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 Committee. 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 to date, all three paths require passing the CPA exam but set up alternative education and experience routes.
In Rhode Island, one track includes completing a graduate degree or post-baccalaureate degree and one year’s experience; a second requires a bachelor’s plus 30 semester credit hour and one year of experience, while a third would require 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 would be 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 was the first to do so in January of last year. The only states remaining that are not yet actively pursuing CPA pathways legislation are Maine, Wyoming and North Dakota, according to the Minnesota Society of Certified Public Accountants, which is closely tracking the issue.
The CPA pathways legislation has been a multi-year push driven by a growing industry desire to address an accounting talent shortage and remove or offer alternatives to the 150-hour credit requirement that critics see as a costly and time-consuming barrier. The aim was to attract more college students into the accounting profession at a time when many were being pulled into other business career paths that didn’t require the fifth year of college and often promised higher starting compensation.
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, at least currently, cannot, CFO Dive previously reported.
Keep up with CPA licensure changes with CFO Dive’s tracker on the topic here.
