ALJDEC decisions subject to certification as final

17F-2017.142-ACY · State Board of Accountancy · 2017-04-27

IN THE OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

In the Matter of:

Mathias Kopizke

Application for Certification as a Certified Public Accountant

Applicant

No. 17F-2017.142-ACY

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE DECISION

HEARING: April 27, 2017

APPEARANCES: Mathias Kopizke on his own behalf; Scott Donald, Esq. for the Board of Accountancy

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE:

_____________________________________________________________________

FINDINGS OF FACT

The Arizona State Board of Accountancy (“Board”) is the authority for regulating Certified Public Accountants in the State of Arizona.

On March 23, 2017, the Board issued a Notice of Hearing setting this matter for hearing on April 27, 2017, at the Office of Administrative Hearings.

The issue for hearing is Mathias Kopizke’s appeal of the Board’s Order of Denial of his application for Certified Public Accountant certification by examination.

The Board denied Mr. Kopizke’s application because it determined that he did not meet the educational requirements of Ariz. Rev. Stat. section 32-721(B)(2).

Among other things, subsection 32-721(B)(2) requires that an applicant must show that he has completed at least thirty semester hours of upper level accounting classes that are non-duplicative.

The Board’s role is to protect the public, which requires ensuring that each applicant meets the standards for certification as a CPA.

Generally it is not possible for the Board to say in advance what courses will meet the statutory requirements because of the sheer number of universities offering accounting classes, the variations in the course names that these universities use, and because of the requirement that the accounting course work be non-duplicative, which requires each application to be evaluated as a whole.

In Mr. Kopizke’s case, the Board determined that the ACCO 4000 Accounting Communications course Mr. Kopizke took at Marquette University was a business-related course and not an accounting course.

When the Board receives an application for certification by examination, its staff reviews the application to determine whether the applicant meets the statutory requirements. The application is then forwarded to the Board’s Certification Advisory Committee, where two Committee members will each conduct an independent review of the application and related material. The Committee then makes a recommendation to the Board regarding each application.

Jacki Hancock, the Board’s Assistant Director of Operations testified to the effect that the Committee is consistent and unbiased when reviewing applications and that the members rely on their experience in making their recommendations.

In Mr. Kopizke’s case, the Committee members determined that ACCO 4000 was not an accounting course and it recommended that Mr. Kopizke’s application be denied.

Mr. Kopizke’s application and the Committee’s recommendation were forwarded to the Board. The Board determined that Mr. Kopizke’s application did not meet the statutory requirements and issued its Order of Denial.

Debra Hunter is a CPA who has been a member of the Committee for over twelve years. Ms. Hunter was one of the members who reviewed Mr. Kopizke’s application.

Ms. Hunter testified that upper level accounting courses are those that deal with the actual practice of accounting, such as auditing or international accounting. Communicating about accounting does not meet this definition.

In Ms. Hunter’s opinion, ACCO 4000 is not an upper level accounting course based on the syllabus provided with Mr. Kopizke’s application. The syllabus provides three objectives, all of which would apply to any profession, and its Course Justification does not even use the word accounting. In addition, the required textbooks appear to be general business books rather than accounting textbooks.

Mr. Kopizke testified to the effect that based on the content of ACCO 4000 it did meet the statutory requirements as an upper level accounting class, and that Marquette University’s professors get input from the big four accounting firms and the professors were supportive of the class.

Mr. Kopizke did not provide any evidence related to the content of ACCO 4000 to corroborate his testimony. Nor did he provide evidence to show that the professors at Marquette had in mind Arizona’s statutory requirement that an applicant must complete 30 hours of upper level accounting courses when they approved of ACCO 4000.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

Mr. Kopizke bears the burden of persuasion. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 41-1092.07(G)(1).

The standard of proof on all issues is that of the preponderance of the evidence. Ariz. Admin. Code § R2-19-119.

A preponderance of the evidence is:

The greater weight of the evidence, not necessarily established by the greater number of witnesses testifying to a fact but by evidence that has the most convincing force; superior evidentiary weight that, though not sufficient to free the mind wholly from all reasonable doubt, is still sufficient to incline a fair and impartial mind to one side of the issue rather than the other.

Black’s Law Dictionary 1373 (10th ed. 2014).

As pertinent to this matter, among other requirements, an applicant for a certificate of certified public accountant must demonstrate that he has completed at least thirty hours of upper-level accounting courses. See Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 32-721(B).

Mr. Kopizke has not shown that ACCO 4000 is an upper level accounting course. Consequently he has not shown by a preponderance of the evidence that he meets the statutory requirement for certification by examination.

Mr. Kopizke’s appeal should be dismissed.

RECOMMENDED ORDER

IT IS ORDERED that Mathias Kopizke’s appeal is dismissed and that the Board’s Order of Denial is affirmed.

In the event of certification of the Administrative Law Judge Decision by the Director of the Office of Administrative Hearings, the effective date of the Order will be five days after the date of that certification.

Done this day, May 16, 2017

/s/ Thomas Shedden

Thomas Shedden

Administrative Law Judge

Transmitted electronically to:

Monica L. Petersen, Executive Director

Arizona State Board of Accountancy