Dive Brief:

• Utah Gov. Spencer Cox on Tuesday signed new legislation providing an alternative pathway to becoming a certified public accountant in the state that doesn’t require 150 hours of college credit, effectively a fifth year of college, according to Amy Spencer, communications and marketing director at the Utah Association of CPAs.  
• The move brings to three the total number of states that now have new laws on the books aimed at easing the path to CPA licensure and solving the accounting talent shortage — with Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signing a pair of CPA pathway bills into law Monday evening and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signing similar legislation aimed at widening the Buckeye state’s on-ramps into the accounting profession in January.  
• Emily Walker, Virginia Society of CPAs’ vice president of advocacy, said VSCPA was “thrilled” its state’s licensure legislation was adopted so quickly, and asserted that similar initiatives across states would help support a smooth transition to new licensure rules which don’t disrupt CPAs’ ability to work in other states. “Given the number of states moving forward on adding similar licensure pathways and addressing their own practice mobility provisions, most are optimistic that disruption to mobility will be minimal and short-term,” Walker said in an email.

Dive Insight:

Last month, the Utah state legislature unanimously passed the new legislation that has now been signed by the governor. It allows accountants seeking a license in the state to qualify by attaining a bachelor’s degree, completing two years of professional experience and passing the CPA exam, CFO Dive previously reported. The legislation, which also removed statutory references to 150 and 120 credit-hour requirements, is set to go into effect July 1, 2026.  

Susan Speirs, CEO of the Utah Association of CPAs, wasn’t surprised that the legislation was passed as quickly as it did, as she said the association had been careful to include legislators, the state’s Division of Professional Licensing, educators, businesses and its members in the process.  

“We did expect the legislation to sail through the legislature this year. We’ve been very deliberate and intentional over the last couple of years as we worked on this bill,” Speirs said in an email. “This bill broadens the pathway to CPA licensure while maintaining the integrity of the license, protecting the public and creating opportunities for those who might not otherwise pursue a career in accounting.” 

Currently, about 20 states are seeking to change CPA licensure requirements this year, either with new legislation or via Board of Accountancy rule changes, according to the Minnesota Society of CPAs. States that have introduced legislation include Minnesota, Illinois, Georgia and North Carolina, while about 10 states have publicly supported additional pathways and about six including Idaho, Alabama, Wisconsin and Kansas have publicly supported the initiative. 

The momentum behind the initiative was underscored last week in a legislative hearing in Minnesota in which multiple speakers from academia and the industry testified in support of the legislation, which wouldn’t require the additional 30 hours of college credit on top of a bachelor’s degree to obtain a CPA.  

Minnesota in 2023 was a pioneer among states as it pushed to change CPA licensure requirements. It quickly sparked opposition from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, which said that reducing education requirements would threaten the ability of the state’s CPAs to work across state lines and leave the Land of 10,000 Lakes with the most “restrictive” license that would not be equivalent to that of other states. 

But since then, momentum has shifted behind such initiatives and the warm welcome that the Minnesota legislation received last week marked a change from the push back sparked by a similar proposal that stalled in the state’s legislature last year, CFO Dive previously reported. “Since then national groups have gotten on board and they’ve shifted their positions,” Republican State Rep. Scott Van Binsbergen, who introduced the legislation, told the committee.