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CS/HB 987 — Public Accountancy
by Careers and Competition Subcommittee; Rep. Gruters and others; (CS/SB 1348 by Regulated Industries Committee and Senators Young and Campbell)
This summary is provided for information only and does not represent the opinion of any Senator, Senate Officer, or Senate Office.
Prepared by: Regulated Industries Committee (RI)
The bill extends the privilege of “practice mobility” to a public accountancy firm or certified public accountancy firm (CPA firm) that does not have an office in Florida or a Florida license to allow the firm to practice public accountancy in the state without a license, notice, or payment of any fee. Current law provides the privilege of practice mobility to out-of-state certified public accountants (CPAs), but not to CPA firms. To qualify for practice mobility, a firm must comply with the practice mobility requirements in current law, be enrolled in a peer review program, perform services through a Florida-licensed CPA, and lawfully perform services in a state where a CPA with practice mobility privileges has his or her principal place of business.
The bill:
- Updates the professional standards for CPAs to reference the current edition of the Uniform Accountancy Act, which is a model act designed to advance the goal of uniformity in accountancy practice.
- Revises the definition of “client” to provide the term means a person who agrees with an accountant or accountant’s employer to receive professional service; and
- Authorizes the Florida Board of Accounting (board) in the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) to discipline a licensed CPA who has been disciplined by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which is a private-sector nonprofit corporation established by Congress in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to oversee the audits of public companies.
If approved by the Governor, these provisions take effect July 1, 2017.
Vote: Senate 36-0; House 115-0