Alabama State Board of Public Accountancy

COVID-19 Updates

CPA Exam

At this time, there have been changes announced regarding the CPA exam.

• Testing Centers Closed (Updated Notification on 5/13/2020): All NTS and Exam credit with expirations from April 1, 2020 to December 30, 2020, will be extended until December 31, 2020. At this time, no action is required by candidates and there is no need to contact NASBA or the Alabama State Board of Public Accountancy. NASBA will automatically update your NTS expiration and credit expiration and will send you an email verification.

Prometric continues to re-open test centers in selected areas of the United States and Canada minimally impacted by the virus. As the virus shifts throughout the country, decisions will be made to close some test centers and open others as it becomes prudent. Please consult Prometric’s website for test center status and availability.

In order to protect the health and wellbeing of test takers and staff, specific social distancing procedures will be implemented. This will require that fewer testing appointments be available to schedule in order to allow appropriate distance between test takers in the centers. Additional operating guidelines will include allowing candidates to wear masks, wiping down all desks between test events, ongoing disinfection of test centers and more. Information and instructions about new procedures at test centers will be provided to all scheduled candidates.

Current test center closures are due to the COVID-19 pandemic and will not affect the plan for Continuous Testing beginning July 1. All appointments after April 30th will remain scheduled and it will be your responsibility to either attend your exam or reschedule if you decide to not attend out of personal concerns.

• Emergency testing period: NASBA, AICPA and Prometric have made the decision to invoke an emergency testing period to provide additional testing opportunities. As part of this procedure, the 20Q2 testing window will be extended from June 10, 2020, to June 30, 2020.

• Continuous Testing: Starting July 1, 2020, NASBA will begin continuous testing for CPA exam candidates. Under the new continuous testing model, candidates will have the ability to take the exam year-round, without restriction, other than waiting to receive scores from prior attempts of the same section or when there is a major change to the exam. Continuous testing will replace the existing CPA exam testing window model, which only permits candidates to test during designated time frames each calendar quarter. Learn more about continuous testing on the NASBA website.

Pass/Fail Courses

The ASBPA will accept any course taken as pass/fail as long as the student receives earned semester hours for the successful completion of the course. The completed course must be on an official transcript from an appropriately accredited university, college, or community college.

Notice About Continuing Professional Education

In the midst of CPE course cancellations and changes in delivery method, please note that the Alabama Board has been proactive in moving to more fluid formats of CPE that will make completion of your CPE hours during this trying situation much easier. The CPE Rules were changed effective October 1, 2019 to remove the cap on self‐study hours, allowing all 40 of your CPE hours to be completed by self‐study if you so choose. Please click here to review the summary of CPE Rule changes as you plan out the remainder of your CPE courses for this fiscal year.

AICPA Announcements

AICPA Statement on CPAs as Agents for PPP applications

AICPA Corona Virus Resource Center

Requesting Peer Review Extension from the Alabama State Board of Public Accountancy

Although your firm may have been granted a peer review extension through PRIMA you MUST also request a peer review extension from the Alabama State Board of Public Accountancy. Please mail or email your peer review extension request, including the extension approval from the peer review administrating entity, to:

Ms. Anna Baker
PO Box 300375
Montgomery AL 36130-0375
334-242-5706

Excerpt from Article in the Journal of Accountancy (full article link below):

“On May 7, 2020 the AICPA Peer Review Board granted six-month extensions for peer reviews, corrective actions, and implementation plans with original due dates between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30 of this year. The PRB took the action to relieve firms that are struggling because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on their daily operations and their clients. Despite the extended due dates, firms do not need to wait an additional six months and are encouraged to have their reviews performed as soon as they are able.”

Find the full article here.