Notice is hereby given that the following changes have been made to the proposed rule in accordance with subparagraph 120.54(3)(d)1., F.S., published in Vol. 35 No. 31, August 7, 2009 issue of the Florida Administrative Weekly.

The change is in response to a discussion and vote on the rule at a meeting of the Board held on August 5, 2009. The changes are as follows:

1. Subsection (1)(a) and (b) were removed from the proposed rule. With this change, both have been added back to the rule. Subsection (1)(a) and (b) shall now read as follows:

(1)(a) In any given reestablishment period, each current/active Florida certified public accountant must have completed at any time or times during the two-year period, at least 80 hours of educational instruction or training in public accounting subjects or courses of study, as defined hereinafter, of which at least 20 hours must have been in accounting-related and/or auditing-related subjects and of which no more than 20 hours may be in behavioral subjects and at least four hours shall be in Florida Board-approved ethics.

(b) Florida certified public accountants who do not meet the requirements by June 30th will be granted an automatic extension until September 15th provided the Florida certified public accountant submits an additional 8 hours in Accounting and Auditing subjects. An automatic extension will be granted until December 31st provided the Florida certified public accountant submits an additional 16 hours in Accounting and Auditing subjects. Florida certified public accountants utilizing the automatic extension must submit the required information postmarked or recorded on-line by September 15 or December 31st.

2. Subsection (6) shall now read as follows:

(6) Each Florida certified public accountant shall, as a part of the biennial licensure renewal, on or before December 31 prior to his/her biennial license renewal, report on forms prescribed by the Board, continuing professional education requirements completed during the applicable reestablishment period. Each Florida certified public accountant’s documentation supporting such compliance shall be retained through the two years following a two-year reestablishment period. Documentation is to be retained to support evidence of completion of the required hours to enable a random audit by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to determine compliance with the requirements. If staff review or review by the Committee on Continuing Professional Education determines that courses are either improperly classified or do not otherwise meet the requirements of the chapter, then the Florida certified public accountant will be given 60 days from the date of notification to comply with the continuing professional education requirements. Florida certified public accountants who complete the continuing professional education requirements timely but who are found to be deficient after December 31 of their renewal year must correct the error and pay of $50 fine within 60 days.

THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROPOSED RULE IS: Veloria Kelly, Division Director, Board of Accountancy, 240 N.W. 76th Dr., Suite A, Gainesville, Florida 32607