Utah joins Ohio and Virginia to address national shortage of accountants

OSCPA is celebrating the most recent, successful, state-led effort to broaden the pathways to CPA licensure with the passage of Utah’s SB 15. This marks the third state following Virginia and Ohio to make the much-needed changes that broaden access while maintaining the integrity and trust of the CPA license.  

More than a dozen states including California, Texas, Illinois, Minnesota and Florida are also in the process of pursuing similar legislation to Ohio, Virginia and Utah. 

Utah’s SB 15 passed unanimously earlier this month and now sits with Gov. Spencer Cox for signature. Unlike Ohio’s HB 238 and Virginia’s HB 2042/SB 1042, which go into effect Jan. 1, 2026, the Utah law will go into effect July 1, 2026.  Like Ohio and Virginia, the Utah law provides an expanded, experienced-based, educational route to licensure that will balance the need to maintain the high standards of the CPA profession with the urgency to attract and matriculate new talent to accounting. 

“This is a major step forward for the accounting profession,” said the UACPA’s CEO Susan Speirs, CPA. “By modernizing the licensure pathway, we are making the profession more accessible while maintaining the highest standards of competency and integrity.” 

The state law changes in all three states include improvements to interstate mobility laws by evaluating candidates on their individual professional status rather than what state they are licensed in.