Title BPC — California Bus. & Prof. Code

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, both of the following apply: (1) The Board of Registered Nursing, the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians of the State of California, the Physician Assistant Board, and the Respiratory Care Board of California shall collect w…

The board may, for the purpose of obtaining technical expertise, appoint an enforcement advisory committee of not more than 13 licensees to provide advice and assistance related to the functions specified in Section 5103. The committee shall act only in an advisory capacity, shal…

The members of the enforcement advisory and qualifications committees shall hold office for two years.

The qualifications committee shall make recommendations and forward its report to the board for action on any matter on which it is authorized to act. An applicant for registration as a certified public accountant who is aggrieved by any action taken by the committee with respect…

The board may establish a qualifications committee of its own certified public accountant members or other certified public accountants of the state in good standing, to perform the following advisory duties: (a) To examine the qualifications of all applicants for the license of …

The board may create and appoint advisory committees, consisting solely of board members or consisting of board members and other persons who are not board members, for the purpose of making recommendations on matters as may be specified by the board.

(a) The board may contract with and employ certified public accountants and public accountants as consultants and experts to assist in the investigation and prosecution of judicial and administrative matters. (b) Contracts made pursuant to this section are not subject to Article …

(a) The Legislature finds that there are occasions when the California Board of Accountancy urgently requires additional expenditure authority in order to fund unanticipated enforcement and litigation activities. Without sufficient expenditure authority to obtain the necessary ad…

(a) Whenever the board enters into a contract for litigation or enforcement purposes, including, but not limited to, contracts pursuant to Section 5025.1, funds may be encumbered in the fiscal year the contract is executed and expended at any time during the subsequent 24 months …

The Legislature has determined it is in the public interest to require that certified public accountants and public accountants licensed under provisions of this chapter comply with continuing education requirements adopted by the board as a prerequisite to the renewal of public …

The board shall by regulation prescribe, amend, or repeal rules including, but not limited to, all of the following: (a) A definition of basic requirements for continuing education. (b) A licensee who plans, directs, or approves any financial or compliance audit report on any gov…

The board may, in accordance with the intent of this article, make exceptions from continuing education requirements for licensees not engaged in public practice, or for reasons of health, military service, or other good cause. If the licensee returns to the practice of public ac…

“Board” means the California Board of Accountancy.

“Committee” means any committee created under the provisions of Article 1 (commencing at Section 5000).

“State” when not specifically referring to this State, means any state, territory or insular possession of the United States, or the District of Columbia.

“Certified public accountant” means any person who has received from the board a certificate of certified public accountant and who holds a valid permit to practice under the provisions of this chapter.

For purposes of this chapter, “license” shall also include “certificate.”

“Public accountant” means any person who has registered with the board as a public accountant and who holds a valid permit for the practice of public accountancy.

“Person” includes individual, partnership, firm, association, limited liability company, or corporation, unless otherwise provided.

“Firm” means a sole proprietorship, a corporation, or a partnership.

“Client”, as used in any context in this chapter, means any person for whom public accountancy services are performed or to whom financial products, financial services, or securities are sold or provided at the licensee’s public accountancy practice or through referral to any oth…

For purposes of Sections 5054 and 5096.12, “firm” includes any entity that is authorized or permitted to practice public accountancy as a firm under the laws of another state.

“Comparable licensure requirements” means another state requires passage of the examination described in Section 5082 and has education and experience requirements, when considered collectively, that meet or exceed the standards established by the board pursuant to Article 5 (com…

Whenever any statute requires that any reports, financial statements, and other documents for any department, division, board, commission, or agency of this state be prepared by certified public accountants, the requirement shall be construed to mean a licensee or licensees with …

(a) All statements, records, schedules, working papers and memoranda made by a licensee or a partner, shareholder, officer, director, or employee of a licensee, incident to, or in the course of, rendering services to a client in the practice of public accountancy, except the repo…

Nothing in subdivision (k) of Section 17406 of the Financial Code or subdivision (a) of Section 17406.1 of the Financial Code shall be construed to impair or impede a licensee’s rights, duties, and obligations under Section 5037.

If any provisions of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the remainder of the chapter and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

The Legislature finds and declares that it is important to inform taxpayers that they may make voluntary contributions to certain funds or programs, as provided on the state income tax return. The Legislature further finds and declares that many taxpayers remain unaware of the vo…

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b) of this section, in subdivision (a) of Section 5054, and in Section 5096.12, no person shall engage in the practice of public accountancy in this state unless the person is the holder of a valid permit to practice public accountancy issue…

(a) Any person that engages in any act that is the practice of public accountancy in this state consents to the personal, subject matter, and disciplinary jurisdiction of the board. This subdivision is declarative of existing law. (b) Any person engaged in the practice of public …

(a) The board may revoke, suspend, issue a fine pursuant to Article 6.5 (commencing with Section 5116), or otherwise restrict or discipline the holder of an authorization to practice under subdivision (b) of Section 5050, subdivision (a) of Section 5054, or Section 5096.12 for an…

Except as provided in Sections 5052 and 5053, a person shall be deemed to be engaged in the practice of public accountancy within the meaning and intent of this chapter if they do any of the following: (a) Hold themselves out to the public in any manner as one skilled in the know…

Nothing in this chapter shall apply to any person who as an employee, independent contractor, or otherwise, contracts with one or more persons, organizations, or entities, for the purpose of keeping books, making trial balances, statements, making audits or preparing reports, all…

Nothing contained in this chapter precludes a person who is not a certified public accountant or public accountant from serving as an employee of, or an assistant to, a certified public accountant or public accountant or partnership or a corporation composed of certified public a…

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, an individual or firm holding a valid and current license, certificate, or permit to practice public accountancy from another state may prepare tax returns for natural persons who are California residents or estate tax retu…

Any person who has received from the board a certificate of certified public accountant, or who is authorized to practice public accountancy in this state pursuant to Article 5.1 (commencing with Section 5096), may, subject to Section 5051, be styled and known as a “certified pub…

Any person who has received from the board a certificate of public accountant may, subject to Section 5051, be styled and known as a “public accountant” and may also use the abbreviation “P.A.” No other person, except a firm registered under this chapter, shall assume or use that…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an individual holding a valid and current license, certificate, or permit to practice public accountancy from another state shall be exempt from the requirement to obtain a permit to practice public accountancy issued by the board under…

No person or partnership shall assume or use the title or designation “chartered accountant,” “certified accountant,” “enrolled accountant,” “registered accountant” or “licensed accountant,” or any other title or designation likely to be confused with “certified public accountant…

A person or firm may not use any title or designation in connection with the designation “certified public accountant” or “public accountant” that is false or misleading. The board may adopt regulations covering the use of titles or designations.

The holder of an inactive license issued by the board pursuant to Section 462, when lawfully using the title “certified public accountant,” the CPA designation, or any other reference that would suggest that the person is licensed by the board on materials such as correspondence,…

The holder of a retired license issued by the board pursuant to Section 5070.1, when lawfully using the title “certified public accountant,” the CPA designation, or any other reference that would suggest that the person is licensed by the board on materials such as correspondence…

The holder of a permit in a military inactive status issued by the board pursuant to Section 5070.2, when lawfully using the title “certified public accountant,” the CPA designation, or any other reference that would suggest that the person is licensed by the board, on materials …

(a) No person or firm may practice public accountancy under any name which is false or misleading. (b) No person or firm may practice public accountancy under any name other than the name under which the person or firm holds a valid permit to practice issued by the board. (c) Not…

(a) Except as expressly permitted by this section, a person engaged in the practice of public accountancy shall not: (1) pay a fee or commission to obtain a client or (2) accept a fee or commission for referring a client to the products or services of a third party. (b) A person …

A licensee shall issue a report which conforms to professional standards upon completion of a compilation, review or audit of financial statements.

A licensee shall not accept employment with a publicly traded corporation or its affiliate within 12 months of the date of issuance of a financial statement report if both of the following criteria are met: (a) The licensee has participated in an audit engagement for the corporat…

For purposes of an enforcement action taken by the board, an accounting firm providing attestation services where none of the licensee owners of the firm have authority to sign reports on attest engagements, the licensee owners shall be held to the same level of responsibility as…

If a licensee is no longer employed with an accounting firm, the accounting firm shall make all working papers available to a licensee who signed a report on an attest engagement upon request by the board for purposes of conducting an investigation. The licensee shall return the …

(a) A licensee shall report to the board in writing of the occurrence of any of the following events occurring on or after January 1, 1997, within 30 days of the date the licensee has knowledge of these events: (1) The conviction of the licensee of any of the following: (A) A fel…