Bill
HB 8128
Rhode Island HB 8128 strengthens public-accountancy oversight by standardizing licensure, enabling cross-state mobility, formalizing firm rules, and expanding enforcement and board
Rhode Island HB 8128 (2026) – Public Accountancy
Summary of KeyProvisions, Purpose, and Impact
Purpose and scope
- Relates to the regulation of public accountancy in Rhode Island.
- Overhauls definitions, licensure pathways, mobility privileges, foreign credentials, and firm structures to tighten public-accountancy governance and public protection.
Main elements and changes
1) Definitions and core concepts
- Clarifies terms used in the Public Accountancy chapter, including:
- Active individual participant: person actively providing client services or managing the firm.
- Attest, Compilation, Report: service definitions aligned with SAS, SSARS, SSAE, PCAOB standards; references to NASBA/AICPA standards.
- Practice unit, Practice unit permit: firm-level concepts; regulatory authority over firms and individuals.
- Substantial equivalency: board’s standard to recognize education/exam/experience from other jurisdictions as equivalent to RI requirements.
2) Rhode Island Board of Accountancy (5-3.1-4)
- Creates Rhode Island Board of Accountancy (a five-member body) with:
- Three or four active RI CPAs in public practice, and one public-sector member with accounting-knowledge background.
- Five-year terms; quorum of three; annual chair election.
- Authority to regulate, adopt rules, enforce standards, and issue subpoenas; immunity for board members; annual activity reports.
- Rulemaking scope includes continuing education, professional conduct, firm regulation, peer reviews, and mobility provisions.
3) Licensure and credential requirements (5-3.1-5)
- CPA licensure pathways:
- Pathways to licensure include post-baccalaureate + experience, or additional credit-hour/curriculum routes, with CPA exam completion.
- Education requirements emphasize 150 semester hours total (with accounting concentration) and specific experience timelines (1-year or 2-year options depending on pathway).
- Reciprocity and substantial equivalency pathways retained, allowing RI license by recognition of equivalent credentials from other jurisdictions.
- Out-of-state CPAs may qualify for RI licensure via substantial equivalency or by meeting RI-specific requirements.
4) Individual mobility practice privilege (5-3.1-5(f))
- Creates a formal mobility privilege:
- CPAs licensed in other states can provide services in RI without RI licensure if they meet mobility criteria.
- Privilege is contingent on ongoing compliance with RI rules and disciplinary jurisdiction; firms employing such individuals must ensure compliance and may be subject to RI authority if the foreign license is no longer valid.
- Allows NASBA’s National Qualification Appraisal Service (NQAS) to determine eligibility for mobility.
5) Foreign-country designation permits (5-3.1-8)
- Establishes annual limited permits for foreign-credentialed accountants:
- Permits practice tied to a foreign designation deemed substantially equivalent.
- Requires foreign credential to be issued by a recognized regulator, entitle the holder to issue reports, and meet RI-equivalent education/exam/experience standards (or four years in RI).
- Permits expire annually, with renewal tied to RI continuing education requirements or board-approved equivalence.
- Supervisory and office requirements apply; designation must reflect the holder’s country.
6) Practice units and firm regulation (5-3.1-9)
- Firms providing attest/ Compilation services or using CPA designations must hold RI permits.
- Defines ownership structure rules:
- For corporations, partnerships, LLCs, etc., ownership must predominantly be held by credentialed RI CPAs or permit holders.
- Non-licensee owners may participate if they are active participants and the supervising licensees meet standard experience requirements.
- At least one partner/shareholder must be a RI-licensed CPA or PA with a RI permit.
- Requires listing of RI offices and supervision identity; annual renewal with required continuing education and peer review (per § 5-3.1-10).
7) Fees, renewals, and continuing education (5-3.1-7, 5-3.1-10)
- Permits and licenses have specified renewal cycles (three-year term; most expire June 30 of the year scheduled to expire).
- Continuing education requirements and peer-review prerequisites apply for renewal.
- Fees for initial issuance, renewal, and examinations are set by the board.
- Subsection-specific provisions govern transitions and compliance timelines.
8) Enforcement, hearings, and discipline
- Denials, suspensions, revocations, and disciplinary actions are subject to due process (notice, hearings, appeals under Rhode Island law).
- Board may assess costs and attorney fees in disciplinary proceedings.
- Immediate cross-state discipline notifications and reporting to multistate enforcement networks are contemplated.
Who is affected
Procedural and timeline notes
Bottom line
HB 8128 reconstitutes Rhode Island’s public-accountancy framework to strengthen public protection, harmonize with national standards (AICPA/NASBA), formalize mobility across state lines, clarify firm-structural requirements, and ensure robust board oversight, discipline, and transparency. It expands pathways for foreign and out-of-state practitioners while maintaining RI’s authority to regulate practice within its borders.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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