SB 532

Overview

This bill 1) revises provisions in the statutes concerning educational

requirements to become a certified public accountant, or CPA; 2) reorganizes and

makes various revisions to the rules of the Accounting Examining Board, which

issues CPA certificates and licenses; and 3) requires the board to study the feasibility

of establishing continuing education requirements for CPAs.

Changes to statutes

Current law provides that a CPA certificate may be granted only to a person

who has completed at least 150 semester hours of education with an accounting

concentration at an institution, except that if an applicant does not have an

accounting concentration, the board may review other educational experience and

grant the CPA certificate if it determines that such other experience provides the

reasonable equivalence of an accounting concentration. This bill deletes the

requirement that an applicant for a CPA certificate have an accounting

concentration at an institution or its reasonable equivalence and instead requires

that an applicant for a CPA certificate have completed course work in accounting and

business subjects, as determined by the board.

Current law does not contain specific continuing education requirements for

CPAs licensed by the board. This bill requires the board to research the feasibility

of rules establishing such continuing education requirements and to report its

findings and recommendations to the legislature.

Changes to rules

The bill makes various substantive and organizational changes to

administrative rules promulgated by the board, including all of the following:

1. Specifying the number of semester hours of and subjects in which a person

must have completed course work in order to take a CPA exam or to receive a CPA

certificate.

2. Revising provisions concerning peer reviews for CPA firms, including adding

provisions regarding peer reviews in the case of firm structure changes and

extensions for peer-review deadlines. The bill also repeals provisions regarding

board approval of peer-review programs and instead lists qualifying peer-review

programs, which are limited to the peer-review process developed and maintained

by the American Institute of Certified Professional Accountants and administered

by the Wisconsin Institute of Certified Professional Accountants or a corresponding

administrator approved in another state.

3. Adopting by reference the most recent version of the American Institute of

Certified Public Accountants' Code of Professional Conduct and establishing a list

of grounds for discipline of a licensee.

4. Specifying what experience constitutes qualifying experience to be eligible

for a CPA certificate. The bill also provides that experience must be obtained after