Rhode Island and Louisiana are among the last and latest states to officially begin tackling licensing reform for certified public accountants, with lawmakers introducing new legislation to pursue CPA certification changes in their respective states late last month.
Rhode Island’s House bill (2026-H 8128) was introduced by State Rep. Stephen M. Casey on Feb. 27 and referred to House Corporations. Louisiana’s CPA pathways legislation (House Bill No. 548) was pre-filed by State Rep. Gerald “Beau” Beaullieu IV on Feb. 26 and referred to the House Committee on Commerce earlier this week, according to LegiScan, which tracks state legislation nationwide. .
Both pieces of legislation would remove the 150 college credit hour requirement — typically equivalent to five years of post-secondary education — and instead set out three alternative paths to becoming a CPA. As is the case with much of the legislation passed in other states ahead of them, all three paths require passing the onerous CPA exam but offer varied tracks to education and experience.
In Rhode Island, the tracks would be a graduate degree or post-baccalaureate degree and one year’s experience; a bachelor’s plus 30 semester credit hour and one year of experience, or a bachelor’s with an accounting concentration or its equivalent and two years of experience in accounting, attest, management advisory, financial advisory tax, or consulting skills. The act would take effect “upon passage,” the bill states.
Louisiana’s pathways are similar, but the proposed effective date of the new structure is not clear.
The new bills come as dozens of states have passed new laws or changed licensing rules since Ohio became the first to do so in January of last year. The only states remaining that are not yet actively pursuing CPA pathways legislation or licensing rule changes are Maine, Wyoming and North Dakota, according to the Minnesota Society of Certified Public Accountants, which is closely tracking the legislation.
The CPA pathways legislation has been a multi-year push driven by a desire to address an accounting talent shortage and remove what critics say is a costly and time-consuming educational barrier of the 150-hour credit rule. The aim was to attract more college students into the profession who were being pulled into other business career paths that didn’t require the fifth year of college and often promised higher starting compensation.
But even as there are signs that the accounting shortage is easing. some say the CPA will be an increasingly important credential as it enables early career professionals to sign off on audits and do higher level work that AI cannot yet take over, CFO Dive previously reported.
Keep up with CPA licensure changes with CFO Dive’s tracker on the topic here.
