Minnesota proposes alternatives to the 150-hour rule

February 28, 2023 – The Minnesota Society of CPAs has introduced a bill into the state legislature that would allow young accountants to become CPAs without having to earn 150 hours of college credit.

The proposed legislation would create three paths to licensure, all of which would require passing the CPA exam, plus:

150 credit hours and one year of work experience (the current model);
120 credits and two years of work experience; or,
120 credits and both one year of work experience and 120 CPE credits, earned concurrently.

The move comes amid mounting concern over the slackening of the “pipeline” of young people entering the accounting profession and becoming CPAs, which is making it harder for firms to staff engagements and develop their next generation of partners.

“For the last several years, we’ve heard concerns from our members about the CPA pipeline,” explained MNCPA chair-elect Bob Cedergren. “What we’re hearing in Minnesota is particularly from the smaller firms — those rural firms or those small firms in the metro area that have difficulty attracting students and hiring CPAs to their firms. So, we’ve said, ‘What can we do? How can we respond to our members? How can we respond to the profession that knows there’s fewer and fewer students?’ Even those that do graduate with a bachelor’s of accounting or a BS in accounting don’t always sit for the CPA exam. So what we’ve decided to do in Minnesota is look for alternate pathways to licensure.”