Proponent Testimony - HB 442, Scott Wiley, The Ohio Society of CPAs (February 12, 2020)

Summary

Proponent testimony on House Bill 442 by Scott Wiley, President and CEO of The Ohio Society of CPAs, to the House Commerce & Labor Committee, dated February 12, 2020, on behalf of 27,000 members. The testimony states that 37 of 50 states allow candidates to start taking parts of the Uniform CPA Exam at the bachelor's degree threshold of 120 hours, and that HB 442 would make Ohio the 38th state to do so outright. It says the bill also eliminates a provision in Ohio law that doubles the experience requirement for students who start the exam process sooner than 90 days before completing their education.

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                                Proponent Testimony – HB 442
                                By Scott Wiley, President & CEO
                                   The Ohio Society of CPAs
                            To House Commerce & Labor Committee
                                      February 12, 2020

Chair Manning, Vice Chair Dean, Ranking Member Lepore-Hagan and members of the
Committee, on behalf of our 27,000 members, thank you for this opportunity to speak in support
of House Bill 442. I am Scott Wiley, President and CEO of The Ohio Society of CPAs

We applaud the Legislature’s past and current regulatory reform efforts, including eliminating
barriers to entry for employment of Ohioans. We believe this legislation builds on those efforts.

As you have heard from joint sponsors Representatives Roemer and West, HB 442 seeks to
ease the regulatory requirements for Ohioans who want to become Certified Public Accountants
by allowing them to start taking the CPA exam sooner in their licensing journey. Currently, 37 of
our 50 states already allow candidates to start taking parts of the Uniform CPA Exam (there are
four parts) when they hit the bachelor’s degree threshold of 120 hours rather than waiting until
soon before they complete 150 hours. Another eight states, including Ohio, allow some
exception to the 150-hour rule for certain circumstances. If enacted, HB 442 would make Ohio
the 38th state to do so outright. The bill also eliminates a punitive provision in Ohio law that
doubles the experience requirement for any current students who start the exam process sooner
than 90 days prior to completing their education.

Current law in all 50 states requires candidates to complete 150 semester hours of college
education prior to licensure, passage of the same national exam, and at least a year of
experience. It is important that Ohio maintain those requirements to ensure Ohio CPAs
continue to have ease of interstate mobility and avoid multistate licensure.

The Ohio Society of CPAs has studied this issue at length. In 2017, our board formed a task
force of educators and CPA employers; the consensus was they could support sitting at 120, but
we needed to keep 150 for licensure. A subsequent deep dive by OSCPA’s Young CPA Board
showed strong support for the proposed changes before you. Their request for support of a law
change was unanimously backed by OSCPA’s Executive Board in September 2019.
Concurrently, I have been raising this issue with our members across the state. Without
exception, when I ask these groups of dozens to hundreds of CPAs in a room if they support
allowing future Ohio CPAs to start taking the exam when they have finished the equivalent of a
four-year degree, they overwhelmingly say yes.
It’s important to note that dozens of students in Ohio colleges and universities are already taking
the exam prior to what Ohio law now specifies. How? The Uniform CPA Exam is a national test
and administered electronically, meaning they physically sit in one of hundreds of Prometric
testing facilities around the world, but can have the scores sent to any state where they qualify.
Naturally, we want those scores to go to Ohio to give them added incentive to live and work in
the Buckeye State. But word has spread among students that, if they check the box for
Michigan, or Kentucky, or Alaska or several of the other states that already allow testing at 120
hours, they can get a jump on achieving their career goal of becoming a licensed Ohio CPA.

Why does the timing of the exam matter? Common sense will tell you that it is easier to take an
exam while still in college and still in “study mode” and the relevant coursework is still easily
recalled. On top of that, traditional students who are still finishing the full 150 hours of education
likely will not have as many real-world distractions like working long hours in their first big
accounting job, getting married, and even starting a family, meaning they have more time to
focus. For non-traditional students who need to work while finishing college, a scenario which
disproportionately impacts minorities, supportive employers may help with tuition reimbursement
and/or cover the costs of CPA review courses and the test itself. Other employers just give a
bonus when they become licensed. Bottom line: anyone who has taken the CPA Exam, or
knows someone who has, will attest that it is not easy to pass and only gets harder the longer
the process drags on.

In summary, CPAs across Ohio want this change in Ohio law. Employers of Ohio CPAs want
this change. Ohio students and young professionals aspiring to become CPAs want this
change. We need to do all we can to remove roadblocks for Ohioans, and H.B. 442 is a great
vehicle to accomplish this goal.

I appreciate your time today and would be happy to answer any questions.


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