Bill
HSB 177
Iowa establishes two paths to initial CPA certification: 150 hours with 1+ year experience, or 120 hours with 2+ years, with board-approved accounting concentration or equivalence.
Overview
- Jurisdiction: Iowa
- Bill type: House Study Bill proposing changes to qualifications for a certificate as a certified public accountant (CPA)
- Title focus: Qualifications for CPA certification and related provisions, including effective date provisions
- Status history: Introduced February 13, 2025; Subcommittee and Committee actions leading to a committee report approving the bill; renumbered as HF 778
- Subcommittee: Bossman, Nielsen, and Siegrist
- Subcommittee recommendation: Pass
- Subcommittee meeting date: February 25, 2025
- Committee recommendation: Pass
- Committee vote: 22 Yeas, 0 Nays, 1 Excused (February 26, 2025)
- Committee report: March 5, 2025
- Renumbering: Renumbered as HF 778
Key Provisions and Changes
- New main pathways to initial CPA certification (Section 542.5, subsec. 7, amended)
- Pathway A: 150 semester hours of college education (or the equivalent if using trimester/quarter credit), plus:
- A bachelor-level degree
- At least one year of professional experience
- Degree must include an accounting concentration or be deemed substantially equivalent by the board
- Experience must involve providing services or advice in accounting, attest, compilation, management advisory, financial advisory, tax, or consulting (verified by the applicant) and may be in government, industry, academia, or public sector
- Pathway B: 120 semester hours of college education (or equivalent), plus:
- A bachelor-level degree
- At least two years of professional experience
- Degree program requirements mirror Pathway A (accounting concentration or board-determined substantial equivalence)
- Experience requirements mirror Pathway A (allowed service/advice areas and verification)
- Degree requirements
- The degree required under the pathways must be a bachelor’s degree or higher from a college or university recognized by the board
- Degree program must include an accounting concentration or be deemed substantially equivalent by the board
- Experience requirements
- For Pathway A: at least one year of experience involving specified accounting-related services
- For Pathway B: at least two years of experience involving the same categories of services
- Experience may be gained in government, industry, academia, or public sector and must be verifiable
- Board authority
- The board determines whether a degree program is substantially equivalent to an accounting concentration
- Experience verifications and allowable service areas are confirmed by the board’s rules
Other Provisions and Effects
- Section 12 of Section 542.5 is struck (removal of the prior subsection)
- Section 13 is amended to reflect revised certification language (text partially shown in the bill excerpt)
- The bill’s title notes the inclusion of effective date provisions, though the specific dates are not shown in the provided text
Who Is Affected
- Prospective CPA candidates seeking initial certification
- Accounting programs and colleges (alignment with 120-hour vs 150-hour tracks and required concentration)
- Certified public accountants and CPA firms (through potential changes in entry requirements and credentialing)
- Iowa Board of Accountancy (rulemaking to implement and verify education and experience requirements)
Timing and Implementation
- If enacted, changes would become effective subject to the bill’s stated effective date provisions (not detailed in the excerpt)
- Institutions and applicants would need to align with one of the two qualification pathways to obtain initial CPA certification
Note: Some sections of the bill text (e.g., the full treatment in Section 13) are incomplete in the provided excerpt. The summary reflects the material available from the introduced version and the amendments described in the actions above.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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