Vermont Statutes Title 26. Professions and Occupations, § 14. Prohibitions

(a) No person or firm shall issue a report on financial statements of, or provide attest services for, any other person, firm, organization, or governmental unit unless the person or firm is licensed or registered under this chapter.  This prohibition does not apply to:

(b) No individual person may use the title “certified public accountant,” “CPA,” “registered public accountant,” “RPA,” or “auditor” or any other title tending to indicate that he or she is a public accountant, unless he or she is licensed as a public accountant under this chapter or is an individual with practice privileges set forth under section 74c of this title.

(c) No firm may use the title “certified public accountant,” “CPA,” “registered public accountant,” “RPA,” “auditor” or any other title tending to indicate that it is composed of public accountants unless the firm is registered under this chapter, or is exempt from registration under section 74 of this title.

(d) No person may use the title “chartered accountant,” “enrolled accountant,” “licensed accountant,” “certified accountant,” “registered accountant,” “accredited accountant,” or any other title likely to be confused with “certified public accountant” or “registered public accountant,” or the abbreviations “CA,” “EA,” “RA,” “LA,” or “AA,” or similar abbreviations likely to be confused with “CPA” or “RPA.”  However, a person licensed under this chapter and individuals with practice privileges set forth under section 74c of this title may use the title “auditor.”  The title “enrolled agent” or “EA” may be used only by an individual so designated by the Internal Revenue Service.

(e) No person or firm holding a license under this chapter shall use a professional or firm name or designation that is misleading about the legal form of the firm, or about the persons who are partners, officers, members, managers or shareholders of the firm, or about any other matter;  provided, however, that the names of one or more partners, members, managers, or shareholders may be included in the name of a firm or its successor.

(f) However, a sole proprietorship or partnership lawfully using a title or designation in conjunction with those names or designation on July 1, 1981, may continue to do so if that person or partnership otherwise complies with the provisions of this chapter.

(g) The prohibition contained in subsection (a) of this section is applicable to issuance, by a person or firm not holding a valid license or registration, of a report using any form of language conventionally used by public accountants with respect to an audit, review, compilation of financial statements, or other attest services.

(h) No person or firm shall hold themselves out as public accountants while engaged in the practice of public accounting unless they: