Reforms the education requirements for persons who want to become certified public accountants and provides alternative pathways to being certified as certified public accountants.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7613
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 1, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PEOPLES-STOKES -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to clarifying the
requirements for a certified public accountant
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of subdivision 1 of section 7404 of
2 the education law, as amended by chapter 651 of the laws of 2008, are
3 amended to read as follows:
4 (2) Education: [have received an education, including a bachelor's or
5 higher degree or a foreign equivalent based on] present satisfactory
6 evidence of completion of one of the following:
7 a. A curriculum of at least one hundred twenty semester hours in a
8 program in accountancy[, in accordance with the commissioner's] that is
9 registered by the department, or that is accredited by an acceptable
10 accrediting agency, or that is deemed to be comparable to a registered
11 or accredited program, as determined by the department; provided that
12 for each of the programs described above, the applicant shall satisfy
13 the undergraduate curriculum semester hour requirements for the speci-
14 fied subjects set forth in the department's regulations as of the effec-
15 tive date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand twenty-five that
16 amended this paragraph; or
17 b. A curriculum of at least one hundred fifty semester hours in a
18 program described in subparagraph a of this paragraph.
19 (3) Experience: [have]
20 a. Present satisfactory evidence of completion of the following expe-
21 rience [satisfactory to the board of regents and in accordance with the
22 commissioner's regulations;] requirement:
23 (i) two years of acceptable full-time experience, or the equivalent
24 thereof, for an applicant who is applying for licensure on the basis of
25 the education described in subparagraph a of paragraph two of this
26 subdivision; or
27 (ii) one year of acceptable full-time experience, or the equivalent
28 thereof, for an applicant who is applying for licensure on the basis of
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11185-01-5
A. 7613 2
1 the education described in subparagraph b of paragraph two of this
2 subdivision.
3 b. For the purposes of this subdivision, one year of full-time experi-
4 ence shall mean an aggregate total of twelve calendar months of full-
5 time employment. Full-time shall be defined as a five-day work week,
6 with at least thirty-five hours of experience per week, excluding over-
7 time. The department may also credit an applicant for part-time experi-
8 ence in the amount of one week of experience for every two weeks of
9 acceptable part-time experience earned. Part-time shall be defined as at
10 least twenty hours of experience per week.
11 c. Acceptable experience shall be attested to by a certified public
12 accountant licensed in New York or in another political subdivision of
13 the United States, provided that such certified public accountant acted
14 in a supervisory capacity to the applicant in the employing organiza-
15 tion.
16 d. Acceptable experience in the practice of public accountancy shall
17 be limited to experience in providing accounting services or advice
18 involving the use of accounting, attestation, compilation, management
19 advisory, financial advisory, tax or consulting skills under the super-
20 vision of a certified public accountant licensed in the United States or
21 a public accountant licensed in New York.
22 e. Acceptable experience in the practice of public accountancy shall
23 be earned through employment as an employee in public practice in a
24 public accounting firm, government, private industry or an educational
25 institution.
26 (4) Examination: pass a written examination satisfactory to the board
27 and in accordance with the commissioner's regulations, provided that the
28 required educational attainment for such examination shall not be great-
29 er than that set out in subparagraph a of paragraph two of this subdivi-
30 sion, and the requirement with respect to such examination may not be
31 waived;
32 § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 7406 of the education law, as amended by
33 chapter 456 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
34 2. Practice privilege. a. Except as otherwise provided in subparagraph
35 two or three of paragraph f of this subdivision, a certified public
36 accountant, licensed by another state [which the board of regents has
37 determined to have substantially equivalent certified public accountant
38 licensure requirements, or whose individual licensure qualifications are
39 verified by the department to be substantially equivalent to New York's
40 requirements, and in good standing], who intends to perform any of the
41 services in subdivision one, two or three of section seventy-four
42 hundred one of this article may practice public accountancy in this
43 state, if the certified public accountant:
44 (1) holds a valid license to practice public accountancy in the other
45 state, [and]
46 (2) practices public accountancy in another state that is [his or her]
47 such certified public accountant's principal place of business,
48 (3) has completed a baccalaureate or higher degree program in accoun-
49 tancy that is registered by the department, or a baccalaureate or higher
50 degree program in accountancy that is accredited by an acceptable
51 accrediting agency, or a baccalaureate or higher degree program, or its
52 foreign equivalent, that is deemed to be comparable to a registered or
53 accredited program, as determined by the department,
54 (4) has passed the written examination described in paragraph four of
55 subdivision one of section seventy-four hundred four of this article,
56 and
A. 7613 3
1 (5) has attained one year of experience as provided in clause (ii) of
2 subparagraph a of paragraph three of subdivision one of section seven-
3 ty-four hundred four of this article.
4 b. The practice privilege allows such certified public accountant, who
5 meets the requirements of paragraph a of this subdivision to practice
6 public accountancy in this state.
7 c. An individual who has been granted practice privileges under this
8 section who performs any of the services in subdivision one or two of
9 section seventy-four hundred one of this article may only do so through
10 a firm which has obtained a registration under section seventy-four
11 hundred eight of this article. Such an individual, as well as an indi-
12 vidual with a New York license who does not have a principal place of
13 business in New York, may provide services in subdivision three of
14 section seventy-four hundred one of this article through a firm of
15 certified public accountants that does not have a registration in this
16 state but that holds a valid license, registration, or permit in another
17 state.
18 d. Any certified public accountant who practices in this state pursu-
19 ant to this section, and any firm that employs such certified public
20 accountant to provide such services in New York, consents to all of the
21 following as a condition of the exercise of such practice privilege:
22 (1) to the personal and subject matter jurisdiction and disciplinary
23 authority of the board of regents as if the practice privilege is a
24 license, and an individual with a practice privilege is a licensee;
25 (2) to comply with this article, the rules of the board of regents and
26 the regulations of the commissioner; and
27 (3) to the appointment of the secretary of state or other public offi-
28 cial acceptable to the department, in the certified public accountant's
29 state of licensure or the state in which the firm has its principal
30 place of business, as the certified public accountant or firm's agent
31 upon whom process may be served in any action or proceeding by the
32 department against such certified public accountant or firm.
33 e. [For purposes of this subdivision, the board of regents may deter-
34 mine that nationally-recognized certified public accountant licensure
35 requirements are substantially equivalent to New York's requirements,
36 such that an individual licensed in a state determined to have licensure
37 requirements substantially equivalent to the nationally-recognized CPA
38 licensure requirements, or an individual whose licensure qualifications
39 are determined to be substantially equivalent to the nationally-recog-
40 nized CPA licensure requirements, may practice under the practice privi-
41 lege pursuant to the requirements contained in this subdivision.
42 f.] (1) A person who wishes to practice public accountancy in this
43 state but does not meet the requirements of paragraph a of this subdivi-
44 sion is subject to the full licensing and registration requirements of
45 this article.
46 (2) In the event the license from the other state of the certified
47 public accountant's principal place of business is no longer valid or in
48 good standing, or that the certified public accountant has had any final
49 disciplinary action taken by the licensing or disciplinary authority of
50 any other state concerning the practice of public accountancy that has
51 resulted in (i) the suspension or revocation of [his or her] such certi-
52 fied public accountant's license, or (ii) other disciplinary action
53 against [his or her] such certified public accountant's license that
54 arises from (a) gross negligence, recklessness or intentional wrongdoing
55 relating to the practice of public accountancy, (b) fraud or misappro-
56 priation of funds relating to the practice of public accountancy, or (c)
A. 7613 4
1 preparation, publication, or dissemination of false, fraudulent, or
2 materially incomplete or misleading financial statements, reports or
3 information relating to the practice of public accountancy, the certi-
4 fied public accountant shall cease offering to perform or performing
5 such services in this state individually and on behalf of [his or her]
6 such certified public accountant's firm, until and unless such certified
7 public accountant receives written permission from the department to
8 resume the practice of public accountancy in this state pursuant to
9 subparagraph three of this paragraph.
10 (3) Any certified public accountant who, within the last seven years,
11 immediately preceding the date on which [he or she] such certified
12 public accountant wishes to practice in New York, (i) has been the
13 subject of any final disciplinary action taken against [him or her] such
14 certified public accountant by the licensing or disciplinary authority
15 of any other jurisdiction with respect to any professional license or
16 has any charges of professional misconduct pending against [him or her]
17 such certified public accountant in any other jurisdiction, or (ii) has
18 had [his or her] such certified public accountant license in another
19 jurisdiction reinstated after a suspension or revocation of said
20 license, or (iii) has been denied issuance or renewal of a professional
21 license or certificate in any other jurisdiction for any reason other
22 than an inadvertent administrative error, or (iv) has been convicted of
23 a crime or is subject to pending criminal charges in any jurisdiction,
24 shall so notify the department, on a form prescribed by the department,
25 and shall not practice public accountancy in this state under paragraph
26 a of this subdivision until [he or she] such certified public accountant
27 has received from the department written permission to do so. In deter-
28 mining whether the certified public accountant shall be allowed to prac-
29 tice in this state, the department shall follow the procedure to deter-
30 mine whether an applicant for licensure is of good moral character.
31 Anyone failing to provide the notice required by this paragraph shall be
32 subject to the personal and subject matter jurisdiction and disciplinary
33 authority of the board of regents as if the practice privilege is a
34 license, and an individual with a practice privilege is a licensee, and
35 may be deemed to be practicing in violation of section sixty-five
36 hundred twelve of this title.
37 [g.] f. (1) Notwithstanding subparagraph two of paragraph a of this
38 subdivision or any other inconsistent law or rule to the contrary, a
39 certified public accountant licensed by another state and in good stand-
40 ing who otherwise meets the practice privilege requirements under this
41 section and files an application for licensure under section seventy-
42 four hundred four of this article may continue to practice under such
43 privilege for a period coterminous with the period during which [his or
44 her] such certified public accountant's application for licensure
45 remains pending with the department, including any period after the
46 certified public accountant establishes a principal place of business in
47 New York while [his or her] such certified public accountant's applica-
48 tion is pending.
49 (2) Nothing in this section shall limit the applicability of section
50 seventy-four hundred seven of this article.
51 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
52 it shall have become a law.
