Effective January 1, 2013, if you are called to active duty as a member of the United States Armed Forces or the California National Guard, you may apply to the CBA for a waiver of your renewal fees and CE. In order to qualify for the waiver, you must possess a current and valid license. The waiver of the renewal fees and CE apply only during the period in which you are on active duty service.

During the time period in which the waiver is in effect, you may not engage in the practice of public accountancy, unless the services you provide while on active duty include the practice of public accountancy. If this is the case, the CBA will place your license in a military active status; however, you will not be authorized to provide public accounting services to the general public.

In order to qualify for the waiver of the renewal fees and CE, you must submit, in writing, a request for the waiver to the CBA. With your written request, you must include written documentation that substantiates active duty service, which may include documents such as your Leave and Earnings Statements or military orders. When you apply for the waiver, please notify the CBA whether you plan to practice while you are on active duty in the military.

Your written request for the waiver will also serve as an application for license renewal for those periods during which you are still on active duty. Upon approval of the waiver, the CBA will renew your license until you provide notice of your discharge from active duty, which you must do within 60 days of receiving your discharge notice. During the time in which the waiver is valid, the CBA will change your status to "military."

If after discharge you wish to engage in the practice of public accountancy, within six months of discharge, you must meet the following requirements:

• Complete 80 hours of CE, or as an alternative, you may apply to have your CE extension/exemption as provided for via CBA Regulations
• Pay the required renewal fee of $120, unless it is 12 months or less to your next license renewal date, in which case the renewal fee is waived

Effective January 1, 2013 and pursuant to Section 115.5 of the B&P Code, the CBA will expedite the licensure process for an applicant who meets both of the following requirements:

(1) Supplies evidence satisfactory to the CBA that the applicant is married to, or in a domestic partnership or other legal union with, an active duty member of the Armed Forces of the United States who is assigned to a duty station in this state under official active duty military orders.

(2) Holds a valid license or comparable authority to practice public accounting in another state, district, or territory of the United States.

Applicants requesting expedited licensure under Section 115.5 of the B&P Code must attach to your application a written statement with sufficient evidence such as a copy of the marriage certificate or certified declaration/registration of domestic partnership filed with the Secretary of State AND military orders establishing duty station in California. For other forms of "legal union" not recognized by California, you may submit other documentary evidence of legal union issued by the State that recognizes your legal union for consideration by the CBA in meeting this requirement.

If you are a licensee engaged in active duty as a member of the California National Guard or the United States Armed Forces, beginning January 1, 2014, you may apply to have your license placed in, and renewed in, a military inactive status. This new status will exempt licensees from being subject to continuing education or peer review reporting requirements or paying the biennial renewal fee while their license is in Military Inactive Status. The regulations necessary to implement this new status are expected to receive approval from the Office of Administrative law by January 1, 2014. For the full text of the proposed regulations for Military Inactive Status, please visit http://www.dca.ca.gov/cba/regulation_notices/top12-11.pdf. More information will be posted here as soon as it available.