The California Board of Accountancy

The California Board of Accountancy is under the California Department of Consumer Affairs, and was founded in 1901 by the California Accountancy Act.  The California Board of Accountancy was manufactured by the California government so that they can protect California residents from fraudulent representation by public accountants.  Since it's inception, the California Board of Accountancy continues to be responsible for licensing of California Cpas as well as California Public Accountants.

The California Board of Accountancy is not only responsible for the licensing of California cpas and California public accountants.  The California Board of Accountancy is also the culprit for making sure that candidates for the Uniform Cpa Examination are allowed to take the examination and make application for a license with the California Board of Accountancy.

The California Board of Accountancy is additionally responsible for the regulation and registration of California certified public accountants partnerships and California public accountant partnerships, as well as California corporate partnerships.

Being charged with protecting California consumers, the California Board of Accountancy also has the authority to receive and investigate complaints of fraudulent or unethical activity against California consumers by California certified public accountants and California public accountants.  In order to discipline cpas and public accountants that violate Board statutes and regulations, the California Board of Accountancy may suspend a license, revoke a license, or place the licensee on a probationary period.  The terms of the probation can vary based on the Board's decision and the facts of the case.  Standard probationary terms are included in every act of discipline within the California Board of Accountancy.  However, additional terms may be required during the probationary period that the California Board of Accountancy deems it necessary based on the facts of the case.

In relation to the authority and responsibility to monitor and discipline certified public accountants and public accountants, the California Board of Accountancy may monitor the compliance of certified public accountants and public accountants within California to ensure that training requirements are met by all California licensees.  This monitoring may also include examining the hard work of California certified public accountants and California public accountants.  The examinations performed by the California Board of Accountancy are traditionally in the form of an audit of the certified public accountant or the public accountant records and fiscal reports.

The California Board of Accountancy is unique in several ways.  First, the California Board of Accountancy examines and licenses more than 75,000 licensees, which is the largest group of licensed accountants in the nation.  The California Board of Accountancy is also unique in that it has the ability to regulate not exclusively individuals, but also California based firms.  

Essentially, consumers in California are well shielded from fraud, embezzlement, along with accountancy crimes that may possibly occur when utilizing the services of a certified public accountant or public accountant.  More so than any other state in the United States of America, the California Board of Accountancy certainly lives up to its mission of protecting California consumers, and regulating accountancy in California.