VBOA news

As of January 1, 2020, the Active – CPE Exempt status was renamed Inactive but the requirements and guidelines remain the same.

CPAs who hold the Inactive status can still use the CPA title in their name but must be pre-approved by the VBOA. In order to qualify for the Inactive status a licensee’s current job duties cannot require a substantial use of accounting, financial, tax or other skills that are relevant, as determined by the VBOA.

If a licensee is not currently providing services to the public or to or on behalf of an employer, they may not be required to meet the VBOA’s CPE requirements.

Other state boards of accountancy use the term Inactive and the VBOA approved to make a change in the status name to alleviate any confusion or misunderstandings with the Active – CPE Exempt name.

During the Monday, Sept. 30, 2019, meeting, the Board reviewed and approved changes to the following policies:

These changes will be effective Dec. 11, 2019.

Questions or comments regarding updates to the policy can be directed to VBOA Communications Manager Kelli Anderson at (804) 367-1586 or at kelli.anderson@boa.virginia.gov.

The Virginia Board of Accountancy’s summer 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 each year, in January and in July.

The summer issue includes a feature on Dr. Ruth Coles Harris, a professor, mentor and trailblazer in the accounting industry. Other vital information for CPAs include moving to a single renewal date, the launch of the CPE Audit Service, 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.

Gov. Ralph Northam appointed Nadia A. Rogers, CPA, as the newest Board Member of the Virginia Board of Accountancy.

Rogers, of Blacksburg, is Associate Professor of Practice and Director of the Master of Accounting and Information Systems Program at Virginia Tech. She will serve as the Educator member on the Board. Rogers has served as the Chair of the VBOA’s Peer Review Oversight Committee.

Before joining Virginia Tech, she was in public practice, most recently as a Partner of Creedle, Jones & Alga, P.C. and previously as a Senior Manager in KPMG LLP’s Audit Practice.

Rogers began her four-year term on July 1, 2019. She succeeds previous Board Member Susan Quaintance Ferguson, CPA.

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

Licenses can be renewed 120 days prior to expiration.

The renewal fee is $60 for individuals and $75 for firms. This fee has not changed.

Renew online on the VBOA website at http://www.boa.virginia.gov/CPALicense/Renewal.shtml for individuals and http://www.boa.virginia.gov/Firms/FirmLicRenew.shtml for firms.

In May 2019, NASBA transitioned from the previous CPE Tracking System to the new CPA Audit Service for individual CPAs.

For CPAs who used the previous CPE Tracking System, all historical data, including past course and attendance records, has been transitioned to the new system.

When the CPE Audit Service launched, CPAs received an email containing information to register a new account in the new system. Access information is included in the first registration email.

Learn more about the CPE Audit Service.

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 2019 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 2019 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.

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).

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.