Presidents Message
June 23, 2009
By Susan Jacobson, CPA
 It is with great enthusiasm that I report that Senate Bill 691 passed the full California Senate with a vote of 37–0. As most of you are probably aware, CalCPA sponsored this bill to bring California’s CPA licensing laws into conformity with 48 other states. This is very exciting news as the bill passes on to the California Assembly.
Existing law requires an applicant for the CPA license to comply with certain education, examination and experience requirements under one of two provisions—called pathways. Pathway 1 requires the completion of a baccalaureate or higher degree, including 24 semester units in accounting and 24 semester units in business-related subjects; passing the CPA Exam; and two years of qualifying experience (the 120-hour pathway). Pathway 2 requires the completion of a baccalaureate or higher degree, including 24 semester units in accounting and 24 semester units in business-related subjects; passing of the CPA Exam; proof of the completion of at least 150 semester units (including the baccalaureate degree); and one year of qualifying experience.
If it becomes law, SB 691 will be effective Jan. 1, 2014, and establish Pathway 2 as the single educational pathway for licensing CPAs in California. .
Why is this important? SB 691 would establish California as a substantially equivalent state, bringing its standards into compliance with the Uniform Accountancy Act. If California doesn’t conform to the national standard, a California CPA license may not allow you to work on your clients’ behalf across state lines.
Senate bills introduced in 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2008 tried to make the 150-hour requirement the sole pathway, but have been unsuccessful. Applicants for licensure have increasingly migrated to pathway two. In fact, 70 percent of the total CPA applicants in 2008 were under pathway two.
I take great pride in following this proposal to, hopefully, becoming law as I participated in the annual CPA Day at the Capitol in January and talked to my legislators about supporting this bill. You can track the bill online and also check CalCPA’s legislation update on our website with information from Bruce C. Allen, CalCPA’s director of government relations, and Jeannie Tindel, CalCPA’s director of legislation.
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Chapter News
The Santa Barbara CPA Discussion Group recently welcomed its newest member, Adrienne Huff, who joins committee members Mike Ray (chair), Monica McHugh and Patricia Krout.
During a recent planning meeting, the group reviewed new topic suggestions received from members, as well as prior year topics, for content and popularity.
Some of the upcoming topics that were decided upon include ethics and company fraud; new tax forms related to the Form 990; Adobe Acrobat; employment law; a QuickBooks topic; estate planning; long-term health insurance; and the ever-popular IRS liaison meeting.
If you would like to participate in the Santa Barbara CPA Discussion Group or suggest ideas for future events, please contact Mike Ray.
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Please note that the chapter’s office mailing and shipping address has changed. The new address is: 7127 Hollister Ave., #318; Suite 25A; Goleta, CA 93117. The phone and fax numbers remain the same.
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CalCPA News
Please take three minutes to update your personal profile on our website and indicate your preferred fields of interest. This will allow us to target your meeting announcements so you receive only those of most interest to you. (No more tax updates for auditors—unless you request it).
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Looking for information on what CalCPA events you’ve registered for or a listing of all CPE taken from CalCPA or the Education Foundation? Look no further than the Manage My Account function of CalCPA’s website.
Once you log in to the website with your username and password, the Manage My Account function lets you update your personal and professional profile and provides access to Education Foundation products and course discounts.
Forget your username and password? No worries. Simply visit the Login Recovery webpage, enter your e-mail address and your username and password will be e-mailed to you.
Access Manage My Account today.
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You can post your résumé—for FREE—on CalCPA’s online classified page. Get in front of local employers looking to hire CPA professionals—post your résumé today.
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