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Accountancy Board tells Senate committee it is self-funded, seeks rule authority to set incremental fees
Summary
The Executive Director of the Accountancy Board told the Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee the board remains self-funded, oversees roughly 30,000 CPA/PA licenses and requests authority to set permit fees by rule to stabilize revenue as retirements slow licensing income.
Chair Manchester convened the Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee and called invited testimony on Sub House Bill 96 and the state operating budget.
Donna O'Clock, executive director of the Accountancy Board, told the committee the agency is funded entirely by applicant and licensee fees and draws no money from the state General Revenue Fund. "The Accountancy Board is Ohio's regulatory and licensing agency for certified public accountants, public accountants and public accounting businesses which are called firms," she said. She said the board currently oversees "nearly 30,000 valid and current CPA or PA licenses and more than 2,400 CPA firm registrations."
O'Clock said retirements and attrition — with more than half of Ohio's CPA population over age 50 — have begun to reduce the board's revenue, and the board asked in the biennial budget for authority to update its 1992 licensing statute to allow permit fees to be set by rule. She said that ability would let the board set incremental license fees to maintain operational revenue and protect the board's financial health. She also described the board's CPA Support and Education Fund, funded by a licensing surcharge, which the board uses for scholarships, exam-prep courses and career programs.
The director described the board's national engagement and partnerships, including members' participation in the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy and ties with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Ohio Society of CPAs. In closing, O'Clock asked that the committee approve the board's requested biennial appropriation levels.
No committee questions followed the testimony and the hearing proceeded to the next invited witness.
