A Task Force of Stakeholders In addition to Saunders, who is chairing the Professional Licensure Task Force, nine members were chosen for their knowledge of the profession and representation of various stakeholder groups, including the NASBA Board of Directors, the AICPA, member Boards of Accountancy, and State CPA Societies. “Each of the task force members were extremely enthusiastic to be part of the process,” Saunders recounts of approaching the potential members. “Everyone was on board and excited about it.” The task force includes Bob Cedergren, chairman of the Minnesota Society of CPAs; Sue Coffey, CEO of Public Accounting for AICPA; Megan Durst, Accountancy Board of Ohio; Steven Grice, Alabama Board of Accountancy; Nicola Neilon, NASBA director-at-large and chairman of the UAA Committee; David Noble, chairman of the South Carolina Association of CPAs; Boyd Search, CEO of The Georgia Society of CPAs; William Treacy, executive director of the Texas State Board of Accountancy; Ken Bishop, task force observer and president and CEO of NASBA; and Dan Dustin, task force staff liaison and vice president of state board relations for NASBA. Just two weeks after Saunders began her term as chairman, the task force held its first meeting to review the concepts and determine their focus. What’s on the Table . . . and What’s Not Right off the bat, Saunders was very clear about what the task force would be considering as solutions and what it would not be considering. While the task force is open to looking at many different options for pathways to CPA licensure, Saunders explained that the current licensure model of 150 hours, one year of experience, and the CPA Exam would remain intact. “I explained that since the 150 hours is currently in discussion among the states, it was not what this task force would touch upon due to the importance of mobility,” Saunders says. “We have to look at what we can fix, and the task force agreed.” The task force’s first meeting covered the history of the current education model, the education required under international Mutual Recognition Agreements, and the AICPA-NASBA Experience, Learn, and Earn (ELE) program and other experiential learning models that were introduced in 2023. Task force members agreed that the general principles adopted for ELE—cost-effectiveness, a rigorous education component, and scalability to firms and employers of all sizes—should apply to the development of a Structured Professional Program. The task force narrowed its discussions to focus on: “…a structured experiential learning program that would provide for education, documented experience, and other elements that would provide an equivalent path to licensure without the need for a fifth year of education to complete a 150-hour education program on an accredited transcript. This additional path, to be defined in greater detail, would include both an education and experience component to measure a candidate’s competency to be licensed as a CPA and would be considered equivalent to the current 150-hour pathway defined by the Uniform Accountancy Act. The development of a structured professional program would require legislative and rule changes in some states, which may impact interstate mobility in some states until all states have adopted the new equivalent path.” The task force held a webinar to gather input from an even larger group of stakeholders. The expanded group of invitees included current members of State Boards of Accountancy, state board executive directors, task force members, and NASBA UAA Committee members. Attendees received an update on the task force’s efforts to date and were encouraged to ask questions, which Saunders says was critical to the process. “We need accountancy boards to thoughtfully consider and agree this direction makes sense because they are the ones that will need to support any necessary changes to the statutes and rules in their jurisdictions.” The result of the additional feedback was a Concept Exposure document, which was sent to the stakeholder group for review and feedback in late December 2023. The comment period ended March 31, 2024. Flexibility for State Boards Saunders says the goal is to create a long-term, flexible plan that avoids a patchwork of efforts around the country. “We must ask ourselves if we can offer a path to licensure that would not be on an accredited transcript but is still defined in great detail,” she explains. “It would include an education and experience component to measure competency to become a licensed CPA and would be considered equivalent to the current 150-hour pathway as defined in the UAA as an alternative to the flexible 30 hours needed for licensure.” State boards could create their own programs that would contain key elements and competencies. It would allow individuals to go right to work in the accounting profession and begin building CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29 30 Nebraska CPA
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