PERMANENT RULES
Date of Adoption: July 30, 1999.
Purpose: To conform board rule to the 1999 legislature's amendment to chapter 18.04 RCW requiring accountants from foreign countries to complete 120 hours of continuing education during the preceding thirty-six months in order to obtain a Washington CPA certificate by reciprocity; to prescribe the procedures the board will follow when designating a professional accounting credential issued in a foreign country as substantially equivalent to a Washington CPA certificate.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 4-25-780.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 18.04.055, 18.04.183.
Adopted under notice filed as WSR 99-13-066 on June 11, 1999.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0. Effective Date of Rule: January 1, 2000.
August 23, 1999
Dana M. McInturff, CPA
Executive Director
OTS-3154.1
AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 94-10-039, filed 4/29/94,
effective 5/30/94)
WAC 4-25-780
Reciprocity for accountants from foreign
countries.
RCW 18.04.183 allows the board to designate a professional accounting credential issued in a foreign country as substantially equivalent to a CPA certificate issued under provisions of RCW 18.04.105.
(1) Initial CPA certification.
(a) The board may rely on the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, or other professional bodies for evaluation of foreign accounting credential equivalency.
(b) The board may accept a foreign accounting credential in partial satisfaction of CPA certification requirements if:
(i) The holder of the foreign accounting credential met the issuing body's education requirement and passed the issuing body's examination used to qualify its own domestic candidates; and
(ii) The foreign accounting credential is valid and in good standing at the time of application for a CPA certificate; and
(iii) The body granting the foreign accounting credential permits this state's CPAs equivalent opportunity to receive the foreign accounting credential by reciprocity. The board will, by resolution, specify acceptable foreign accounting credentials and acknowledge reciprocal agreements with bodies granting foreign accounting credentials.
(c) The board may satisfy itself through qualifying examinations that the holder of a foreign credential deemed by the board to be substantially equivalent to a CPA certificate possesses adequate knowledge of U.S. practice standards and the board's regulations. The board will, by resolution, specify the form of qualifying examination(s) and passing grade(s).
(d) The board shall require the foreign reciprocity
applicant to demonstrate completion of ((eighty)) one hundred
twenty hours of continuing professional education that meet the
standards contained in the board's continuing professional
education rules for CPA certificate renewal.
(2) License to practice public accountancy. In addition to the certification requirements contained in subsection (1)(a) through (d) of this section, the board may require a foreign reciprocity applicant for a license to practice public accounting to demonstrate satisfactory experience in a foreign or domestic professional accounting firm. The board will, by resolution, specify experience standards for each foreign accounting credential accepted by the board as basis for certification and licensure by foreign reciprocity.
(3) Renewal of CPA certificate or license granted through foreign reciprocity. An applicant for renewal of a CPA certificate originally issued in reliance on a foreign professional accounting credential shall:
(a) Make application for renewal of the CPA certificate (and license) at the time and in the same manner prescribed by the board for all other CPAs certified (and licensed) by the board.
(b) Pay such fees as are prescribed for all other CPA certificate (and license) renewals.
(c) If still credentialed in the foreign country, present documentation from the body that issued the applicant's foreign accounting credential stating that the credential is in good standing and valid for the practice of public accountancy in the foreign jurisdiction and stating that the applicant is free of a current disciplinary investigation or action or, if the applicant is the subject of such investigation or action, the particulars thereof. If no longer credentialed in the foreign country, present proof from the foreign credentialing body that the applicant was not the subject of any investigations or disciplinary proceedings at the time the foreign credential lapsed.
(d) Show completion of ((eighty)) one hundred twenty hours
of continuing professional education within the ((two))
three-year period preceding renewal application in accordance
with rules applicable to all CPAs.
(4) Investigations and discipline of CPAs certified (and licensed) based in part on a foreign accounting credential.
(a) The holder of a Washington CPA certificate issued in reliance on a foreign accounting credential shall report any investigations undertaken, or sanctions imposed, by a foreign credentialing body against the CPA's foreign credential. Such report shall be made to the Washington state board of accountancy within thirty days of notice to the CPA that an investigation has been started or a sanction imposed.
(b) RCW 18.04.295 authorizes the board to impose discipline for, among other things, violation of state or federal laws. For purposes of enforcement and discipline against CPAs whose CPA certificate (and license) was issued based in part on a foreign accounting credential, the board interprets "state" to include "state, province, or territory" and "federal" to apply to equivalent governmental units of the country in which the foreign accounting credential was issued.
(c) Suspension or revocation of, or refusal to renew, a CPA's foreign accounting credential by the foreign credentialing body is evidence of conduct reflecting adversely upon the CPA's fitness to retain the CPA certificate and is basis for board disciplinary action.
(d) The board may notify foreign credentialing bodies of any sanctions imposed against a CPA whose certificate was issued through foreign reciprocity.
(e) The board may participate in joint investigations with foreign accounting credentialing bodies and may receive evidence supplied by such bodies or their authorized agents or contractors in investigations and disciplinary proceedings.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 18.04.055 and 18.04.183. 94-10-039, § 4-25-780, filed 4/29/94, effective 5/30/94.]