5000. There is in the Department of Consumer Affairs the California
Board of Accountancy, which consists of 15 members, seven of whom
shall be licensees, and eight of whom shall be public members who
shall not be licentiates of the board or registered by the board. The
board has the powers and duties conferred by this chapter.
The Governor shall appoint four of the public members, and the
seven licensee members as provided in this section. The Senate Rules
Committee and the Speaker of the Assembly shall each appoint two
public members. In appointing the seven licensee members, the
Governor shall appoint members representing a cross section of the
accounting profession with at least two members representing a small
public accounting firm. For the purposes of this chapter, a small
public accounting firm shall be defined as a professional firm that
employs a total of no more than four licensees as partners, owners,
or full-time employees in the practice of public accountancy within
the State of California.
This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2012,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2012, deletes or extends that date.The
repeal of this section renders the board subject to the review
required by Division 1.2 (commencing with Section 473). However, the
review of the board shall be limited to reports or studies specified
in this chapter and those issues identified by the Joint Committee on
Boards, Commissions, and Consumer Protection and the board regarding
the implementation of new licensing requirements.
5000.1. Protection of the public shall be the highest priority for
the California Board of Accountancy in exercising its licensing,
regulatory, and disciplinary functions. Whenever the protection of
the public is inconsistent with other interests sought to be
promoted, the protection of the public shall be paramount.
5000.5. No public member shall be a current or former licensee of
the board or an immediate family member of a licensee, or be
currently or formerly employed by a public accounting firm,
bookkeeping firm, or firm engaged in providing tax preparation as its
primary business, or have any financial interest in the business of
a licensee. Each public member shall meet all of the requirements for
public membership on the board as set forth in Chapter 6 (commencing
with Section 450) of Division 1.
5001. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), each member of the
board, except the public members, shall be actively engaged in the
practice of public accountancy and shall have been so engaged for a
period of not less than five years preceding the date of his
appointment. Each member shall be a citizen of the United States and
a resident of this state for at least five years next preceding his
appointment, and shall be of good character. Within 30 days after
their appointment, the members of the board shall take and subscribe
to the oath of office as prescribed by the Government Code and shall
file the same with the Secretary of State.
(b) One licensee member appointed by the Governor may be an active
educator within a program that emphasizes the study of accounting
within a college, university, or four-year educational institution.
5002. Each member shall be appointed for a term of four years and
shall hold office until the appointment and qualification of his
successor or until one year shall have elapsed since the expiration
of the term for which he was appointed, whichever first occurs.
Vacancies occurring shall be filled by appointment for the
unexpired term of a person licensed in the same capacity as the
person being replaced. No person shall serve more than two terms
consecutively. The Governor shall remove from the board any member,
except a public member, whose permit to practice has become void,
revoked or suspended. The Governor may, after hearing, remove any
member of the board for neglect of duty or other just cause.
5003. The officers of the board are a president, vice president and
a secretary-treasurer.
5004. The president, vice president, and secretary-treasurer shall
be elected by the board for a term of one year from among its members
at the time of the annual meeting. The newly elected president, vice
president, and secretary-treasurer shall assume the duties of their
respective offices at the conclusion of the annual meeting at which
they were elected.
5006. The officers of the board shall continue in office until
their successors are elected and qualify.
5007. The president shall preside at all meetings of the board, and
in the event of his absence or inability to act, the vice president
shall preside. Other duties of the president, vice president, and the
duties of the secretary-treasurer, shall be such as the board may
prescribe.
5008. The board shall, from time to time, but not less than twice
each year, prepare and distribute to all licensees, a report of the
activities of the board, including amendments to this chapter and
regulations adopted by the board, and may likewise distribute reports
of other matters of interest to the public and to practitioners.
5009. The board shall compile and maintain, or may have compiled
and maintained on its behalf, a register of licensees that contains
information that the board determines is necessary for the purposes
for which the board was established. The board shall make the
register available to any licensee and to the public.
5010. The board may adopt, repeal, or amend such regulations as may
be reasonably necessary and expedient for the orderly conduct of its
affairs and for the administration of this chapter. The regulations
shall be adopted in accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code.
5011. The board shall designate the location of its principal
office and may establish branch offices in other locations.
5012. The board shall have a seal.
5013. The board shall keep records of all proceedings and actions
by and before the board and before its committees. In any proceeding
in court, civil or criminal, copies of those records certified as
correct by the executive officer of the board under seal of the board
shall be admissible in evidence and shall be prima facie evidence of
the correctness of the contents thereof.
5015. The board may employ clerks, examiners and, except as
provided by Section 159.5, other assistants in the performance of its
duties, and pay salaries and necessary expenses.
5015.6. The board may appoint a person exempt from civil service
who shall be designated as an executive officer and who shall
exercise the powers and perform the duties delegated by the board and
vested in him or her by this chapter.
This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2012,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2012, deletes or extends that date.
5016. A majority of the board shall constitute a quorum for the
transaction of any business at any meeting of the board. Notice of
each meeting of the board shall be given in accordance with the
Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section
11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the
Government Code). The board shall meet at the call of the president
and executive officer, but not less than twice each year. Any two
members of the board may request the executive officer to call a
special meeting, and the executive officer, upon receiving that
notice, shall call a meeting pursuant to the procedure prescribed
herein.
5017. All meetings of the board shall be open and public, except
that the board may hold executive sessions to deliberate on the
decision to be reached upon the evidence introduced in a proceeding
conducted in accordance with Chapter 5 (commencing with Section
11500), Part 1, Division 3, Title 2, of the Government Code.
The members of the board may hold executive sessions to prepare,
approve, grade, or administer examinations and shall have
jurisdiction or vote over these functions of preparing, approving,
grading, or administering examinations in executive session as
provided for in Section 11126 of the Government Code.
5017.1. The board shall post, within 10 days of board approval, the
finalized minutes from meetings of the board that are open and
public pursuant to Section 5017 on the board's Internet Web site. The
minutes shall remain on the board's Internet Web site for at least
three years. Providing a link on the Internet Web site to the minutes
shall satisfy this requirement.
5017.5. (a) The board shall provide a live audio or video
broadcast, on its Internet Web site, of each of its board meetings
that are open and public.
(b) (1) If technical failure prevents the board from providing a
live broadcast as specified in subdivision (a), that failure shall
not constitute a violation of this section if the board exercised
reasonable diligence in providing a live broadcast.
(2) Failure to provide a live broadcast of its board meetings due
to technical failure shall not prohibit the board from meeting and
taking actions.
(c) The recording of the live audio or video broadcast shall
remain on the Internet Web site for at least three years. Providing a
link on the Internet Web site to the recording of the live audio or
video broadcast shall satisfy this requirement.
5018. The board may by regulation, prescribe, amend, or repeal
rules of professional conduct appropriate to the establishment and
maintenance of a high standard of integrity and dignity in the
profession. In addition to the requirements contained in Chapter 4
(commencing with Section 11370) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of
the Government Code, a copy of the rules shall be mailed to every
holder of a license under this chapter at least 30 days prior to a
date named for a public hearing held for the purpose of receiving and
considering objections to any of the proposed provisions. Every
licensee of the California Board of Accountancy in this state shall
be governed and controlled by the rules and standards adopted by the
board.
5019. The rules of professional conduct adopted by the board shall
be printed as a part of the application blanks for both certificates
and registration and every applicant for either a certificate or
registration shall subscribe thereto when making an application.
5020. The board may, for the purpose of obtaining technical
expertise, appoint an enforcement advisory committee of not more than
13 licensees to provide advice and assistance related to the
functions specified in Section 5103. The committee shall act only in
an advisory capacity, shall have no authority to initiate any
disciplinary action against a licensee, and shall only be authorized
to report its findings from any investigation or hearing conducted
pursuant to this section to the board, or upon direction of the
board, to the executive officer.
5021. The members of the enforcement advisory and qualifications
committees shall hold office for two years.
5022. The qualifications committee shall make recommendations and
forward its report to the board for action on any matter on which it
is authorized to act. An applicant for registration as a certified
public accountant who is aggrieved by any action taken by the
committee with respect to his or her qualifications may appeal to the
board in accordance with rules or regulations prescribed by the
board. The board on the appeal may give an oral or written
examination as an aid in determining whether the applicant is
qualified under the terms of this chapter.
5023. The board may establish a qualifications committee of its own
certified public accountant members or other certified public
accountants of the state in good standing, to perform the following
advisory duties:
(a) To examine the qualifications of all applicants for the
license of certified public accountant.
(b) To recommend to the board applicants for the certified public
accountant license who fulfill the requirements of this chapter.
5024. The board may create and appoint advisory committees,
consisting solely of board members or consisting of board members and
other persons who are not board members, for the purpose of making
recommendations on matters as may be specified by the board.
5025.1. (a) The board may contract with and employ certified public
accountants and public accountants as consultants and experts to
assist in the investigation and prosecution of judicial and
administrative matters.
(b) Contracts made pursuant to this section are not subject to
Article 4 (commencing with Section 19130) of Chapter 5 of Part 2 of
Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code, except that the board
shall apply the standards set forth in Section 19130 in awarding
personal service contracts under this section.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the board may
contract with these consultants and experts on a sole source basis.
(d) If a person, not a regular employee of the board, is hired or
under contract to provide expertise to the board in the evaluation of
the conduct of a licensee, and that person is named as a defendant
in a civil action for defamation, tortious interference with
prospective business advantage, or other civil causes of action
directly resulting from opinions rendered, statements made, or
testimony given to the board, its committees, staff, legal counsel,
or other representatives, or in any proceeding instituted by the
board or to which the board is a party, the board shall provide for
representation required to defend that person in that civil action
and shall indemnify that person for any judgment rendered against him
or her. This right of defense and indemnification shall be the same
as, and no greater than, the right provided to a public employee
pursuant to Section 825 of the Government Code. Nothing herein shall
be construed as expanding or limiting any immunity from liability
otherwise provided by law.
(e) On or before June 1 of each year, the board shall report to
the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of each house of the
Legislature the terms of the contract or contracts entered into each
fiscal year pursuant to this section. The report shall include the
cost, services, terms and duration provided under each contract, the
identity of the firms or individuals awarded any contract, and data
demonstrating the cost effectiveness of the board's sole-source
contracting in the investigation and prosecution of the board's
enforcement programs.
5025.2. (a) The Legislature finds that there are occasions when the
California Board of Accountancy urgently requires additional
expenditure authority in order to fund unanticipated enforcement and
litigation activities. Without sufficient expenditure authority to
obtain the necessary additional resources for urgent litigation and
enforcement matters, the board is unable to adequately protect the
public. Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature that, apart
from, and in addition to, the expenditure authority that may
otherwise be established, the California Board of Accountancy shall
be given the increase in its expenditure authority in any given
current fiscal year that is authorized by the Department of Finance
pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (b) of this section, for
costs and services in urgent litigation and enforcement matters,
including, but not limited to, costs for professional and consulting
services and for the services of the Attorney General and the Office
of Administrative Hearings.
(b) Notwithstanding Control Section 27.00 of the annual Budget
Act, Section 11006 of the Government Code, and the amount listed in
the annual Budget Act for expenditure, the Department of Finance
shall authorize up to two million dollars ($2,000,000) in additional
expenditures for the California Board of Accountancy upon a showing
by the board that those funds are necessary for public protection and
that the shortfall was not anticipated. These additional
expenditures shall be payable from the Accountancy Fund for purposes
of the board's litigation or enforcement activities in any given
current fiscal year.
5025.3. (a) Whenever the board enters into a contract for
litigation or enforcement purposes, including, but not limited to,
contracts pursuant to Section 5025.1, funds may be encumbered in the
fiscal year the contract is executed and expended at any time during
the subsequent 24 months commencing with the last day of the fiscal
year in which the contract is executed.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, funds
encumbered for a contract pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section
are continuously appropriated without regard to fiscal year,
however, the appropriation is limited to the period for which funds
are authorized to be encumbered under subdivision (a).
5000. There is in the Department of Consumer Affairs the California
Board of Accountancy, which consists of 15 members, seven of whom
shall be licensees, and eight of whom shall be public members who
shall not be licentiates of the board or registered by the board. The
board has the powers and duties conferred by this chapter.
The Governor shall appoint four of the public members, and the
seven licensee members as provided in this section. The Senate Rules
Committee and the Speaker of the Assembly shall each appoint two
public members. In appointing the seven licensee members, the
Governor shall appoint members representing a cross section of the
accounting profession with at least two members representing a small
public accounting firm. For the purposes of this chapter, a small
public accounting firm shall be defined as a professional firm that
employs a total of no more than four licensees as partners, owners,
or full-time employees in the practice of public accountancy within
the State of California.
This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2012,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2012, deletes or extends that date.The
repeal of this section renders the board subject to the review
required by Division 1.2 (commencing with Section 473). However, the
review of the board shall be limited to reports or studies specified
in this chapter and those issues identified by the Joint Committee on
Boards, Commissions, and Consumer Protection and the board regarding
the implementation of new licensing requirements.
5000.1. Protection of the public shall be the highest priority for
the California Board of Accountancy in exercising its licensing,
regulatory, and disciplinary functions. Whenever the protection of
the public is inconsistent with other interests sought to be
promoted, the protection of the public shall be paramount.
5000.5. No public member shall be a current or former licensee of
the board or an immediate family member of a licensee, or be
currently or formerly employed by a public accounting firm,
bookkeeping firm, or firm engaged in providing tax preparation as its
primary business, or have any financial interest in the business of
a licensee. Each public member shall meet all of the requirements for
public membership on the board as set forth in Chapter 6 (commencing
with Section 450) of Division 1.
5001. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), each member of the
board, except the public members, shall be actively engaged in the
practice of public accountancy and shall have been so engaged for a
period of not less than five years preceding the date of his
appointment. Each member shall be a citizen of the United States and
a resident of this state for at least five years next preceding his
appointment, and shall be of good character. Within 30 days after
their appointment, the members of the board shall take and subscribe
to the oath of office as prescribed by the Government Code and shall
file the same with the Secretary of State.
(b) One licensee member appointed by the Governor may be an active
educator within a program that emphasizes the study of accounting
within a college, university, or four-year educational institution.
5002. Each member shall be appointed for a term of four years and
shall hold office until the appointment and qualification of his
successor or until one year shall have elapsed since the expiration
of the term for which he was appointed, whichever first occurs.
Vacancies occurring shall be filled by appointment for the
unexpired term of a person licensed in the same capacity as the
person being replaced. No person shall serve more than two terms
consecutively. The Governor shall remove from the board any member,
except a public member, whose permit to practice has become void,
revoked or suspended. The Governor may, after hearing, remove any
member of the board for neglect of duty or other just cause.
5003. The officers of the board are a president, vice president and
a secretary-treasurer.
5004. The president, vice president, and secretary-treasurer shall
be elected by the board for a term of one year from among its members
at the time of the annual meeting. The newly elected president, vice
president, and secretary-treasurer shall assume the duties of their
respective offices at the conclusion of the annual meeting at which
they were elected.
5006. The officers of the board shall continue in office until
their successors are elected and qualify.
5007. The president shall preside at all meetings of the board, and
in the event of his absence or inability to act, the vice president
shall preside. Other duties of the president, vice president, and the
duties of the secretary-treasurer, shall be such as the board may
prescribe.
5008. The board shall, from time to time, but not less than twice
each year, prepare and distribute to all licensees, a report of the
activities of the board, including amendments to this chapter and
regulations adopted by the board, and may likewise distribute reports
of other matters of interest to the public and to practitioners.
5009. The board shall compile and maintain, or may have compiled
and maintained on its behalf, a register of licensees that contains
information that the board determines is necessary for the purposes
for which the board was established. The board shall make the
register available to any licensee and to the public.
5010. The board may adopt, repeal, or amend such regulations as may
be reasonably necessary and expedient for the orderly conduct of its
affairs and for the administration of this chapter. The regulations
shall be adopted in accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code.
5011. The board shall designate the location of its principal
office and may establish branch offices in other locations.
5012. The board shall have a seal.
5013. The board shall keep records of all proceedings and actions
by and before the board and before its committees. In any proceeding
in court, civil or criminal, copies of those records certified as
correct by the executive officer of the board under seal of the board
shall be admissible in evidence and shall be prima facie evidence of
the correctness of the contents thereof.
5015. The board may employ clerks, examiners and, except as
provided by Section 159.5, other assistants in the performance of its
duties, and pay salaries and necessary expenses.
5015.6. The board may appoint a person exempt from civil service
who shall be designated as an executive officer and who shall
exercise the powers and perform the duties delegated by the board and
vested in him or her by this chapter.
This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2012,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2012, deletes or extends that date.
5016. A majority of the board shall constitute a quorum for the
transaction of any business at any meeting of the board. Notice of
each meeting of the board shall be given in accordance with the
Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section
11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the
Government Code). The board shall meet at the call of the president
and executive officer, but not less than twice each year. Any two
members of the board may request the executive officer to call a
special meeting, and the executive officer, upon receiving that
notice, shall call a meeting pursuant to the procedure prescribed
herein.
5017. All meetings of the board shall be open and public, except
that the board may hold executive sessions to deliberate on the
decision to be reached upon the evidence introduced in a proceeding
conducted in accordance with Chapter 5 (commencing with Section
11500), Part 1, Division 3, Title 2, of the Government Code.
The members of the board may hold executive sessions to prepare,
approve, grade, or administer examinations and shall have
jurisdiction or vote over these functions of preparing, approving,
grading, or administering examinations in executive session as
provided for in Section 11126 of the Government Code.
5017.1. The board shall post, within 10 days of board approval, the
finalized minutes from meetings of the board that are open and
public pursuant to Section 5017 on the board's Internet Web site. The
minutes shall remain on the board's Internet Web site for at least
three years. Providing a link on the Internet Web site to the minutes
shall satisfy this requirement.
5017.5. (a) The board shall provide a live audio or video
broadcast, on its Internet Web site, of each of its board meetings
that are open and public.
(b) (1) If technical failure prevents the board from providing a
live broadcast as specified in subdivision (a), that failure shall
not constitute a violation of this section if the board exercised
reasonable diligence in providing a live broadcast.
(2) Failure to provide a live broadcast of its board meetings due
to technical failure shall not prohibit the board from meeting and
taking actions.
(c) The recording of the live audio or video broadcast shall
remain on the Internet Web site for at least three years. Providing a
link on the Internet Web site to the recording of the live audio or
video broadcast shall satisfy this requirement.
5018. The board may by regulation, prescribe, amend, or repeal
rules of professional conduct appropriate to the establishment and
maintenance of a high standard of integrity and dignity in the
profession. In addition to the requirements contained in Chapter 4
(commencing with Section 11370) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of
the Government Code, a copy of the rules shall be mailed to every
holder of a license under this chapter at least 30 days prior to a
date named for a public hearing held for the purpose of receiving and
considering objections to any of the proposed provisions. Every
licensee of the California Board of Accountancy in this state shall
be governed and controlled by the rules and standards adopted by the
board.
5019. The rules of professional conduct adopted by the board shall
be printed as a part of the application blanks for both certificates
and registration and every applicant for either a certificate or
registration shall subscribe thereto when making an application.
5020. The board may, for the purpose of obtaining technical
expertise, appoint an enforcement advisory committee of not more than
13 licensees to provide advice and assistance related to the
functions specified in Section 5103. The committee shall act only in
an advisory capacity, shall have no authority to initiate any
disciplinary action against a licensee, and shall only be authorized
to report its findings from any investigation or hearing conducted
pursuant to this section to the board, or upon direction of the
board, to the executive officer.
5021. The members of the enforcement advisory and qualifications
committees shall hold office for two years.
5022. The qualifications committee shall make recommendations and
forward its report to the board for action on any matter on which it
is authorized to act. An applicant for registration as a certified
public accountant who is aggrieved by any action taken by the
committee with respect to his or her qualifications may appeal to the
board in accordance with rules or regulations prescribed by the
board. The board on the appeal may give an oral or written
examination as an aid in determining whether the applicant is
qualified under the terms of this chapter.
5023. The board may establish a qualifications committee of its own
certified public accountant members or other certified public
accountants of the state in good standing, to perform the following
advisory duties:
(a) To examine the qualifications of all applicants for the
license of certified public accountant.
(b) To recommend to the board applicants for the certified public
accountant license who fulfill the requirements of this chapter.
5024. The board may create and appoint advisory committees,
consisting solely of board members or consisting of board members and
other persons who are not board members, for the purpose of making
recommendations on matters as may be specified by the board.
5025.1. (a) The board may contract with and employ certified public
accountants and public accountants as consultants and experts to
assist in the investigation and prosecution of judicial and
administrative matters.
(b) Contracts made pursuant to this section are not subject to
Article 4 (commencing with Section 19130) of Chapter 5 of Part 2 of
Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code, except that the board
shall apply the standards set forth in Section 19130 in awarding
personal service contracts under this section.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the board may
contract with these consultants and experts on a sole source basis.
(d) If a person, not a regular employee of the board, is hired or
under contract to provide expertise to the board in the evaluation of
the conduct of a licensee, and that person is named as a defendant
in a civil action for defamation, tortious interference with
prospective business advantage, or other civil causes of action
directly resulting from opinions rendered, statements made, or
testimony given to the board, its committees, staff, legal counsel,
or other representatives, or in any proceeding instituted by the
board or to which the board is a party, the board shall provide for
representation required to defend that person in that civil action
and shall indemnify that person for any judgment rendered against him
or her. This right of defense and indemnification shall be the same
as, and no greater than, the right provided to a public employee
pursuant to Section 825 of the Government Code. Nothing herein shall
be construed as expanding or limiting any immunity from liability
otherwise provided by law.
(e) On or before June 1 of each year, the board shall report to
the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of each house of the
Legislature the terms of the contract or contracts entered into each
fiscal year pursuant to this section. The report shall include the
cost, services, terms and duration provided under each contract, the
identity of the firms or individuals awarded any contract, and data
demonstrating the cost effectiveness of the board's sole-source
contracting in the investigation and prosecution of the board's
enforcement programs.
5025.2. (a) The Legislature finds that there are occasions when the
California Board of Accountancy urgently requires additional
expenditure authority in order to fund unanticipated enforcement and
litigation activities. Without sufficient expenditure authority to
obtain the necessary additional resources for urgent litigation and
enforcement matters, the board is unable to adequately protect the
public. Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature that, apart
from, and in addition to, the expenditure authority that may
otherwise be established, the California Board of Accountancy shall
be given the increase in its expenditure authority in any given
current fiscal year that is authorized by the Department of Finance
pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (b) of this section, for
costs and services in urgent litigation and enforcement matters,
including, but not limited to, costs for professional and consulting
services and for the services of the Attorney General and the Office
of Administrative Hearings.
(b) Notwithstanding Control Section 27.00 of the annual Budget
Act, Section 11006 of the Government Code, and the amount listed in
the annual Budget Act for expenditure, the Department of Finance
shall authorize up to two million dollars ($2,000,000) in additional
expenditures for the California Board of Accountancy upon a showing
by the board that those funds are necessary for public protection and
that the shortfall was not anticipated. These additional
expenditures shall be payable from the Accountancy Fund for purposes
of the board's litigation or enforcement activities in any given
current fiscal year.
5025.3. (a) Whenever the board enters into a contract for
litigation or enforcement purposes, including, but not limited to,
contracts pursuant to Section 5025.1, funds may be encumbered in the
fiscal year the contract is executed and expended at any time during
the subsequent 24 months commencing with the last day of the fiscal
year in which the contract is executed.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, funds
encumbered for a contract pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section
are continuously appropriated without regard to fiscal year,
however, the appropriation is limited to the period for which funds
are authorized to be encumbered under subdivision (a).
5000. There is in the Department of Consumer Affairs the California
Board of Accountancy, which consists of 15 members, seven of whom
shall be licensees, and eight of whom shall be public members who
shall not be licentiates of the board or registered by the board. The
board has the powers and duties conferred by this chapter.
The Governor shall appoint four of the public members, and the
seven licensee members as provided in this section. The Senate Rules
Committee and the Speaker of the Assembly shall each appoint two
public members. In appointing the seven licensee members, the
Governor shall appoint members representing a cross section of the
accounting profession with at least two members representing a small
public accounting firm. For the purposes of this chapter, a small
public accounting firm shall be defined as a professional firm that
employs a total of no more than four licensees as partners, owners,
or full-time employees in the practice of public accountancy within
the State of California.
This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2012,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2012, deletes or extends that date.The
repeal of this section renders the board subject to the review
required by Division 1.2 (commencing with Section 473). However, the
review of the board shall be limited to reports or studies specified
in this chapter and those issues identified by the Joint Committee on
Boards, Commissions, and Consumer Protection and the board regarding
the implementation of new licensing requirements.
5000.1. Protection of the public shall be the highest priority for
the California Board of Accountancy in exercising its licensing,
regulatory, and disciplinary functions. Whenever the protection of
the public is inconsistent with other interests sought to be
promoted, the protection of the public shall be paramount.
5000.5. No public member shall be a current or former licensee of
the board or an immediate family member of a licensee, or be
currently or formerly employed by a public accounting firm,
bookkeeping firm, or firm engaged in providing tax preparation as its
primary business, or have any financial interest in the business of
a licensee. Each public member shall meet all of the requirements for
public membership on the board as set forth in Chapter 6 (commencing
with Section 450) of Division 1.
5001. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), each member of the
board, except the public members, shall be actively engaged in the
practice of public accountancy and shall have been so engaged for a
period of not less than five years preceding the date of his
appointment. Each member shall be a citizen of the United States and
a resident of this state for at least five years next preceding his
appointment, and shall be of good character. Within 30 days after
their appointment, the members of the board shall take and subscribe
to the oath of office as prescribed by the Government Code and shall
file the same with the Secretary of State.
(b) One licensee member appointed by the Governor may be an active
educator within a program that emphasizes the study of accounting
within a college, university, or four-year educational institution.
5002. Each member shall be appointed for a term of four years and
shall hold office until the appointment and qualification of his
successor or until one year shall have elapsed since the expiration
of the term for which he was appointed, whichever first occurs.
Vacancies occurring shall be filled by appointment for the
unexpired term of a person licensed in the same capacity as the
person being replaced. No person shall serve more than two terms
consecutively. The Governor shall remove from the board any member,
except a public member, whose permit to practice has become void,
revoked or suspended. The Governor may, after hearing, remove any
member of the board for neglect of duty or other just cause.
5003. The officers of the board are a president, vice president and
a secretary-treasurer.
5004. The president, vice president, and secretary-treasurer shall
be elected by the board for a term of one year from among its members
at the time of the annual meeting. The newly elected president, vice
president, and secretary-treasurer shall assume the duties of their
respective offices at the conclusion of the annual meeting at which
they were elected.
5006. The officers of the board shall continue in office until
their successors are elected and qualify.
5007. The president shall preside at all meetings of the board, and
in the event of his absence or inability to act, the vice president
shall preside. Other duties of the president, vice president, and the
duties of the secretary-treasurer, shall be such as the board may
prescribe.
5008. The board shall, from time to time, but not less than twice
each year, prepare and distribute to all licensees, a report of the
activities of the board, including amendments to this chapter and
regulations adopted by the board, and may likewise distribute reports
of other matters of interest to the public and to practitioners.
5009. The board shall compile and maintain, or may have compiled
and maintained on its behalf, a register of licensees that contains
information that the board determines is necessary for the purposes
for which the board was established. The board shall make the
register available to any licensee and to the public.
5010. The board may adopt, repeal, or amend such regulations as may
be reasonably necessary and expedient for the orderly conduct of its
affairs and for the administration of this chapter. The regulations
shall be adopted in accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code.
5011. The board shall designate the location of its principal
office and may establish branch offices in other locations.
5012. The board shall have a seal.
5013. The board shall keep records of all proceedings and actions
by and before the board and before its committees. In any proceeding
in court, civil or criminal, copies of those records certified as
correct by the executive officer of the board under seal of the board
shall be admissible in evidence and shall be prima facie evidence of
the correctness of the contents thereof.
5015. The board may employ clerks, examiners and, except as
provided by Section 159.5, other assistants in the performance of its
duties, and pay salaries and necessary expenses.
5015.6. The board may appoint a person exempt from civil service
who shall be designated as an executive officer and who shall
exercise the powers and perform the duties delegated by the board and
vested in him or her by this chapter.
This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2012,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2012, deletes or extends that date.
5016. A majority of the board shall constitute a quorum for the
transaction of any business at any meeting of the board. Notice of
each meeting of the board shall be given in accordance with the
Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section
11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the
Government Code). The board shall meet at the call of the president
and executive officer, but not less than twice each year. Any two
members of the board may request the executive officer to call a
special meeting, and the executive officer, upon receiving that
notice, shall call a meeting pursuant to the procedure prescribed
herein.
5017. All meetings of the board shall be open and public, except
that the board may hold executive sessions to deliberate on the
decision to be reached upon the evidence introduced in a proceeding
conducted in accordance with Chapter 5 (commencing with Section
11500), Part 1, Division 3, Title 2, of the Government Code.
The members of the board may hold executive sessions to prepare,
approve, grade, or administer examinations and shall have
jurisdiction or vote over these functions of preparing, approving,
grading, or administering examinations in executive session as
provided for in Section 11126 of the Government Code.
5017.1. The board shall post, within 10 days of board approval, the
finalized minutes from meetings of the board that are open and
public pursuant to Section 5017 on the board's Internet Web site. The
minutes shall remain on the board's Internet Web site for at least
three years. Providing a link on the Internet Web site to the minutes
shall satisfy this requirement.
5017.5. (a) The board shall provide a live audio or video
broadcast, on its Internet Web site, of each of its board meetings
that are open and public.
(b) (1) If technical failure prevents the board from providing a
live broadcast as specified in subdivision (a), that failure shall
not constitute a violation of this section if the board exercised
reasonable diligence in providing a live broadcast.
(2) Failure to provide a live broadcast of its board meetings due
to technical failure shall not prohibit the board from meeting and
taking actions.
(c) The recording of the live audio or video broadcast shall
remain on the Internet Web site for at least three years. Providing a
link on the Internet Web site to the recording of the live audio or
video broadcast shall satisfy this requirement.
5018. The board may by regulation, prescribe, amend, or repeal
rules of professional conduct appropriate to the establishment and
maintenance of a high standard of integrity and dignity in the
profession. In addition to the requirements contained in Chapter 4
(commencing with Section 11370) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of
the Government Code, a copy of the rules shall be mailed to every
holder of a license under this chapter at least 30 days prior to a
date named for a public hearing held for the purpose of receiving and
considering objections to any of the proposed provisions. Every
licensee of the California Board of Accountancy in this state shall
be governed and controlled by the rules and standards adopted by the
board.
5019. The rules of professional conduct adopted by the board shall
be printed as a part of the application blanks for both certificates
and registration and every applicant for either a certificate or
registration shall subscribe thereto when making an application.
5020. The board may, for the purpose of obtaining technical
expertise, appoint an enforcement advisory committee of not more than
13 licensees to provide advice and assistance related to the
functions specified in Section 5103. The committee shall act only in
an advisory capacity, shall have no authority to initiate any
disciplinary action against a licensee, and shall only be authorized
to report its findings from any investigation or hearing conducted
pursuant to this section to the board, or upon direction of the
board, to the executive officer.
5021. The members of the enforcement advisory and qualifications
committees shall hold office for two years.
5022. The qualifications committee shall make recommendations and
forward its report to the board for action on any matter on which it
is authorized to act. An applicant for registration as a certified
public accountant who is aggrieved by any action taken by the
committee with respect to his or her qualifications may appeal to the
board in accordance with rules or regulations prescribed by the
board. The board on the appeal may give an oral or written
examination as an aid in determining whether the applicant is
qualified under the terms of this chapter.
5023. The board may establish a qualifications committee of its own
certified public accountant members or other certified public
accountants of the state in good standing, to perform the following
advisory duties:
(a) To examine the qualifications of all applicants for the
license of certified public accountant.
(b) To recommend to the board applicants for the certified public
accountant license who fulfill the requirements of this chapter.
5024. The board may create and appoint advisory committees,
consisting solely of board members or consisting of board members and
other persons who are not board members, for the purpose of making
recommendations on matters as may be specified by the board.
5025.1. (a) The board may contract with and employ certified public
accountants and public accountants as consultants and experts to
assist in the investigation and prosecution of judicial and
administrative matters.
(b) Contracts made pursuant to this section are not subject to
Article 4 (commencing with Section 19130) of Chapter 5 of Part 2 of
Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code, except that the board
shall apply the standards set forth in Section 19130 in awarding
personal service contracts under this section.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the board may
contract with these consultants and experts on a sole source basis.
(d) If a person, not a regular employee of the board, is hired or
under contract to provide expertise to the board in the evaluation of
the conduct of a licensee, and that person is named as a defendant
in a civil action for defamation, tortious interference with
prospective business advantage, or other civil causes of action
directly resulting from opinions rendered, statements made, or
testimony given to the board, its committees, staff, legal counsel,
or other representatives, or in any proceeding instituted by the
board or to which the board is a party, the board shall provide for
representation required to defend that person in that civil action
and shall indemnify that person for any judgment rendered against him
or her. This right of defense and indemnification shall be the same
as, and no greater than, the right provided to a public employee
pursuant to Section 825 of the Government Code. Nothing herein shall
be construed as expanding or limiting any immunity from liability
otherwise provided by law.
(e) On or before June 1 of each year, the board shall report to
the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of each house of the
Legislature the terms of the contract or contracts entered into each
fiscal year pursuant to this section. The report shall include the
cost, services, terms and duration provided under each contract, the
identity of the firms or individuals awarded any contract, and data
demonstrating the cost effectiveness of the board's sole-source
contracting in the investigation and prosecution of the board's
enforcement programs.
5025.2. (a) The Legislature finds that there are occasions when the
California Board of Accountancy urgently requires additional
expenditure authority in order to fund unanticipated enforcement and
litigation activities. Without sufficient expenditure authority to
obtain the necessary additional resources for urgent litigation and
enforcement matters, the board is unable to adequately protect the
public. Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature that, apart
from, and in addition to, the expenditure authority that may
otherwise be established, the California Board of Accountancy shall
be given the increase in its expenditure authority in any given
current fiscal year that is authorized by the Department of Finance
pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (b) of this section, for
costs and services in urgent litigation and enforcement matters,
including, but not limited to, costs for professional and consulting
services and for the services of the Attorney General and the Office
of Administrative Hearings.
(b) Notwithstanding Control Section 27.00 of the annual Budget
Act, Section 11006 of the Government Code, and the amount listed in
the annual Budget Act for expenditure, the Department of Finance
shall authorize up to two million dollars ($2,000,000) in additional
expenditures for the California Board of Accountancy upon a showing
by the board that those funds are necessary for public protection and
that the shortfall was not anticipated. These additional
expenditures shall be payable from the Accountancy Fund for purposes
of the board's litigation or enforcement activities in any given
current fiscal year.
5025.3. (a) Whenever the board enters into a contract for
litigation or enforcement purposes, including, but not limited to,
contracts pursuant to Section 5025.1, funds may be encumbered in the
fiscal year the contract is executed and expended at any time during
the subsequent 24 months commencing with the last day of the fiscal
year in which the contract is executed.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, funds
encumbered for a contract pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section
are continuously appropriated without regard to fiscal year,
however, the appropriation is limited to the period for which funds
are authorized to be encumbered under subdivision (a).
