of the issuance of an Order regarding the Petition for Waiver or Variance, filed on December 5, 2018, by Jenni Middlebrook Case. The Notice of Petition for Waiver or Variance was published in Vol. 45, No. 03, of the January 4, 2019, Florida ...

 

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL REGULATION

Board of Accountancy

RULE NO.:RULE TITLE:

61H1-27.002Concentrations in Accounting and Business

The Board of Accountancy hereby gives notice: of the issuance of an Order regarding the Petition for Waiver or Variance, filed on December 5, 2018, by Jenni Middlebrook Case. The Notice of Petition for Waiver or Variance was published in Vol. 45, No. 03, of the January 4, 2019, Florida Administrative Register. Petitioner sought a waiver or variance of paragraph 61H1-27.002(4)(a), F.A.C., entitled “Concentrations in Accounting and Business,” that requires for purposes of this rule, upper division accounting hours other than elementary above the minimum requirement may be substituted for general business hours. Elementary accounting subjects shall not be accepted as general business education. Elementary accounting subjects include principles of financial and managerial accounting courses even if they are covered in a three course sequence, are titled “introductory,” “fundamentals” or “principles” and even if they are offered at the graduate level. All accounting courses and not less than 21 semester or 32 quarter hours of general business courses must be at the upper division level. For the purpose of paragraph 61H1-27.002(2)(b), F.A.C., all general business courses, including accounting courses in excess of the 36 hours required, must be taken at the upper division level, except for Introductory Macro and Micro Economics, Business Law, Introductory Statistics, Introduction to Computer Information Systems, and any written or oral communication course described in paragraph 61H1-27.002(2)(b), F.A.C. Lower level general business courses, other than those listed above, posted to transcripts after August 31, 1989 will not count. Standardized tests, such as CLEP, are not acceptable for accounting or general business courses; however, advanced placement (AP) courses will be counted if the applicant has been granted college credit for those AP courses by their degree-granting institution. Upper division, as used in Rule 61H1-27.002, F.A.C., means courses offered at the junior level or higher. By definition, any course taken at a community college is not upper division. Courses offered at the freshman and sophomore level at senior institutions are not upper division, regardless of the title or content of the course (e.g., Cost, Intermediate, Tax, etc.)

The Board considered the instant Petition at a duly-noticed public meeting, held February 1, 2019, in Orlando, Florida. The Board’s Order, filed on March 6, 2019, granted the petition finding that Petitioner established that the purpose of the underlying statute, subsection 473.308(3), Florida Statutes, would be met by granting a variance from paragraph 61H1-27.002(2)(b), F.A.C. The Board further found that Petitioner established that applying the requirements of the aforementioned rule to her circumstances would violate principles of fairness and impose substantial hardship.

A copy of the Order or additional information may be obtained by contacting: Veloria Kelly, Division Director, Board of Accountancy, 240 NW 76th Dr., Suite A, Gainesville, Florida 32607.