HB 769

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to public accountancy; amending s.
3	473.308, F.S.; revising and updating education and
4	work experience requirements for applicants for
5	licensure as a certified public accountant; revising
6	provisions governing licensure by endorsement;
7	amending s. 473.313, F.S.; revising requirements for
8	reactivation of an inactive license as a certified
9	public accountant; requiring the Department of
10	Business and Professional Regulation to contract for a
11	feasibility study to assess the privatization of the
12	Division of Certified Public Accounting; providing a
13	deadline for completion of the study; providing an
14	effective date.
15
16	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
17
18	Section 1.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (4) and paragraph
19	(b) of subsection (7) of section 473.308, Florida Statutes, are
20	amended to read:
21	473.308  Licensure.-
22	(4)(a)  An applicant for licensure after December 31, 2008,
23	must show that he or she has had 1 year of work experience. This
24	experience shall include providing any type of service or advice
25	involving the use of accounting, attest, compilation, management
26	advisory, financial advisory, tax, or consulting skills, all of
27	which must be verified by a certified public accountant who is
28	licensed by a state or territory of the United States and who
29	has supervised the applicant. This experience is acceptable if
30	it was gained through employment in government, industry,
31	academia, or public practice; constituted a substantial part of
32	the applicant's duties; and was verified by under the
33	supervision of a certified public accountant licensed by a state
34	or territory of the United States. The board shall adopt rules
35	specifying standards and providing for the review and approval
36	of the work experience required by this section.
37	(7)  The board shall certify as qualified for a license by
38	endorsement an applicant who:
39	(b)1.a.  Holds a valid license to practice public
40	accounting issued by another state or territory of the United
41	States, if the criteria for issuance of such license were
42	substantially equivalent to the licensure criteria that existed
43	in this state at the time the license was issued; or
44	b.  Holds a valid license to practice public accounting
45	issued by another state or territory of the United States but
46	the criteria for issuance of such license did not meet the
47	requirements of sub-subparagraph a.; has met the requirements of
48	this section for education, work experience, and good moral
49	character; and has passed a national, regional, state, or
50	territorial licensing examination that is substantially
51	equivalent to the examination required by s. 473.306; or and
52	c.  Holds a valid license to practice public accounting
53	issued by another state or territory of the United States; has
54	passed a national, regional, state, or territorial licensing
55	examination that is substantially equivalent to the examination
56	required by s. 473.306 at least 10 years before the date of
57	application; and has met the requirements of this section for
58	good moral character; and
59	2.  Has completed continuing education courses that are
60	equivalent to the continuing education requirements for a
61	Florida certified public accountant licensed in this state
62	during the 2 years immediately preceding her or his application
63	for licensure by endorsement.
64	Section 2.  Subsections (3) and (4) of section 473.313,
65	Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (4) and (5)
66	respectively, a new subsection (3) is added to that section, and
67	subsection (2) of that section is amended to read:
68	473.313  Inactive status.-
69	(2)  A license that has become inactive for failure to
70	complete the requirements in s. 473.312 may be reactivated under
71	s. 473.311 upon application to the department. The board may
72	prescribe by rule continuing education requirements as a
73	condition of reactivating a license. The minimum continuing
74	education requirements for reactivating a license shall be those
75	prescribed by board rule and those of the most recent biennium
76	plus one-half of the requirements in s. 473.312. Notwithstanding
77	any other provision of this section, the continuing education
78	requirements are 120 hours, including at least 30 hours in
79	accounting-related and auditing-related subjects, not more than
80	30 hours in behavioral subjects, and a minimum of 8 hours in
81	ethics subjects approved by the board, for the reactivation of a
82	license that is inactive on June 30, 2012 2009, if the Florida
83	certified public accountant notifies the Board of Accountancy by
84	December 31, 2012 2009, of an intention to reactivate such a
85	license and completes such reactivation by June 30, 2014 2011.
86	(3)  A license that has become inactive for failure to
87	report completion of the requirements in s. 473.312 may be
88	reactivated under s. 473.311 upon application to the department.
89	Reactivation requires the payment of an application fee as
90	determined by the board and certification by the Florida
91	certified public accountant that the applicant satisfactorily
92	completed the continuing education requirements set forth under
93	s. 473.311. If the license is inactive on December 31 because of
94	failure to report completed continuing education requirements,
95	the applicant must submit a complete application to the board by
96	March 15 immediately following the inactive period.
97	Section 3.  Upon approval of the Board of Accountancy, the
98	Department of Business and Professional Regulation shall
99	contract for a feasibility study in accordance with s.
100	455.32(4), Florida Statutes, to assess the privatization of the
101	Division of Certified Public Accounting. This study must be
102	completed no later than November 30, 2012.
103	Section 4.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2012.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.