The Board proposes the rule amendment to update to allow credit in half –hour increments, clarify reporting requirements, and incorporate reporting form.

 

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL REGULATION

Board of Accountancy

RULE NO.:RULE TITLE:

61H1-33.003Continuing Professional Education

PURPOSE AND EFFECT: The Board proposes the rule amendment to update to allow credit in half –hour increments, clarify reporting requirements, and incorporate reporting form.

SUMMARY: The rule amendment will allow credit in half-hour increments, clarify reporting requirements and incorporate reporting form.

SUMMARY OF STATEMENT OF ESTIMATED REGULATORY COSTS AND LEGISLATIVE RATIFICATION: The Agency has determined that this will not have an adverse impact on small business or likely increase directly or indirectly regulatory costs in excess of $200,000 in the aggregate within one year after the implementation of the rule. A SERC has not been prepared by the Agency.

The Agency has determined that the proposed rule is not expected to require legislative ratification based on the statement of estimated regulatory costs or if no SERC is required, the information expressly relied upon and described herein: During discussion of the economic impact of this rule at its Board meeting, the Board, based upon the expertise and experience of its members, determined that a Statement of Estimated Regulatory Costs (SERC) was not necessary and that the rule will not require ratification by the Legislature. No person or interested party submitted additional information regarding the economic impact at that time.

Any person who wishes to provide information regarding a statement of estimated regulatory costs, or provide a proposal for a lower cost regulatory alternative must do so in writing within 21 days of this notice.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY: 455.213(6), 455.2177, 455.2178, 455.2179, 473.304, 473.305, 473.312 FS.

LAW IMPLEMENTED: 455.213(6), 455.2177, 455.2178, 455.2179, 473.305, 473.312(1)(a), (c) FS.

IF REQUESTED WITHIN 21 DAYS OF THE DATE OF THIS NOTICE, A HEARING WILL BE SCHEDULED AND ANNOUNCED IN THE FAR.

THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROPOSED RULE IS: Veloria A. Kelly, Division Director, Board of Accountancy, 240 NW 76th Drive, Suite A, Gainesville, Florida 32607

 

THE FULL TEXT OF THE PROPOSED RULE IS:

 

61H1-33.003 Continuing Professional Education.

(1)(a) through (b) No change.

(2) Educational instruction or training in public accounting subjects or courses of study is hereby defined as formal programs of learning, as defined below, which contribute directly to professional competency following licensure to practice public accountancy. Unless otherwise approved by the Board pursuant to Section 120.542, F.S., subjects or courses of study qualifying an individual for the purpose of this rule shall be limited to:

(a) Accounting and auditing subjects to consist of:

1. Accounting-related subjects or courses, including, but not limited to, financial accounting (including current authoritative literature in generally accepted accounting principles in the United States), and accounting for specialized industries.

2. Auditing-related subjects or courses, including, but not limited to, general auditing theory and practice (including current authoritative literature in generally accepted auditing standards in the United States), auditing for specialized industries (including governmental auditing requirements) and audit applications to computers and information systems; and other category courses to consist of:

(b) Technical business subjects to consist of:

1. Taxation.

2. Management services and management advisory services.

3. General business including, but not limited to, economics, business law, production or operational systems, marketing, finance, quantitative applications in business and business policy, and computers and information systems without audit applications; and

(c) Behavioral subjects to consist of:

1. Oral and written communications.

2. The social environment of business.

3. Administration of a public accounting practice including, but not limited to, behavioral sciences, managerial effectiveness and management by objectives.

(3) Effective July 1, 1999, Educational instruction or training in public accounting subjects or courses of study is hereby defined as formal programs of learning as defined below, which contribute directly to professional competency following licensure to practice public accountancy. Subjects or courses of study qualifying an individual for the purposes of this shall be limited to:

(a) No change.

(b) Technical business subjects to consist of:

1. through 4. No change.

(c) through (d) No change.

(3)(4) Credit may be prorated by the sponsor for courses that cover more than one area of study by (1) prorating the amount of time spent in each area or (2) awarding credit based on the lowest topic covered with accounting and auditing being the highest and behavioral the lowest. Therefore an eight-hour course that was 75% accounting and auditing and 25% management would receive six (6) hours of accounting and auditing credit and two (2) hours of technical business or eight (8) hours of all technical business. Hours cannot be prorated in less than one half- hour increments.

(4)(5) In order for a Florida certified public accountant to receive credit for programs of learning, as defined above, the following formalities and further requirements must be met:

(a) No change.

(b) Other professional education or training:

1. Professional development courses shall be credited for continuing professional education purposes in increments of not less than one half hour full hours only, equivalent to the actual number of contact hours (hours in the classroom which must include at least fifty minutes of continuous participation per contact hour or twenty-five minutes per contact half hour) provided an outline (defined as a schedule of activity listing major topics of discussion) is prepared in advance and retained; a course is at least one contact hour or half hour in length; the course conducted by a qualified instructor, lecturer or discussion leader; and a record of registration and attendance is maintained. For this purpose, a one-day program will be granted eight hours credit if the total lapsed time is at least eight hours and the contact time is approximately 400 minutes. An instructor, lecturer or discussion leader will be considered qualified if, through formal training or experience, he has obtained sufficient knowledge of the subject matter to competently instruct the course. A course participant will be granted credit for only that portion of a course actually attended. If a record of registration and attendance is not maintained by the sponsoring organization, the course participant must be able to prove registration and attendance.

2. through 4. No change.

(5)(6) Each Florida certified public accountant shall, as a part of the biennial bienniel licensure renewal, on or before December 31 prior to his/her biennial license renewal, comply with the report on forms prescribed by the Board, compliance with continuing professional education requirements completed during the applicable reestablishment period. Each Florida certified public accountant’s documentation supporting such compliance shall be retained through the two years following a two-year reestablishment period. Documentation is to be retained to support evidence of completion of the required hours to enable an a random audit by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) to determine compliance with the requirements. Documentation for of each course shall be in a format to include course title and date, number of hours earned, attendee name, certified public accountant course provider name, number, and signature of by the provider furnishing said certificate, and when requested  shall be recorded using form DBPR CPA 41, entitled Continuing Professional Education Reporting Form, effective September 2015 and available at http://www.myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/cpa/forms.html, or in electronic format prescribed by the Board at http://fl.cpetracking.com or at http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-    .  If staff review or review by the Committee on Continuing Professional Education determines that courses are either improperly classified or do not otherwise meet the requirements of the chapter, then the Florida certified public accountant shall will be notified and  given 60 days from the date of notification to comply with the continuing professional education requirements. Florida certified public accountants who complete the continuing professional education requirements timely but who are found to be deficient after December 31 of their renewal year must correct the error and pay a $50 fine within 60 days of the aforementioned notice. Failure to timely correct the error and pay the fine shall consititute grounds for disciplinary action pursuant to section 455.227 or 473.323, F.S.

(6)(7) No change.

Rulemaking Authority 455.213(6), 455.2177, 455.2178, 455.2179, 473.304, 473.305, 473.312 FS. Law Implemented 455.213(6), 455.2177, 455.2178, 455.2179, 473.305, 473.312(1)(a), (c) FS. History–New 12-4-79, Amended 2-3-81, 4-5-83, 10-19-83, 8-20-85, Formerly 21A-33.03, Amended 9-18-88, 7-7-92, 12-2-92, Formerly 21A-33.003, Amended 12-14-93, 1-26-98, 12-17-00, 8-21-01, 3-21-05, 5-18-05, 7-10-05, 7-23-06, 12-10-09, 7-7-10, 11-7-12, 8-7-13,                        .

 

NAME OF PERSON ORIGINATING PROPOSED RULE: Board of Accountancy

NAME OF AGENCY HEAD WHO APPROVED THE PROPOSED RULE: Board of Accountancy

DATE PROPOSED RULE APPROVED BY AGENCY HEAD: November 6, 2015

DATE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE DEVELOPMENT PUBLISHED IN FAR: November 19, 2015