5130-5134
BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE
SECTION 5130-5134
5130. The board shall charge and collect a fee from each applicant for the certificate of certified public accountant. The fee shall accompany the application which must be made on a blank provided by the board. 5131. (a) The board may charge and collect an application fee and an examination fee from each applicant. The applicable fees shall accompany the application which shall be made on a form provided by the board. (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the board may authorize an organization specified by the board pursuant to Section 5082.1 to receive directly from applicants payment of the examination fees charged by that organization as payment for examination materials and services. 5132. All moneys received by the board under this chapter from any source and for any purpose shall be accounted for and reported monthly by the board to the Controller and at the same time the moneys shall be remitted to the State Treasury to the credit of the Accountancy Fund. The secretary-treasurer of the board shall, from time to time, but not less than once each fiscal year, prepare or have prepared on his or her behalf, a financial report of the Accountancy Fund that contains information that the board determines is necessary for the purposes for which the board was established. The report of the Accountancy Fund, which shall be published pursuant to Section 5008, shall include the revenues and the related costs from examination, initial licensing, license renewal, citation and fine authority, and cost recovery from enforcement actions and case settlements. 5133. All money in the Accountancy Fund is hereby appropriated to the California Board of Accountancy to carry out the provisions of this chapter. Each member of the board and each member of a committee shall receive a per diem and expenses as provided in Section 103. 5134. The amount of fees prescribed by this chapter is as follows: (a) The fee to be charged to each applicant for the certified public accountant examination shall be fixed by the board at an amount not to exceed six hundred dollars ($600). The board may charge a reexamination fee not to exceed seventy-five dollars ($75) for each part that is subject to reexamination. (b) The fee to be charged to out-of-state candidates for the certified public accountant examination shall be fixed by the board at an amount not to exceed six hundred dollars ($600) per candidate. (c) The application fee to be charged to each applicant for issuance of a certified public accountant certificate shall be fixed by the board at an amount not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250). (d) The application fee to be charged to each applicant for issuance of a certified public accountant certificate by waiver of examination shall be fixed by the board at an amount not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250). (e) The fee to be charged to each applicant for registration as a partnership or professional corporation shall be fixed by the board at an amount not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250). (f) The board shall fix the biennial renewal fee so that, together with the estimated amount from revenue other than that generated by subdivisions (a) to (e), inclusive, the reserve balance in the board' s contingent fund shall be equal to approximately nine months of annual authorized expenditures. Any increase in the renewal fee shall be made by regulation upon a determination by the board that additional moneys are required to fund authorized expenditures and maintain the board's contingent fund reserve balance equal to nine months of estimated annual authorized expenditures in the fiscal year in which the expenditures will occur. The biennial fee for the renewal of each of the permits to engage in the practice of public accountancy specified in Section 5070 shall not exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250). (g) The delinquency fee shall be 50 percent of the accrued renewal fee. (h) The initial permit fee is an amount equal to the renewal fee in effect on the last regular renewal date before the date on which the permit is issued, except that, if the permit is issued one year or less before it will expire, then the initial permit fee is an amount equal to 50 percent of the renewal fee in effect on the last regular renewal date before the date on which the permit is issued. The board may, by regulation, provide for the waiver or refund of the initial permit fee where the permit is issued less than 45 days before the date on which it will expire. (i) (1) On and after the enactment of Assembly Bill 1868 of the 2005-06 Regular Session, the annual fee to be charged an individual for a practice privilege pursuant to Section 5096 with an authorization to sign attest reports shall be fixed by the board at an amount not to exceed one hundred twenty-five dollars ($125). (2) On and after enactment of Assembly Bill 1868 of the 2005-06 Regular Session, the annual fee to be charged an individual for a practice privilege pursuant to Section 5096 without an authorization to sign attest reports shall be fixed by the board at an amount not to exceed 80 percent of the fee authorized under paragraph (1). (j) The fee to be charged for the certification of documents evidencing passage of the certified public accountant examination, the certification of documents evidencing the grades received on the certified public accountant examination, or the certification of documents evidencing licensure shall be twenty-five dollars ($25). (k) The board shall fix the fees in accordance with the limits of this section and, on and after July 1, 1990, any increase in a fee fixed by the board shall be pursuant to regulation duly adopted by the board in accordance with the limits of this section. (l) It is the intent of the Legislature that, to ease entry into the public accounting profession in California, any administrative cost to the board related to the certified public accountant examination or issuance of the certified public accountant certificate that exceeds the maximum fees authorized by this section shall be covered by the fees charged for the biennial renewal of the permit to practice.