West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 1 - Accountancy › Title 1 - LEGISLATIVE RULE BOARD OF ACCOUNTANCY › Series 1-01 - Board Rules and Rules of Professional Conduct › Section 1-1-5 - Reciprocal Substantial Equivalency Certificate Requirements

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
5.1. Certified
				public accountants or their equivalent from other jurisdictions who intend to
				perform accounting services in this state and are either (1) a resident of this
				state, (2) have established a business in this state, or (3) are an employee of
				a firm or business entity in this state shall first make application for a
				reciprocal substantial equivalency certificate and meet the applicable
				qualifications below:
5.1.a. Reciprocal
				Substantially Equivalent Certificate Requirements for Substantial Equivalency
				Practitioners. The Board shall issue a reciprocal substantially equivalent
				certificate to an applicant of good moral character who holds a valid
				out-of-state certificate if the state of issuance has certified public
				accountant certification requirements that are substantially equivalent or the
				individual has qualifications substantially equivalent to the certified public
				accountant certification requirements of the Uniform Accountancy Act.
5.1.b. Reciprocal Substantially Equivalent
				Certificate Requirements for Not Substantially Equivalent Practitioners. The
				Board shall issue a reciprocal substantially equivalent certificate to an
				applicant of good moral character who holds a valid out-of-state certificate
				but who does not qualify for a certificate under the provision of W. Va. Code
				§
										30-9-9, if the applicant meets the
				following education, experience, examination and continuing education
				requirements:
5.1.b.1. The applicant passed
				the examination required for issuance of the applicant's certificate with
				grades that would have been passing grades at the time in this state;
5.1.b.2. Within the ten year period
				immediately preceding the application and after passing the examination upon
				which the applicant's certificate in the other state was based, the applicant
				has had one year of experience outside of this state of the type described in
				W. Va. Code §
											30-9-8(3) and/or
				subdivision 4.1.c. of this Rule; and
5.1.b.3. If the applicant's out-of-state
				certificate was issued more than four years prior to the application for
				issuance of a certificate under this Section, that the applicant has fulfilled
				the continuing professional education requirements that would have been
				applicable under W. Va. Code §
											30-9-12(b) and
				subsection 7.3. of this Rule.
5.1.c. Reciprocal Substantially Equivalent
				Certificate Requirements for Foreign Designations. The Board shall issue a
				reciprocal substantially equivalent certificate to an applicant of good moral
				character who holds a foreign designation in public accountancy if:
5.1.c.1. the foreign authority which granted
				the designation makes similar provision to allow a person who holds a valid
				certificate issued by this State to obtain such foreign authority's comparable
				designation;
5.1.c.2. the foreign
				designation:
5.1.c.2.A. was duly issued by a
				foreign authority that regulates the practice of public accountancy and has not
				expired or been revoked or suspended;
5.1.c.2.B. entitles the holder to issue
				reports upon financial statements; and
5.1.c.2.C. was issued upon the basis of
				educational, examination, and experience requirements established by the
				foreign authority or by law that are substantially equivalent to those
				contained in the Uniform Accountancy Act; and
5.1.c.3. the applicant:
5.1.c.3.A. received the designation, based on
				educational and examination standards substantially equivalent to those in
				effect in this State at the time the foreign designation was granted;
5.1.c.3.B. completed an experience
				requirement, substantially equivalent to the requirement set out in subdivision
				4.1.c. of this Rule, in the jurisdiction which granted the foreign designation;
				or meets equivalent requirements prescribed by the Board by rule, within the
				ten years immediately preceding the application; and
5.1.c.3.C. passed a uniform qualifying
				examination in national standards and an examination on the laws, rules and
				code of ethical conduct in effect in this state acceptable to the
				Board.
5.1.c.4. An
				applicant under this Section shall in the application list all jurisdictions,
				foreign and domestic, in which the applicant has applied for or holds a
				designation to practice public accountancy, and each holder of a certificate
				issued under this subsection shall notify the Board in writing, within thirty
				days after its occurrence, of any issuance, denial, revocation or suspension of
				a designation or commencement of a disciplinary or enforcement action by any
				jurisdiction.
5.1.d.
				Reciprocal Substantial Equivalency Certificate Requirements for a Holder of an
				Out-of-State Certificate Establishing a Place of Business in this State.
5.1.d.1. A holder of an out-of-state
				certificate who intends to establish an office in this state shall first apply
				to the Board for the issuance of a reciprocal substantial equivalency
				certificate.
5.1.d.2. Until the
				applicant has applied for and received a certificate, he or she may not
				establish a place of business in this state.