Alaska State Board of Public Accountancy Report

State of Alaska Board of Public Accountancy Report

 Amy Cooper, CPA Board Liaison

 The State of Alaska Board of Public Accountancy met on July 30-31, 2015 in Fairbanks. Below are a few items to note.

• As a reminder, this is a renewal year. Renewal forms are not available yet.
• Proposed regulations project. In April, the Board sent out proposed regulations for public comment. I have included the notice sent out to licensees for your information (in case, like me, you don’t remember all of the proposed regulations).
• Proposed Changes in Regulations – The Board of Public Accountancy (Board) proposes to adopt regulation changes in Title 12, Chapter 04 of the Alaska Administrative Code, dealing with current revised American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Professional Standards and Peer Review Manual references, licensure requirements, education and experience requirements, work experience points, attest functions hours, examination, continuing education, disciplinary guidelines, quality review, and definitions of terms, including the following:

1. 12 AAC 04.010, .030, .038, and .100, is proposed to be changed to adopt by reference the current revised AICPA Professional Standards.

2. 12 AAC 04.165, Application for licensure by reciprocity, is proposed to be changed to alter the requirements for licensure by reciprocity.

3. 12 AAC 04.175, Application for licensure by examination, is proposed to be changed to update the regulation references for license by examination to practice public accounting.

4. 12 AAC 04.180, Documentation of experience, is proposed to be changed to alter the work experience requirements to practice public accounting.

5. 12 AAC 04.181, Work experience points, is proposed to be repealed. The intended effect of this repeal is to conform to the proposed changes in section 12 AAC 04.180.

6. 12 AAC 04.183, Attest functions hours, is proposed to be repealed. The intended effect of this repeal is to remove the 500 attest hours required for licensure.

7. 12 AAC 04.185, Education defined for certified public accountant applicants, is proposed to be changed to alter the provisions related to the approved credential evaluation companies.

8. 12 AAC 04.200, Examination, is proposed to be changed to adopt by reference the current revised AICPA Comprehensive Course, and to amend the examination requirements for certified public accountant.

9. 12 AAC 04.300, Hours of continuing education required, is proposed to be changed to alter the continuing education requirements for renewal of a license to practice as a certified public accountant.

10. 12 AAC 04.310, Computation of nonacademic continuing education hours, is proposed to be changed to alter the computation of continuing education hours.

11. 12 AAC 04.350, Nonacademic program criteria, is proposed to be change to alter the nonacademic continuing education criteria approved by the board.

12. 12 AAC 04.520, Disciplinary guidelines, is proposed to be change to alter the provisions related to disciplinary guidelines.

13. 12 AAC 04.530, Definitions for disciplinary guidelines, is proposed to be changed to further define terms used for disciplinary guidelines.

14. 12 AAC 04.600, Quality review reporting requirements, is proposed to be changed to update the statutory references relating to quality review reporting requirements.

15. 12 AAC 04.610 and 12 AAC 04.620, is proposed to be changed to adopt by reference the current revised AICPA Peer Review Manual.

16. 12 AAC 04.690, Definitions related to quality review, is proposed to be changed to update the statutory references relating to definitions related to quality review.

17. 12 AAC 04.990, Definitions, is proposed to update the authority citation consistent with the statutory amendments made in Chapter 67, SLA 2010.       

The Board, at their May meeting, approved those regulations (there were clarifying edits on 12 AAC 04.180(a) and a reference date change for 12 AAC 04.038 made at the meeting). At the time of the meeting, were on their way to Department of Law and then to the Lieutenant Governor’s office for signature. It is expected that the changes will be in affect for this renewal period and made in time for the renewal forms to be changed accordingly.

• Fee proposal – At the end of July, the Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing send out a fee proposal. (As a note, this was not a fee proposal made by the Board but rather the division.) The fee proposal was open for public comment until August 31, 2015. It is expected that the new fees will be in affect for this renewal period and made in time for the renewal forms to be changed accordingly.

• The Board will be looking at statute changes in the future. It did table the discussion of the change of the 2 to 1 year experience requirement. NASBA is considering recommending states go back to a 2-year experience requirement. The Board will wait to see what happens at the national level.

The next State of Alaska Board of Public Accountancy will be held in Anchorage on November 12th & 13th, 2015. The public is welcome.