HB 147: "An Act relating to the Board of Public Accountancy; relating to the licensure of public accountants; and relating to the practice of public accounting."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 147 01 "An Act relating to the Board of Public Accountancy; relating to the licensure of public 02 accountants; and relating to the practice of public accounting." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 08.04.080 is amended to read: 05 Sec. 08.04.080. Adoption of rules. The board may adopt rules of professional 06 conduct to establish and maintain a high standard of integrity and dignity in the 07 profession of public accounting. [AT LEAST 30 DAYS BEFORE THE ADOPTION 08 OF ANY RULE OR AMENDMENT, THE BOARD SHALL MAIL COPIES OF 09 THE PROPOSED RULE OR AMENDMENT TOGETHER WITH A NOTICE OF 10 ITS EFFECTIVE DATE TO EACH HOLDER OF A LICENSE OR PERMIT 11 ISSUED UNDER THIS CHAPTER TO THE ADDRESS OF THE LICENSE OR 12 PERMIT HOLDER LAST KNOWN TO THE BOARD.] 13 * Sec. 2. AS 08.04.110 is amended to read: 14 Sec. 08.04.110. Personal requirements. An applicant for a certified public
01 accountant license shall be [AT LEAST 19 YEARS OF AGE AND] of good moral 02 character. 03 * Sec. 3. AS 08.04.120 is amended to read: 04 Sec. 08.04.120. Educational and experience requirements. (a) The education 05 and experience requirements for an applicant are a baccalaureate degree or its 06 equivalent conferred by a college or university acceptable to the board and additional 07 semester hours or post-baccalaureate study so that the total educational program 08 includes at least 150 hours, with an accounting concentration or equivalent and 09 accounting experience as determined by the board by regulation to be appropriate [, 10 AND TWO YEARS OF ACCOUNTING EXPERIENCE SATISFACTORY TO THE 11 BOARD]. 12 (b) Notwithstanding (a) of this section, the board may grant a license to an 13 applicant who has 14 (1) not completed the 150-hour educational program required by (a) of 15 this section if the applicant has received a baccalaureate degree, or its equivalent, 16 before January 1, 2001, from a college or university acceptable to the board, and if the 17 applicant satisfies the other criteria established by the board by regulation for 18 receiving the license; or 19 (2) completed a baccalaureate degree, or its equivalent, before 20 January 1, 2008, from a college or university acceptable to the board, and additional 21 semester hours of postbaccalaureate study so that the total educational program 22 includes at least 150 hours, and the applicant has [THREE YEARS OF] accounting 23 experience satisfactory to the board. 24 * Sec. 4. AS 08.04.195(a) is amended to read: 25 (a) Notwithstanding AS 08.04.110 - 08.04.190, the board may issue a license 26 to engage in the practice of public accounting to an applicant who holds a license, or 27 its equivalent, issued by another state if the applicant 28 (1) passed the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination of 29 the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants in order to receive the 30 applicant's initial license from the other state; 31 (2) [HAS FOUR YEARS OF EXPERIENCE OUTSIDE THE STATE
01 IN THE PRACTICE OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTING OR] meets the accounting 02 experience [EQUIVALENT] requirements established by the board by regulation; 03 [THE FOUR YEARS MUST OCCUR AFTER THE APPLICANT PASSES THE 04 EXAMINATION REQUIRED IN (1) OF THIS SUBSECTION AND WITHIN THE 05 10 YEARS IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE APPLICANT'S APPLICATION 06 UNDER THIS CHAPTER;] 07 (3) is not the subject of review procedures, disciplinary proceedings, or 08 unresolved complaints related to the applicant's license from another state; and 09 (4) is of good moral character. 10 * Sec. 5. AS 08.04 is amended by adding a new section to read: 11 Sec. 08.04.565. Prohibited acts. An individual licensed under AS 08.04.105 12 may not perform attest functions through a partnership, limited liability company, 13 corporation, or other business entity unless the partnership, limited liability company, 14 corporation, or other business entity holds a valid permit issued under AS 08.04.240. 15 * Sec. 6. AS 08.04.660 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 16 (b) Notwithstanding (a) of this section, a licensee shall, upon request by a 17 client or former client, furnish to the client or former client 18 (1) a copy of the licensee's working papers if the working papers 19 include records that would ordinarily constitute part of the client's records and are not 20 otherwise available to the client; or 21 (2) accounting records or other records belonging to, obtained from, or 22 obtained on behalf of the client that the licensee removed from the client's premises or 23 received for the client's account; the licensee may make and retain copies of the 24 records if they form the basis for the work done by the licensee. 25 (c) Nothing in this section requires a licensee to keep any working paper or 26 record beyond the period prescribed by another provision of law. 27 * Sec. 7. AS 08.04.662 is amended to read: 28 Sec. 08.04.662. Confidential communications. (a) A license holder, a permit 29 holder, a practice privilege holder, an out-of-state exemption holder, or a partner, an 30 officer, a shareholder, a member, or an employee of a license holder, a permit holder, 31 an out-of-state exemption holder, or a practice privilege holder may not reveal
01 information communicated to the license holder, permit holder, out-of-state exemption 02 holder, or practice privilege holder by a client about a matter concerning which the 03 client has employed the license holder, permit holder, out-of-state exemption holder, 04 or practice privilege holder in a professional capacity. This section does not apply to 05 (1) information required to be disclosed by the standards of the public 06 accounting profession in reporting on the examination of financial statements; 07 (2) the release of information the client has authorized the license 08 holder, permit holder, out-of-state exemption holder, or practice privilege holder to 09 reveal; 10 (3) information revealed as part of the discovery of evidence related to 11 a court or administrative proceeding or introduced in evidence in a court or 12 administrative proceeding; 13 (4) information revealed in ethical investigations conducted by private 14 professional organizations; [OR] 15 (5) information revealed in the course of a quality review under 16 AS 08.04.426; or 17 (6) information disclosed 18 (A) under applicable state or federal laws or regulations; or 19 (B) as required by the Public Company Accounting 20 Oversight Board. 21 (b) Client information obtained by the board under (a)(3) - (6) [(a)(3) - (5)] of 22 this section is confidential and is not a public record for purposes of AS 40.25.110 - 23 40.25.140. 24 * Sec. 8. AS 08.04.680(1) is amended to read: 25 (1) "attest function" means 26 (A) an audit or other engagement, if the performance of the 27 audit or other engagement is established by the Statements on Auditing 28 Standards; 29 (B) a review of a financial statement, if the performance of the 30 review is established by the Statements on Standards for Accounting and 31 Review Services;
01 (C) an examination of prospective financial information, if the 02 performance of the examination is established by the Statements on Standards 03 for Attestation Engagements; [OR] 04 (D) an engagement, if the performance of the engagement is 05 established by the Auditing Standards of the Public Company Accounting 06 Oversight Board; or 07 (E) any examination, review, or agreed upon procedures to 08 be performed in accordance with the standards on attestation 09 engagements as 10 (i) developed by national accountancy organizations, 11 including the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants 12 and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board; and 13 (ii) adopted by the board in regulation; 14 * Sec. 9. AS 08.04.680(20) is amended to read: 15 (20) "state" means a state of the United States, the District of 16 Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, 17 Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, and American Samoa. 18 * Sec. 10. AS 08.04.580, 08.04.590, 08.04.595, and 08.04.598 are repealed.