FL
Florida House Bill H0813

Florida 2024 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0813 Compare Versions

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1010 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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14+A bill to be entitled 1
1515 An act relating to certified public accountants; 2
1616 amending s. 473.313, F.S.; authorizing certain 3
1717 certified public accountants to apply to the 4
1818 Department of Business and Professional Regulation to 5
1919 place their licenses on retired status; authorizing 6
2020 the Board of Accountancy to prescribe by rule a 7
2121 certain application; providing requirements for the 8
2222 application; providing that a licensee loses retired 9
2323 status in certain circumstances; authorizing a retired 10
2424 licensee to take certain actions without losing 11
2525 retired status; requiring a certain affirmation; 12
2626 authorizing a retired licensee to accept certain 13
2727 reimbursements or per diem amounts; prohibiting a 14
2828 retired licensee from offering or rendering certain 15
2929 professional services; providing for the reactivation 16
3030 of a retired licensee's license; providing 17
3131 requirements for the conditions of such reactivation; 18
3232 providing a definition; amending s. 473.302, F.S.; 19
3333 revising a definition; providing an effective date. 20
3434 21
3535 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 22
3636 23
3737 Section 1. Section 473.313, Florida Statutes, is amended 24
3838 to read: 25
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4747 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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5151 473.313 Inactive status ; retired status.— 26
5252 (1) A Florida certified public accountant may request that 27
5353 her or his license be placed in an inactive status by making 28
5454 application to the department. The board may prescribe by rule 29
5555 fees for placing a license on inactive status, renewal of 30
5656 inactive status, and reactivation of an inactive license. 31
5757 (a)(2) A license that has become inactive under this 32
5858 subsection (1) or for failure to complete the requirements in s. 33
5959 473.312 may be reactivated under s. 473.311 upon application to 34
6060 the department. The board may prescribe by rule continuing 35
6161 education requirements as a condition of reactivating a license. 36
6262 The maximum continuing education requirements for reactivating a 37
6363 license are 120 hours, including at least 30 hours in 38
6464 accounting-related and auditing -related subjects, not more than 39
6565 30 hours in behavior al subjects, and a minimum of 8 hours in 40
6666 ethics subjects approved by the board, for the reactivation of a 41
6767 license that is inactive or delinquent. 42
6868 (b)(3) A license that is delinquent for failure to report 43
6969 completion of the requirements in s. 473.312 may b e reactivated 44
7070 under s. 473.311 upon application to the department. 45
7171 Reactivation requires the payment of an application fee as 46
7272 determined by the board and certification by the Florida 47
7373 certified public accountant that the applicant satisfactorily 48
7474 completed the continuing education requirements set forth under 49
7575 s. 473.311. If the license is delinquent on January 1 because of 50
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8484 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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8888 failure to report completed continuing education requirements, 51
8989 the applicant must submit a complete application to the board by 52
9090 March 15 immediately after the delinquent period. 53
9191 (c)(4) Any Florida certified public accountant holding an 54
9292 inactive license may be permitted to reactivate such license in 55
9393 a conditional manner. The conditions of reactivation shall 56
9494 require the payment of fees and t he completion of required 57
9595 continuing education. 58
9696 (d)(5) Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 455.271, the 59
9797 board may, at its discretion, reinstate the license of an 60
9898 individual whose license has become null and void if the 61
9999 individual has made a good faith e ffort to comply with this 62
100100 section but has failed to comply because of illness or unusual 63
101101 hardship. The individual shall apply to the board for 64
102102 reinstatement in a manner prescribed by rules of the board and 65
103103 shall pay an application fee in an amount determin ed by rule of 66
104104 the board. The board shall require that the individual meet all 67
105105 continuing education requirements as provided in paragraph (a) 68
106106 subsection (2), pay appropriate licensing fees, and otherwise be 69
107107 eligible for renewal of licensure under this chapt er. 70
108108 (2) A Florida certified public accountant who is at least 71
109109 65 years of age, currently holds an active or inactive license 72
110110 in good standing under this chapter, and is not the subject of 73
111111 any sanction or disciplinary action may request that her or his 74
112112 license be placed on retired status by making application to the 75
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121121 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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125125 department. The board may prescribe by rule the application for 76
126126 placing a license on retired status, which must state that the 77
127127 applicant has no association with accounting or any of the 78
128128 services described in s. 473.302(8). If a licensee who has been 79
129129 granted retired status reenters the workforce in a position that 80
130130 has an association with accounting or any of the services 81
131131 described in 473.302(8), the licensee automatically loses her or 82
132132 his retired status. 83
133133 (a) A retired licensee may, without losing her or his 84
134134 retired status, serve without compensation on a board of 85
135135 directors or board of trustees, provide volunteer tax 86
136136 preparation services, participate in a government -sponsored 87
137137 business mentoring p rogram such as the Internal Revenue 88
138138 Service's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program or the Small 89
139139 Business Administration's SCORE program, or participate in an 90
140140 advisory role for a similar charitable, civic, or other non -91
141141 profit organization. 92
142142 (b) The board shall require a retired licensee to affirm 93
143143 in writing her or his understanding of the limited types of 94
144144 activities in which she or he may engage while in retired status 95
145145 and that she or he has a professional duty to ensure that she or 96
146146 he holds the professi onal competencies necessary to participate 97
147147 in such activities. 98
148148 (c) A retired licensee may accept routine reimbursement 99
149149 for actual costs of travel and meals associated with volunteer 100
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158158 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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162162 services or de minimis per diem amounts paid to the licensee to 101
163163 cover such expenses as allowed by law. 102
164164 (d) A retired licensee may use the title of "retired CPA" 103
165165 on any business card or letterhead or any other printed or 104
166166 electronic document. However, such title must not be applied in 105
167167 such a manner that could confuse the publi c as to the current 106
168168 status of the licensee. The licensee is not required to have a 107
169169 certificate issued with the word "retired" on the certificate. 108
170170 (e) A retired licensee is not required to maintain the 109
171171 continuing education requirements under s. 473.312. 110
172172 (f) A retired licensee may not offer or render 111
173173 professional services that require her or his signature and the 112
174174 use of the CPA title, regardless of whether "retired" is 113
175175 attached to such title. 114
176176 (g) A retired licensee may be permitted to reactivate her 115
177177 or his license in a conditional manner as determined by the 116
178178 board. The conditions of reactivation must require the payment 117
179179 of fees and the completion of required continuing education. The 118
180180 board may prescribe by rule an application for reactivating a 119
181181 license placed on retired status and continuing education 120
182182 requirements as a condition of reactivating a license placed on 121
183183 retired status. The minimum continuing education requirements 122
184184 for reactivating a license placed on retired status are those of 123
185185 the most recent biennium plus one-half of the requirements in s. 124
186186 473.312 for each biennium or part thereof during which the 125
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195195 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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199199 license was on retired status. 126
200200 127
201201 For the purposes of this subsection, the term "retired licensee" 128
202202 means a licensee whose license has been placed in r etired status 129
203203 by the department. 130
204204 Section 2. Subsection (9) of section 473.302, Florida 131
205205 Statutes, is amended to read: 132
206206 473.302 Definitions. —As used in this chapter, the term: 133
207207 (9) "Uniform Accountancy Act" means the Uniform 134
208208 Accountancy Act, Eighth Seventh Edition, dated January 2018 May 135
209209 2014 and published by the American Institute of Certified Public 136
210210 Accountants and the National Association of State Boards of 137
211211 Accountancy. 138
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213213 However, these terms shall not include services provided by the 140
214214 American Institute of Certified Public Accountants or the 141
215215 Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants, or any full 142
216216 service association of certified public accounting firms whose 143
217217 plans of administration have been approved by the board, to 144
218218 their members or services pe rformed by these entities in 145
219219 reviewing the services provided to the public by members of 146
220220 these entities. 147
221221 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 148