August 2008

In This Issue:

• Message From The Secretary
• Message From The Chair
• Message from the Executive Director
• Important Information
• eNewsroom
• On the Road to Better Business

---

Message From The Secretary

Dear Friends:

On July 31, 2008 Governor Charlie Crist appointed me to serve as the Secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.  Governor Crist understands the importance of creating a business-friendly environment that makes the safety and protection of the consumer a top priority. I am eager to continue to serve the people of Florida and our business community and professionals in my new capacity as Secretary. I will draw upon my experience in the Department as the former Deputy Secretary of Business Regulation and Interim Secretary to continue to advance our mission to license efficiently and regulate fairly. 

We’ve made tremendous progress over the past year, and I’m dedicated to maintaining this momentum.  We know that serving you is the first step to providing great service to the people of Florida.  That’s why we’ve focused on changes that improve customer service, streamline processes, open communications with licensees and the public, and lead to better business practices. 

One of the most crucial adjustments to business practices at the Department was the implementation of the Document Imaging System.  The project is in its final phases, and it ultimately provides for a more streamlined and centralized application process that results in faster licensing and better service for you.  I thank Governor Charlie Crist and the Legislature for providing $2.5 million to complete this project in Fiscal Year 2008/2009, which helps take care of businesses and professionals throughout Florida.

Our quest to improve customer service is never over.  In an effort to reach our licensees who are located throughout the state, I’m taking our business on the road in the “On the Road to Better Business” tour this summer and early fall.  This tour will provide the opportunity for you to meet with me and my staff to ask questions and provide input and suggestions.  I will hold office hours for customers to come and meet with me at a Department office in their communities. Please look forward to more information to come. 

I continue to uphold our mission to “License Efficiently. Regulate Fairly.”  I understand and value that licensees have unique insight into how we do business and ways we can build upon existing practices, and I look forward to hearing your feedback. 

Thank you for all that you do for the people and economy of our great state.

Sincerely,
Charles W. Drago
Secretary

Back To Top

---

Message From The Board Chair, Maria Caldwell

On Becoming Chair

At the December 7, 2007 Florida Board of Accountancy meeting, I was elected Chair of the Board. It was with great honor and a deep sense of responsibility, that I accepted the position. I want to thank the Board members for their votes of confidence in my service and reaffirm my commitment to continue my tenure at the Board, serving with passion for our profession and upholding our integrity and ethical values to protect the public.

I also would like to thank the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accounting (FICPA) for supporting my service to the Board and their countless contributions in helping the Board with research, legislative matters and support to the Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) in our great State of Florida.

Focus on the Future

Mobility, mobility, mobility! There is hardly a topic which attracts more discussion and debate than the mobility issue. Although the ability to seamlessly move and practice from state to state without having to worry about complying with state specific regulations seems like a no-brainer, there are thorny issues to resolve. For example, jurisdictional rights to discipline CPAs, peer review requirements, levels of continuing professional education and ethics training are only a few of the items to address.

Looking into the future, as technology makes our world smaller; we will have to tackle issues related to mobility on a global basis. Balancing the demand for CPA services and protecting the public will remain a challenge.

Get Involved

During 2006, Jim Thielen, former Chair of the Board, formed the Long Range Planning Taskforce, which endeavors to identify and resolve the most pressing issues in our profession and especially those which affect Florida CPAs. The Taskforce is currently addressing mobility, and we continue to have meetings on the topic. The meetings are public, and although I believe we have a balanced representation of professionals on the Taskforce, I urge all CPAs to become involved. I encourage you to attend the meetings and offer perspectives on how we can best solve the obstacles to mobility. We should be measured in our approach and careful to look at mobility from many angles, but, we do need to keep the momentum going. The future is fast approaching!

For information about the Taskforce meeting schedule, please contact the Board office.

Thank you
Maria E. Caldwell, Chair
Florida Board of Accountancy

Back To Top

---

Message from the Executive Director, Veloria Kelly

As we are in the midst of yet another Hurricane Season (June – November) , I want to remind you how important it is to have a disaster plan for your home and work place. As many of us are aware, a natural disaster can occur with or without warning so being prepared is a must! The sooner and better you are prepared the safer you will be when and if disaster strikes.

There are many websites out there that can help you design a disaster plan appropriate to meet the needs of your family and work place. Protecting your family and assets is not a matter that should be taken lightly. The Florida Division of Emergency Management has a tool that will help you build a plan step by step. For additional information on Hurricane Safety and Preparedness the websites listed below contain some great information. Don’t wait or hesitate. What you do now can affect how well you and your business weather the storm.

Helpful websites:

www.redcross.org – American Red Cross

www.nhc.noaa.gov  - National Hurricane Association

www.floridadisaster.org – Florida Division of Emergency Management

www.sba.gov  - Small Business Association

www.ready.gov - Ready

www.disastersafety.org – The Institute for Business & Home Safety

Veloria A. Kelly
Executive Director, Florida Board of Accountancy
Department of Business and Professional Regulation

Back To Top

---

Important Information

House Bill 797 (2007 Legislative Session) revised the education requirements to sit for the CPA examination and also requires one year of work experience for CPA licensure in the state of Florida.  While the Board of Accountancy is still working on the work experience rule, they have voted on new language regarding the education requirements to sit for the CPA examination.  A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was published on August 1, 2008 and it includes the language listed below:

61H1-27.002 Concentrations in Accounting and Business.

(1) The For purposes of Section 473.306, F.S., if application for the Uniform CPA Examination is was made prior to August 2, 1983, an applicant must have a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university with a major in accounting, or its equivalent, with a concentration in accounting and business subjects. A concentration in accounting and business is defined as an educational program that includes at least 18 semester hours or 27 quarter hours, or the equivalent, in accounting education above elementary (principles of) accounting and 27 semester or 40 quarter hours, or the equivalent, in general business education. In order to meet the provisions of Section 473.306, F.S., the application must be have been filed, completed and approved and show on its face that all educational and other requirements have been were met prior to August 2, 1983.

(2) For purposes of Section 473.306, F.S., if application for licensure is made after August 1, 1983, an applicant must have at least a baccalaureate degree, or its equivalent, from an accredited college or university with a major in accounting, or its equivalent, plus at least 30 semester hours or 45 quarter hours, or the equivalent from an accredited college or university. These additional hours shall be in excess of those required for the baccalaureate degree including a such that the applicant’s total education program shall include at least 150 total semester hours or 200 quarter hours or their equivalent with a concentration in accounting and business as follows:

(a) 36 semester or 54 quarter hours in accounting education at the upper division level which shall include coverage of auditing, cost and managerial accounting, financial accounting, accounting information systems, and taxation. Not more than 3 semester or 4 quarter hours may be internship programs which may be applied to the 36 semester or 54 quarter hours in accounting (internship courses must be taken in conjunction with other traditional coursework at an institution and must appear on the transcript). Further, any remaining internship credit if otherwise acceptable would be applied to the general business requirement, and

(b) 39 semester or 58 quarter hours in general business education which shall include not less than the equivalent of 6 semester or 8 quarter hours in business law courses which include coverage of the uniform commercial code, contracts and torts. Vocational and clerical type courses will not count either toward the accounting requirement set forth in subsection 61H1-27.002(2), F.A.C., or this general business education requirement. Specialized industry courses will be acceptable as general business courses but not as accounting courses unless as defined in subsection 61H1-27.002(2), F.A.C., unless they have an accounting prefix, further such courses in order to qualify must be certified by the chairman of the school or college’s accounting department as qualifying for general business credit. Written or oral communication courses will qualify for the general business requirement if they have a business or accounting prefix or if they are reflected in the catalog in the school or college as relating directly to the school or college’s business or accounting requirements. A maximum of 9 semester hours (13 quarter hours) of computer courses and 6 upper division semester hours (8 quarter hours) of statistics courses will be accepted for purposes of meeting the general business requirement.

(3) To be eligible to take the licensure examination, an applicant shall have completed 120 semester or 160 quarter hours as follows:

(a) 24 semester or 36 quarter hours in accounting education at the upper division level which shall include coverage of auditing, cost and managerial accounting, financial accounting, accounting information systems, and taxation. Not more than 3 semester or 4 quarter hours may be internship programs which may be applied to the 24 semester or 36 quarter hours in accounting (internship courses must be taken in conjunction with other traditional coursework at an institution and must appear on the transcript). Further, any remaining internship credit if otherwise acceptable would be applied to the general business requirement, and

(b) 24 semester or 36 quarter hours in general business education which shall include not less than the equivalent of 6 semester or 8 quarter hours in business law courses which include coverage of the uniform commercial code, contracts and torts. Vocational and clerical type courses will not count either toward the accounting requirement set forth in subsection 61H1-27.002(2), F.A.C., or this general business education requirement. Specialized industry courses will be acceptable as general business courses but not as accounting courses unless as defined in subsection 61H1-27.002(2), F.A.C., unless they have an accounting prefix, further such courses in order to qualify must be certified by the chairman of the school or college’s accounting department as qualifying for general business credit. Written or oral communication courses will qualify for the general business requirement if they have a business or accounting prefix or if they are reflected in the catalog in the school or college as relating directly to the school or college’s business or accounting requirements. A maximum of 9 semester hours (13 quarter hours) of computer courses and 6 upper division semester hours (8 quarter hours) of statistics courses will be accepted for purposes of meeting the general business requirement.

(3) (4) 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, three semester hours of the six required in 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 courses, 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.

(a) 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.)

(b) If an applicant has taken a course at the lower division at a senior institution, and that institution has reclassified the course to the upper division at the time of application to Florida, the course will be deemed upper division for the purpose of Rule 61H1-27.002, F.A.C.

(4) (5) Re-applicants whose original application for the CPA examination was approved prior to August 2, 1983 may elect to satisfy subsection 61H1-27.002(1), F.A.C.

(5) (6) For purposes of subsection 61H1-27.002(2), F.A.C., and Section 473.306, F.S., a baccalaureate degree will not be considered as meeting the statutory requirement for a major in accounting or its equivalent unless all credit hours accepted by the college or university as part of the degree requirement are listed as courses in the catalogues of all institutions attended.

(6) (7) If an applicant takes duplicate courses, only one of these courses will be counted. For purposes of this rule, all CPA Examination Review courses will be deemed to be duplicate courses.

(a) Courses will be considered duplicated if they cover a substantially equivalent professional area of knowledge even if separated by a span of time and even if some of the professional, technical and/or legal issues have been changed or modified.

(b) Regarding CPA Review courses, by definition these courses cover material already studied. Accordingly, no exception will be made to consider a CPA Review course non-duplicative, regardless of statements by applicants, professors, or academic administrators that additional topics are covered or the material covered only superficially in prior courses is covered in more detail in a “review” course.

(7) (8) Individuals who have graduated from accounting programs approved by the International Qualifications Appraisal Board of the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy and whose educational degrees are from accredited institutions as set forth in subsection 61H1-27.001(1), F.A.C., shall be deemed to have met the requirements set forth in subsections 61H1-27.002(1)-(3), F.A.C.

Specific Authority 473.304, 473.306  FS. Law Implemented 473.306 FS. History–New 12-4-79, Amended 2-3-81, 8-1-83, 3-21-84, 6-10-84, 6-5-85, 10-28-85, Formerly 21A-27.02, Amended 5-22-88, 3-21-89, 5-20-91, 12-2-92, Formerly 21A-27.002, Amended 11-2-95, 11-3-97, 1-31-05, 5-24-07,______________.

Back To Top

---

e Newsroom

Check out DBPR's eNewsroom, your source for important Department news and information. Here, you can watch public service announcements, read news releases, and subscribe to and flip through our publications.

Back To Top

---

On the Road to Better Business

Here at the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, we understand how valuable your feedback is to our business practices. No one can provide better insight into how well the Department functions than the end-user. In an effort to bridge the communications gap and bring a piece of the Department right to the customers we serve, we are beginning the “On the Road to Better Business” tour.

During “On the Road to Better Business,” Secretary Charles W. Drago will hit the road and work from district offices across the state providing opportunities for you to meet with him. You will be able to share your experiences with the Department and offer suggestions on how to enhance business. The Department’s mission is to license efficiently and regulate fairly, and we recognize that providing great service to our customers means supporting Florida’s economy. 

Please visit our Web site frequently to see when Secretary Drago will be in an area near you. 

Back To Top

 

 

---