Public Accountancy
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Education Law
Article 149, Public Accountancy
This article applies to the profession of public accountancy. The
general provisions for all professions contained in article one
hundred thirty of this title apply to this article.
The practice of the profession of public accountancy is defined as
holding one`s self out to the public, in consideration of
compensation received or to be received, offering to perform or
performing for other persons, services which involve signing,
delivering or issuing or causing to be signed, delivered or issued
any financial, accounting or related statement or any opinion on,
report on, or certificate to such statement if, by reason of the
signature, or the stationery or wording employed, or otherwise, it is
indicated or implied that the practitioner has acted or is acting, in
relation to said financial, accounting or related statement, or
reporting as an independent accountant or auditor or as an individual
having or purporting to have expert knowledge in accounting or
auditing.
Only a person licensed or otherwise authorized to practice under
this article shall practice public accountancy and use the title
"certified public accountant" or the designation
"C.P.A." or "public accountant" or any other
derivative or designation provided in section seventy-four hundred
eight.
A state board for public accountancy shall be appointed by the
board of regents on recommendation of the commissioner for the
purpose of assisting the board of regents and the department on
matters of professional licensing and professional conduct in
accordance with section sixty-five hundred eight of this title. The
board shall be composed of not less than twenty licensed accountants,
not less than fifteen of whom shall be licensed as certified public
accountants in this state, and the board should be kept in such
proportion if it is ever increased. An executive secretary to the
board shall be appointed by the board of regents on recommendation of
the commissioner and shall be a certified public accountant licensed
in this state.
- To qualify for a license as a certified public accountant, an
applicant shall fulfill the following requirements:
- Application: file an application with the department;
- Education: have received an education, including a bachelor`s or
higher degree based on a program in accountancy, in accordance with
the commissioner`s regulations;
- Experience: have experience satisfactory to the board and in
accordance with the commissioner`s regulations;
- Examination: pass a written examination satisfactory to the board
and in accordance with the commissioner`s regulations and the
requirement with respect to such examination may not be waived.
- Age: be at least twenty-one years of age;
- Citizenship: meet no requirements as to United States
citizenship;
- Character: be of good moral character as determined by the
department; and
- Fees: pay a fee of two hundred twenty dollars to the department
for admission to a department conducted examination and for an
initial license, a fee of one hundred fifteen dollars for each
reexamination, a fee of one hundred thirty-five dollars for an
initial license for persons not requiring admission to a department
conducted examination, and a fee of two hundred ten dollars for each
triennial registration period.
- In lieu of professional requirements specified in subparagraphs
(2) and (3) of subdivision one of this section, fifteen years in the
practice of public accountancy satisfactory to the board may be
accepted by the department.
To qualify for a license as a public accountant, an applicant
shall fulfill the following requirements:
- Application: file an application with the department;
- Declaration of intention:
- Have filed a declaration of intention to practice as a public
accountant with the department on or before October first, nineteen
hundred fifty-nine, on the basis of evidence that the applicant was
engaged for a total of six years during the ten years immediately
preceding April twenty-third, nineteen hundred fifty-nine, in the
practice of public accountancy as an individual practitioner or as a
partner of a partnership or as an employee of such an individual
practitioner or partnership engaged in the practice of public
accountancy or as an employee of a department, agency or
instrumentality of the United States, the state, or a political
subdivision of the state in which employment his duties entailed the
performance of all or some of the services which would constitute the
practice of public accountancy, or a combination of the foregoing
duties, or in the opinion of the board the equivalent thereof;
- Establish by evidence satisfactory to the board that at the date
of the filing of said declaration of intention, the applicant had
complied with the conditions established by law on April
twenty-third, nineteen hundred fifty-nine, has not violated the
provisions relating to practice in public accountancy, and is about
to engage in the practice of public accountancy as his principal
occupation as an individual practitioner or as a partner of a
partnership;
- Character: be of good moral character as determined by the
department; and
- Fees: pay a fee to the department for an initial license of two
hundred twenty dollars, and a fee of two hundred ten dollars for each
triennial registration period.
- On recommendation of the board, the department may issue a
limited permit to an applicant of good moral character who is the
holder of a certificate, license or degree in a foreign country
constituting a recognized qualification for the performance in such
country of the acts set forth in section seventy-four hundred one,
provided the applicant has professional qualifications satisfactory
to the board, the applicant resides or has a place for the regular
transaction of business within the state, and equal recognition is
granted by the foreign country concerned to certified public
accountants and public accountants licensed in this state. Such
limited permit shall be valid for a period of two years and may be
renewed on recommendation of the board. Such permit shall authorize
the applicant to use only the title or designation under which he is
generally known in his own country, followed by the name of the
country from which he received his certificate, license or degree,
notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision two of section
seventy-four hundred eight of this article.
- Fees. The fee for each limited permit and each renewal shall be
one hundred five dollars.
Nothing contained in this article shall be construed to
prohibit:
- Any person who is an officer of a corporation or partner of a
partnership or sole proprietor of a business enterprise or member of
a joint venture or member of a committee appointed by stockholders,
creditors, courts, trustees, executors or administrators, or an
employee of any of the foregoing, in his capacity as such, from
signing, delivering, or issuing any financial, accounting or related
statement or report thereon, relating to said corporation,
partnership, business venture, joint venture, committee, trust or
estate, provided, however, that in so doing such person does not hold
himself out to be a certified public accountant or public
accountant;
- An attorney-at-law or partnership of attorneys-at-law from
signing a financial, accounting or related statement or report
thereon, prepared by him or them as incidental to the practice of
law;
- Any individual from serving as an employee of a certified public
accountant, public accountant or partnership licensed under this
article;
- Any individual, not engaged in practice as a certified public
accountant or public accountant within the state, from performing
services within the state which are incidental to the practice
conducted by him outside the state;
- Any official or employee of a governmental unit, agency or
instrumentality in the performance of his official duties from
signing, delivering or issuing any financial, accounting, or related
statement or report thereon relating to said unit, agency or
instrumentality; or
- A corporation chartered in the state of New York to engage in the
practice of public accountancy and so engaged as its principal
activity on and before the first day of July, nineteen hundred
fifty-nine, from continuing in such practice as long as its corporate
acts comply with the board of regents rules, provided all employees
of such corporation performing any acts constituting the practice of
public accountancy as defined herein and who are not certified public
accountants or public accountants licensed under this article shall
in the performance of such acts be under the supervision of certified
public accountants or public accountants licensed in this state.
- Nothing contained in this article shall be deemed to prohibit two
or more certified public accountants or two or more public
accountants, or any combination thereof, from forming a partnership;
provided, however, that no partnership shall use the words
"certified public accountants" or the letters
"C.P.A.`s" in connection with its name unless each partner
of such partnership, resident or engaged within the United States in
practice is in good standing as a certified public accountant of one
or more of the states or political subdivisions of the United States,
and each partner thereof resident or engaged in practice within the
state is licensed under this article.
- A registration shall be issued to a partnership upon payment of
the fee prescribed by the commissioner upon application showing that:
- At least one partner of such partnership is licensed under this
article and his license to practice is not currently suspended,
annulled or revoked in any jurisdiction and he is regularly engaged
in practice on behalf of the partnership within the state;
- The partnership consists of at least two present members;
and
- The partnership contains at least as many present partners as the
total number of names in the firm name, or, where the word
"company" or abbreviation "co." is used, the
number of present partners shall be greater than the number of names
in the firm name.
- Such registration may be revoked after a hearing conducted in
accordance with the provisions of section sixty-five hundred ten of
this title upon proof:
- That the registration was obtained by either misrepresentation or
suppression of any material fact;
- That the license or authorization to practice of any partner is
suspended, annulled or revoked in any jurisdiction;
- That any partner in such a partnership is or has been engaged in
the practice of public accountancy in this state who is not licensed
in this state; or
- That the partnership failed to file the written notification
required pursuant to paragraph d of this subdivision of this
section.
- Personal service on any general partner of a notice of hearing to
revoke a partnership registered hereunder shall be deemed service on
the partnership.
- A partnership registered to practice pursuant to this section
shall file with the department on or before July first of each year
written notification of:
- Any admission of a partner,
- Any retirement or death of a partner,
- Any termination of partnership, or
- Any occurrence of any event or events which would eliminate as to
such partnership conformity with the applicable requirements of this
section.
- Partnerships shall register triennially and pay a fee of fifty
dollars.
- Any person shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor who shall
use, in connection with the practice of public accountancy, or in any
manner tending to imply that he is an independent accountant or
auditor, the designations "chartered accountant",
"certified accountant", "expert accountant",
"certified tax accountant", "tax accountant",
"enrolled accountant", "enrolled public
accountant", "registered accountant", "licensed
accountant", "incorporated accountant",
"registered public accountant", "licensed public
accountant", or any abbreviation thereof, or the letters
"C.A.", "E.A.", "C.T.A.",
"T.A.", "E.P.A.", "R.A.",
"L.A.", "I.A.", "P.A.",
"R.P.A.", or, "L.P.A.", except as provided
elsewhere in this article, or any other designation tending to imply
that he has expert knowledge in accounting or auditing.
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- Each licensed certified public accountant and public accountant
required under article one hundred thirty of this chapter to register
triennially with the department to practice in the state shall comply
with the provisions of the mandatory continuing education
requirements except as set forth in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this
subdivision. Certified public accountants and public accountants who
do not satisfy the mandatory continuing education requirements shall
not practice until they have met such requirements, they have paid
all applicable fees, and they have been issued a registration or
conditional registration certificate.
- Certified public accountants and public accountants shall be
exempt from the mandatory continuing education requirement for the
triennial registration period during which they are first licensed.
In accordance with the intent of this section, adjustments to the
mandatory continuing education requirement may be granted by the
department for reasons of health certified by a physician, for
extended active duty with armed forces of the United States, or for
other good cause acceptable to the department which may prevent
compliance.
- A licensed certified public accountant and a public accountant
not engaged in public practice as an individual practitioner, a
partner of a partnership, a shareholder of a professional service
corporation, or an employee of such practice units, shall be exempt
from the mandatory continuing education requirement and payment of
the mandatory continuing education fee upon the filing of a statement
with the department declaring such status. Any licensee who returns
to the public practice of certified public accountancy or public
accountancy during the triennial registration period shall notify the
department prior to reentering the profession and shall pay the
current mandatory continuing education fee and shall meet such
mandatory continuing education requirements as shall be prescribed by
regulations of the commissioner.
- During each year of the triennial registration period beginning
September first, nineteen hundred ninety and ending September first,
nineteen hundred ninety-three and each registration period
thereafter, an applicant for registration shall have the option of
(a) completing a minimum of forty contact hours of acceptable formal
continuing education in recognized areas of study, or (b) completing
a minimum of twenty-four contact hours of acceptable formal
continuing education concentrated in any one of the following three
subject areas: auditing, accounting, or taxation. A licensee who has
not satisfied the mandatory continuing education requirements shall
not be issued a triennial registration certificate by the department
and shall not practice unless and until a conditional registration
certificate is issued as provided in subdivision three of this
section. No hourly credits may be transferred from one year to a
subsequent year. The individual licensee shall determine the
selection of courses or programs of study pursuant to subdivision
four of this section.
- The department, in its discretion, may issue a conditional
registration to a licensee who fails to meet the continuing education
requirements established in subdivision two of this section but who
agrees to make up any deficiencies and take any additional education
which the department may require. The fee for such a conditional
registration shall be the same as, and in addition to, the fee for
the triennial registration. The duration of such conditional
registration shall be determined by the department. Any licensee who
is notified of the denial of registration for failure to submit
evidence, satisfactory to the department, of required continuing
education and who practices public accountancy without such
registration, may be subject to disciplinary proceedings pursuant to
section six thousand five hundred ten of this chapter.
- As used in subdivision two of this section, "acceptable
formal continuing education" shall mean formal programs of
learning which contribute to professional practice and which meet the
standards prescribed by regulations of the commissioner. Recognized
areas of study shall include but not be limited to: accounting,
auditing, taxation, advisory services, specialized knowledge and
applications related to specialized industries, and such other
technical areas appropriately related to the practice of accounting
as may be acceptable to the department. To fulfill the mandatory
continuing education requirement, programs must be taken from
sponsors approved by the department, pursuant to the regulations of
the commissioner.
- The mandatory continuing education fee shall be determined by the
regents, shall be payable on or before the first day of each
triennial registration period, and shall be paid in addition to the
triennial registration fee required by section seven thousand four
hundred four of this article.
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