The certificate of "certified public accountant" shall be granted by the board to any person who meets all of the following requirements:
1. Is a resident of this state or has a place of business in this state, or, as an employee, is regularly employed in this state.
2. a. On or before December 31, 2000, has a baccalaureate degree conferred by a college or university recognized by the board, with a concentration in accounting, or what the board determines to be substantially the equivalent of those requirements; or with a nonaccounting concentration, supplemented by what the board determines to be substantially the equivalent of an accounting concentration, including related courses in other areas of business administration; or is a graduate of a high school having at least a four-year course of study or its equivalent as determined by the board of accountancy and has had three years' continuous experience under the direct supervision of a certified public accountant holding a current permit to practice, which experience shall include a significant amount of accounting work involving third-party reliance on financial statements.
b. After December 31, 2000, has completed at least one hundred fifty semester hours, or the trimester or quarter equivalent of one hundred fifty semester hours, of college education including a baccalaureate or higher degree conferred by a college or university recognized by the board, the total educational program to include an accounting concentration or equivalent as determined by rule to be appropriate. Subject to the other provisions of this section relating to reexaminations, a person who has partially passed the examination required by subsection 3 by passing one or more subjects prior to December 31, 2000, has until December 31, 2003, to successfully complete the examination process and qualify for a certificate under the educational requirements in effect prior to December 31, 2000.
3. Has passed a written examination in accounting and auditing, and such related subjects as the board determines to be appropriate.
If an applicant for certification as a certified public accountant does not successfully complete the required portions of the examination required by subsection 3 but does successfully complete the portions of the examination required for licensure as an accounting practitioner, the applicant may apply for a license as an accounting practitioner. The applicant remains eligible to retake the examination for certification as a certified public accountant in accordance with this section.
The examination described in subsection 3 shall be conducted by the certified public accountant members of the board and shall take place as often as the board shall determine to be desirable, but shall be held at least once each year. All examinations in theory shall be in writing and the identity of the person taking the examination shall be concealed until after the examination papers have been graded. Applicants who fail the examination once shall be allowed to take the examination at the next scheduled time. Thereafter, the applicant shall be allowed to take the examination at the discretion of the board. An applicant who has failed the examination may request in writing information from the board concerning the applicant's examination grade and subject areas or questions which the applicant failed to answer correctly, except that if the board administers a uniform, standardized examination, the board shall only be required to provide the examination grade and such other information concerning the applicant's examination results which are available to the board.
The board shall make such use of all or any part of the uniform certified public accountants' examination or advisory grading service, or both, as it deems appropriate to assist it in performing its duties under this chapter.
The board may admit to the examination described in subsection 3 any candidate who will complete the educational requirements for a baccalaureate degree within one hundred twenty days immediately following the date of the examination or who has completed those requirements. However, the board shall not report the results of the examination until the candidate has met the educational requirements for a baccalaureate degree and shall not grant the certificate until the candidate has fully satisfied the requirements of subsection 2.
A candidate for the certificate of certified public accountant who has successfully completed the examination under subsection 3 and the educational requirements under subsection 2 shall receive a certificate as a certified public accountant.
The board may by rule provide for granting a credit to a candidate for satisfactory completion of a written examination in one or more of the subjects prescribed by the board in this state, but conducted by the licensing authority in another state, if when the candidate took the examination in another state, the candidate was not a resident of this state, had no place of business in this state, and, as an employee, was not employed regularly in this state.
Such rules shall include such requirements as the board determines to be appropriate in order that any examination approved as a basis for any such credit shall, in the judgment of the board, be at least as thorough as that included in the most recent examination given by the board at the time of the granting of such credit.
The board may by rule prescribe the terms and conditions under which a candidate who passes one or more subjects of the examination prescribed by the board may be re-examined in only the remaining subjects, with credit for the subjects previously passed.
It may also provide by rule for a reasonable waiting period for a candidate's re-examination in a subject the candidate has failed.
The board shall charge each candidate an examination fee, to be determined by the board which shall be based upon the annual cost of administering the examination. Fees for re-examination or partial examination under subsection 3 shall also be charged by the board in amounts determined by it. The applicable fee shall be paid by the candidate at the time the candidate applies for examination or re-examination.
Any person who has received from the board a certificate as a certified public accountant and who is currently registered under section 542C.20, shall be styled and known as a "certified public accountant", and may also use the abbreviation "CPA".
Persons who, on July 1, 1975, hold certified public accountant certificates issued under the laws of this state shall not be required to obtain additional certificates under this chapter, but shall otherwise be subject to all provisions of this chapter; and such certificates shall, for all purposes, be considered certificates issued under this chapter, and subject to the provisions of this chapter.
The board may, in its discretion, waive the examinations under subsection 3 and may issue a certificate as certified public accountant to any person possessing what the board determines to be substantially equivalent of the applicable qualifications under subsection 2 and who is the holder of a certificate as a certified public accountant, then in full force and effect, issued under the laws of another state, or is the holder of a certificate, license or degree in a foreign country constituting a recognized qualification for the practice of public accounting in such country, comparable to that of a certified public accountant of this state, which is then in full force and effect; or who, as a holder of such certificate, license, or degree shall have been in continuous practice thereunder for at least seven years.
[SS15, § 2620-a, -d, -f; C24, 27, § 1890-1892, 1895, 1896; C31, 35, § 1905-c7, -c8, -c9, -c12; C39, § 1905.07-1905.10; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, § 116.7-116.10; C75, 77, 79, 81, § 116.5]
83 Acts, ch 92, § 3; 92 Acts, ch 1163, § 29; 92 Acts, ch 1180, § 1-3
C93, § 542C.5
Referred to in § 542C.6, 542C.19, 542C.20, 542C.21, 542C.25
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