Accountancy Board tells Senate it is self-funded and seeks rulemaking authority for license fees

Donna Ocklock, executive director of the Ohio Accountancy Board, told the Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee that the board is fully funded by licensee fees and does not use General Revenue Fund dollars. "It is totally funded by fees for applicants and from our licensees. We are self sustaining and spend no money from the General Revenue Fund," she said.

Ocklock said the board currently oversees nearly 30,000 CPA and public accountant licenses and more than 2,400 CPA firm registrations, but noted demographic trends that are reducing revenues: "More than half of the Ohio CPA population is over the age of 50. Retirements and attrition have begun to negatively affect the board's revenues and we anticipate that the rate of both will continue to accelerate."

To address the projected revenue shortfall, the board asked the committee during testimony on Sub. H.B. 96 for a statutory update to its 1992 licensing law to permit the board to set permit fees by rule. Ocklock said that "the ability to set incremental license fees will keep the board's operational revenue at current levels while protecting its ongoing physical health." She also described the CPA Support and Education Fund, funded by a licensing surcharge and used for scholarships, exam prep and accounting career programs.

Ocklock highlighted the board's national engagement with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) and partnerships with the Ohio Society of CPAs, saying those relationships sustain mobility and business attractiveness for CPAs in Ohio. The board concluded by asking that the biennial budget be approved at its requested levels.

No formal committee action on the board's funding request was recorded in the hearing transcript.