Legislation that creates additional pathways to becoming a CPA in Illinois awaits Gov. JB Pritzker’s signature after the bill was passed in the state House in April and the state Senate last week.
The bipartisan bill, House Bill (HB) 2459, originally introduced in March by Reps. Natalie Manley, CPA (D-Joliet) and Amy Elik, CPA (R-Edwardsville), gained several co-sponsors and was unanimously passed out of the House in early April. In the Senate, the bill was supported by chief sponsor Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton (D-Oakbrook Terrace) and co-sponsor Sen. Chris Balkema (R-Pontiac) and was passed unanimously on May 22.
- Related article: Bipartisan State House Bill Would Create Additional Pathways to CPA Licensure in Illinois
The legislation, which was backed by the Illinois CPA Society, amends the Illinois Public Accounting Act to create two additional pathways to CPA licensure in Illinois. These new pathways include:
- Obtaining a bachelor’s degree with a concentration in accounting, completing at least two years of relevant work experience, and passing the CPA exam.
- Obtaining a master’s degree with the required concentration in accounting, completing at least one year of relevant work experience, and passing the CPA exam.
The bill also preserves the state’s legacy licensure pathway, which requires CPA candidates to complete 150 credit hours of qualifying education, complete one year of relevant work experience, and pass all portions of the CPA exam to become licensed in the state. That pathway has been in place since 2001.
In addition, the bill ensures that out-of-state CPAs can serve clients in Illinois without having to obtain an Illinois license if their issuing state’s licensure requirements are equivalent to Illinois’ and safeguards Illinois CPAs will have the same practice privileges across state borders, ICPAS said.
For more than a year, ICPAS said it has examined licensure pathway proposals and explored options to eliminate unnecessary barriers to entry into the CPA profession, most notably, the time and costs required to become a CPA. Working closely with the Illinois Board of Examiners and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, ICPAS drafted the legislation to “evolve the state’s CPA licensure model and address Illinois’ ongoing accounting talent shortage and growing need for CPAs to serve the business community and protect public interests,” the group added.
“As states in the Midwest and across the nation move forward with their own legislation to protect and grow their CPA ranks, passage of this legislation is an important step in keeping Illinois’ CPAs at the forefront of the national business landscape; protecting the needs of our state’s businesses, nonprofits, and units of government; and ensuring there’s a pipeline of next-generation accounting talent ready to step up to serve,” Geoffrey Brown, president and CEO of ICPAS, said in a statement. “We thank the legislation’s sponsors, co-sponsors, and other supporters who were instrumental in advancing this important initiative for the accounting profession in our state.”
The Illinois Senate’s approval of the bill comes a little more than a week after the AICPA and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy approved expanding the accounting profession’s model law, the Uniform Accountancy Act, to include a new optional pathway for CPA candidates to obtain licensure.
- Related article: AICPA and NASBA Approve of Alternate CPA Licensure Paths
The new pathway “maintains public protection while providing added flexibility and options for CPA candidates,” the AICPA and NASBA said in a May 14 media release.
Candidates can still choose to get licensed with 150 hours, but now it’s no longer the only means to become a CPA.
The changes to the Uniform Accountancy Act add the following optional pathway to licensure:
- Requires candidates to earn a bachelor’s degree with an accounting concentration, completing two years of professional experience as defined by state board rule, and passing the CPA exam.
- Shifts from state-based mobility to an individual-based mobility model, which maintains a CPA’s ability to practice across state lines with just one license.
- Adds safe harbor language to ensure CPAs who were licensed under differing education, experience, and CPA exam requirements as of Dec. 31, 2024, to continue to have practice privileges under mobility.
The new alternative pathway would be added to the existing two paths to CPA licensure:
- Earning a master’s degree with an accounting concentration, completing one year of professional experience as defined by state board rule, and passing the CPA exam.
- Earning a bachelor’s degree with an accounting concentration, plus an additional 30 semester credit hours, completing one year of professional experience as defined by state board rule, and passing the CPA exam.
The new optional pathway incorporates a broader role for experience to be determined at the jurisdiction level, the AICPA and NASBA said. Individual states will need to formally enact legislation and/or adopt rules and regulations, depending on the jurisdiction, before candidates can pursue this path—as Illinois and more than a dozen states have already done.
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