bachelor’s degree alone with two years of experience.

That marks a shift from rules adopted in 2000, which required all applicants to complete 150 semester hours of coursework — roughly a bachelor’s degree plus an additional year of study — along with two years of accounting experience.

Under the old rules, no amount of on-the-job training could substitute for classroom hours. By comparison, the new law creates faster routes: one year of work experience is enough for those who complete extra schooling, while candidates who want to avoid another year of college can instead qualify with two years of experience.

The new requirements should attract a more diverse CPA talent pool by reducing unnecessary barriers to licensure while keeping the CPA exam’s rigorous standards, said Bonnie Stewart, CEO and executive director of the Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants.

The society proposed the changes in summer 2024; the State Board of Accountancy endorsed them that fall, and lawmakers adopted them during the 2025 session.

“It ensures that businesses, nonprofits, governmental agencies and the public really have access to the financial expertise they need,” Stewart said.

Experience requirement is ‘key’

Connecticut isn’t alone in adjusting its CPA requirements. The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy and the American Institute of CPAs have urged similar reforms, and nearly 20 states have adopted comparable laws, according to CFO, an online publication for finance executives.

The push comes amid a well-documented talent shortfall and fewer people taking the CPA exam.

Between 2016 and 2021, first-time CPA exam candidates fell from about 48,000 to roughly 32,000 — more than a 30% decline, according to The CPA Journal. More recently, 74,165 people sat for the exam in 2024, including 27,994 first-time candidates, down from 84,980 total and 41,415 first-time candidates in 2023, according to the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA).

That’s well below a recent peak of about 102,291 total and 48,004 first-time candidates in 2016.

At the same time, the U.S. accountant and auditor workforce declined by about 10% from 2019 to 2024, according to BLS data.

The state’s 150-hour requirement, enacted in 2000, has been a major reason fewer students have pursued the CPA exam, said Eliot Bassin, a CPA and partner in the tax and advisory services practice at Fiondella, Milone & LaSaracina LLP (FML).

Bassin — who leads FML’s Avon office and co-chairs the Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants’ advisory council — said it may take a few years for the certification changes to affect his firm, but he’s hopeful they will encourage more people to become CPAs.

He’s also not worried about the new rules producing less capable CPAs, noting that 120 credits was the accepted standard prior to 2000.

“A lot of the work that our staff does is really on-the-job training,” he said.

Bassin said the pandemic complicated recruiting as some CPAs sought to relocate and work from home, although that trend has begun to normalize.

Still, FML, which has about 40 CPAs, finds it challenging to compete for qualified candidates against much larger firms with deeper pockets, Bassin said.

The firm focuses on recruiting interns — at career fairs and campus events in Connecticut and Rhode Island — who may become full-time CPAs, he said. It also posts open positions on job boards and encourages staff referrals.

“Where we really try to differentiate ourselves is to highlight the benefits of being in a midsized firm,” he said. “For us, it’s a lot of focusing on that work-life balance, the sense of satisfaction and the impact you have on the clients that you work with.”

Drew Andrews, CEO and managing partner of Hartford-based accounting firm Whittlesey, said he favors the new CPA guidelines, especially the option to choose more experience over extra schooling.

“I think the experience requirement is the key,” Andrews said.

His firm has about 70 CPAs among roughly 140 accountants and is almost always hiring because it loses about a dozen people a year to retirement or departures to other firms and companies, he said.

Whittlesey also employs a full-time recruiter to expand its pipeline.

“There are more people leaving through retirement than coming in,” Andrews said. “We hire, even when we do not necessarily have an opening, because we know we can use them.”

Stewart, of the CPA Society, said other factors should help draw more people to the profession, including rising salaries and broader outreach.

“It’s amazing how many people are not aware of the different opportunities that exist within the CPA profession,” she said. “One of the fastest-growing areas within the CPA profession is the client advisory services.”

Enrollment increase

Not everyone is certain about the impact of the new requirements.

George Plesko, who oversees the accounting curriculum at the University of Connecticut, said it’s too early to know whether different mixes of education and experience will translate into more licensed CPAs.

“We can put out twice as many accounting majors, but if the pass rate tanks, we’re not going to have more CPAs in the state, and that’s what we don’t know yet,” he said.

The good news is, enrollment in UConn’s accounting program is rebounding following a pandemic-era slide.

Undergraduate accounting majors fell from 375 in fall 2020 to 288 in fall 2022, then ticked up to 301 in 2023, and 319 last fall. Graduate enrollment moved from 66 in fall 2020 to 50 in 2023, before edging up to 55 last fall.

Plesko said the number of accounting majors has increased in the last few years as students see strong employment prospects not only at public accounting firms but across financial services and corporate finance.

Most students are landing jobs in the field after graduation, he said.

“I would say placement rates of at least domestic students approaches 100%,” he said.