When Connecticut rewrote its certified public accountant licensing rules last fall to expand pathways into the profession, the effects showed up almost immediately, says Bonnie Stewart, executive director of the Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Within a few months, Stewart says candidates began publicly signaling their CPA trajectory under the revised structure, with new graduates and early-career accountants posting on LinkedIn that they were on their way to becoming CPAs.
“In all my years of advocacy, I’ve never seen legislation have such a quick, positive response,” she said.
Now, Rhode Island State Rep. Stephen M. Casey has helped to bring that same effect to the Ocean State, with a bill aimed at countering a shrinking national CPA pipeline that’s already straining local employers and public agencies.
“It’s a win for businesses, cities and towns,” said Casey, D-Woonsocket. “And it helps ensure we continue to have the professionals needed to keep the system running.”
For Casey, those pressures are already showing up in how public institutions function.
“We’ve had issues where cities and towns can’t meet their financial reporting deadlines because they can’t find people to do the accounting work,” he said. “It’s not getting easier to find the people we need.”
Casey’s proposal, passed by the R.I. House of Representatives on May 26, would follow a broader national model adopted by 40 states by replacing the traditional 150-credit-hour rule with alternative routes to CPA licensure.
Applicants could instead qualify through several pathways: a graduate or post-baccalaureate degree plus one year of experience, a bachelor’s degree plus 30 additional credits and one year of experience, or a bachelor’s degree plus two years of experience.
A similar bill passed the R.I. Senate on May 5. The bills are expected to be reconciled and passed to Gov. Daniel J. McKee for signing.
Just a year ago, only about 14 states had enacted similar legislation, while another nine had introduced proposals, underscoring how rapidly the movement has accelerated nationwide, Stewart says.
But supporters of Casey’s legislation, such as Melissa Travis, former CEO and president of the Rhode Island Society of Certified Public Accountants, say the issue has been building for years.
Since stepping down in March 2025, Travis has seen the shortage of licensed CPAs become increasingly severe.
Nationally, about 75% of today’s CPAs will retire within the next 15 years, according to the CPA Journal’s “2025 Global Threat Report.”
In Rhode Island, Travis says the number of licensed CPAs has fallen sharply compared with when she took office in 2019, dropping from roughly 3,000 to about 1,000 now.
“That drop didn’t happen overnight,” Travis said. “It was attrition, retirement, and people leaving the profession or leaving the state.”
At the same time, Travis points to declining enrollment in accounting programs at local colleges as a key warning sign, narrowing the pipeline to replace those outgoing CPAs.
National data reflects a similar trend.
As of spring 2025, the number of accounting students nationwide had fallen to a 15-year low, according to the CPA Journal report.
Travis noted that the issue has reached a point where some colleges have also scaled back or restructured accounting programs amid declining student interest.
Momentum behind Rhode Island’s bills began building after Connecticut’s early rollout drew interest from Rhode Island officials and lawmakers last year, supporters say. “That’s really when the conversations started happening here,” Casey said.
For both Casey and Stewart, one of the broader goals of the new model is maintaining mobility across state lines – a key concern for firms operating in multiple jurisdictions, particularly in a region such as New England, where states are small and talent routinely crosses borders.
The new CPA model preserves interstate mobility, allowing CPAs to move between participating states without added licensing barriers.
“That mobility piece was critical,” Stewart said. “We wanted to make sure CPAs can move between states without barriers, especially given the shortage.”
Casey echoes that point, noting that Rhode Island’s bill closely mirrors the national model framework developed by accounting organizations and state boards to preserve reciprocity across jurisdictions.
“This wasn’t done in isolation,” he said. “There’s been a coordinated effort nationally to make sure the profession modernizes in a way that still protects mobility and standards.”
Rhode Island and Vermont are among jurisdictions still awaiting final approval, Stewart says. Puerto Rico, too, has recently adopted the framework through its Board of Accountancy.
Even as momentum builds, questions remain in some states about maintaining rigor under the new model.
Some states, including California, New York and Texas, have expressed concerns about the model or taken more-cautious approaches, citing questions about maintaining standards and rigor.
Stewart countered that the shift in licensing pathways is not about lowering expectations but expanding access while maintaining the same professional bar.
“We’re still talking about the same level of rigor,” she said. “We’ve just opened more than one door to get there.”
“This is something that’s been building for years,” Casey said. “Now it’s finally moving.”
