The boards of directors of the AICPA and National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) approved the expansion of accountancy’s model legislation or the Uniform Accountancy Act (UAA) to include an added pathway to CPA licensure.
This optional alternative preserves public protection while offering more flexibility and options for CPA candidates.
“By aligning our model legislative framework with the laws recently adopted in certain states, we’re encouraging removal of outdated barriers and reaffirming our commitment to a truly mobile CPA profession,” stated Susan Coffey, AICPA’s CEO of Public Accounting. “Businesses today demand seamless practice across state lines, and this action provides legislators and regulators with a model under which CPAs can meet that need without disruption. This is how we protect the public while keeping the profession strong, relevant, and ready for what’s next.”
These changes add a pathway to CPA licensure that requires a bachelor's degree, including an accounting concentration, plus two years of experience and passing the CPA exam. The other revisions are the following:
• Shifting from state-based mobility to an individual-based practice privilege that maintains a CPA’s ability to practice across state lines with a single license.
• Adding safe harbor language that lets CPAs who were licensed under differing education, experience and exam requirements, as of Dec. 31, 2024, to continue to have practice privileges under mobility.
The added path will be included in the amended UAA to be released early this summer. The UAA, which is published by AICPA and NASBA, offers state legislatures and boards of accountancy with a national model that could be adopted in wholly or in partly to meet the needs of every individual jurisdiction.
“NASBA and boards of accountancy remain committed to maintaining public protection while implementing these changes to the UAA,” NASBA President and CEO Daniel J. Dustin, noted. “We will continue to work closely with state boards as the new pathway and changes to CPA mobility are implemented.”
The new pathway has a broader role for experience to be determined at the respective jurisdictions. Individual states will have to formally enact legislation and/or adopt rules and regulations, depending on the jurisdiction, before candidates are able to pursue this path. To date, 14 states have already done so, according to the associations.
The new path will be added to the existing pathways:
• Post-bachelor's degree with an accounting concentration + 1 year of experience + passing the CPA exam
• Bachelor's degree with an accounting concentration + 30 credits + 1 year of experience + passing the CPA exam
The updated edition of the UAA maintains that oversight and disciplinary authority over licensees continues with a State Board of Accountancy.
According to both organizations, with the dynamic nature of the profession, AICPA and NASBA will continue to have discussions on maintaining the relevance of the UAA while also exploring the knowledge and skills needed for a newly licensed CPA to serve the public, promote public protection and be positioned for a career as a CPA.
The organizations are talking about doing a comprehensive study that will contain research and engagement with stakeholders such as regulators and the CPA profession. As AICPA and NASBA undergo this new phase, they are assessing opportunities to assist CPAs with navigating practice mobility as states enact legislation.
AICPA and NASBA had opened a 60-day public comment period on proposed revisions to the UAA back in May as reported by NextGen. On Sept. 12, 2024, they proposed an alternative pathway to licensure.
Comments on the proposals are accessible on the NASBA and AICPA websites.