A profession without borders

Most states now impose differing and sometimes onerous notification and fee demands on CPAs who want to do business in their jurisdictions, even if a CPA has no intention of establishing an office there - or even being physically present. The American Institute of CPAs and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy for years have been concerned about difficult-to-enforce and even unreasonable rules and restrictions placed on CPAs, which serve neither the public interest nor the profession. The organizations' joint Uniform Accountancy Act Committee ultimately determined that the guiding principle for any mobility system should both eliminate the barriers to interstate practice and retain the basic tenets of the state-based regulatory system, which for many years has ensured appropriate protection of the public. the states are quickly coming to appreciate that restrictions on CPA mobility are in nobody's best interests, particularly the public's. Prior to this year, only four states - Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin and Virginia - had "no-notification" mobility laws on their books that allowed CPAs from other substantial-equivalency states to practice in their states without providing notification.