§466-5  License of certified public

accountant.  (a)  A license and a permit are required to practice public

accountancy.  The board may license and grant the designation of

"certified public accountant" to any person who has met the

following:

     (1)  Attained eighteen years of age;

     (2)  Possesses a history of competence,

trustworthiness, and fair dealing;

     (3)  Educational requirements of this section or

section 466-5.5;

     (4)  Experience requirements of subsection (d);

     (5)  Examination requirements of subsection (e); and

     (6)  Paid the appropriate fees and assessments.

     (b)  The educational requirement for a license

shall include a baccalaureate degree conferred by a college or university

recognized by the board and:

     (1)  Completion of not less than thirty semester hours

of study in addition to those semester hours required for a baccalaureate

degree.  The baccalaureate degree and the thirty semester hours of additional

study shall include a minimum of eighteen semester hours of upper division or

graduate level accounting or auditing subjects.  The content of the additional

qualifying hours of study shall be determined by rules adopted by the board

pursuant to chapter 91; or

     (2)  If the applicant has a minimum of eighteen

semester hours of upper division or graduate level accounting and auditing

subjects, the applicant may elect to replace the thirty semester hours with an

additional thirty months of professional experience in a public accounting

practice.  This experience shall not be credited toward the experience

requirements in subsection (d).

     (c)  A person shall be exempt from the

requirements in subsection (b) or section 466-5.5 if that person:

     (1)  Holds a current license as a public accountant

under section 466-6; or

     (2)  Holds, and has continued to hold, a valid

comparable certificate, registration, or license of certified public accountant

of another state for a period of not less than ten years preceding the date of

the person's application under this section, and has been in active practice of

public accountancy in one or more states for a period of not less than five

years preceding the date of the application.

     (d)  Each applicant shall present satisfactory

evidence in the form of a certified statement from present or former

employer(s) that the applicant has met one of the following experience

requirements for license:

     (1)  Completion of one thousand five hundred

chargeable hours in the performance of audits involving the application of

generally accepted accounting principles and auditing standards earned while in

public accounting practice; or

     (2)  Completion of two years of professional

experience in public accountancy practice as defined in section 466-3. 

Completion of experience in private or government accounting or auditing work,

deemed by the board to be equivalent to professional experience in public

accountancy practice as defined in section 466-3, may be substituted for all or

part of the two years of professional experience in public accounting

practice.  The nature, variety, and depth of acceptable private or government

accounting or auditing experience shall be defined by the board in its rules.

     (e)  The examination required to be passed for

licensure shall test the applicant's knowledge of the subjects of accounting

theory, accounting practice, auditing, and other related subjects as the board

may specify by rule.  The board shall prescribe the methods of applying for and

conducting the examination, including methods for grading papers and

determining a passing grade required by an applicant for a license; provided

that the board shall, to the extent possible, see to it that the grading of the

examination and the passing grades are uniform with those applicable in all

other states.  The board may use the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination

and Advisory Grading Service of the American Institute of Certified Public

Accountants, and may contract with third parties to perform the administrative

services with respect to the examination as the board deems appropriate to

assist it in performing its duties herein.

     (f)  The board may allow an applicant to sit

for the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination, if the applicant has

met at least one of the following:

     (1)  Baccalaureate degree in accounting conferred by a

college or university acceptable to the board; or

     (2)  Baccalaureate degree with a major in a subject

other than in accounting, plus eighteen semester hours of upper division or

graduate level accounting or auditing subjects, conferred by a college or

university acceptable to the board; or

     (3)  Baccalaureate degree or its equivalent in

accounting, conferred by a college or university outside of the United States,

and submission of a letter of acceptance from an accredited United States

college or university to its advanced degree program or an educational

equivalency report prepared by an evaluator approved by the board.

     (g)  The board shall prescribe the terms and

conditions under which an applicant who has taken the examination prescribed in

subsection (e), but who has not satisfactorily completed the examination, may

be given credit for any part thereof that the applicant has satisfactorily

completed.  The board may also provide a specific length of time for an

applicant to apply for reexamination.

     (h)  A person who passed the Uniform Certified

Public Accountant Examination under the laws of another state may be exempted

from taking the examination required pursuant to subsections (a)(5) and (e). 

The board shall prescribe the methods and requirements for exemption from

examination requirements.  The board shall prescribe the methods and

requirements for exemption for the holder of a valid comparable certificate,

registration, or license and a degree from a foreign country.

     (i)  A person who, on January 1, 1974, holds a

license of certified public accountant issued under the laws of this State

theretofore existing shall not be required to obtain an additional license of

certified public accountant under this chapter, but shall otherwise be subject

to all the provisions of this chapter; and the license theretofore issued

shall, for all purposes, be considered a license issued under this chapter and

subject to the provisions herein.

     (j)  Licenses shall be effective for a period

not exceeding two years and shall be renewable biennially on or before December

31 of every odd-numbered year upon application to the board.

     (k)  The board may renew the license of a

certified public accountant who completes a renewal application and fulfills

the following requirements:

     (1)  Holds a valid and current license; and

     (2)  Paid appropriate fees and assessments.

     (l)  Failure to renew a license on or before

December 31 of every odd-numbered year, shall constitute a forfeiture of

license.  Continued practice in public accountancy without renewing or

restoring a license and permit shall constitute unlicensed activity.  Any

person engaged in unlicensed activity shall be subject to sections 466-9,

466-11, 487-13, and 26-9.

     (m)  The board shall specify the method and

requirements of application for restoration of a forfeited license.  The date

of restoration of the license shall be the date of board approval of the

restoration.  Restorations shall not be retrospective. [L 1973, c 158, pt of

§2; am L 1975, c 118, §30(1); am L 1979, c 124, §1; am L 1980, c 53, §1; am L

1983, c 295, §1; gen ch 1985; am L 1989, c 110, §6; am L 1997, c 35, §2, c 40,

§19, and c 86, §2; am L 2003, c 129, §1]