Georgia is a genuinely useful example of a state mid-transition where the statute and the state's own compiled rules haven't caught up with each other — not a hypothetical risk, a live disagreement in the actual published rule text. Here's what a Florida CPA needs to know.
House Bill 148 (Act 87) replaced Georgia's old "substantial equivalency" language with a new "mobility practice privileges" standard, effective January 1, 2026: instead of a state-level NASBA test, an individual qualifies by holding a current license in good standing from any other state (Florida counts), meeting education/experience criteria the Board establishes by rule, and having passed the Uniform CPA Exam. There's no notice and no fee to exercise it.
The catch: as of this page's last review, the Georgia Board hadn't yet adopted the education/experience rule the new law delegates to it — so the only settled requirement in practice is a license in good standing plus a passed exam. And Georgia's own compiled administrative rules and its 2015 Statement of Policy still describe the old, repealed substantial-equivalency regime outright. If you're relying on anything published by the Board itself rather than the statute, you may be reading the superseded rule.
This is the part worth being genuinely careful about. The enacted statute (O.C.G.A. § 43-3-16(b)) now lets a no-office out-of-state firm perform reviews, other SSAE examinations/reviews/ agreed-upon-procedures, and compilations without a Georgia firm license, as long as the firm is majority CPA-owned, complies with peer review requirements, and performs the work through a Georgia-licensed or privilege-holding individual — audits, prospective-financial examinations, and PCAOB engagements still require a license unless that same exemption applies. But Georgia's still-compiled Rule 20-8-.01(1), as published, flatly requires biennial licensure for any no-office firm doing that same attest work, with no exemption written into the rule text at all. Statute and rule give opposite answers for the identical fact pattern. Until the Board's own conforming rule amendments are formally adopted, treat this as genuinely unresolved rather than settled either way, and confirm directly with the Georgia Board before you rely on either reading. Non-attest work (tax, consulting) needs no Georgia firm license either way. Peer review is required both as a renewal condition for licensed firms that did attest or compilation work in the prior 24 months, and as a condition of the no-license review/compilation pathway above.
Georgia's new law doesn't include an explicit grandfather clause the way New Jersey's or Connecticut's does — if you were already practicing in Georgia before January 1, 2026, the safest read is that the new individual criteria now govern going forward.
The honest caveat: this page is sourced to O.C.G.A. §§ 43-3-18(b), 43-3-16(b), and 43-3-17 as amended by HB 148 — not to the Board's own compiled rules or Statement of Policy, both of which describe the superseded regime and, on the firm question, directly conflict with the enacted statute. It's general orientation, not a determination for your specific engagement type. Run your own situation through our Practice Privilege Check tool, or better yet confirm directly with the Georgia State Board of Accountancy given the live conflict above. And don't lose track of your own Florida renewal — it's tied to your own original certificate date, not a public calendar rule, so check it directly. Check your Florida renewal status here.
General orientation, not a citation. This guide draws on board rules and, where available, this site's own verified dataset — it isn't a primary source in itself. Last checked against those sources: August 13, 2026.
For the current renewal date or CPE figures your state actually enforces, use the state page linked above — it carries a direct link to the board page and codified rule, per our verification standard.