December 2000

Society Set for Reintroduction of Accountancy Bill

NEW YORK—In January, the New York State Society of CPAs expects to see the reintroduction of the accountancy bills it supported in the New York legislative session that just ended.

Sporting the bill numbers A.8600 and S.4402 in the last legislative session, the proposed legislation incorporated the concepts built into the Uniform Accountancy Act (UAA), a joint effort of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA). The bill numbers to be assigned during the next legislative session are not yet known.

A major provision in the bills would allow CPA firms to include non-CPA owners provided, among other conditions, that the majority ownership in terms of equity and voting rights belongs to CPAs and that all non-CPA owners are active with the firm or an affiliated entity. This provision would enable firms to incentivise those on staff from other professions.

The bill will incorporate the UAA’s concept of “substantial equivalency,” which would permit New York CPAs to practice in other states that have adopted the substantial equivalency concept. Similarly, CPAs licensed in other substantially equivalent states could practice in New York. This provision is intended to help multistate firms shift professionals to locations where they can best meet firm and client needs.

Another significant provision of this legislation would allow CPAs to accept commissions and referral fees from non-attest clients provided that acceptance would be disclosed to the client.

The bill would also broaden the types of services needed to meet the minimum experience requirement for licensure to include any service using accounting, attest, management or financial advisory, tax, or consulting skills verified by a CPA in good standing in New York state. The bill would permit CPA candidates to earn their experience in the public or private sector, government, and academia. For candidates applying for licensure on or after Aug. 1, 2004, the experience requirement would be set at one year. The bill would also require these candidates to receive 150 semester hours of college education with a concentration in accounting or its equivalent, as determined by the State Education Department.

New York currently has parallel CPA educational requirements: The new 150-hour curriculum regulation is in effect and college accounting departments have begun registering their 150-hour curriculum programs with the SED.

To learn more about the Society’s legislative efforts, please contact Dennis O’Leary, the Society’s government affairs director, at doleary@nysscpa.org.