The Board of Accountancy will hold its next regular Board meeting Friday, January 31, 2025 beginning at 9:00 a.m. as a hybrid meeting both in-person and through Microsoft Teams. Connection details will follow closer to the meeting.

Location:
Radisson Hotel Seattle Airport
San Juan Rooms 2 & 3
18118 International Blvd
Seattle, WA 98188
or
Microsoft Teams Meeting

The purpose of the Board meeting is for the Board to conduct its business. However, to encourage citizen input, the Board's agenda specifically provides an opportunity for the public to give input directly to the Board.

Michael Paquette, Executive Director, CPA, submitted his letter of resignation to Governor Inslee. Mike has decided to go back to the finance world. Mike’s last day with the agency will be July 31, 2024.

We would like to express our appreciation of Mike’s service, leadership, and dedication to the profession, the Board, and the citizens of Washington State.

We wish Mike the best of luck in his new endeavor.

The Washington State Board of Accountancy will hold a special meeting. The meeting is open to the public, but the only agenda item for Board discussion is a closed session for Board deliberation on a proposed Consent Agreement. The public is not permitted in the closed session. At the end of the closed session the agenda includes a public input session.

Date/Time:
Friday, March 8, 2024, at 2:00 p.m.

Location:
Microsoft Teams Meeting

Please see the Board Meeting Agenda & Minutes page on our website for the agenda.

Join on your computer, mobile app, or room device.

Click here to join the meeting

Meeting ID:
229 098 237 039

Passcode:
Dyjtpw

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United States, Olympia:
+1 564-999-2000

United States (Toll-free)
(833) 322-1218

Phone Conference ID:
971 294 415#

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At the October 20, 2023, Board meeting the Board voted unanimously to adopt the CPA Exam Score Credit Relief Initiative proposed by NASBA. This initiative was formulated in response to the National Health Emergency and the hardship it placed on CPA Exam candidates.
The Board adopted the initiative “en masse” for all passing Exam section scores for which credit was/will be expired between January 30, 2020, and December 31, 2023. For passing section scores during that time frame, which have not been subsequently replaced by new credits for the same section, the credit expiration dates will be extended to June 30, 2025.
Please be patient, while our Exam Administrator, CPA Exam Services (CPAES), updates the Exam score system to reflect the new expiration dates. This is a large update, and they will be working on it as quickly as possible.
If you already have a Notice to Schedule (NTS) for a previously passed section for which credit will be restored, please email cri@nasba.org. They will work with you to complete the necessary steps related to that NTS.
The Board thanks the Exam candidates who participated in the conversation at the Board meeting. To all Exam candidates, we recognize your hard work and dedication, and in advance thank you for your future service to the CPA profession.

On March 17, 2022, Governor Inslee signed Senate Bill 5519 into law. The purpose of this legislation is to:

• Move the remaining CPA-Inactive Certificate holders to an inactive licensee status to remove the confusion surrounding the CPA-Inactive designation.
• Sync the Washington regulatory approach to CPA title use with that of most other US jurisdictions.
• Make the CPA-Inactive status available to all licensees.

The changes take effect July 1, 2024.

What the changes mean to you if you hold a:

CPA-Inactive Certificate in an active status:

• Your certificate will automatically convert to a CPA license in an inactive status on July 1, 2024.
  • If you are up for renewal in 2024, you will want to be sure to renew your certificate during your renewal period between January 1 and June 30, 2024. The conversion will occur on July 1, and you will be left with more options than if you let your certificate lapse or retire it.
• You may not hold out or practice public accounting during the time in which you are in an inactive status.
• You may continue to renew in an inactive status every 3 years by:
  • Completing a Washington State Board ethics course within your CPE reporting.
  • Logging the completed course in the CPE Tracker.
  • Submitting an online renewal application indicating that you are renewing in an inactive status.
  • Paying the renewal fee.
• You may initially convert your license to an active status by:
  • Meeting the experience requirements of WAC 4-30-070 (without regard to the eight-year limitation indicated in the referenced rule)
    • If you already have approved experience on file with the Board, you do not need to submit an experience affidavit and resume or summary of key job responsibilities.
  • Completing the required Continuing Professional Education (CPE)
    • 120 CPE credit hours, including a Washington State Board Approved Ethics course.
    • The CPE hours must be completed within the 36 months preceding your application date, except the Washington State Board Approved Ethics course, which must be completed within the 6 months preceding the date of application.
  • Logging your completed CPE in the CPE Tracker located in our online services.
  • Uploading acceptable CPE documentation (course completion certificates, etc.) into the CPE Tracker for all CPE claimed.
  • Submitting a conversion application through our online services.
  • No fee is charged for this application.
• After your initial conversion to an active status, you can renew in an active or inactive status, depending on your current needs. See CPA License in an active status below.

CPA-Inactive Certificate in a lapsed, retired, suspended, or revoked status on July 1, 2024:

• Your only option is to apply for an initial license. (Your education, CPA Exam scores, and AICPA Code of Professional Conduct course will still be valid, provided you do not have a Board Order stating otherwise.)
• If you are in one of these statuses, you may want to consider completing the appropriate application to get your CPA-Inactive Certificate back into an active status prior to the change-over.

CPA License in an active status

• Beginning with the 2025 renewal period, you will have two options for renewal:
  • Active Status
    • Complete the 120-hour CPE requirement, including a Washington State Board approved ethics course, within your CPE reporting period (don’t forget your 20-hour minimum annual requirement).
    • Log your completed CPE in the CPE Tracker located in our online services.
    • Submit an online renewal application through our online services indicating that you are renewing in an active status.
    • Pay the renewal fee.
  • Inactive Status
    • Complete a Washington State Board approved ethics course within your CPE reporting period.
    • Log your completed CPE in the CPE Tracker located in our online services.
    • Submit an online renewal application through our online services indicating that you are renewing in an inactive status.
    • Pay the renewal fee. (The fee is the same for both statuses.)
    • You may not hold out or practice public accounting during the time in which you are in an inactive status.
• You are only able to apply for inactive status during your renewal period.
• If you are in an inactive status, you can convert your status to active at any time by:
  • Completing the required Continuing Professional Education (CPE)
    • 120 CPE credit hours, including a Washington State Board Approved Ethics course.
    • The CPE hours must be completed within the 36 months preceding your application date, except the Washington State Board Approved Ethics course, which must be completed within the 6 months preceding the date of application.
  • Logging your completed CPE in the CPE Tracker located in our online services.
  • Uploading acceptable CPE documentation (course completion certificates, etc.) into the CPE Tracker for all CPE claimed.
  • Submitting a conversion application through our online services.
  • No fee is charged for this application

The Washington State Board of Accountancy (ACB) is looking for volunteers to serve on the Peer Review Oversight Committee (PROC). Members of this committee are not board members, but rather serve as voluntary PROC members.

Responsibilities include:

• Monitoring RAB meetings (attended virtually) and preparing a summary of actions taken,
• Participating in PROC meetings (held on an as-needed basis, but at least annually; typically held virtually),
• Attending Board meetings as requested, but at least annually (held in person, but can be attended virtually).

Requirements:

• CPA license in Washington and in good standing
• Experience as a peer reviewer

All PROC members are subject to approval by the Board.

For more information please contact Jennifer Sciba, Deputy Director, at 360.586.0952 or Jennifer.sciba@acb.wa.gov.

The Board has developed a feature that allows individuals to populate their CPE Tracker by uploading a pre-formatted CSV file of their CPE Summary rather than individually adding each CPE course.

For more information, please see our CPE Tracker instruction page.

Governor Jay Inslee appointed Michael Paquette, CPA as the Executive Director of the Washington State Board of Accountancy effective September 16, 2022.

Michael is a licensed CPA and has extensive experience with management. Since 2019, he has been the budget operations manager at the Washington State Health Care Authority, and prior to that was the assistant director for accounting and financial services at the Washington State Department of Transportation.

He will bring to the job an extensive knowledge of business practices as a CPA that are strategic to the Board.

The Board welcomes Michael to his new position.

For more than 25 years Julie Phipps has administered the Peer Review Program for Washington CPA firms on behalf of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). Julie plans to retire in May 2023, and the WSCPA has made the decision to outsource the administration of the Peer Review Program to the Colorado Society of CPAs (COCPA) starting May 1, 2023.

Following several discussions with the WSCPA Peer Review Committees and staff, and after evaluating the many challenges the organization would face in order to continue administering the program, the WSCPA determined that this is the right time to outsource the administration of the program. “It was not any easy decision, “said Hayden Williams, CPA, “but COCPA administers an outstanding program and will serve Washington firms very well.”

During the next year, the WSCPA will communicate directly with all Washington firms enrolled in the Peer Review Program and provide details regarding the transition. At this time, there is no impact on firms or peer reviews scheduled for the next 12 months.

If you have any questions, please contact Julie Phipps at (425) 586-1132 or jphipps@wscpa.org or Hayden Williams, CFO, at (425) 586-1134 or hwilliams@wscpa.org.

Source: Washington Society of CPAs