This week, the Florida House Commerce Committee moved forward legislation that would revamp the CPA profession in the state.
House Bill 991 would eliminate all licensing boards, including the Florida Board of Accountancy. Those functions are rolled under the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, with general bureaucratic staff making decisions rather than the Board of your peer CPAs.
The bill also calls for the elimination of all continuing education requirements for CPAs and other regulated professions and trades.
“House Bill 991 has the potential to have catastrophic consequences for the CPA profession,” says (FICPA) the Florida Institute of CPAs.
The group’s President & CEO, Shelley Weir, champions deregulation that has a negative effect on business, but Weir says this bill would lead the path to total CPA deregulation.
FICPA tells Florida lawmakers that nearly 40,000 CPAs in Florida would be impacted negatively by the bad pieces of this bill.
“As a practical matter, CPAs need Continuing Professional Education (CPE) in order to stay on top of a changing landscape and evolving profession. But more than that, the elimination of the CPE requirement would put Florida out of sync with the rest of the nation,” says Weir.
Weir said if the Trump’s tax cuts get passed, you need trained CPA’s to help clients fill out their tax returns.
Other accountants tell Florida Daily that with the loss of CPE reciprocity between states, Florida CPAs may be required to take and report CPE in other states and with the potential loss of mobility while statutes are open, CPAs would need to obtain additional licenses in other states.
FICPA is getting all its members and all Florida CPAs involved to stop HB 991.
“Please understand, should this bill become law, we are just one legislative action away from the complete elimination of licensure in the state of Florida,” said Weir.
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