Insights

At the conclusion of the most recent legislative session, the State of Louisiana passed a bill adding a new pathway to obtain the CPA license. This change had the goal of making the CPA designation more reachable, while also not diluting the impressiveness that the CPA designation carries with it. 

What does this mean for accounting students and practitioners? Simply, if you met all other pre-existing requirements to sit for the exam but were missing the full 150 college credit hours, you can now obtain the designation without having to take the extra classes to get to the 150. The tradeoff is that you will need 2 years of qualified experience rather than the 1 year required if you do have 150 college credit hours. Here is a link outlining the change.   

LCPA CEO Ron Gitz worked with the LCPA’s lobbying team to help craft a bill based on what his team had seen from other state’s previous bills of the same nature. By not being the “first” to dive into this venture, it allowed Louisiana to avoid pitfalls in language and avoid unintended consequences. Another thing that made this event so fun was that PCG’s President Jim Schneider was invited to attend the bill signing. Jim’s service on the state board has given him a front row seat to participate in this crucial upgrade for the profession. Our firm is very pleased to support the accounting profession in the most hands-on ways possible. We are excited for what this means for the future of the profession.