Accountants must be at the forefront of achieving sustainability and social equity, a report from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) stated.

While acknowledging that the NYSSCPA is opposed to the changes, the New York State Board for Public Accountancy has approved regulatory language implementing new ethics continuing professional education (CPE) requirements. New York-licensed CPAs will be required to complete two credits of ethics CPE every year, rather than the current four credits every three years. In addition, two out of six credits every three years will have to include a New York state-approved ethics course, while the other four can be in a variety of ethics topics, including behavioral ethics. The changes will apply to registrations ending on or after Jan. 2, 2020, but because of a delay in new regulations going before the Board of Regents for approval, there is a possibility that the changes will go into effect later than that. 

New York state’s ethics continuing professional education (CPE) requirement will remain unchanged for the 2018 year because the State Board for Public Accountancy did not submit for approval proposed rule changes to the Board of Regents in 2017.