This week, the House Commerce Committee on Congress advanced legislation that would revamp the state’s CPA profession.
House Bill 991 eliminates all licensing committees, including the Florida Accounting Committee. These functions are deployed under the Business and Professional Regulation Authority, where the average bureaucratic staff makes decisions rather than the peer CPA board of directors.
The bill also calls for the elimination of all continuing education requirements for CPAs and other regulated occupations and trade.
“Hospital Bill 991 has the potential to have catastrophic consequences for CPA professions,” says the Florida CPAS Institute.
While the group’s president and CEO Shelley Weir defends deregulation that will negatively affect businesses, Weir says the bill will guide the CPA’s path to full deregulation.
FICPA tells Florida lawmakers that nearly 40,000 CPAs in Florida will be negatively affected by the bad parts of the bill.
“The real problem is that CPAs require continuous professional education (CPE) to maintain the changing landscape and the presence of an evolving occupation. But more than that, the elimination of CPE requirements will make Florida out of sync with other countries,” Weir says.
Weir said if Trump’s tax cuts are passed, they need a trained CPA to help clients fill their tax returns.
Other accountants have told Florida that the loss of interstate CPE interactions may require the Florida CPA to adopt and report CPEs in other states, and that potential losses in mobility will require the CPA to obtain additional licenses in other states while the statute is open.
FICPA has acquired all members and all Florida CPAs to stop HB 991.
“If this bill becomes law, we’re just one legislative measure away from the complete exclusion of Florida licenses,” Weir said.
