SB522

SB522 replaces a national “substantial equivalency” test with specific qualifications for many out-of-state CPAs who work with Texas clients without obtaining a Texas license. Under the new general pathway, the person must hold an active CPA credential in another state, have a principal place of business outside Texas and have passed the uniform CPA examination. Out-of-state practice requirements.

The education and experience options are: a bachelor’s degree with at least 150 semester hours and an accounting concentration or equivalent courses, plus at least one year of work experience; a graduate degree with an accounting concentration or equivalent courses, plus at least one year; or a bachelor’s degree with an accounting concentration or equivalent courses, plus at least two years. The required work experience must have been completed when the other state issued the credential—not simply accumulated later. Qualifying practice may be in person or by mail, telephone or electronic means, without notice to the Texas board. Section 901.462(a)–(b).

A separate grandfather clause covers people who both held another state’s credential and practiced under the Texas privilege on December 31, 2024. Merely having an out-of-state credential by that date is not enough for that clause. It preserves practice privileges without a Texas credential but expressly keeps the person subject to the Texas accountancy chapter. The board may prohibit unlicensed-in-Texas practice if it determines the general qualifications are not met. Grandfather provision and board authority.

The bill separately changes reciprocity for obtaining a Texas certificate: it removes two national-equivalency routes but retains three alternatives—meeting Texas certificate requirements except the specified examination-grade requirement, having met Texas requirements in effect when the other state issued the credential, or qualifying public-accountancy experience of at least four years after passing the exam and within the preceding ten years under board rules. The three-year continuing-education requirement remains. This certificate route is different from permission to practice without obtaining a Texas credential. Section 901.259(a).

Signed May 19, 2025, the law took effect September 1, 2025. Although its final text allowed immediate effect with sufficient votes, the House recorded 99 affirmative votes, short of two-thirds of its 150 elected members; the official history confirms the September date. History; Vote certifications and effective-date clause.