VBOA news

Accrued Interest, the Virginia Board of Accountancy’s summer 2017 newsletter, is ready for the Virginia CPA and exam candidate community. Filled with news and updates from the last few months, this newsletter remains one of the VBOA’s central sources of communicating to the licensees and exam candidates. The VBOA distributes Accrued Interest twice, in July and in January, of each year.

This summer issue includes vital information for all CPAs about new statute changes regarding license renewals as of July 1, experience verification updates, new requirements for Board Policy #4 regarding CPE, VBOA news, Board Disciplinary Actions and much more.

Feel free to contact Kelli Anderson, VBOA Communications Manager, at kelli.anderson@boa.virginia.gov or at (804) 367-1586 with any comments and suggestions.

Also, please don’t forget to take a look back at the VBOA’s previous newsletters.

An important statute change takes effect July 1, 2017, that applies to all Virginia licensed CPAs and firms, eliminating the additional 12-month period for renewals.

Beginning July 1, 2017, § 54.1-4413.2. of the Code of Virginia that references the renewal and reinstatement of licenses is changing, thereby eliminating the additional 12-month period for renewals. The Active-Renewal Fee Delinquent status for Virginia CPA licensees and firms will be discontinued.

Prior to this statute change, an individual or firm holding a Virginia CPA license had an additional 12-month period following the license renewal date in which the licensee or firm could renew. During this additional 12-month period, the licensee was granted an Active-Renewal Fee Delinquent status and was con-sidered to be holding an Active Virginia CPA license.

Licensees who currently hold the Active-Renewal Fee Delinquent status as of July 1 will remain in that status until the license is renewed or expires.

Once the license goes into Expired status, it will be the responsibility of the licensee or of the firm to reinstate the license. There is a $350 reinstatement fee for individuals and a $500 reinstatement fee for firms. The steps for reinstatement are available at www.boa.virginia.gov/CPALicense/Reinstatement.shtml.

If you have any questions, please contact the VBOA at boa@boa.virginia.gov.

William R. Brown, CPA, was recently named as a new board member of the Virginia Board of Accountancy by Gov. Terry McAuliffe. McAuliffe announced the administration appointment on Friday, June 23.

Brown, of Providence Forge, is the CEO of W.R. Brown & Co. and also holds an MBA degree in finance. He has more than 30 years in the accounting profession and is a CPA in Virginia and New York, as well as a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Brown begins his four-year term on July 1, 2017, and succeeds previous Board member James “Jim” Holland, CPA.

Due to a statutory change beginning July 1, 2017, all VBOA Experience Verification Forms must be signed and verified by an active, licensed CPA (from any jurisdiction) to meet the experience requirements for individual CPA licensure.

Due to a statutory change beginning July 1, 2017, all VBOA Experience Verification Forms must be signed and verified by an active, licensed CPA (from any jurisdiction) to meet the experience requirements for individual CPA licensure.

The experience requirement includes being employed in academia, a firm, government, or industry involving the substantial use of accounting, financial, tax, or other skills that are relevant, as determined by the VBOA.

The applicant must complete at least 2,080 work hours, or equivalent to one year of full-time employment. An active, licensed CPA (from any jurisdiction) will need to verify this experience has been met.

This is a change from previous submissions when a supervisor, who may or may not have been a CPA, could attest to the applicants work experience.

Visit the VBOA website at www.boa.virginia.gov/CPALicense/InitialLicense.shtml for more information on CPA licensure requirements.

If you have any questions, please contact the VBOA at boa@boa.virginia.gov.

The Virginia Board of Accountancy has contracted with the Virginia Society of CPAs as the sole provider of the Virginia-Specific Ethics Course content and material for the 2017 course.

Sponsors who are interested in providing the Virginia-Specific Ethics Course must meet the following requirements:

• Obtain the course contents and materials from the VSCPA
• Be pre-approved annually by VBOA staff as a provider of this course
• Be listed on the VBOA's website as an approved provider of this course
• Submit all course comments to the VBOA within 60 days of receipt

The VBOA has also approved that all instructors of the Virginia-Specific Ethics Course must hold an active, in good standing, Virginia CPA license.

Potential sponsors will complete the 2017 Virginia-Specific Ethics Course Sponsor/Provider application certifying the ethics material will be obtained from the VSCPA, provide a list of course instructors and submit it to the VBOA for approval. Once approved, the sponsor will appear on the VBOA website as an approved provider of the Virginia-Specific Ethics Course.

The VBOA will not accept any Virginia-Specific Ethics Course completed from a non-approved sponsor and the licensee will be penalized for not completing the approved course.

The course must be instructor-led but may be presented in a variety of different formats including, but not limited to, live seminars, conference sessions, online self-study presented by an instructor, live webcast and webcast replays, on-demand webcast and in-house training.

Please contact the VBOA Director of Operations, Mary Charity, by phone at (804) 367-0495 or by email at mary.charity@boa.virginia.gov with any questions.

The idea was simple but profound. What better way to educate future Virginia CPAs on the responsibilities of the Virginia Board of Accountancy than to hold actual board meetings on a college campus? Wade Jewell, VBOA Executive Director, realized the outreach potential of such an idea to accounting faculty and students and took the show on the road.

One board meeting a year is held at a Virginia college or university campus.

Since October 2010, board meetings have been held at Virginia Commonwealth University, Old Dominion University, Virginia State University, University of Richmond, Longwood University, William & Mary, James Madison University and most recently Christopher Newport University in November 2016.

If you are a faculty member of a Virginia college or university and would like your students to get an on-campus look at the inner workings of the VBOA, contact the Communications Manager at kelli.anderson@boa.virginia.gov.

On April 1, 2017, the AICPA will launch the next version of the Uniform CPA Examination, a four-section (AUD, BEC, FAR and REG), 16-hour assessment (four hours per section) that places a greater emphasis on testing a candidate’s higher-order cognitive skills such as critical thinking and analytical ability. Through multiple-choice questions and an increased use of task-based simulations in all sections of the exam, as well as written responses in BEC, candidates will be presented with questions that test the knowledge and skills that a newly licensed CPA must possess.

To learn more about the CPA exam changes and frequently asked questions as candidates prepare to take the exam, visit the AICPA’s website for all the details.

The Virginia Board of Accountancy is pleased to announce that applications are now being accepted for our new status, Active - CPE Exempt.

Active - CPE Exempt affects CPAs who want to maintain their license but are not providing services to an employer or the public and don’t expect to for a period of time.

CPAs who qualify for this status will be allowed to renew their licenses annually by paying the renewal fee and continue to use the CPA title but will not need to fulfill CPE requirements.

A change in status requires approval by VBOA through an application process, including submission of a company bio/resume and job description, if currently employed when applying for the status change.

Please complete the Change of License Status Request Form on our website and return it to the VBOA office for review and approval. We encourage you to contact us with any questions or concerns regarding this new status at (804) 367-8505 or by email at boa@boa.virginia.gov.

CPAverify.org provides an online search for employers, professionals and the general public allowing anyone who may need to verify the status of an individual CPA and/or public accounting firm. Licensing information is provided by participating state boards of accountancy, including the VBOA. This online central repository of information on licensed CPAs and CPA firms is maintained by the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) to make available a single-search resource covering participating jurisdictions where an individual or firm has been licensed.

With the wide spread mobility legislation, the need for the public to determine if an individual or firm is licensed and in good standing is more important than ever.

CPAverify minimizes the need for consumers to check individually with each state board of accountancy to determine a CPA’s license status. With the support of participating state boards, this tool allows the public an opportunity to check the status of multiple licenses a CPA holds at one website with a single search.

A joint project of the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) and the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), CPAmobility.org is an online tool to help CPAs navigate the practice privilege requirements that allow CPAs to more easily work across jurisdictional borders. This tool is especially helpful to northern Virginia CPAs whose practice includes clients in Maryland and Washington D.C.

The site works by posing three questions to the CPA:

1. Where is your principal place of business (home state)?
2. Where are you going to perform services (target state)?
3. What services will you perform?

After processing, the site displays requirements on licensing and registration of relevant jurisdictions allowing CPAs to spend valuable time on business opportunities rather than regulatory compliancy. Contact information for state boards of accountancy is also available on the CPAmobility search engine. NASBA and the AICPA hope you will find CPAmobility to be a resourceful tool with the potential to educate CPAs on mobility requirements and regulations.