Connecting Executive Directors Through Knowledge
All Eyes on Elias Colon
State Board Highlights
Florida 2
California 6
Oklahoma 6
Washington 6
This month,
EDigital
spotlights
Executive Director Elias Colon from
Puerto Rico. Page 3.
Quick Polls and
Surveys
Interested in gathering feedback
from fellow executive directors,
licensees or firms? Page 7.
July 2019 | Issue 2 Volume 8
We have liftoff...
CPE AUDIT SERVICE
LAUNCHED
Connecting Executive Directors Through Knowledge
EDigital July 2019
2
Hello,
Here we are at the end of July and Summer is in full swing. In June, NASBA hosted the Eastern and
Western Regional Meetings. Overall, I believe the topics were well received and timely in nature. Topics
included, CPA Evolution, 120/150-hour education, possible experience requirement changes to the
UAA, proposed changes to peer review, CPE audit services tool, and the planned move to continuous
testing – there was plenty of great information and discussion around these topics. If you would like to
discuss any, and all, of these topics, feel free to contact me directly at dick.carroll@ky.gov
or 502-595-3037.
Also, please start making plans for you and your board members to attend the upcoming 112th Annual Meeting in
Boston, MA, on October 27–30 to continue discussions on these most important issues.
Lastly, I want to express my thanks to all the NASBA staff for their excellent work in putting on these meetings. These
events could not take place without them.
Chair Talk
Richard C. Carroll, Esq., Executive Directors’ Liaison
Florida Board of Accountancy
House Bill 977, which changes the Continuing Professional
Education (CPE) requirements for re-establishment periods
and reactivation applications, was signed into law by Governor
DeSantis on June 7, 2019, and goes into effect on July 1.
The passage of the bill lowers the Accounting and Auditing
requirements to eight hours in a given re-establishment period
while also expanding the definition of “practicing public
accounting,” regarding attestation engagements.
Accordingly, these changes will apply to licensees with a
re-establishment period ending June 30, 2020, and each
re-establishment period thereaer. Licensees currently within
the re-establishment period ending June 30, 2019, will still be
required to complete at least twenty (20) hours of Accounting
& Auditing within the required 80 hours of CPE. Please note
that these changes will not affect the annual CPE audit or the
retention period for proof of completion certificates.
Licensees wishing to reactivate their license will now be
required to complete 120 hours
of CPE to include at least
30 hours in Accounting &
Auditing, eight hours in
Florida Board approved
ethics and no more than 30
hours in Behavioral subjects.
Important note: Rule changes
are pending and any further
updates will be conveyed
as soon as applicable.
Connecting Executive Directors Through Knowledge
EDigital July 2019
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All Eyes on Elias Colon
After 12 years of working at
NASBA, Elias is using that
experience in his
new role as the executive
director for Puerto Rico.
Where were you born and raised?
I was born and raised in Salinas, Puerto Rico.
What city do you currently live in? What do you like most
about this city?
I live in my hometown, Salinas. What I like most about Salinas
is the seafood.
Tell us about your family.
My family is comprised of six members: my wife, four kids (two
boys and two girls), and me. My children’s ages are 19, 16, 10
and five.
How did you get to where you are today as an executive
director? Give us a brief snapshot.
For the past 12 years, I had the opportunity to work at NASBA,
in Nashville, TN, in the CPA Examination Services (CPAES)
Department. During my journey, I had the privilege of working
in many different roles. Previous roles include serving as a
customer services associate, NASBAStore representative,
CPAES exam and licensing administrator and CPE audits. All
that experience helped me be in a great position to become
the new executive director of Puerto Rico.
How long have you been an executive director? What do
you like about your role?
It has been about five months since I accepted this role. What I
like most about my new role is that I’m back in Puerto Rico.
What tool/app do you use that makes your job easier?
I use a lot of NASBA resources as many of them are needed
for what I do on daily basis. Some of the systems I use are
the Accountancy Licensee Database (ALD), CPAverify.org,
NASBAregistry.org, Transfer Evaluation System (TES), and of
course, Microso Office.
What is the last book you read?
The last book I read was the entire Bible.
Name one unique thing most executive directors don’t
know about you.
I’m a huge basketball fan.
What’s the best place you’ve traveled to? Why is it your
favorite?
The best place I’ve traveled to is Miami, FL. My wife and I love
to spend our vacations there. The diversity of food makes
Miami one-of-a-kind.
Outside of work, what do you enjoy doing?
I love to spend time with my wife and kids, and I also love to
play basketball.
What’s the best kept secret of Puerto Rico?
The beach of Flamenco is the best kept secret of
Puerto Rico. Located in Culebra, it is a sparsely
populated island surrounded by a group of cays
off the east coast of Puerto Rico. Flamenco
is known for its shallow turquoise waters,
white sand, swimming areas, and diving
sites. It stretches for a mile around a sheltered,
horseshoe-shaped bay, and is in the top five
most beautiful beaches in the world, according to
Discovery Channel.
Connecting Executive Directors Through Knowledge
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CPA Exam Webcasts
On May 2, 2019, the AICPA and NASBA staff, hosted three
webcasts for United States and international candidates.
The interactive presentation focused on CPA Exam
administration, content and structure, common Exam
FAQs and strategies for passing the Exam. If you missed
these webcasts and/or would like to share these webcasts
with your candidates, you may view them here: https://
nasba.org/exams/webcasts/.
Illinois Board of Examiners Shine
at Community Outreach
Is your board looking for
new ways to get out in the
community? Take a look at
what the Illinois Board of
Examiners is doing to reach
potential CPA candidates and
other community members.
Connecting Executive Directors Through Knowledge
EDigital July 2019
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Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio,
Tennessee and Virginia were the first Boards of Accountancy
to migrate from the CPE Tracking legacy system to the new
NASBA CPE Audit Services system in April. Eight additional
boards are scheduled to begin participation in early summer
and a third wave of boards is scheduled for September 2019.
Additional board requests are currently being accepted.
Long gone are the days of paper-based audit processes: the
new CPE Audit Service is a turnkey web application solution
for managing the CPE audit process. This online system
will help streamline CPE audits and is designed to be used
by both individual CPAs and Boards of Accountancy. The
new system comes at no cost to boards, as a benefit of their
NASBA membership.
Created and customized with CPAs and boards in mind,
the application allows CPA users to enter or upload CPE
information and documentation, view CPE records fed in
directly from participating CPE program providers, monitor
their CPE compliance by jurisdiction and submit their CPE
information to the Board when selected for audit. Boards will
be able to generate audit pools or upload an audit pool into
the system, monitor workflow dashboards, run numerous
reports, and receive and conduct CPE audits all within the
system. Participating providers can send or upload electronic
attendance records for CPAs using the CPE ID number
assigned to each CPA and review their file processing and
records through the system.
“NASBA believes moving to an online system and promoting
the acceptance of electronic records will dramatically improve
the efficiency of the CPE audit process, and lead to greater
compliance with CPE rules, which is in the best interest of the
public. We look forward to getting the newly participating
Boards up and running soon,” said Maria L. Caldwell, Chief
Legal Officer and Director of Compliance Services.
Boards of Accountancy interested in a brief demonstration
of the CPE Audit Service platform should contact Erin
Buchanan, Sr. Account Manager, CPE Audit Service,
at [email protected]g.
We have liftoff...
CPE AUDIT SERVICE
LAUNCHED
Connecting Executive Directors Through Knowledge
EDigital July 2019
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California Board of Accountancy
Taking the Uniform CPA Exam Prior to
Degree Conferral
At its May 2019 meeting, the California
Board of Accountancy (CBA) discussed
allowing candidates to take the Uniform
CPA Exam during a specific window of
time prior to degree conferral. The states
of Missouri, Nebraska and Washington
have adopted such policies.
Presently, the CBA requires a candidate’s
transcript to show the conferral of
a bachelor’s degree prior to being
authorized to take the Uniform CPA
Exam, a process that can take several
weeks following graduation. This means
that many candidates may miss the
opportunity to take the Uniform CPA
Exam during the first summer following
the end of their coursework.
CBA staff are discussing with certain
universities that produce a high-volume
of CPA candidates how they may be
able to notify the CBA more quickly that
their graduates have earned a bachelor’s
degree. Further, CBA staff are exploring
what statutory or regulatory changes
may be necessary to allow candidates to
take the Uniform CPA Exam between 90
and 180 days prior to degree conferral.
Continuing Education Reciprocity
The CBA held discussions at two recent
CBA meetings to consider whether
to adopt a continuing education (CE)
reciprocity policy. Such a policy may
recognize the CE coursework that a
CBA licensee, who also is licensed and
operates primarily in another state, takes
to satisfy their home state’s requirements.
Adopting an appropriate CE reciprocity
policy requires navigating through
various issues, including how to
account for differences in the authority
that states grant licensees to conduct
attest engagements, different renewal
cycle timeframes, and whether certain
California specific CE (e.g. coursework
specific to California regulations) should
be required.
CBA staff continue to research the CE
policies adopted in other states and
develop other data related to the CBA’s
licensee population that may be eligible.
A subsequent discussion will be held
during a future CBA meeting.
Update on the CBA’s Sunset Review
Every four years, each occupational
licensing board within the California
Department of Consumer Affairs
undergoes a Sunset Review by the
California State Legislature. Assembly
Bill (AB) 1521, which would continue the
CBA’s authority to operate for the next
four years, was approved by the State
Assembly and is pending before the
State Senate. Final approval is expected
to be received by the California State
Legislature by the time session adjourns
for the year on September 13, 2019.
Aer that, AB 1521 would go to
Governor Newsom for his signature.
Oklahoma
Accountancy Board
We have good news and bad news from
Oklahoma. First, the good news. Our
rules were passed by the legislature and
signed by the Governor. These rules had
a fee increase, which we needed to fund
the agency and had a partial reciprocal
CPE exemption for the CPAs not residing
in Oklahoma and not providing services
to Oklahoma registrants. Additionally,
our legislative agenda included a new
reinstatement process when a license
had been revoked for failure to register.
Now, a CPA can return aer five years
by simply paying all back fees and
completing CPE.
And finally, the bad news. Our legislature
has only renewed our sunset provision
for one year. Additionally, they have
removed good moral character from
our statutes and require us to list with
specificity all areas of the law that would
lead to revocation and it must directly
relate to their work as a CPA. It is going
to be a tough year in Oklahoma trying to
write a rule to address this.
Washington State Board
of Accountancy
1. We are in the final phase of
revamping our rules governing CPE
to more closely align them with the
UAA model rules.
2. We are working on draing a new set
of rules regarding firm licensing and
naming conventions following the
passage of HB 1208.
3. We recently had two new Board
members appointed by Governor
Inslee.
4. Our complaint intake process is now
completely online.
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Connecting Executive Directors Through Knowledge
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Need a Quick Poll or Survey? NASBA Is Here to Help!
Is your state board in need of data
on a particular topic or wanting to
gather feedback from fellow executive
directors, licensees or firms on a
pressing issue? If so, a quick poll or
survey may be the ideal way to obtain
pertinent information to enhance board
operations and/or regulatory efforts.
As a component of the Communications
& Outreach Program, NASBA assists
member Boards of Accountancy by
creating and distributing quick polls
and surveys on their behalf. In 2018,
a total of 56 quick polls and surveys
were launched, resulting in a 63
percent response rate, demonstrating
the value and success of using this
communication resource.
Requesting a quick poll or survey is a
simple process. First, designated board
staff are asked to complete a NASBA
Survey Request Form. Submitting your
board’s request through this link ensures
NASBA Communications receives all the
pertinent information needed to set-up
and launch your quick poll/survey. Upon
receipt of your board’s request form, our
team first looks to determine if recent
data already exists on your topic. If so,
it will be sent to you via email in lieu
of sending out a poll/survey on your
behalf. If not, your quick poll/survey will
be created and a SurveyMonkey test link
will be sent to your attention for review
and final approval.
Should your test require edits, no
worries, as suggested edits can easily
be submitted through the test link. Once
updated, a new test link will be sent to
you (and designated staff) to make a
second review and submit final approval.
Please note that the desired start and end
dates of your quick poll/survey may need
to be adjusted based on the number
of requests in the que. Should this be
the case, you will receive information
regarding suggested date ranges.
Once launched, you
will receive
a copy of
the quick
poll/
survey
for your
board’s
records.
To encourage participation, reminder
emails are sent out to your target
audience throughout the comment
period. At the completion of the
response period, summary and
individual response reports will be
sent to you (and designated staff) via
email and also saved to the secure ED
webpage on nasba.org.
Communications Manager Cassandra
Gray manages the creation and
distribution of all quick polls/surveys.
Feel free to contact her at cgray@
nasba.org should you have questions
regarding the process.
Does your state board
need help with social
media practices?
If so, NASBA has all the resources your board
needs to start or improve its social media
practices.
To start, check out our Social Media Guide for
Boards of Accountancy.
To find out more ways NASBA can help, contact
Jenna Elkins, Communications and Digital Media
Specialist, at [email protected]g.
Social Media GuideSocial Media Guide
Connecting Executive Directors Through Knowledge
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Investigators and Expert
Witnesses Wanted!
Are you an experienced investigator or expert witness, willing to put
your skills to work for Boards of Accountancy? As part of NASBA’s
Investigator Pool or Expert Witness Pool, your credentials will be
available upon request to boards seeking a qualified investigator or
expert witness. Apply today!
Submit the Investigator Application
Submit the Expert Witness Application
Connecting Executive Directors Through Knowledge
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Kansas Board of Accountancy Connects with
NASBA to Create Succession Planning Video
Interested in what NASBA can
create for you board? How
about a video? Here is just one
example of a video NASBA
created for the Kansas Board
about succession planning. To
request a video, start here!
