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Subcommittee advances bill to add experience-based pathways for CPA licensure
Summary
The Regulated Industries Subcommittee advanced House Bill 148, which would add alternate pathways to certified public accountant (CPA) licensure in Georgia—allowing a bachelor’s degree plus two years’ relevant experience or a master’s degree plus one year—while expanding cross‑state mobility for licensed CPAs, supporters told the panel.
The Regulated Industries Subcommittee advanced House Bill 148, which would create alternate pathways to CPA licensure in Georgia by allowing candidates to qualify with a bachelor’s degree and two years of accounting experience or a master’s degree and one year of experience, supporters said at the subcommittee meeting.
Supporters told the panel the bill is designed to shore up a shrinking pipeline of new CPAs and ease workforce shortages, particularly in rural Georgia, while maintaining the profession’s education and ethics standards.
An unnamed legislator who identified himself as a CPA told the subcommittee that the bill preserves the requirement to pass the uniform CPA exam while offering “a new pathway” that emphasizes on‑the‑job experience rather than a fifth year of college. “I learned more doing work, hands on work on the job from October until April 15… I learned far more in a tax season than I did in a year of master’s classes,” he said.
The bill would leave in place the current option of 150 semester hours (commonly satisfied by a master’s), but add two specific pathways: a bachelor’s degree with an accounting concentration plus two years of qualifying experience, or a master’s in accountancy or similar plus one year of experience. Supporters said the change matches a trend in other states: “We’re doing something currently in 35 states,” the presenter said.
Boyd Search, president and CEO of the Georgia Society of CPAs, told the committee the legislation has unusually broad backing within the profession. “I have not seen the profession… coalesce together this quickly over statutory changes to accountancy law,” he said.
Catherine Fletcher, a practicing CPA and chair of the Georgia Society of CPAs board, emphasized the bill’s workforce intent: it would make the CPA designation more accessible to students who face the cost and time burden of additional coursework and help smaller communities recruit accountants. She said the bill “does not lower standards, but it adds flexibility.”
The bill also includes changes to mobility rules so CPAs licensed in other states could perform assurance work in Georgia if their home license is in good standing and they meet any board‑defined education requirements. Don Cook, head of legislative affairs for the Georgia Society of CPAs, told the committee that mobility would require a license “in good standing” from the CPA’s home state and that board rules would clarify any additional education expectations.
Supporters noted endorsement from the Georgia State Board of Accountancy and major accounting firms; the presenter said the changes have bipartisan sponsorship in the House. Committee members asked questions about rural audit capacity and local recruitment; one committee member said the workforce issue is “absolutely” more acute in rural Georgia than in metro areas such as Cobb County.
After discussion, the subcommittee approved a motion to advance the bill to the full committee by voice vote; the transcript records no roll‑call tally.
Votes at a glance: House Bill 148 — motion to advance to full committee approved by voice vote; no recorded roll‑call tally in the transcript.
