STAND. COM. REP. NO. 808

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2025

RE: H.B. No. 983

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce, to which was referred H.B. No. 983 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to eliminate certain educational barriers for an applicant to be qualified for licensure as a certified public accountant.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Society of Certified Public Accountants; Taketa, Iwata, Hara & Associates, LLC; Hawaii Association of Public Accountants; Hawaii Association of Public Accountants – Oahu Chapter; Chantal Mentzer Inc.; and numerous individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Board of Public Accountancy and Hong Consulting, LLC.

Your Committee finds that there is an increasing need for well-qualified certified public accountants in the State and nationwide as business and commerce continue to grow more complicated. However, there is a declining percentage of students in accounting courses that pursue certified public accountant licenses. This is in part due to the extensive educational requirements beyond a bachelor's degree for licensure, which require further time and money and can serve as a barrier for many potential candidates for licensure. This measure opens an alternative pathway for a certified public accountant license by authorizing the completion of qualifying professional experience in the practice of accountancy in lieu of post-baccalaureate coursework.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that the required minimum of eighteen semester hours of upper division or graduate level accounting or auditing subjects, as determined by rules adopted by the Board of Public Accountancy, are to be completed as part of the candidate's baccalaureate degree;

(2) Clarifying that the professional experience that may be substituted for the additional thirty semester hours is twelve months of professional experience in the practice of public accountancy only, which shall be in addition to, and shall not be counted in, the other required professional experience;

(3) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 983, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 983, H.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce,

____________________________

SCOT Z. MATAYOSHI, Chair