Bill
SB 3076
Rhode Island establishes a centralized Board of Accountancy to standardize licensure, mobility, and oversight, aligning with national standards to protect the public.
Rhode Island Senate Bill 3076 (2026) – Public Accountancy
Summary for Readers
Purpose and overall aim
- This act reorganizes and updates Rhode Island’s public accounting framework, creating a new Rhode Island Board of Accountancy, modernizing definitions, licensure pathways, mobility provisions, and governance. The goal is to establish clear public protections, standardized licensure, and streamlined interstate mobility for CPAs and publicly practicing entities.
Key provisions and changes
1) Definitions and scope (Section 5-3.1-3)
- Updates defining core terms, including:
- Active individual participant
- Attest, compilation, and related standards (SAS, SSARS, SSAE, PCAOB)
- Practice of public accounting and practice unit (CPA firm)
- Mobility and reciprocity concepts (substantial equivalency, individual mobility privileges)
- Professional standards references (AICPA, NASBA, PCAOB)
- Public sector licensee and “good moral character”
- Establishes a framework aligning Rhode Island rules with national standards.
2) Public Accountancy Board (Section 5-3.1-4)
- Creates the Rhode Island Board of Accountancy (5 members; 4CPAs in public practice and 1 public member from state government with financial accounting oversight experience).
- Terms: five years; quorum of three; annual chair election; bonding and records requirements.
- Board duties include rulemaking on education, experience, continuing education, professional conduct, peer review, and practice-unit standards.
- Provides authority to investigate complaints, hold hearings, issue subpoenas, and defend against liability; immunity provisions for actions taken in good faith.
- Requires annual board reporting and adherence to state rulemaking (42-35-3).
3) Licensure and CPA licensure requirements (Section 5-3.1-5)
- Licensure pathways for CPAs: good character; Rhode Island residency or primary employment; post-baccalaureate or additional credit hours; CPA exam passage; and experience in accounting-related functions.
- Exam and education requirements reflect a mix of 150 total semester hours for education, with options to sit for the CPA exam at 120 hours under certain circumstances.
- Reciprocity with other states is allowed, with detailed conditions for credential transfer, experience, and continuing education.
- Provisions for out-of-state licensees to obtain Rhode Island licensure or mobility privileges.
4) Individual mobility privileges (Section 5-3.1-5(f) and related)
- Allows CPAs licensed in any state to practice in Rhode Island on mobility parity, subject to board rules.
- Firms employing mobility-privileged individuals must ensure compliance with Rhode Island laws and discipline when applicable.
- The NASBA National Qualification Appraisal Service may be used to determine substantial equivalence.
5) Permits for public accountants and CPA firms (Sections 5-3.1-7, 5-3.1-8, 5-3.1-9)
- Distinguishes between individual permits (CPAs and PAs) and firm permits (practice units).
- Permits generally last three years and expire on the last day of June of the expiration year, with renewal requirements including continuing professional education (CPE).
- Firm mobility and ownership rules require a majority of ownership to be held by licensed CPAs or PAs; specific requirements for professional supervision, governance, and offices within Rhode Island.
- Detailed reporting requirements for changes in ownership, offices, and disciplinary actions in other jurisdictions.
- Fee schedules to be set by the board, with minimum renewal and initial issuance thresholds (e.g., $375 minimum renewal fee mentioned for permits).
6) Hearings, discipline, and reinstatement (Sections 5-3.1-11 to 5-3.1-16)
- Provisions for hearings on denials, suspensions, or revocations; appeal procedures under state law.
- Grounds for discipline include fraud, dishonesty, violation of regulations, noncompliance, criminal convictions, and other professional misconduct.
- Board can impose penalties, fines, probation, and costs; reinstatement processes outlined with expected rules.
- Requires coordination with multistate enforcement mechanisms and mandatory reporting to other state boards or enforcement networks when discipline occurs.
7) Foreign (international) designation permits (Section 5-3.1-8)
- Establishes annual limited permits for accountancy qualifications from foreign countries deemed substantially equivalent.
- Requirements include foreign designation validity, comparable education/exam/experience, and a corresponding U.S. process (including possible examinations on Rhode Island ethics and law).
- Foreign-permit holders must practice within the scope defined for Rhode Island and may be supervised by Rhode Island-licensed practitioners.
Effective timeline and administration
- The bill outlines transition provisions and phased implementation through board rules. Specific dates include:
- Rolling applicability upon enactment for licensing, mobility, and permit rules.
- Three-year renewal cycles for permits effective after January 1, 2009 (with earlier transitional arrangements for 2008).
- Board is required to publish annual activity reports and to implement necessary rules for substantial equivalency and mobility privileges.
Who is affected
Procedural notes
Overall impact
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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