| Abstract: | In 1988, the members of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) voted overwhelmingly for a change in the requirements to qualify to take the Uniform CPA Examination (Exam). The AICPA's Plan to Restructure Professional Standards will require newly licensed Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) to have completed a minimum of 150 semester hours of college work instead of the current minimum of 120 semester hours. As of October 1992, 24 states, including Texas, had enacted laws adopting this requirement. As stated in the 1983 report issued by the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) and the AICPA: Many people, both inside and outside public accounting, believe the profession has not adequately responded either to the extensive growth of the body of accounting knowledge over the past twenty years or to the changing structure and environment of accounting practice. The AICPA hopes the new educational requirements, with a goal of becoming effective by January 1, 2000 in all fifty states, will better prepare tomorrow's CPAs to deal with increasing technological and financial complexity in American business and the fast developing global economy. The AICPA's intent is to emphasize the need for a standard accounting education program enhanced with a greater variety of liberal arts and business courses. The hopeful outcome will be more complete and well-rounded graduates who can handle today's and the future's more challenging assignments capably. |
|---|