442.04 Certified public accountants; qualifications.

(1) The examining board shall grant a certificate as a certified public accountant to all persons who become entitled thereto under this section and s. 442.05. A certificate is permanent unless revoked and not subject to periodic renewal.

(2) The examining board shall hold an examination at least once each year at a time and place determined by the examining board.

(5)

(a) In this subsection, “institution" means a bachelor's degree-granting institution of higher education accredited by an accrediting agency that is recognized by the secretary of the federal department of education.

(b) The examining board may not grant a certificate as a certified public accountant to any person other than a person who satisfies all of the following conditions:

1. The person is 18 years of age or older.

2. The person does not have an arrest or conviction record, subject to ss. 111.321, 111.322, and 111.335.

3. The person has, except as provided in sub. (6), completed at least 150 semester hours of education at an institution that include course work in accounting and business subjects, as determined by the examining board, and has received a bachelor's or higher degree.

4. Except as provided in s. 442.05, the person has successfully passed an examination in such subjects affecting accountancy and business as the examining board considers necessary. A person is not eligible to take the examination under this subdivision unless the person has completed at least 120 semester hours of education at an institution that include course work in accounting and business subjects, as determined by the examining board.

5. The person has at least one year of public accounting experience or its equivalent, the sufficiency of the experience or the equivalency to be judged by the examining board.

(d) The examining board shall ensure that evaluation procedures and examinations under this subsection are nondiscriminatory, relate directly to accountancy, and are designed to measure only the ability to perform competently as an accountant. The examining board may use the examination service provided by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

(6) The examining board may promulgate rules pursuant to which the examining board may, in its discretion and on a case-by-case basis, do all of the following:

(a) Consider certain military training and service of a veteran, as defined in s. 45.01 (12), who was honorably discharged to be substantially equivalent to semester hours of education completed at an institution.

(b) Apply training and service described in par. (a) to satisfy a portion of the 150 semester hours required under sub. (5) (b) 3.

History: 1975 c. 224; 1977 c. 219, 418; 1979 c. 337; 1981 c. 356, 380, 391; 1995 a. 333; 2001 a. 16; 2013 a. 21, 114, 210; 2015 a. 217; 2017 a. 88.