Abstract The article presents information on the standards for certified public accountant (CPA) legislation. The wide diversity which still exists among state CPA laws and regulations indicates the need for future changes. Many of these changes will probably come about through regulations established by the state boards of accountancy. Others must of necessity be accomplished by action of state legislatures. There is an especial need to solve the problems of interstate practice, restrictive legislation and education for the profession. It is desirable that improvements be made in other sections also in order that legislative and administrative requirements shall be as uniform as possible at a high standard throughout the United States. Efforts to improve CPA legislation have taken three forms: (1) the expression of approval or disapproval of the state laws in connection with admitting certificate holders to membership in national accounting organizations, (2) the adoption of uniform examinations for candidates and (3) the preparation of model legislation.

Abstract In June 1943 the Illinois legislature enacted a new CPA law to repeal and replace both the CPA law of 1903 and the public accountant law of 1927. Certain important features of this new law provide for freedom of interstate practice with control of out-of-state practitioners, eventual restriction of public practice to certified public accountants, recognition of general education beyond the high school level, and requirements for accountancy education of a collegiate grade. The Illinois public accountant law of 1927 provided for the licensing of practitioners and the restriction of practice, but it recognized out-of-state accountants only if their states recognized the Illinois license rather than the CPA certificates. Another feature of the 1943 Illinois CPA law is the provision for restriction of practice to certificate holders licensed by the state. Under this provision the State Department of Registration and Education will in the future license only individuals holding CPA certificates issued by the University of Illinois. The 1903 Illinois law contained the earliest statutory requirement of high school education for candidates. Administrative boards in New York and Pennsylvania had set up a requirement of high school education for candidates in an attempt to place certified public accountants on a professional par with attorneys and doctors, for whom similar requirements were then in effect.