PRINTER'S NO. 2552
No. 1978 Session of 1997
INTRODUCED BY CAWLEY, PESCI, TIGUE, MICHLOVIC, SCHULER, HERSHEY,
KELLER, LEDERER, McGEEHAN, OLIVER, A. H. WILLIAMS,
YOUNGBLOOD, BUTKOVITZ, MYERS, JAMES, HORSEY, PISTELLA,
DeWEESE, CAPPABIANCA AND COY, OCTOBER 30, 1997
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON PROFESSIONAL LICENSURE,
OCTOBER 30, 1997
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of May 26, 1947 (P.L.318, No.140), entitled, as
2 amended, "An act public accounting; providing for the
3 examination, education and experience requirements for
4 certification of certified public accountants and for the
5 licensing of certified public accountants, public accountants
6 and firms; requiring continuing education and peer review;
7 providing for the organization and ownership of firms and for
8 the procedures and grounds for discipline and reinstatement
9 of licensees; prescribing the powers and duties of the State
10 Board of Accountancy and the Department of State; providing
11 for ownership of working papers and confidentiality;
12 regulating the professional responsibility of licensees;
13 defining unlawful acts and acts not unlawful; providing
14 penalties; and repealing existing laws," further providing
15 for experience requirements.
16 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
17 hereby enacts as follows:
18 Section 1. Section 4.1 of the act of May 26, 1947 (P.L.318,
19 No.140), known as the CPA Law, added December 4, 1996 (P.L.851,
20 No.140), is amended to read:
21 Section 4.1. Experience Requirements.--(a) An individual
22 shall be issued the certificate of certified public accountant
23 under section 3.1(e) of this act after the individual has
1 complied with the following experience requirements:
2 (1) An individual taking the examination on the basis of
3 having satisfied the education requirements in section 4(a)(1)
4 of this act shall have completed at least two years of
5 experience.
6 (2) An individual taking the examination on the basis of
7 having satisfied the education required in section 4(a)(2) of
8 this act shall need only one year of qualifying experience.
9 (3) Beginning on January 1, 2000, an individual taking the
10 examination on the basis of having satisfied the education
11 required in section 4(a)(4) of this act shall need only one year
12 of qualifying experience.
13 (b) The experience required under subsection (a) must:
14 (1) Be in public accounting or as an internal auditor or an
15 auditor with a unit of Federal, State or local government.
16 (2) Be of a caliber satisfactory to the board.
17 (3) Satisfy the requirements of subsection (d).
18 (4) Have been supervised by an individual who is currently
19 licensed to practice public accounting as a certified public
20 accountant or public accountant in this Commonwealth or another
21 state.
22 (c) Individuals taking the examination for the first time
23 after January 1, 2000, must complete the experience required by
24 this section within one hundred twenty months preceding the date
25 of application for a certificate of certified public accountant
26 under section 3.1(e) of this act. Individuals taking the
27 examination before January 1, 2000, need not attain the
28 experience required by this section within any particular period
29 of time.
30 (d) The experience required under subsection (a)(1) must
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1 include not less than eight hundred hours of attest activity,
2 and the experience required under subsection (a)(2) or (4) must
3 include not less than four hundred hours of attest activity.
4 (e) Service in the Armed Forces of the United States
5 subsequent to July 1, 1940, shall be substituted for the
6 experience requirements of subsection (a) on the basis of one
7 month's experience credit for each six months' service:
8 Provided, That the maximum credit for such service shall be six
9 months.
10 Section 2. The addition of section 4.1(e) of the act shall
11 apply to applications filed after February 2, 1997.
12 Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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