Proponent Testimony - HB 442, Colin McHugh (House Commerce & Labor Committee, February 12, 2020)
Summary
Proponent testimony on HB 442 by Colin McHugh to the House Commerce & Labor Committee, dated February 12, 2020. McHugh identifies as a CPA and as Chair of The Ohio Society of CPAs' Young CPA Leadership Board, speaking on its behalf. The testimony supports allowing students to start the CPA Exam at a point between 120 and 150 hours, and its first stated factor is the cost of student loan debt. It also says students who send scores to another state and transfer them back to Ohio face a $75 fee and a doubled experience requirement of two years instead of one.
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“Proponent Testimony - HB 442, Colin McHugh (House Commerce & Labor Committee, February 12, 2020).”
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Proponent Testimony – HB 442
By Colin McHugh
To House Commerce & Labor Committee
February 12, 2020
Chair Manning, Vice Chair Dean, Ranking Member Lepore-Hagan and members of the Committee, thank
you for giving me the opportunity to speak in support of HB 442. I’m Colin McHugh, a CPA with
Rehmann, a CPA firm located in Toledo. Rehmann also has 22 other offices, all located in Michigan and
Florida. I’m also the Chair of The Ohio Society of CPAs’ Young CPA Leadership Board and am here
today to speak on their behalf.
OSCPA’s Young CPA Leadership Board began studying this CPA Exam issue in 2018-2019 in response
to the frustration shared by young professionals around the state – including those of us who are already
licensed CPAs and those who are still working to become licensed in Ohio.
Our research affirmed that CPAs serve an important role in protecting the public interest, and that Ohio
should continue to license CPAs after 150 hours of education are completed. However, we also found
that the public interest would not be negatively impacted simply by allowing students the flexibility of
starting the CPA Exam testing process while they are still in school. We identified three factors that
support the law change proposed under HB 442:
1) The Economic Reality is that student loan debt has financially crippled many in our generation.
The cost of a college education has forced too many Ohioans to abandon their career goals, and
those in lower income households are particularly hard hit. All of us on the YCPA Board had a
career goal of becoming a CPA and were able to achieve that goal, but we all had different paths
to get there. Another thing we all shared: we wanted to do everything necessary to get a good
job and qualify as a licensed CPA but do it as expeditiously and cost effectively as possible.
Being able to advance toward our licensure goal sooner makes those of us who are not traditional
college students more attractive to employers, many of whom offer tuition reimbursement or
student loan payoff assistance, as well as help cover exam expenses.
We need to give future Ohio CPAs the flexibility to do what works best for them, including starting
the CPA Exam at a point between 120 and 150 hours. For many, that is while we are still in
school, still in “study mode,” and when the technical information we are being tested on is fresh in
our minds. As you know, the more time that elapses, the harder it is to pass a test on the
relevant material. Being able to pass some or even all four parts of the exam by the time they
graduate from their fifth year of education (150 hours) can be a huge help in launching their
career. As a result, they can focus on their new career and the related long work hours without
the pressure of also dedicating many hours to studying and testing. Too many of my colleagues
gave up before they passed all four parts of the exam.
2) The Skills Reality is that the higher order skills necessary for CPAs to serve the public trust –
things such as judgment, professional skepticism, etc. – are learned both through education and
work experience. We strongly believe that allowing candidates to begin taking the CPA Exam
when they are closer to the relevant coursework and still in “study mode” would improve
conversion rates from accounting graduates to CPAs. Right now, too many Ohio accounting
grads let go of their dream to become CPAs because of the various challenges I mentioned.
3) The Regulatory Reality is that Ohio’s existing requirements create an unnecessary barrier that
may deter talented people who would otherwise become great business advisors from entering
the CPA profession in Ohio. This barrier disproportionately affects the economically
disadvantaged and is anti-competitive for our state. The reality is that Ohio students right now
can physically take the exam here in Ohio but have the scores sent to one of the many other
existing early-testing states. And many students who know about the possibility of testing in
another state do just that. But if they do, and if they want to work as a CPA in Ohio, they will
incur the regulatory burden required to transfer results back to Ohio ($75 fee, paperwork). And
under current law, these same students also will face a doubling of the experience requirement –
two years instead of one – just because they started the testing process more than 90 days
before they were done with school.
On behalf of the young professionals wanting to become CPAs in Ohio, I urge you to make this
commonsense change by passing HB 442. I appreciate your consideration and would be happy to
answer any of your questions.
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