Georgia State Board of Accountancy Unanimously Votes to Change CPE Rule
Today, January 25, 2023, the Georgia State Board of Accountancy voted unanimously to change the following CPE requirements:
- Adding an Ethics CPE Requirement
- Removing the A&A Requirement
- Adding clarification and requirements around technical and non-technical CPE
- Adding CPE reciprocity
- Pointing CPE providers to the 2019 CPE Standards, as approved by NASBA and AICPA
A number of years ago, volunteers on the Georgia State Board of Accountancy started discussing the need to add an ethics CPE requirement to the CPE rule in Georgia. While this conversation matured over the years, we inevitably got to where Georgia is now the only state without an ethics requirement for its licensees. During the maturation process, however, our Board dove into several components of our CPE rules here in the state. Instead of solely focusing on ethics, we now find ourselves in the middle of revamping the entire section relating to CPE rules. The major components include ethics, removing the A&A requirement, refocusing on technical CPE, and something we call CPE reciprocity. We will walk you through these points below.
Ethics Requirement
This area is pretty simple to explain, and we’ll use the exact verbiage the Board is considering to explain it.
New Language in Rule 20-11-.02
(3) Completion of four (4) ethics CPE credits, including one (1) credit specific to the laws, rules and policies of the Board, are required during the CPE reporting period.
As the language above states, we are adding a four-hour ethics requirement within each two-year reporting period of 80 hours. This requirement can be spread out however you like over the two years; the only stipulation is that one of the hours needs to be a state-specific ethics course that goes over Georgia’s laws, rules and policies as they pertain to the profession.
CPE Reciprocity
This area is also straightforward to explain, and we will use the language the Board used in writing this area in rule to explain it.
Rule 20-11-.06 CPE Reciprocity
(1) A non‐resident licensee seeking renewal of a certificate in this state shall be determined to have met the CPE requirement (including the requirements of Rule 20-11-.02 of this rule) by meeting the CPE requirements for renewal of a certificate in the state in which the licensee’s principal place of business is located.
(a) Non‐resident applicants for renewal shall demonstrate compliance with the CPE renewal requirements of the state in which the licensee’s principal place of business is located by signing a statement to that effect on the renewal application of this state.
(b) If a non‐resident licensee’s principal place of business state has no CPE requirements for renewal of a certificate, the non‐resident licensee must comply with all CPE requirements for renewal of a license in this state.
This area in the rules is more of a benefit to licensed Georgia CPAs residing outside of Georgia. In such a case, said CPA would have to abide by the CPE rules as they pertain to their home state instead of abiding by both the rules of their home state and Georgia. Many states have added this language to their rules. In an effort to keep our rules similar and for the sake of substantial equivalency, it makes sense to add this change.
CPE Rule Change as it Pertains to the Removal of the A&A Requirement
This conversation around A&A is lengthy and folds in recommended language from the Uniform Accountancy Act (UAA) on a suggested framework states should consider using around their rules on CPE. Nowhere in the UAA does it suggest that CPAs take a specified amount of their CPE in the subjects of A&A. This in itself was not a reason to get rid of the requirement. However, when you include the profession evolving, the CPA exam changing its format and the added focus areas covered in the UAA language, we ultimately got to a place where removing the A&A requirement made the most sense for the profession in Georgia. It is important to note that we leaned heavily on GSCPA during these conversations, and they were very helpful in creating their own task forces to help us navigate these changes and debate what may or may not make sense. This was a group decision, and all impacted parties were included and are being included as it is happening.
In bullet point format, here are the changes:
- A&A requirement is being removed
- CPAs will be required to take at least half of their CPE in what is defined as technical topic areas; these topics include:
- Accounting
- Accounting (Government)
- Auditing
- Auditing (Government)
- Business Law
- Economics
- Finance
- Information Technology
- Management Services
- Regulatory Ethics
- Specialized Knowledge
- Statistics
- Taxes
- CPAs can also take their CPE in what is defined as non-technical topic areas; these topics include:
- Behavioral Ethics
- Business Management & Organization
- Communications and Marketing
- Computer Software & Applications
- Personal Development
- Personnel/Human Resources
- Production
- For CPE programs to qualify, CPE sponsors must comply with the joint AICPA/NASBA Statement on Standards for Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Programs (CPE Standards), as revised in December 2019.
These are the main areas of change in the CPE rule rewrite, along with some other areas of nuance. Your State Board of Accountancy has already approved these changes however it is important to note that there is a process rule changes must go through prior to them taking effect. The targeted effective date would be the reporting period beginning January 1, 2024. As of the writing of this article, these rule changes have been approved by Attorney General’s office and they have gone through their public comment periods. The only remaining hurdle is for them to be approved by the Governor’s Office. GSCPA is working for you and will keep you apprised of this process once it has been completed. Please check the State Board website for more details. Also, please don’t hesitate to contact either of the authors of this article with questions or concerns. You can reach us at don.cook@gscpa.org or paul.ziga@sao.ga.gov.
Here's a link to the public notice of today's meeting - included with the notice is a link to the new CPA rule.
Another link which points to the 2019 CPE standards, which Georgia now points to in the new rule.
Paul Ziga, CPA, is the executive director of The Georgia State Board of Accountancy. He leads the GSBA in its efforts to license and regulate certified public accountants and public accounting firms in Georgia.
Don Cook is the vice president of legislative affairs at The Georgia Society of CPAs. He is responsible for legislative advocacy on behalf of the CPA profession in Georgia. Don is a registered lobbyist in the state and works on the grassroots training of GSCPA members while providing education on why members should strongly consider supporting the GSCPA-PAC.