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| February 1 , 2004 | The
Monthly Newspaper of the NYSSCPA |
Vol.
7, No. 2 |
Regents Posts 2004 Agenda Online
Substantial Equivalency, Universal CPE, Others Make the List
Continued from the Home Page
Among other elements, the agenda would expand the scope of practice to cover all services CPAs provide, enact a substantial equivalency provision and mandate all CPAs—including those in academia, government and industry—to take mandatory continuing professional education.
The Regents approved the agenda in November on the recommendation of the New York State Department of Education (SED), which said the proposal was intended to bring regulation of accountancy into the 21st century. Officials there have been quick to point out that the regulations have not been substantially updated since 1947, while the nature of accountancy has evolved—though the state came close last year when the Senate passed bill S.302-D, a major overhaul of the accountancy regulation that includes some of the Regents’ core ideas.
New Deal
The most notable provision new to this year’s agenda is the substantial equivalency item, which the New York State Board for Public Accountancy voted 12-1 last September to recommend to the SED.
According to the Regents website, “under this concept, a CPA licensed by and in good standing in another jurisdiction, may be granted the right to practice public accountancy in New York if his or her state of licensure is deemed by the (SED) to have licensure requirements substantially equivalent to New York.”
A CPA licensed by an “equivalent” state and working principally in another state would be able to practice in New York by notifying the SED and paying a fee on an annual basis, acknowledging that he or she may be subject to Regents’ disciplinary action for unprofessional conduct while practicing in New York.
Other Items
The agenda would require all CPA firms, regardless of the form of the organization, that are lawfully engaged in the practice of public accountancy to register with the SED. The amendment would allow the Regents to revoke a firm’s registration or take other appropriate disciplinary action against firms similar to individual licensees whenever disciplinary action is sustained by a duly authorized professional disciplinary agency.
Additionally, firms providing audit services would have to undergo independent quality reviews of their administrative and quality-control policies and procedures once every three years by an SED-approved firm or organization, unless they are already participating in the federal firm inspection program through the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.
Another provision would apply penalties for professional misconduct specific to public accountancy. The agenda would also establish a Public Accountancy Task Force, financed by some new funding mechanism and consisting of CPA investigators, prosecutors and staff, to accomplish the proposed new provisions of the bill.
To view the agenda, go to the SED’s Office of Legislation website at www.oms.nysed.gov/legcoord/ and click on the link to Regents Priority Legislative Proposals.
