ABO notes: Board deals with nuts and bolts of the CPA profession

By Barbara Benton, CAE, OSCPA vice president of government relations

Anyone with a CPA certificate should know that decisions made by the Accountancy Board of Ohio – the State of Ohio government entity charged with licensing, regulating and, when necessary, disciplining CPAs – can have a significant impact on your ability to make a living. This is a big reason why OSCPA representatives attend all ABO meetings.

Key takeaways from the April 26 ABO meeting included:

• The ABO continues to move forward with a proposal to allow CPA candidates to sit for the CPA Exam up to 90 days prior to finishing the required 150-semester hours of college education. This will be a big help to students who want to start sitting for the CPA Exam. The proposed rule is now before the Common Sense Initiative (CSI) entity, which makes sure it doesn’t impose unnecessary hardships on Ohioans. OSCPA believes this just does the opposite and strongly supports the proposal.
• OSCPA’s Peer Review staff leaders presented its annual overview of the program. While both OSCPA and the ABO noted challenges presented by AICPA’s unavoidable PRIMA program, the ABO had only positive comments about OSCPA’s management of this important program to protect the public interest. The Board approved continuing OSCPA as Ohio’s peer review provider for another year.
• The ABO’s biennial budget for the coming two years is currently being evaluated by the Ohio House. Executive Director John Patterson testified before a House Finance Subcommittee recently, reporting that no fee increase is being requested and Ohio’s fees remain among the lowest in the nation.
• The ABO will continue its efforts to raise awareness among college accounting students by periodically conducting board meetings on college campuses. The next one is at Miami University on September 9.
• Three formal hearings were held: two involved previously disciplined individuals seeking reinstatement of their CPA certificate (both were approved, pending compliance with payments of fines and continuing education requirements), and a third saw a CPA’s certificate revoked because he failed to meet the CPE requirements in another state where he was licensed. It’s important to know that, if you are licensed in multiple states, you must continue to meet the licensing requirements of all those states. Being disciplined by one state can result in being disciplined by others.

The next meeting of the ABO is scheduled for Friday, June 7, 10a.m. at 77 S. High Street, 31^st floor, Columbus.