VBOA news

In March 2019, NASBA will transition all CPA user accounts, including course and attendance records, from the CPE Tracking System to the new platform, CPE Audit Service.

Beginning on March 4, 2019, and throughout the month of March, CPAs will no longer have access to the CPE Tracking System as their historical data is migrated to the CPE Audit Service. The VBOA recommends that CPAs enter any completed course information into the existing CPE Tracking System before March 4 so the information can be migrated to the new system. In addition, CPAs may wish to run and save a copy of the CPE Status Report for the current and previous reporting periods, in case the information is needed during the transition period to the new system.

The transition and training will take place during the month of March.

CPA users will receive an email that contains information needed to register their new account in the CPE Audit Service platform once it is live. All the access information will be included in that registration email. The new CPE Audit Service platform will also include video tutorials that focus on new features and the most commonly used components.

If you have any questions, please contact our office at (804) 367-8505 or via email at cpe@boa.virginia.gov.

The Virginia Board of Accountancy’s winter newsletter 2019, Accrued Interest, is now available online. Filled with news and updates from the last few months, this newsletter remains one of the VBOA’s central sources of communicating to licensees and exam candidates. The VBOA distributes Accrued Interest twice, in January and in July, of each year.

The winter issue includes vital information for all CPAs about moving to a single renewal date, the naming of the new VBOA Executive Director, disciplinary actions and much more. 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.

The Virginia Board of Accountancy has initiated regulatory action to modify the regulations found in 18VAC5-22. Regulatory action is a multi-stage process where regulations are created, amended or repealed.

A regulatory action consists first of a Notice of Intended Regulatory Action (NOIRA), a proposed stage and a final stage. This process ensures the public has an opportunity to participate and submit any comments or suggestions to be considered in the development of a final regulation.

The NOIRA will be published on January 21, 2019, in the Virginia Register of Regulations with a 30-day comment period.

Please submit written comments online at the Town Hall Public Comments Forums between January 21 and February 20, 2019 or to Kelli Anderson, VBOA Communications Manager, at kelli.anderson@boa.virginia.gov.

During the comment period, we are encouraging feedback on the 18VAC5-22 regulation including ideas to be considered, costs and benefits of the regulations or any proposed changes, and any potential impacts.

Online comments will not be available to the public if they are inappropriate, promote businesses or products, or are off topic.

Every November, the Virginia Board of Accountancy travels to a Virginia college or university to hold their campus board meeting. The on-location board meeting is a wonderful opportunity to educate and inform future Virginia CPAs on the responsibilities and workings of the VBOA.

Students and faculty members have the opportunity to talk with board members individually and ask staff member’s questions.

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, Christopher Newport University, Virginia Tech, and most recently George Mason University in November 2018.

Please contact the VBOA Communications Manager at kelli.anderson@boa.virginia.gov if you are interested in having the VBOA travel to your campus.

Nancy Glynn, CPA, joined the Virginia Board of Accountancy team in October 2018 as Executive Director. She brings with her a wealth of experience in prior leadership roles in government, private and nonprofit industries.

Most recently, she was the Chief Compliance and Operations Officer with a national healthcare-related nonprofit. In that capacity, she led the development, execution and revision of the organization’s operations to ensure they met industry standards and regulations.

Nancy spent several years as the Director of Global Assurance at ChildFund International where she was responsible for global audit and compliance efforts covering more than 20 country offices and 400 partner organizations.

Previous positions have also included serving as the Controller for the City of Richmond, Senior Audit Manager at MeadWestvaco and Audit Director at the Virginia Auditor of Public Accounts.

She is a certified public accountant (CPA), certified fraud examiner (CFE) and certified compliance and ethics professional (CCEP).

Gov. Ralph Northam appointed W. Barclay Bradshaw, CPA, as the new board member for the Virginia Board of Accountancy.

Bradshaw, of Richmond, is the Principal with Harris, Hardy & Johnstone, P.C. He has been licensed as a CPA in Virginia since 1979 and has worked with both national and local CPA firms. He is also a past president of the Richmond chapter of the Virginia Society of CPAs and a past president of the University of Richmond Robins School of Business Alumni Association.

Bradshaw begins his second four-year term on July 1, 2018, and succeeds previous Board member Andrea M. Kilmer, CPA, CFF, CGMA. He previously served as a VBOA Board member from 2011-15.

The original AUD, FAR and REG target score release date for the Q2 testing window has changed from June 27, 2018, to June 28, 2018. The BEC remains the same at June 29, 2018.

Scores for the CPA exam will be released by NASBA to candidates and state boards of accountancy based upon the target score release dates found on the AICPA website.

The Virginia Board of Accountancy has begun moving to a single renewal date of June 30 each year for all CPA licensees and firms.

Beginning February 26, 2018, all CPA individual and firm licenses renewed will have a new expiration date of June 30.

The renewal fee is $60 for individuals and $75 for firms. This is the current renewal fee.

However, for individuals and firms with CPA licenses expiring July 2018 through March 2019, the renewal fee is prorated.

The adjusted renewal fee for individuals is at http://www.boa.virginia.gov/CPALicense/Renewal.shtml and the adjusted renewal fee for firms is at http://www.boa.virginia.gov/Firms/FirmLicRenew.shtml.

Upon renewal and moving forward, all licensee and firm expiration dates will now be June 30 for subsequent years.

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 2018 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 2018 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 Deputy Director for Operations, Mary Charity, by phone at (804) 367-0495 or by email at mary.charity@boa.virginia.gov with any questions.

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.

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.

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.