Certification & Practice of Certified Public Accountants

The bill expands the ways in which individuals may become eligible for certification as a certified public accountant (CPA) in Colorado.

Currently, to be eligible for certification as a CPA in Colorado, an individual must complete a certain combination of education, work experience, and testing requirements. The existing combination prescribed by statute requires applicants for certification to meet each of the following criteria:

• Obtain a baccalaureate or higher degree;
• Complete at least 150 semester hours of college education approved by the Colorado state board of accountancy (board);
• Complete a board-approved course in professional ethics;
• Obtain one year of relevant experience, as determined by the board by rule; and
• Pass a written exam.

The bill changes these requirements with the overall effect of expanding the ways in which individuals may become eligible for CPA licensure.

Section 1 of the bill creates new combinations of education and experience that may satisfy the requirements for CPA certification. The bill creates 3 pathways to certification that will be available for applicants beginning on January 1, 2027. The 3 pathways created by the bill are:

• Obtaining a baccalaureate degree, completing 2 years of work experience, completing a professional ethics course, and passing the CPA exam;
• Obtaining a baccalaureate degree, completing 30 additional semester hours, completing one year of work experience, completing a professional ethics course, and passing the CPA exam; and
• Obtaining a post-baccalaureate degree, completing one year of work experience, completing a professional ethics course, and passing the CPA exam.

The work experience required for each pathway must continue to meet the requirements set by the board by rule. The bill also preserves the requirement for an actively certified CPA who meets board requirements to verify an applicant's work experience. In addition, section 1 clarifies that work experience, in order to count toward satisfying an applicant's work experience requirements, must include any type of service or advice representing certain accounting-related skills needed to serve the public at the time of initial certification. Section 2 clarifies an applicant's eligibility to sit for a CPA examination and conforms those eligibility requirements with the pathways to certification created by the bill. Section 2 also reinforces that, regardless of an applicant's eligibility to sit for an exam, the applicant must complete one of the specified pathways to obtain a CPA certificate. Section 3 contains a conforming amendment. Section 4 establishes that interstate practice privileges for individual CPAs are no longer determined according to board rules. Rather, section 4 codifies that an individual CPA who is licensed or certified in good standing in another state or jurisdiction of the United States has all the same practice privileges of Colorado certificate holders without needing to obtain a Colorado certificate if the individual was required, at their initial licensure or certification in the other state or jurisdiction of the United States, to pass the uniform CPA examination and obtain a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university. The bill also continues the practice privileges of individual CPAs licensed or certified in good standing in another state or jurisdiction of the United States who held practice privileges in Colorado as of December 31, 2024. Finally, section 4 specifies that the board may not require a notice, fee, or other submission as a condition of exercising such practice privileges.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)