Concerning the practice of certified public accountants.
SB26-076 expands the pathways to become a certified public accountant (CPA) in Colorado. Under current law, CPA certification generally requires a bachelor’s degree or higher, 150 semester hours of approved college education, a board-approved ethics course, one year of relevant experience, and passage of the CPA exam. The bill replaces that single pathway with three alternative routes beginning January 1, 2027: a bachelor’s degree plus two years of accounting-related work experience; a bachelor’s degree plus 30 additional semester hours and one year of experience; or a post-baccalaureate degree plus one year of experience. In all cases, applicants must still complete a professional ethics course and pass the CPA exam.
The bill also clarifies the experience requirement by defining qualifying accounting-related work more broadly to include services or advice involving accounting, attest, compilation, management advisory, financial advisory, tax, or consulting skills, and it preserves the requirement that an actively licensed CPA verify the experience. It further aligns exam eligibility with the new pathways, making clear that being allowed to sit for the exam does not itself make an applicant eligible for certification.
In addition to licensure changes, the bill codifies interstate practice privileges for out-of-state CPAs. A CPA licensed in good standing in another U.S. jurisdiction may practice in Colorado without obtaining a Colorado certificate if, at initial licensure, they passed the Uniform CPA Examination and earned a bachelor’s degree. The bill also preserves practice privileges for out-of-state CPAs who already had them in Colorado as of December 31, 2024, and prohibits the board from requiring a notice, fee, or other submission as a condition of exercising those privileges.
The bill’s impact on state law is to amend Colorado’s accountancy statutes governing education, experience, examination eligibility, and multistate practice. It gives the Colorado State Board of Accountancy more flexible licensure pathways while still leaving the board authority to set rules for the quality and verification of experience. It also reduces regulatory barriers for qualified out-of-state CPAs to serve Colorado clients.
The overall sentiment appears supportive and modernization-oriented, with the bill framed as expanding access to the profession and updating Colorado’s CPA rules to reflect current workforce and interstate practice realities. No committee transcript or recorded votes were provided, so there is no documented floor-level controversy in the materials. The main potential point of contention is the balance between easing entry into the profession and maintaining licensure standards, especially the reduction from 150 semester hours to alternative degree-and-experience combinations and the broader recognition of out-of-state practice rights.
SB26-076 amends Colorado’s accountancy statutes, primarily C.R.S. 12-100-108, 12-100-109, and 12-100-117, to create new CPA licensure pathways, redefine qualifying work experience, and codify interstate practice privileges. It changes the education-and-experience requirements for CPA certification, updates exam eligibility rules to match those pathways, and limits the State Board of Accountancy’s ability to impose additional notice or fee requirements on certain out-of-state CPAs. The bill takes effect in stages, with the new licensure pathways effective January 1, 2027.
The bill appears to have been received positively as a professional licensing modernization measure. Its stated purpose is to expand access to CPA licensure and clarify practice rules, suggesting broad support for workforce flexibility and interstate mobility. No committee testimony, recorded votes, or opposition statements were provided, so there is no direct evidence of formal dissent in the supplied materials.
The likely points of contention involve professional standards versus access. Supporters would favor the bill’s broader licensure pathways, reduced education-hour burden, and streamlined interstate practice privileges. Potential critics could argue that lowering the traditional 150-semester-hour model and expanding acceptable experience categories may weaken entry standards or reduce board oversight. Another possible issue is the bill’s restriction on requiring notice, fees, or other submissions from out-of-state CPAs exercising practice privileges, which limits regulatory control by the Colorado board.